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FMD700 | 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: Cecilia Zhang Claim summaries: Is nine-year-old Cecilia Zhang missing from her Toronto home?
contextual information: Claim: Nine-year-old Cecilia Zhang is missing from her Toronto home. Outdated. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] TORONTO POLICE ISSUE AMBER ALERT FOR MISSING 9-YEAR OLD GIRL DONG-YUE (CECILIA) ZHANG The Toronto Police Service is requesting the assistance of the public and media in regards to locating a missing 9-year old girl from the area of Don Mills Road and Finch Avenue East. An amber alert has been issued in regards to the young girl's disappearance from her residence. The missing girl has been identified as Dong-Yue (Cecilia) ZHANG a 9-year old grade 4 student at Seneca Hill Public School. Her parents last saw the child when she went to bed on Sunday night (October 19th, 2003). Her disappearance was not noticed until Monday morning shortly before 8:30 A.M. She is described as; female, Asian, 9 years of age, 4'11", 70lbs, thin build, shoulder length black hair with blond highlights, brown eyes, wearing unknown clothing. Anyone with Information is asked to contact 33 Division at (416) 808-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) On a more personal note: ATTENTION: Please everyone, this only takes a few minutes to forward to everyone you can think of who can also send this on. The more people who can hear her name and see her picture, the more likely that is it for this girl to be found safely. How would we feel if this was our child? I can't even imagine what her parents are going through right now. Thanks for taking the time to care... Origins: Sadly, this was no hoax the child described in the e-mail quoted above and in a number of similar alerts was all too real, as were the circumstances of her disappearance. On the morning of 20 October 2003, nine-year-old Cecilia Zhang was discovered missing from her family home in North York, a satellite of Toronto. She had been last seen at 10 p.m. the previous evening. Police believed she had been abducted during the night, and the theory of the crime had the kidnappers entering the house through the window of her second floor bedroom. (Its screen was broken.) Two phone calls were made from different pay phones in Brampton (a nearby town) to the Zhang home just before Cecilia's parents realized their daughter was gone. In each instance, the caller said nothing when the phone was answered. No ransom demand was received, and no contact was made by the abductors either with the family or the police. A province-wide Amber Alert was issued on the day Cecilia was taken. It sent a description of the girl across Ontario and activated highway signs alerting motorists about the abduction. The alert was canceled a day later. As part of its 1 November 2003 episode, America's Most Wanted ran a segment on the kidnapping of Cecilia Zhang. Thanks to the show, one day later thirteen fresh tips were turned over to the Toronto police working the segment case. Two rewards totaling $85,000 were being offered. Numerous hotlines had been set up in English and in Chinese dialects. More than 1700 posters and flyers bearing photos of the missing girl were posted in bus and subway stations. Yet little new information came in as time went by, and the older leads were exhausted. As of 13 November 2003, police confirmed that they still had no suspects in the case. There was hope the child was taken by those looking to strike it rich. Kidnapping for profit is not unheard of within the Chinese community though not common by any means, such abductions occur more often than they do within the general population. Had she been such a hostage, there would have been greater reason to hope she would eventually be returned unharmed. But that was not to be. Two days before what would have been Cecilia Zhang's tenth birthday, police in Toronto reported that she had been found. On 28 March 2004, authorities confirmed as hers the remains discovered in a Mississauga park by the Credit River the previous day. On 21 July 2004, Min Chen, a 21-year-old Chinese national in Canada on a student visa, was arrested in connection with the case and the next day charged with first-degree murder for the death of the fourth-grader. It appears he knew the child, having been introduced to her during visits to a classmate who at one time rented a room from the Zhangs. Chen pled guilty to second-degree murder in May 2006 and was sentenced to life in prison. Last updated: 2 December 2010 Sources: Campbell, Colin. "Canada: No Suspects in Girl's Disappearance." The New York Times. 13 November 2003 (p. A9). Robertson, Lloyd. "Toronto Girl Abducted From Her Home in the Middle of the Night." CTV News. 20 October 2003. Robertson, Lloyd. "'America's Most Wanted' Airs the Cecilia Zhang Story." CTV News. 30 October 2003. Woods, Allan. "Crime Show Adds Tips in Search for Cecilia." National Post. 3 November 2003 (p. A12). Woods, Allan. "Phone Sites Suggest Lead in Cecilia Case." National Post. 29 October 2003 (p. A15). Canadian Press. "Police Find Remains of Cecilia Zhang." 28 March 2004. United Press International. "Reward Jumps for Missing Girl's Return." 31 October 2003. | 1 | [
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FMD701 | 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 Woman Behind Aunt Jemima Die a Millionaire? Claim summaries: The available evidence suggests otherwise, one historian told us.
contextual information: In June 2020, the Quaker Oats Company announced that it would be rebranding its Aunt Jemima line of products, including syrup, pancake mix, and other breakfast foods, because the brand's origins were based on racial stereotypes. Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, told NBC News, "We recognize Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype. While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough." This decision caused some online outrage as social media users accused Quaker Oats of erasing its history and diminishing the accomplishments of Nancy Green, the woman who portrayed Aunt Jemima in promotional materials in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of these posts claimed that Green was one of the first African American millionaires because of the amount of money she earned playing Aunt Jemima; however, Green did not die a millionaire. In fact, she could not live off the earnings she made from her portrayal of Aunt Jemima and continued to work as a housekeeper until a few years before her death in 1923. The origins of Aunt Jemima can be traced back to 1889 when Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood created a self-rising pancake mix. The product originally carried the name "self-rising pancake flour," but Rutt was inspired to change the name of the mix after he attended a minstrel show and saw men dressed in blackface perform a song entitled "Old Aunt Jemima." The Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture writes that in the fall of 1889, Rutt was inspired to rename the mix after attending a minstrel show during which a popular song titled "Old Aunt Jemima" was performed by men in blackface, one of whom was dressed as a slave mammy of the plantation South. While Rutt and Underwood developed this self-rising mix and contributed the "Aunt Jemima" name, they were unable to turn their product into a commercial success. The duo sold their milling company to R.T. Davis, who, with Green's help, would go on to create the persona of Aunt Jemima and turn the brand into a national product. Davis hired Green, who was born a slave in Kentucky in 1834, to portray Aunt Jemima at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. Green, as Aunt Jemima, served pancakes to the crowd and told romanticized "stories" of her time on the plantation. While these stories were presented as if they were the genuine memories of Aunt Jemima, Green was, of course, just playing a fictional character. In "Mammy: A Century of Race, Gender, and Southern Memory," author Kimberly Wallace-Sanders writes that at one point, the most reliable means of consolidating the country involved inducing a kind of national amnesia about the history of slavery. Aunt Jemima was created to celebrate state-of-the-art technology through a pancake mix; she did not celebrate the promise of post-Emancipation progress for African Americans. Aunt Jemima's "freedom" was negated, or revoked, in this role because of the character's persona as a plantation slave, not a free black woman employed as a domestic. An African American woman pretending to be a slave was pivotal to the trademark's commercial achievement in 1893. Its success revolved around the fantasy of returning a black woman to a sanitized version of slavery. The Aunt Jemima character involved a regression of race relations, and her character helped usher in a prominent resurgence of the "happy slave" mythology of the antebellum South. Nancy Green, a former slave from Kentucky, played the first Aunt Jemima. Green was a middle-aged woman living on the South Side of Chicago, working as a cook and housekeeper for a prominent judge. After a series of auditions, she was hired to cook and serve the new pancake recipe at the World's Fair. Part of her act was to tell stories from her own early slave life along with plantation tales written for her by a white southern sales representative. This combination of historic and mythic plantation was designed to perpetuate the "historical amnesia necessary for confidence in the American future." That this amnesia occurred at the expense of African American progress was clearly not an issue for the Pearl Milling Company, the inventor of Aunt Jemima. A pamphlet detailing the "life" of Aunt Jemima, which portrayed her as a "happy" slave with a "secret recipe" working at a plantation owned by Colonel Higbee of Louisiana, was also created for the 1893 World's Fair and laid the foundation for future advertisements to build on the Aunt Jemima myth. One artifact from the early days of Aunt Jemima's fictional history was a set of paper dolls that supposedly showed Aunt Jemima and her family before and after they sold her secret pancake recipe. The "before" set included six paper dolls without shoes and dressed in shabby clothing, while the "after" set included a set of "fancy" clothes. But these dolls, like most of the fictional lore surrounding Aunt Jemima, did not accurately reflect reality. We have been unable to find any specific details about how much Green was paid for her portrayal of Aunt Jemima. The evidence, however, suggests that Green did not become rich from her work and was likely paid a paltry sum. In "Clinging to Mammy: The Faithful Slave in Twentieth-Century America," Micki McElya writes that in 1900, Green listed her occupation as a "cook." While this may have referred to her job demonstrating pancake mix as Aunt Jemima, in 1910, she was working as a "housekeeper." In that year (1900), she listed her occupation as "cook," which could have referred to her job demonstrating Aunt Jemima pancake mix or else indicated that her primary employment remained in domestic service. The latter was the case in 1910, when she reported her job as "housekeeper" in a private residence. Performing as the trademarked mammy was not her primary job by that time, if it ever had been. We reached out to McElya for more information about what monetary payments Green received for her portrayal of Aunt Jemima. McElya couldn't point to a specific dollar amount, but she did say that she "found no evidence that Nancy Green died a millionaire in 1923," and that "the available evidence suggests otherwise." M.M. Manring, the author of "Slave in A Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima," also told us that "all of the available evidence ... would suggest that [Nancy Green] was almost certainly not conspicuously wealthy." Manring also addressed the notion that Green was given a "lifetime contract" to portray Aunt Jemima. This "lifetime contract," according to Manring, was part of the lore created for the character of "Aunt Jemima"—but there's no evidence that it actually applied to Green. Manring said, "I've been through the J. Walter Thompson archives at Duke, where so much of the papers related to the Aunt Jemima campaign are stored, and never found any reference to her pay. None of her obituaries mention anything regarding her wealth. If she had a $1 million fortune in, say, 1920, adjusted for inflation, that's the equivalent of about $13 million today, by my calculations. It would be surprising to me if all contemporaneous accounts of her failed to make any mention of her vast wealth." All of the available evidence, such as it is, would suggest that she was almost certainly not conspicuously wealthy. She was comfortable enough to give to her church and do missionary work, but so were plenty of other people of ordinary means. As for the "lifetime contract," that was a big part of the promotion of Aunt Jemima. You see the same language in the ads that a milling company in Chicago brought Aunt Jemima north and gave her a lifetime contract, and even paid her in gold. I have never found nor do I expect to find proof of a contract, and again, I can't prove a negative. But I do think you have to put that claim in context with a long-running ad campaign that mixed myth and reality, and people real and imagined. Obituaries for Green published in The Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald also made no mention of her being one of the first African American women to become a millionaire. While no evidence exists to suggest that Green died a millionaire, she did make enough money (as both a housekeeper and for her promotional work as Aunt Jemima) to support the missionary work of the Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago. It should also be noted that Green's descendants (as well as the descendants of another Black woman who portrayed Aunt Jemima) filed a lawsuit against Quaker Oats, arguing that the company exploited Green and that her family was owed billions in royalties. The lawsuit was later dismissed after a judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not provide proof that they were related to the women who portrayed Aunt Jemima. Now, a lawsuit claims that Green's heirs, as well as the descendants of other black women who appeared as Aunt Jemima, deserve $2 billion and a share of future revenue from sales of the popular brand. The federal suit, filed in Chicago in August by two great-grandsons of Anna Short Harrington, says that she and Green were key in formulating the recipe for the nation's first self-rising pancake mix and that Green came up with the idea of adding powdered milk for extra flavor. "Aunt Jemima has become known as one of the most exploited and abused women in American history," said D.W. Hunter, one of Harrington's great-grandsons. The rumor that Green died a millionaire is, like much of the folklore surrounding Aunt Jemima, not supported by historical evidence. This claim is unfounded, and all of the material we examined suggests that Green was not conspicuously wealthy. Therefore, we've rated this rumor false. In February 2021, Quaker Oats announced that it was retiring the "Aunt Jemima" brand name and replacing it with the "Pearl Milling Company." | 0 | [
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FMD702 | 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: Before I was state treasurer, my Rhode Island business helped create over 1,000 jobs.
contextual information: In her "Back To Work" campaign ad, General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, one of four Democrats running for governor, stated that her former venture capital firm, Point Judith Capital, helped create more than 1,000 jobs while she was a partner. She made the same claim while campaigning for treasurer in the 2010 election. (Raimondo left the firm the day she took office; her investments there are held in a blind trust. The company has since relocated to Boston.) The ad shows Raimondo at Nabsys, a biomedical company in Providence. "Before I was State Treasurer, my Rhode Island business helped create over 1,000 jobs, including here at Nabsys, a biomedical company," Raimondo said. "As governor, I'll use this as a model for how we create manufacturing jobs. I'll bring colleges and industry together to develop new products in marine science, green technology, and medical devices, and to train our workers to fill those jobs. We need to get Rhode Islanders back to work." This week, Raimondo reiterated that claim in a new TV ad about how she helped bring back Narragansett Beer, originally brewed in Rhode Island until the brewery closed for good in 1983. ("I helped create over a thousand jobs, from high tech to making beer.") Before we get started, let's be clear about one thing: venture capital firms such as Point Judith are not in the business of creating jobs. Their mission is to make money for their investors—and themselves. They do so by raising money from entities such as private investors and public pension funds, and then investing it in startup companies, hoping for a big return if those companies take off. If the companies succeed and grow, they add jobs, but that's not the goal of the venture capitalists. To support her claim, Raimondo sent us a list of 21 companies that Point Judith Capital invested in and how many jobs those investments—and the company's efforts—helped create during the time she was a partner. They add up to 1,063. The list was produced by Point Judith Capital in late 2010, in preparation for her run for treasurer. We also interviewed Raimondo. She described Point Judith Capital's role as an early-stage investor. "Typically, you sit on the board of the company, provide a lot of hand-holding and strategic advice, help recruit people, and get the bank loan. It's hands-on. That's why we say we helped create those jobs. We had to have invested money in the company, which means we had an ownership stake in the company. In every case, we either had a board seat and additionally were just very involved in building the business, writing the business plan, and helping to get customers," Raimondo said. Initially, she stated that the investment was more than two million in each of those companies. On Wednesday, Raimondo's campaign manager Eric Hyers said Raimondo had misspoken. The investments were all at least six figures; they ranged from roughly $400,000 to $2 million or more. Raimondo noted that many of the companies have expanded and added jobs since then. Next, we attempted to call all 21 companies. Many were from out of state. Some had been bought out, and we were unable to reach the principals who worked there when Point Judith Capital was involved. At least one appears to have since closed. Of the representatives of seven companies we reached, all essentially confirmed Raimondo's claims, representing roughly 480 jobs. In one case, the job number appeared to fall slightly short; in another, a CEO gave Raimondo credit for more than the number of jobs she cited. We spoke with Mark Hellendrung, president of Narragansett Brewing Co. The company is based in Providence. Hellendrung said the beer is now brewed in Rochester, N.Y., Pawcatuck, Conn., and Westport, Mass. Test batches have been brewed locally in Rhode Island. Raimondo claimed Point Judith helped create 10 jobs there and invested more than $1 million. Hellendrung confirmed that Point Judith Capital helped launch the company (which put the famous Narragansett lager beer back on the shelves) with slightly less than $2 million in venture capital nine years ago and active involvement. "We've got over 10 full-time people, and routinely we've got over 20 part-time people that work promotions and events. It's been a labor of love and a ton of fun, and Gina was very helpful in that process," Hellendrung said. We spoke with Michael O'Neil Jr., founder and CEO of GetWellNetwork, a health care technology company headquartered in Maryland. Raimondo claimed Point Judith Capital helped create 121 jobs there. "She's totally correct," O'Neil said. "Gina and I met just as the company was getting started. Her leadership helped us get off the ground and helped get hundreds of jobs. Those included software engineers and project managers; others were on the services side," O'Neil said. Donna Dooley, chief financial officer at MedOptions, said that the 185 jobs that Raimondo credits Point Judith Capital with helping to create sounds accurate. Dooley joined MedOptions in 2011, the year after Raimondo left Point Judith Capital, and by then it was about 250 employees, she said. MedOptions provides behavioral health services in southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic. "I know that Point Judith Capital and another investment company put money in. I do think it's fair to say that there was a fair amount of job creation at that time," Dooley said. Steven J. Tallarida, co-founder of the former Spirus Medical, said Raimondo probably sold herself short by listing nine as the number of jobs Point Judith Capital helped create at that medical device company. "It was probably around 20," Tallarida said in a phone interview. "Those included research and development, manufacturing, and sales jobs. Point Judith Capital invested a couple of million. Raimondo sat on the board, and she would give governance on how to do things," Tallarida said. (The Massachusetts-based company was sold in 2011 to the Tokyo-based Olympus Corp.) Genevieve Thiers, who co-founded Sittercity, wrote in an email that Point Judith Capital put in $2.5 million and led their Series A round. "Due to them and the other $2.5 million, we were able to grow from 20 employees to about 80." (Raimondo credited her former company with helping to create 80 jobs at Sittercity, a nationwide babysitter-matching website). Thiers added, "That money did not start the company, but it was needed for a pivotal stage in growth." Thiers has since left the company but remains on the board. Dr. Barrett Bready, Nabsys co-founder and CEO, said in an email that Point Judith Capital was the first venture capital firm to invest in the company, and the firm has continued to invest in subsequent financing rounds. Raimondo formerly held a board seat. Nabsys currently has 40 employees, the number Raimondo credits her former company with helping to create. Bob Lentz, founder of the former PermissionTV in Waltham, Mass., wrote in an email that Point Judith Capital was actively involved. Raimondo said her firm helped create 40 jobs there. Lentz wrote, "It's been a few years, but the numbers sound right." (PermissionTV has been relaunched as VisibleGains). Our ruling: Gina Raimondo said her former firm, Point Judith Capital, helped create more than 1,000 jobs when she was a partner there. She produced a list of 21 companies and a precise number of jobs. We reached representatives of seven companies—most of them co-founders and/or CEOs. They confirmed that Point Judith Capital invested several million dollars—give or take—in each case; held board positions and, as such, helped create jobs. The job numbers added up to roughly 480 at those companies. While we were unable to reach all the companies Raimondo listed, the responses from the companies we did reach supported her qualified claim that Point Judith helped create 1,000 jobs. We rate Raimondo's claim True. | 1 | [
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FMD703 | 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: Only one school district in Texas, Austin ISD, is anticipated to suffer a loss exceeding $530 million in local property taxes due to the Robin Hood system this year.
contextual information: Texas House Speaker Joe Straus hinted at theTexas Houses derailed push for more state education aidby asserting that absent fresh action, Austin taxpayers can count on ponying up more than half a billion dollars to schools in other places this year. The San Antonio Republican prefaced his Austin-centric claim by rehashing his view that Texas overly relies on property taxes to fund the schools. Property taxes are going up, and more and more of those dollars are going to school districts in other parts of the state through the Robin Hood system, Straus said in anemail blastdistributed two days before the July 2017 special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott. Straus elaborated: School districts are expected to send away $2 billion through Robin Hood in the upcoming year. One district alone -- Austin ISD -- is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year. Is that accurate? Straus was referring to the Robin Hood or recapture facet of state law designed for equalization purposes so districts with rich tax bases share revenue with less property-wealthy districts. In July 2017, before Straus made his claim, the Texas Education Agencysaid that some $2 billion all told would be redistributedvia the share-the-wealth mechanism in 2017-18. In 2016,we found Truea claim by Travis County state Sen. Kirk Watson that in Austin, the average homeowner is paying about $1,300 to $1,400 just for recapture. That fact-check said the district for 2016-17 would be forwarding more than $400 million for schools elsewhere. Straus cites newspaper Asked how Straus reached the larger $530-million figure, a Straus spokesman, Jason Embry, said by email that Straus relied on a June 19, 2017, Austin American-Statesmannews storyabout the Austin districts board of trustees approving a nearly$1.5 billion budget for 2017-18. The story said the districts recapture payment this year is expected to be $534 million, an increase of 32 percent, or $127.8 million, over 2016-17. It quoted Nicole Conley, the districts chief financial officer, saying the district expects to pay more than $1 billion in recapture payments during the next two years. Austin school districts calculation When we reached out to the district, spokeswoman Cristina Nguyen specified that according to calculations taking into account expected student enrollment and tax collections, Austins estimated payments would total $533,874,730 for the 2017-18 school year. She emailed us the districts calculations,viewable here. Another district spokeswoman, Tiffany Young, sent an email pointing out a May 2017 district chart suggesting its recapture payments could top $800 million by the 2020-21 school year: SOURCE: Document,FY2018 Recommended Budget,Austin Independent School District, May 2017 (web link received by email from Tiffany Young, senior communication specialist, AISD, July 17, 2017) States preliminary analysis We also asked the Texas Education Agency how much the Austin district will be expected to forward in recapture money in 2017-18. By email, Lauren Callahan guided us to an agency estimate, last updated June 21, 2017, of $513,633,317. Thats $20 million less than the districts announced estimate. But Callahan also cautioned that the state figure is preliminary and likely to increase depending on the districts tax rate. Callahan wrote: We use different estimates of local property tax collections as well as different estimates of student counts, both of which affect the estimate of recapture. Our numbers tie together when all final data is reconciled. Our ruling Straus said the Austin district is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year. As of May 2017, the Austin district estimated that in 2017-18 it would flow nearly $534 million in local property tax revenue through the states school finance system, nicknamed Robin Hood, to help equalize school funding across the state. We rate this claim True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. | 1 | [
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FMD704 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Fresh off a New York primary win that all but gave her the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton channeled a little Bernie Sanders on Thursday, railing against big banks while at the same time side-stepping one of Sanders' campaign demands to release transcripts of her Wall Street speeches.
Speaking during a “Good Morning America†Town Hall after her 58-42 drubbing of Sanders in Tuesday’s primary, Clinton said the two candidates generally agreed on many issues, and she used rhetoric reminiscent of the Vermont senator to drive her point home.
“I know that we both – Senator Sanders and I – we want to tackle inequality,†Clinton said. “We want to raise the minimum wage. We want to make sure that people who are putting our economy at risk are reined in, regulated.
“No bank is too big to fail, no executive too powerful to jail. We share those views.â€
But many of Clinton’s critics, particularly on the left, question her authenticity on the topic of income inequality. At issue is a series of highly-paid speeches she made to security firms and banks, such as Goldman Sachs, after her tenure as Secretary of State. The content of those speeches has remained private, and Sanders has called on Clinton to release them. Clinton has refused.
“Now there’s a new request to release transcripts of speeches that have been given,†Clinton said. “When everybody agrees to do that, I will as well. Because I think it’s important we all abide by the same standard.â€
Clinton said she didn’t regret giving the controversial speeches.
“I, like everybody who served as secretary of state, have a unique perspective,†she said, citing Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as former secretaries of state who have made speeches after leaving office. “When you leave the secretary of state office, people from all perspectives want to know, ‘What do you think’s going on in the world?’ I think that’s actually a useful conversation. Like all my predecessors I gave speeches to a wide variety of groups and it was predominantly about what’s going on in the world.†| 1 | [
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FMD705 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: BNI Store Oct 31 2016 UK MUSLIMS want to subject non-Muslims to the noise pollution of the amplified ‘Islamic Call to Prayer’ several times a day If Muslim supremacists get their way, British residents and visitors will be forced to endure the eardrum-shattering, highly offensive Islamic Call to Prayer (‘Adhan’) being blasted from mosque amplifiers – so it can be heard for miles around – at least three times a day, EVERYDAY! UK Express (h/t Rob E) A petition to allow the Islamic call for prayer has been signed by more than 25,000 Muslims. Those behind the petition say: “The Islamic Call to Prayer, is an integral part of the Muslim faith ” which actually means unbelievers are my inferiors and I have no respect for their country, customs, and its citizens. The petition says: “I believe it is the right time to experiment and allow highly Muslim populated areas with a loud call for prayer at least three times a day, not during anti-social hours.” “The number of people practicing the religion of Islam in the United Kingdom exceeds three million. “Some neighbourhood towns have more than 50% Muslim population.” The Government’s official response to the petition has advised people to speak to their local authority about public calls to worship. Officials said: “The Government recognizes the unique contribution (to violence, rape, and terrorism) that Muslims make to their own local communities and to wider society.” | 0 | [
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FMD706 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday: Vice President Mike Pence says Trump plans to finalize a new order limiting travel to the United States in the coming days, after federal courts blocked the administration’s earlier travel ban. Senior U.S. administration officials have lobbied Trump to remove Iraq from a list of seven Muslim-majority nations included in an initial travel ban, and two sources say they are confident Iraq will not appear on a new executive order expected Monday. A new Trump executive order limiting travel to the United States will probably be worded to undercut the opportunity for opponents to sue by showing courts they have “standing.†Trump shows a different side in his first address to Congress: part dealmaker, part salesman, asking for unity, not so combative and trying to repackage his populist message in more palatable terms. Behind the scenes, Trump’s daughter Ivanka was a key advocate for the more measured, less combative tone he struck in his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, officials say. The U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee will investigate allegations of collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, the top Democrat on the panel says. Trump will target a handful of Obama-era green regulations, including a federal coal mining ban and an initiative forcing states to cut carbon emissions, in an executive order as soon as next week, a White House official tells Reuters. Administration officials will meet for the first time with the chief of the U.N. atomic watchdog on Iran’s nuclear deal, which Trump has branded “the worst deal ever negotiated.†The Dow blasts through the 21,000 mark for the first time after Trump’s measured tone in his first speech to Congress lifted optimism and investors viewed a looming interest rate hike as a glass half full. The Trump administration does not want to reform an internet surveillance law to address privacy concerns, a White House official tells Reuters, saying it is needed to protect national security. The White House tells a government watchdog agency that Kellyanne Conway, a senior Trump aide, acted “inadvertently†when she publicly endorsed the clothing and jewelry line of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, according to a letter from the administration. | 1 | [
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FMD707 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Donald Trump s executive order barring people from entering the United States from seven countries in the Middle East exposed his violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.And a House Democrat took him to task for it on Thursday during a speech on the House floor.When Trump signed the executive order last Friday, he targeted people traveling for nations that are not responsible for any deaths of American citizens on American soil, despite claiming that his order is meant to protect Americans from terrorists.Trump even invoked 9/11 to justify the order, but left countries off the list where many of the hijackers came from, such as Saudi Arabia, which also helped fund them and their operation.The nations Trump conveniently left off the list also have something else in common. They all have business ties with the Trump Organization.In other words, Trump is a complete hypocrite and is making foreign policy decisions based on whether they will hurt his family s business or not.And Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan absolutely hammered Trump for it on the House floor with a devastating speech. These countries were excluded from the executive order despite being home to many of the terrorists who carried out 9/11, Pocan pointed out. I m not saying we should ban people from these countries. I firmly oppose any ban based on nationality or religion. But it is unacceptable that business interests have played potentially a role in such a destructive policy, a policy that also makes our country less safe in the long run. Pocan explained that Trump s business interests in the countries left off the list influenced his decision to not include them even though Trump repeatedly declared that he would make America safe by blocking nations where terrorists come from to attack us. Trump clearly believes that maintaining his business interests are more important than banning travel from Saudi Arabia, the country where most of the 9/11 attackers were from and received their funding. It s time for the president to stop defending his divisive and unconstitutional executive order and start being transparent about his business interests, Pocan said. Every president in the modern era has released tax records to ensure the American people that their actions will not be impacted by financial holdings. Indeed, Richard Nixon was the first president to release his tax records to the public, and that set a precedent that all presidential candidates have followed over the decades. Trump broke that precedent and refused to release his taxes because he is hiding his numerous business connections with nations like Russia that would expose him and his treachery to the American people. Trump now says he won t release his taxes at all despite promising that he would do so after an audit is completed, even though an audit does not prevent someone from releasing their tax records.Pocan then demanded that Trump release his taxes, divest himself from his company, and repeal his executive order or else face legislative action, including the possibility of impeachment. Mr. President, it s time for you to fix this. One, divest your business holding immediately to remove any suggestion of conflicts in your decision making. Two, show us your tax returns so financial interests are transparent to the American people. And three, get rid of your unconstitutional executive order, which will make us less safe and only serve to embolden our enemies. Short of that, we ll have to take other actions, including legislative directives, resolutions of disapproval and even explore the power of impeachment. The Speaker then whined about Pocan threatening impeachment as if Republicans hadn t been calling for impeaching President Obama over the last eight years.Here s the video via YouTube.Donald Trump is a liar and a traitor who is putting his business interests ahead of the best interests of the American people. Not only should he be impeached, his entire administration should be removed. And Democrats could get the chance to do exactly that if Americans vote in 2018 to take the House away from the Republican majority.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD708 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The impassioned election-year debate over President Obama’s immigration executive actions lands Monday before a short-handed Supreme Court, where justices will consider a fundamental question: how much power does the president truly have?
The justices plan to hold 90 minutes of oral arguments dealing with Obama’s bid to spare millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
A coalition of states calls it an executive power grab. "President Obama's executive action is an affront to our system of republican self-government," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who supports those states.
But the White House contends the president’s authority is clear, and the policies humane and reasonable. Obama has promoted his program as a plan to "prioritize deporting felons not families."
It’s a case that will be closely watched in an election season where Republican front-runner Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement a centerpiece of his campaign. The outcome also could have considerable bearing on Obama’s legacy, potentially determining whether his lame-duck bid to go around Congress is upheld or ruled an overreach.
At issue Monday is whether as many as 5 million illegal immigrants can be spared deportation -- including those who entered the U.S. as children, and the parents of citizens or legal residents. The programs -- known as Deferred Action for Parents of American Citizens and Permanent Residents (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) -- effectively went around the Republican-led Congress.
Opponents, including 26 states and GOP members of Congress, say the plan exceeds constitutional power.
A federal appeals court earlier had struck down DAPA, which has yet to go fully into effect. The Justice Department then asked the high court for a final review, in what could be a key test of Obama's executive powers his last year in office.
The decision to review the case was welcome on both sides of the aisle.
"The Constitution vests legislative authority in Congress, not the president,†said Hatch, urging the justices to rule against the administration.
But the White House voiced confidence the policies would be upheld.
"Like millions of families across this country -- immigrants who want to be held accountable, to work on the books, to pay taxes, and to contribute to our society openly and honestly -- we are pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to review the immigration case," spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said.
The issue of illegal immigration has taken a center-stage role in the Republican primary battle, as Trump calls for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and candidates spar over who is toughest on the issue.
The immigrants who would benefit from the Obama administration's plan are mainly parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said in a court filing that allowing the past rulings to stand would force millions "to continue to work off the books.â€
Besides immigration, Obama has used his unilateral authority to act on such hot-button issues as gun control, health care and global warming.
However, as with other high-profile Supreme Court appeals this term -- on ObamaCare, abortion rights and affirmative action -- the outcome here likely will be affected by death in February of Justice Antonin Scalia, which left a 4-4 bench split along conservative-liberal lines.
A 4-4 ruling would effectively scuttle the issue until after Obama leaves office in nine months, and mean at least a temporary setback to his domestic policy legacy -- even if the justices punt, and choose to reargue the case when Scalia's replacement is sworn in. The justices also could rule narrowly on procedure, finding a compromise on a technical issue not directly related to the larger policy questions.
On the legal side, the GOP-controlled House filed an amicus brief supporting the states, telling the high court, "the Executive does not have the power to authorize -- let alone facilitate -- the prospective violation of the immigration laws on a massive class-wide scale."
Supporters of the administration vow this issue will resonate in an election year.
"There are millions of families of U.S.-born citizens that live under the fear of separation and deportation," said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, an Hispanic advocacy nonprofit. "Our community is watching and will hold accountable those who have stood on the way of our families through the ballots in November."
MFV and other immigrant rights advocates plan to march at the Supreme Court around Monday's arguments.
The case is U.S. v. Texas (15-674). A ruling is expected by late June. | 1 | [
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FMD709 | 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: How have the financial assets of Presidents evolved over time? Claim summaries: An image comparing changes in the financial status of former and current United States presidents is not particularly revealing.
contextual information: An image comparing changes in the financial status of former and current United States presidents was widely shared on social media at the end of 2017, with minimal text suggesting that the data it presented was particularly revealing of something (without providing any detail about what that "something" might be). As for the hard data, we won't dwell on precise numbers because net worth figures are typically estimates that are at least partially based on assets with fluctuating valuations, and federal election disclosure laws have only required that candidates list their assets and liabilities in ranges rather than specific amounts. However, in general, we can note that the information in the image is at least within the ballpark of reasonableness. The Clintons' net worth was reported as $700,000 in their 1992 statement, the Obamas' net worth was estimated at about $1.3 million in 2007 (mostly derived from book publishing advances and royalties), while the Trumps' net worth was pegged at $3.7 billion in 2016. As of 2017, the Clintons were estimated to have made $240 million since Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the Obamas' combined net worth was reckoned to be about $24 million, while the Trumps' net worth was thought to have dropped to about $3.1 billion. Suffice it to say that the Clinton and Obama families have done very well for themselves since leaving the White House, but the Trumps have realized no similar windfall and have possibly seen their overall wealth decline a bit. The comparison in this image is one of apples and oranges, however, and therefore it reveals nothing remarkable or surprising. It contrasts two men who each served eight years as President and are no longer in office with one man who has only been the U.S. chief executive for a year and still occupies that position. The longer one holds high office, the more opportunity one has to establish connections and build experience that might prove financially lucrative later on, so obviously, two men who sat in the White House for eight years each have a considerable advantage over the one who has barely been in Washington for a year. More importantly, though, is that former Presidents Clinton and Obama are ex-presidents who have returned to private life, and thus they can avail themselves of many money-making opportunities common to ex-presidents—writing books, giving speeches, consulting for private companies, holding board seats, advising businessmen and politicians—that are simply not available to a sitting president. For the incumbent chief executive, the position of President of the United States affords its holder little time to manage any outside business interests, and conflict of interest laws make it difficult for presidents to engage in profitable business ventures while they are serving as public officials. Most sitting presidents choose to put their business interests into blind trusts or otherwise delegate their day-to-day management to others during their terms of office. This image also conveniently omits data that demonstrates the money-making proclivities of former presidents to be neither an aberration nor an activity limited to Democrats: George H.W. Bush saw his fortune grow from $4 million in his pre-presidential days to $23 million in 2017, and his son, George W. Bush, began his presidency with $20 million and is now reportedly worth $35 million. Finally, nothing about this subject has anything to do with any presidents, current or former, "stealing" anyone's money. Whatever controversies may have surrounded Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Trump so far, none of them has been accused of enriching themselves by looting the public treasury. | 2 | [
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FMD710 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: For many in the Israeli settlement of Bet El, deep in the occupied West Bank, Donald Trump’s choice of Jared Kushner as his senior adviser on the Middle East is a sign of politics shifting in their favor. They regard Kushner, whose family’s charitable foundation has donated tens of thousands of dollars to their settlement, as part of a diplomatic rebalancing after what they view as eight years of anti-Israel bias under the U.S. administration of Barack Obama. “He will stand up for our interests. I suppose he will lean in our favor,†said Avi Lavi, 46, who has lived in Bet El for more than 40 years. “He’ll be fair, as opposed to Obama, whose policy leaned always towards the Arabs.†New U.S. President Trump says his son-in-law Kushner, 36, is capable of brokering the “ultimate deal†to deliver peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Roi Margalit, manager of the Bet El Yeshiva, a seminary complex with around 400 students, said Kushner, an Orthodox Jewish father of three, understood the position of Israeli settlers better than previous envoys. “At least now we have someone who knows us,†the 43-year-old added. “He will now have to study the other side (the Palestinians) and see if there is any common ground.†Trump’s pick for Israeli ambassador has sparked particular enthusiasm in the community: David Friedman, who chairs the American Friends of Bet El Institutions fundraising group. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Kushner and Friedman. Kushner, a businessman who built his career on real estate and publishing, has said little about his views about one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, either during the campaign or since Trump took office. The big question for the Palestinians is whether he can be an impartial actor given his family foundation’s past financial ties to Bet El. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been careful to say he looks forward to working with the Trump administration, but others are less optimistic. Wasel Abu Youssef, a senior official at the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the main Palestinian political umbrella body, said Kushner could not be a neutral envoy if he was supportive of Israeli settlements. Hani al-Masri, a political scientist and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies, said Kushner would be a representative of Israel rather than of the United States. “If he attempts to resume negotiations, he will seek to hold them at a lower level than previous negotiations. It will be more biased to the Israeli position in an era where Israel is more extreme.†Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an independent state, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israel has built about 120 settlements in the West Bank. About 350,000 settlers live there and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem, among about 2.6 million Palestinians. Most countries consider the settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state. Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land and security interests. Bet El, a community of 1,300 families perched on a hillside where many believe God promised Jacob the land, has been financed in part by donations from American backers. Among its donors have been the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which gave $10,000 in 2003, and the foundation of Charles and Seryl Kushner, the parents of Jared, which gave $38,000 in 2013, U.S. tax records show. The New York-based American Friends of Bet El Institutions hosts dinners to raise funds for the settlement, which overlooks the Palestinian city Ramallah. Kushner has left it up to his father-in-law to comment on what role he might play. “Jared is such a good kid and he’ll make a deal with Israel that no one else can,†Trump told The Times of London newspaper last month. “He’s a natural dealmaker | 1 | [
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FMD711 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: With golf long regarded as a stern measure of character and a natural setting for deal-making, U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s weekend outing in Florida could be viewed as more than a leisurely bonding exercise between two world leaders. U.S. President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe will form a twosome for their round of golf on Saturday, presumably at the Trump International Golf Club near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. Details are still under wraps. Trump told a local sports radio station last weekend golf was a better way to get to know someone than lunch and saw his match-up with Abe as a “fun†meeting between partners rather than adversaries. Abe might feel the occasion carries more weight. His prime minister grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower played near Washington in 1957, a round newspapers described as a “triumph of diplomacy†between former World War Two enemies. Abe teed off the latest round of golf diplomacy in November, giving Trump an expensive, gold-colored driver during their meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, where he sought assurances about the future strength of the decades-old alliance between the two nations. With anxiety over Trump’s tough talk on currency, security and trade with Japan, some in Tokyo have expressed concern Abe might be too generous in any haggling on the fairways when pitted against the real estate mogul and author of “The Art of the Dealâ€. In purely a golfing sense, Abe is likely to find Trump a formidable opponent. “He is pretty remarkable for a 70-year-old guy,†Jaime Diaz, editor-in-chief of Golf World and a senior writer for Golf Digest, told Reuters. “As I understand it, his handicap is 2.8. That seems a little low but I think he is very capable of playing to a five or six handicap. “He is a legitimate good player. It’s not a ‘trumped-up’ claim that he is somebody who shoots in the 70s.†Trump says he has won 18 club trophies and said such a winning pedigree made him the ideal man to run the country during the election race. “See how beautiful my hands are, look at those hands. Those are powerful hands,†Trump said at a Detroit rally last year during the Republican primaries. “(They can) hit a golf ball 285 yards.†Retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya questioned Trump’s trustworthiness on the golf course while speaking to reporters in Las Vegas in May 2016 during the build-up to the WBC middleweight title clash between Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan, according to the AP. Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson did the same in an interview he did with United Airlines’ Rhapsody magazine in January 2016. Reuters could not independently confirm these accounts. After the Jackson interview, Trump issued a tweet that said in part: “I don’t cheat at golf.†The White House did not return a request for comment on the cheating allegations. Diaz who has twice played with Trump, at Trump National Golf Club Charlotte in North Carolina in 2013 and more recently at the Doral resort in Florida, described the President as someone who would not need to resort to cheating to beat most players. “I know he has won all these club championships at golf courses that he owns and a lot of people are suspect about that. But he would be a tough guy to beat with a five handicap,†the golf writer said. “He addresses the ball with good body language ... confident and flowing and fluid. He just looks like he is going to hit a good shot.†It is far harder to find allegations of cheating or boastfulness directed at the more circumspect Abe, who is a member of the ultra-exclusive Three Hundred Club in Kanagawa Prefecture, south-west of Tokyo. The club, confined to only 300 members, charges some 70-80 million yen ($625,000-$715,000) for membership fees and 50,000 yen for green fees. The 62-year-old Abe takes the game very seriously and local media have reported that rounds with his wife can get tense if he is playing poorly. “When he is playing golf, he concentrates. So everyone else becomes intense as well,†a company president who plays Abe once or twice a year, told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He was unsure of Abe’s handicap but confirmed reports that the Prime Minister usually shoots between 90 and 100 over 18 holes, which would place him squarely in the field of average weekend hackers. A straight driver with a “stable†game all round, Abe is generally smartly turned out, sometimes in short pants and knee socks and always with a baseball cap on his head. “I was impressed that Abe holds the flag on the green, while other players are putting,†the source said. “People in a high position like him do not have to do that for others. He is very polite.†The conservative politician is not so reserved as to shun refreshments at the ‘19th hole’ back at the clubhouse, however, where he might indulge in a couple of glasses of beer or red wine after a bath to freshen up, added the source. For graphic on the Trump/Abe scorecard, click tmsnrt.rs/2ltvfm7 | 1 | [
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FMD712 | 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 Simpsons' Predict the Smartwatch? Claim summaries: The smartwatch was first popularized by a fictional character, but was it really a character on 'The Simpsons'?
contextual information: On March 19, 1995, an episode of "The Simpsons" entitled "Lisa's Wedding" took a futuristic view of Springfield's favorite family after Homer's daughter visited a fortuneteller's booth. At one point in the episode, Lisa's future husband, Hugh Parkfield, voiced by actor Mandy Patinkin, bent over and spoke into a strange-looking device on his wrist: a half flip phone, half wristwatch that most modern viewers would liken to a smartwatch. This animated gadget can be glimpsed at the 2:58 mark of this video about similar Simpsons "predictions." (You can read our coverage on "Simpsons" predictions here.) video "Simpsons" predictions here This is a genuine clip from a 1995 episode of "The Simpsons." It is also true that this episode aired more than 20 years before the "Year of the Smartwatch" in 2014, when these devices became relatively common. However, "The Simpsons" shouldn't get credit for "predicting" the smartwatch for two reasons: Year of the Smartwatch It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the first smartwatch was produced, because it depends on the criteria you use to classify one. The first digital watches were produced in the 1970s. In 1983, the Seiko Data-2000 featured a built-in keyboard for data input. A few years later, Sinclair made a watch with an FM radio, and in 1994 Seiko unveiled a watch that doubled as a pager. The Timex Datalink, which was also introduced in 1994, is a good contender for the first "modern" smartwatch because it had the ability to transfer data by linking to a computer. smartwatch produced The point is that the road to the modern smartwatch has been a long and winding one that predated this episode of "The Simpsons." In addition to these early entries into the smartwatch market, the idea of a smartwatch can be traced back even further. Special agent James Bond, for instance, has a long history of using watch gadgets to aid his spy craft. In 1973's "Live and Let Die," Bond's watch was equipped with a circular saw and a magnet. In 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me," Bond used his watch to print out tiny messages. In 1995's "Golden Eye," Bond's watch was equipped with a laser. James Bond And Bond wasn't the only fictional character to use a dual-purpose watch. Fred Flintstone once communicated via a radio watch, as did members of "The Jetsons." Detective Dick Tracy also used a radio watch in a 1946 comic strip, and who could forget Penny's watch in "Inspector Gadget?" fictional character 1946 comic strip In sum, "The Simpsons" didn't predict the smartwatch. While this episode of "The Simpsons" is real and truly predated the "Year of the Smartwatch" in 2014, this was not the first time a smartwatch appeared in a movie, comic strip, or television show. Furthermore, the evolution of the smartwatch was well underway by the time this episode aired in 1994. You can read more about The Simpsons alleged predictions in the Snopes collection The Simpsons Didnt Predict That. The Simpsons Didnt Predict That Blakemore, Erin. "How Dick Tracy Invented the Smartwatch."
Smithsonian Magazine. 9 March 2015. Osborn, Jacob. "A Complete List of All James Bond 007 Watches."
Man of Many. 18 October 2019. Lamkin, Paul. "Smartwatch Timeline: The Devices That Paved the Way for the Apple Watch."
Wareable. 10 March 2015. Thompson, Joe. "A Concise History of the Smartwatch."
Bloomberg. 8 January 2018. Hamblen, Matt. "Is 2014 the Year of the Smartwatch?"
PC World. 28 December 2013. King, Rachel. "Before They Were Stars: Smartwatches in Pop Culture."
ZDnet. 6 March 2015. | 0 | [
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FMD713 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: To preserve federal funding for critical rail projects, New Jersey and New York senators on Wednesday asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to examine firsthand the decaying train tunnels that threaten to cripple regional travel if they fail. In a letter to Chao, four Democratic senators, two each from New York and New Jersey, asked Chao to visit before Republican President Donald Trump’s administration finalizes any federal infrastructure package. They also urged Chao to support Amtrak’s Gateway Program, which includes building a passenger rail tunnel underneath the Hudson River in partnership with NJ Transit, the two states, and their bi-state port authority. That project, which had been fast-tracked by Chao’s predecessor in the administration of former President Barack Obama, is considered one of the most important infrastructure projects in the nation. “We’re teetering every single day on the brink of truly a traffic Armageddon,†U.S. Senator Corey Booker said at a news conference in Newark’s Penn Station about the invitation to Chao he issued with New York senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and fellow New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez. “The new administration has to come to the table with a commitment to what is not just a New Jersey problem, not just a regional problem, but really an American problem,†Booker said. The area is also a chokepoint on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, a key section of rail that connects Washington to Boston. The Transportation Department said in a statement that Chao intends to tour a number of the country’s infrastructure projects, including the Gateway site. An important source of funding for Gateway and some other U.S. projects is uncertain because Trump proposed cutting the federal New Starts grant program in his initial budget plan. Two NJ Transit train derailments in recent weeks, both the fault of Amtrak, badly snarled commutes. They also prompted New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, to say he would halt state payments to the national rail operator, from which NJ Transit leases tracks. At the news conference, a handful of protesters criticized Christie for underfunding New Jersey transportation and cancelling a previous rail tunnel project. The governor on Wednesday blamed problems on “an absolute failure of the federal government to stand up to their obligations†to maintain infrastructure and said Amtrak is part of Chao’s responsibility. He said he had spoken to Trump about the Gateway project. | 1 | [
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FMD714 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Does This Meme Demonstrate Racial Bias in Tax-Evasion Prosecutions? Claim summaries: What do these four examples have in common? Nothing of significance, as far as we can tell.
contextual information: One of the more unusual political memes we've come across presented four different cases of tax-related financial improprieties to suggest that tax-evasion prosecutions were somehow influenced by racial bias against non-blacks. However, the "Tax Racism" meme offered examples, not all of which were actual cases of tax evasion, so widely spaced in time and differing in circumstances as to be unhelpful in making any point at all about either tax fraud or race. Martha Stewart, the entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the author of books on cooking, entertaining, and decorating, was not charged with or imprisoned for non-payment of income taxes. Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators in a case related to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into insider trading activity. On June 4, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Stewart committed illegal insider trading when she sold stock in a biopharmaceutical company, ImClone Systems, Inc., on December 27, 2001, after receiving an unlawful tip from Bacanovic, who was then a broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated. The Commission further alleges that Stewart and Bacanovic subsequently created an alibi for Stewart's ImClone sales and concealed important facts during SEC and criminal investigations into her trades. In a separate action, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtained an indictment charging Stewart and Bacanovic criminally for their false statements concerning Stewart's ImClone trades. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and also settled a civil suit with the SEC by paying a $195,000 fine, a penalty that reflected four times the amount of stock value loss she avoided by taking advantage of inside information, plus interest. Stewart did engage in a dispute with the state of New York in 2002 over unpaid property taxes that she contended she didn't owe because she hardly spent any time in that state, and she was eventually ordered by a judge to pay $220,000 in back taxes plus penalties. But contrary to the false impression created by this meme, she was not prosecuted or jailed over that issue; the time she spent in prison was solely related to a later insider-trading case, not to tax evasion. By the mid-1920s, notorious Chicago mobster Alphonse Gabriel Capone was reportedly taking in nearly $60 million annually ($878 million in 2018 dollars) from a variety of illegal activities, primarily Prohibition-era bootlegging. Capone was dubbed "Public Enemy No. 1" after the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which gunmen allegedly hired by him posed as police officers to murder seven members of a rival gang, leading to increased public pressure on the government to rein Capone in. Federal authorities had difficulty gathering sufficient hard evidence to convict Capone on any substantial criminal charges, so they took what was then a novel approach: Even if they couldn't prove Capone was making his millions illegally, they could prove he wasn't paying income tax on his ill-gotten gains. Despite his obviously lavish lifestyle, Capone never filed a federal income tax return and claimed he had no taxable income, reportedly boasting at one point that, "They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money." He was proved wrong. IRS and Treasury agents gathered evidence that Capone had made millions of dollars in untaxed income, and the mobster was eventually indicted on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion. After conviction, he was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $215,000. Capone was released from prison in 1939 with time off for good behavior and retired to Florida, where he died in 1947 at the relatively young age of 48. In a literal sense, Capone was indeed jailed for non-payment of income taxes, but the tax evasion charges were essentially a proxy for prosecuting the mobster over the multitude of vastly worse and violent crimes with which he was connected, as well as the immense profits he derived from those criminal activities. Capone was by no means an otherwise upright and law-abiding citizen who was thrown in prison simply because he didn't pay his income taxes. At this point in our narrative, we need to distinguish between different forms of tax evasion. At one end of the spectrum are those who haven't engaged in any fraudulent behavior but simply didn't or can't pay their taxes for any number of reasons—maybe they didn't plan or withhold prudently, they received poor financial advice, they had legitimate confusion or dispute over what constituted taxable income, or they simply overspent and ended up in debt. Although non-payment of taxes is a crime, the IRS will not usually seek prosecution in these types of cases and will instead work with offenders to facilitate payment of their back debts, rather than making repayment difficult or impossible by incarcerating them. At the other end of the spectrum are those who actively engage in fraud to evade the full payment of taxes: They fail to disclose their full income, hide financial transactions, claim deductions to which they are not entitled, disguise monies earned as something other than income, or otherwise file falsified tax returns. The IRS will, at their discretion, seek prosecution in egregious cases of these forms of tax evasion. Leona Helmsley, derisively known as the "Queen of Mean," was a billionaire who, along with her husband, real estate investor and broker Harry Helmsley, owned a vast portfolio of real estate and other assets, including a chain of hotels and the iconic Empire State Building. Leona Helmsley, who once reportedly asserted that "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes," fell into the latter class of tax evader, falsely manipulating her personal finances, business expenses, and dealings with third parties to avoid paying immense sums of taxes. Some of Helmsley's luster was tarnished in 1986 when court documents and law enforcement officials said she had failed to pay sales taxes in New York on hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry she purchased at Van Cleef & Arpels, the exclusive Manhattan store. Two senior store officers were indicted on charges that they operated a scheme by which customers with out-of-state addresses could have their purchases recorded as being mailed to them, thus avoiding city and state taxes. In 1987, a series of adverse articles in The New York Post about the Helmsleys, set off by one of their disgruntled employees, led to a broad investigation. The following year, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted by federal and state authorities on charges that they had evaded more than $4 million in income taxes by fraudulently claiming as business expenses luxuries they purchased for Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., a 28-room Jacobean mansion on 26 acres with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound that they bought in 1983. In 235 counts in state and federal indictments brought by Robert Abrams, then the New York State attorney general, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, then the United States attorney and later mayor of New York, the Helmsleys were accused of draining their hotel and real estate empire to provide themselves with such extravagances at Dunnellen Hall as a $1 million marble dance floor above a swimming pool, a $45,000 silver clock, a $210,000 mahogany card table, a $130,000 stereo system, and $500,000 worth of jade art objects. Nothing was too small or personal to be billed to their businesses, from Mrs. Helmsley's bras to a white lace and pink satin dress and jacket and a white chiffon skirt—the dress and skirt were entered in the Park Lane Hotel records as uniforms for the staff. Mrs. Helmsley was also charged with defrauding Helmsley stockholders by receiving $83,333 a month in secret consulting fees. She was convicted of 33 felony counts related to her evasion of $1.2 million in federal income taxes. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to four years on appeal), fined $7.1 million for tax fraud, and ordered to pay some $1.7 million in back federal and state taxes. She began serving her sentence in 1992 and was released from federal prison in Connecticut in 1994 after having served less than half her sentence. Where along the tax-evader spectrum between "legitimate dispute" and "willful tax fraud" civil rights activist Al Sharpton might fall is difficult to determine. Claims were made in the press in 2014 that Sharpton owed some $4.5 million in unpaid taxes, but the accuracy of that number and how much of the money owed might already have been repaid by Sharpton were unclear, and his tax-troubles narrative involved a muddied mixture of personal, business, and non-profit finances, as well as liabilities for federal taxes, state taxes, payroll taxes, and personal income taxes. Much of the dispute over the "why" and "how much" of Sharpton's unpaid tax bill stemmed from the operations of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization founded by Sharpton in 1991. Sharpton contended in a 2014 New York Times account that he incurred an unexpected tax liability because he was taxed personally for income he had given to the non-profit organization, and that he was up to date on repayment plans. Officials contested that the amount he was in arrears for unpaid taxes had actually grown larger, though. Today, Mr. Sharpton still faces personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million and state tax liens of $777,657, according to records. Mr. Sharpton said the federal liens resulted from a demand by the IRS that he pay taxes on earnings from speaking engagements that he had turned over to the National Action Network. He said he was up to date on payment plans for both the federal and state liens, so, he said, the outstanding balance was much lower than records showed. But according to state officials, his balance on the state liens is actually $220,000 greater now than when they were first filed during the years 2008 through 2010. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said state law did not allow him to provide any further details. Sharpton then contested that news account, asserting that it referenced "old taxes" and insisting again that his tax liens had been paid down below the $4.5 million debt claimed in the New York Times report. During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was current on all taxes he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities. "We're talking about old taxes," he said, adding, "We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true." The accuracy of Mr. Sharpton's assertion that the amount he owes the federal government is much lower than the $3.6 million shown in records could not be verified. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service said federal law prohibited the agency from divulging any details about individual taxpayers. As for the state tax liens, Mr. Sharpton's assertion that he had paid them down conflicts with information provided by state officials. State authorities filed tax liens against Mr. Sharpton in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2010 against a for-profit business he controls, Revals Communications, all totaling $695,000. But a spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said the amount due had actually increased to $916,000. Regardless of the numbers, Sharpton wasn't put in prison because tax officials did not deem his case to be an exceptional one of scofflaw tax fraud or evasion that merited prosecution, instead working with him to facilitate his paying down the debt. The conclusion here is a simple one: Cherry-picking four very disparate cases of financial wrongdoing spanning several decades, while ignoring the many other instances of tax evasion successfully prosecuted by the U.S. government, documents nothing about any purported racial bias in such prosecutions. | 0 | [
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FMD715 | 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: 1 Calorie Diet Sodas Rumor Claim summaries: Do diet colas contain more calories than stated?
contextual information: Claim: Diet Coke (or Diet Pepsi) contains more calories than claimed, but the company gets away with the deception by paying a yearly fine. Examples: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] There was an old rumour that stated that a particular diet soda company (Coke I believe) paid a fine to print their cans as stating that the soda had 'just one calorie'. According to the rumour, companies who knowingly printed misinformation on the nutritional facts of their product would have to pay a fine. The company in question figured it could make more money by convincing people the product only had 1 calorie than it would cost to pay the fine, meaning a higher profit margin for them. [Collected on the Internet, 2002] I heard a rumor today that Diet Coke actually contains 40 calories, and the Coca-Cola company pays a huge fine to the FDA every year to keep "0 calories" on the can. Have you heard anything of this? [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Comment: Is it true that Pepsi One is really not one calorie and that Pepsi Co. pays a fine every year for false advertising (because the calorie count is a lot higher than that)? Origins: How long this particular belief about low-calorie sodas has been around is anyone's guess, but we have recorded sightings of it dating back to 1990. We've encountered claims of Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, or Pepsi One (which are listed as containing zero, zero, and one calories per 12-oz. can, respectively) actually containing 25, 50, 70, or 90 calories, in each case with the parent company's paying an annual fine to continue falsely listing the beverage's caloric content. (A can of non-diet cola typically contains about 120 calories.) The rumor associates most strongly with Diet Coke (which is known as Coca-Cola Light outside the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Great Britain). In the U.S., laws governing the disclosure of nutritional and caloric content of ingestibles prevent the rumor from being true. The Federal Trade Commission serves as the watchdog in this area: under the Federal Trade Commission Act, it is empowered to "prevent persons, partnerships, or corporations" from using "unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce." At various times in its history it has fined corporations for their having made false or misleading nutritional claims about their products. Such fines are a reaction to what has already taken place; they are not grants of immunity against continued breaking of the rules. Consumers have legal remedy available to them against corporations that have deceived them through certain provisions of the Lanham Act. Many other countries have similar safeguards in place. Federal Trade Commission Act Lanham Act Common sense should also serve to rule out what the whispers say about an annual payoff. For health reasons, many potential consumers of diet drinks have to carefully monitor what they ingest. Were the rumor true, diabetics with a love of Diet Coke, for instance, would experience glucose levels spiraling out of control. Imagine the lawsuits resulting from that! This false belief enjoys a measure of popularity because of what it says about common perception of large companies and of the government agencies tasked with shielding consumers from harm: that one will bamboozle its customers for the sake of financial profit, the other will sell out those it is mandated to protect, and neither is to be trusted. Such misgivings also find voice in other rumors, such as the one about bananas imported from Costa Rica being infected with a flesh-eating bacteria. bananas If there is the tiniest bit of truth to this rumor, it's that even though sodas such as Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are advertised as having zero calories, they do have some caloric content from ingredients such as artificial sweeteners, citric acid, and caramel coloring. However, the number of calories per can is still less than one, and FDA regulations allow any food product that contains fewer than five calories per serving to be advertised as calorie-free. Barbara "calorie countered" Mikkelson Last updated: 26 August 2013 | 0 | [
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FMD716 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Pope Francis, in a major speech on Europe, on Saturday urged the European Union to recover the sense of being a single community if it wants a future of prosperity and fairness for all. Francis spoke at the end of a two-day conference at the Vatican called Re-Thinking Europe . Dozens of participants attended, including European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and religious leaders. While the pope did not specifically mention the situation in Catalonia, where the region s leaders want to break away from Spain, or Britain s decision to leave the EU, he spoke often of solidarity, teamwork and mutual sacrifice. A European Union that, in facing its crises, fails to recover a sense of being a single community that sustains and assists its members and not just a collection of small interest groups would miss out not only on one of the greatest challenges of its history, but also on one of the greatest opportunities for its own future, he said. Particular and nationalist agendas risk thwarting the courageous dreams of the founders of Europe, he said. In his long speech, Francis appeared to warn against the dangers to Europe posed by populist anti-immigrant parties. In elections in Germany in September, Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured almost 13 percent of the vote, making it the third largest party and the first far-right party to win seats in more than half a century. Extremist and populist groups are finding fertile ground in many countries; they make protest the heart of their political message, without offering the alternative of a constructive political project, Francis said, without naming any group. History s first Latin American pope said politics had often gone astray, saying Sadly, all too often we see how politics is becoming instead a forum for clashes between opposing forces. In his address to the pope at the closing ceremony, Tajani, the European Parliament president, spoke of risk of a return to intolerance and xenophobia . The pope called for immigrants to be welcomed to Europe as an enriching resource, rather than be seen as a threat. But, in an apparent assertion that immigration had to be controlled, he said that while authorities should have an open heart they should be able to provide for the full integration, on the social, economic and political level of newcomers. | 1 | [
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FMD717 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Monday is what for many in the nexus is considered the highlight of the social season: the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute gala. Before guests like Sarah Jessica Parker and Johnny Depp run the flashbulb gantlet to get to their Champagne and canapés, however, they will have to the Anna Wintour, Miuccia Prada, Taylor Swift, Nicolas Ghesquière, Idris Elba and Jonathan Ive, and at least pretend to pay attention to the nominal reason they are there: the opening of “Manus x Machina,†the Met’s annual fashion blockbuster exhibition. A meditation on the assumptions we all make about what constitutes value in clothing, the show features 150 garments made between the 1880s and last February by names like Chanel, Iris van Herpen, Lanvin and Hussein Chalayan, and is meant to draw attention to the increasingly meaningless standoff between hand and machine. Why do we believe a dress that took one seamstress thousands of hours to embroider is worth more than a dress that took thousands of hours to 3D print? Can you even tell the difference? “Technology is eroding the difference between haute couture and †said Andrew Bolton, chief curator of the Costume Institute, who wants the show to convince viewers that “we need a new paradigm for thinking about creativity. †Not to mention, he added, to raise the question of what wearables really means. The implication being that, despite the fact that Apple, maker of the Apple Watch (a. k. a. the poster object for wearables) is a sponsor of the show, the answer is not necessarily a gadget you strap on your body. Rather it may have something to do with what is going on a few miles to the south of the museum, across the East River in a cavernous old industrial building in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. That is the headquarters of Manufacture New York, a fashion incubator, factory and research facility housed in a landmark building that was once Storehouse No. 2 of the United States Navy Fleet Supply Base (so noted on a plaque by the entrance) and is now the wearables epicenter of a Brooklyn waterfront reinvention that has been taking place over the last few years. Forget Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach. Welcome to the land of the Silicon Schmatte. Incubator hubs in former factories have begun to dot the river’s edge and the uplands like pearls on a string: Aside from Manufacture NY, there is the Greenpoint Design and Manufacturing Center, a complex of old brick buildings originally built for the textile industry, and New Lab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard (which concentrates on prototyping and structures) to name just a few. Then there is the Brooklyn Army Terminal, just a few blocks down from Manufacture NY’s home, and a center for “advanced manufacturing†(including biotech) in the words of Maria president of the New York Economic Development Corporation, which will manage the space. Thanks to an unexpected collision of circumstances — a borough with a surfeit of unused industrial spaces city planning (the realization on the part of the development corporation, among other agencies, “that there is enormous economic opportunity in encouraging this identity,†according to Scott Cohen, one of the founders of New Lab) the rise of the maker movement, with its emphasis on small businesses thinking in a local and custom way and the city’s legacy as a fashion capital — New York, especially Brooklyn, has become “the natural home of the greater wearables movement,†said Francis Bitonti, a designer who runs a namesake studio and whose primary tools are algorithms and 3D printers. “The West Coast has a lot of software talent, but not really a strong fashion culture,†said Mr. Bitonti, who has collaborated on dresses for Dita Von Teese and Chromat and shoes for United Nude. “They take a very approach to their . †Manufacture NY has a somewhat different approach. Manufacture NY was founded in 2012 by Bob Bland, 33, a redhead with stints at Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger on her résumé, who was inspired to “create the garment district†after struggling to run her own label, Brooklyn Royalty, and source production locally. Now the group aims to focus on the points where design intersects with technology, and how together they can alter the supply chain. To this end, the executive team includes a chief technology officer named Amanda Parkes, a computer scientist and mechanical engineer with long blond hair who talks at warp speed, has a thing for biofabrication, and tends to pepper her sentences with words like “density mapping,†“voxel†and “hacking interfaces. †Together, she and Ms. Bland are the sharp point of the wearables spear. They function a bit like “Charlie’s Angels,†if the angels had thrown off the patriarchy and gone out on their own. “We want to create a whole new genre of company that will have the instincts and design skills of fashion and the back end of research and I. P.,†Ms. Parkes said, pointing out that current fashion exist in one sphere and tech in another, and, generally, never the twain do meet. But, Ms. Parkes said, “If you are making a clothing line, you need research facilities for the hydrophobic nanotechnology that’s going to make it special, and you need to know what it takes to create a private label so you can actually bring it to market. †If you are Dan Steingart, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Princeton and an energy specialist who is researching how to make fabric into a battery, “You need to know who can actually scale the fabric you make, or who can actually make clothes out of it. Who can design them. †You need to be in the same ecosystem. Or at least on the same floor — all 160, 000 square feet of it, with washed concrete floors, giant mullioned windows and curving pillars nearing completion. (Manufacture NY is in a temporary home on a lower floor.) There will be space for 30 or 40 companies, a denim lab, digital printing, laser cutting, 3D knitting, weaving, chemistry and biology labs, and a working sample room. At the moment, 15 are in the temporary site, with another 50 or so linked into their network. Not all of them are . But all of them embody, to varying extents, this new kind of thinking and function somewhat as a circuit unto themselves. Dropel, for example, was by Simardev Gulati, scion of a family in India, who studied international trade and finance at Oxford. He and the Bradley Feinstein, a former consultant, have patented a nanotechnology process that bonds hydrophobic polymers with natural fibers on the molecular level to make them and a process that can be licensed by clothing brands. Translated it means that a linen or cotton or denim shirt looks and feels exactly like linen or cotton or denim, but if you spill cranberry juice (or soy sauce or wine) on it, the liquid beads right off. Recently they were in the “office†hanging out near Jae Rhim Lee, an artist and TED fellow, who first became known for her “burial shroud,†an art project she created at M. I. T. that combined biological material (mushrooms) with textiles to help achieve perfect physical decomposition after death. “But I’m not a designer, so it didn’t look that attractive,†she said. Ms. Parkes introduced Ms. Lee to Daniel Silverstein, a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate who had interned at Carolina Herrera before going out on his own, and who has a space in Manufacture NY denoted by a gold velvet vintage chaise, a silver bowl of apples and two rails of clothing. Mr. Silverstein redesigned the funeral shroud into a neatly tailored funeral suit, and now Ms. Lee plans to sell it for $1, 500. Mr. Silverstein, meanwhile, spends most of his time creating tops, for his label ZWD (Zero Waste Daniel) that are painstakingly and personally collaged from scrap fabric left on the floor at local factories, so that within its basic contours no one garment is the same. His goal is to connect with a company using visual algorithms that allow robots to identify and manipulate the scraps, which would allow him to automate the process and produce at scale (and use up ever more textile ends that would otherwise end up as landfill). “If you put designers and engineers really close to the manufacturing process, what happens is they realize they do things the way they do because they are working with machines that were made a long time ago,†said Mr. Cohen of New Lab. “Suddenly they say, ‘Why not just make a new machine?’ And it transforms the process. †Indeed, process is the key word in the language of the new wearables, as it reflects the idea of technology used to improve the creation of an object, as opposed to technology that is the object in itself. Such was the genesis of Thesis Couture, a Manufacture NY shoe line founded by Dolly Singh, the former head of talent at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, who in 2013 enlisted a rocket scientist, an orthopedic surgeon, a mechanical engineer, a shoe designer and an Italian shoemaker in her goal of the stiletto. “It essentially hasn’t changed since it was invented in 1950,†said Ms. Singh, who has spent the last two years trying to build a better shoe. Now she says they have done it. The result, which is in prototype and they hope will be available to order next month, is a limited edition of 1, 500 pairs, each pair selling for $900. On first view the shoe looks like a black leather gladiator sandal very much in the Jimmy Blahnik vein, except it is made of thermal plastic polyurethane, the pieces of which snap together. There are no internal steel shanks, as is traditional. The trademarked system is known as “structural interlocking architecture†and will make “a stiletto feel like a wedge,†Ms. Singh said. Thesis Couture’s website already has a list of almost 11, 000 interested consumers who are waiting to be notified when the shoe goes live, as well as another 2, 100 who have registered to place orders. Ms. Singh plans to do a Series A next year, at which point she intends to bring out a collection, each style balanced on a towering spike and named after a woman: the Sally Ride (a black ankle boot with a curve of gold beads) the Maya Angelou (an with a contrasting color heel) the Malala Yousafzai (a hot pink sandal with a gold ankle strap) and so on. “The fact is, technology has been a part of fashion forever,†Mr. Bitonti said. “Fashion has always used tools, whether they are sewing machines or knitting needles. †Back at the Met, Mr. Bolton called this “silent technology†— the tech you can’t see, like the ultrasonic welding used by Nicolas Ghesquière in a floral dress for Louis Vuitton — and said that for him, it and the collaboration it represents is the future of fashion. Not to mention Brooklyn. | 1 | [
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FMD718 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Was a UFO Found at the Bottom of the Baltic Sea? Claim summaries: The nature of an object located on Baltic Sea floor was initially puzzling, but it did not prove to be of extraterrestrial origin.
contextual information: On 10 December 2014, the web site Earth We Are One published an article claiming a UFO shaped like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars had been discovered at the bottom of the Baltic Sea: article The divers exploring a 'UFO-shaped' object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea say their equipment stops working when they approach within 200 meters of the object. Professional diver Stefan Hogerborn, part of the Ocean X team which is exploring the anomaly, said some of the teams' cameras and satellite phones would refuse to work when directly above the object, and would only work once they had sailed away. He is quoted as saying: "Anything electric out there, and the satellite phone as well, stopped working when we were above the object. And then when we got away about 200 meters, it turned on again, and when we got back over the object it didn't work." Hefty trajectory: The Swedish diving team noted a 985-foot flattened out 'runway' leading up to the object, implying that it skidded along the path before stopping but no true answers to this are clear. "I was kind of prepared just to find a stone or cliff or outcrop or pile of mud but it was nothing like that, so for me it has been a missing experience I must say." Member Dennis Asberg said: "I am one hundred percent convinced and confident that we have found something that is very, very, very unique." "Is it a meteorite or an asteroid? Or a volcano? Or a base from say, a U-boat from the Cold War which has manufactured and placed there? Or if it is a UFO? Well, honestly, it has to be something." The article published by Earth We Are One in December of 2014 was a repurposed version of a story published by the UK newspaper Daily Mail in June 2012. Although both articles dealt with a real discovery by the shipwreck hunting team Ocean X, experts have since weighed in and determined the object found on the bottom of the Baltic Sea was not an alien spaceship. published Rumors about the Baltic Sea UFO began circulating after Ocean X returned from an expedition in the summer of 2011 with an interesting sonar image. The group paid a follow-up visit to the site the following year to get a better look at the object, but due to mysterious (and convenient) electrical interference, Ocean X was not able to get a good look at the submerged anomaly. Expedition leader Peter Lindberg did, however, claim he had found a second object: "I confirm that we have found two anomalies. We did find the other anomaly approximately 200 meters (about 219 yards) from the circular find at the same sonar run." Lindberg explained why his team had not released the sonar image of the second object: "We decided not to expose that anomaly so much because there is a lot of disturbance on the sonar image when we passed it, so it's very blurry. We can see it's something but to an untrained eye it might just look like 'pea soup.'" Neither of these sonar images, however, provided a reliable look at the Baltic Sea anomaly. First, the Ocean X team used an inexpensive sonar technique called side-scan sonar which, although well-suited for finding shipwrecks, it is not designed to give a detailed look at the sea floor. Second, according to Hanumant Singh, a researcher with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the sonar they used wasn't properly calibrated: side-scan sonar sonar If you look carefully, you can see a reflection of the circular formation on the right side of the image. Since side-scan sonar is taken with two instruments that bounce acoustic waves in opposite directions from the boat, a feature on one side shouldn't affect the image on the other side. "This means you've got 'cross-talk,' in which one channel is electrically contaminating the other," Singh says. In other words, the sonar instruments aren't wired properly. Strike one, he says. Strike two: The black horizontal lines going through the image show that sonar signals are dropping out (that is, the instruments aren't detecting them), further calling the measurements into question, Singh says. Finally, he says, the edges of the image, just beyond the circular formation, are gray, meaning the sonar couldn't tell what was there. That shows the sonar isn't calibrated well enough to trust, Singh says. "That's strike three." With only a single blurry image and little information, many people speculated the object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea could be a UFO, a portal into another world, or an underwater Stonehenge. These theories received more attention when artist Hauke Vagt created a 3D interpretation of the mysterious object: artist Scientists, however, have less fantastical theories about what lies at the bottom of the Baltic. Charles Paull, senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California, said the anomaly is probably just a rock outcropping or the result of gas venting from the seafloor. Other experts argue it is merely a glacial depost. Even Peter Lindberg, the man behind the discovery, expressed skepticism about the object's supposed otherworldly origins: "It's not obviously an alien spacecraft. It's not made of metal." experts skepticism Team Ocean X's discovery created a stir due to the fact that they could not identify the object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, not because any evidence supported the idea it was a UFO. Popular Mechanics. Wolchover, Natalie. "Mysterious Baltic Sea Object Is a Glacial Deposit."
Live Science. 30 August 2012.
Piui, Tibi. "So Called Baltic Sea 'UFO' Mystery Solved, Other Questions Arise."
ZME Science. 18 June 2012.
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FMD719 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday the House will vote on whether to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, and he indicated members won t be pressured to vote one way or the other.The entire House Republican conference is to meet behind closed doors next week to discuss the issue, but conservatives led by Representative John Fleming of Louisiana say the process of introducing a privileged resolution to force the vote will begin before that.Ryan, who has previously hedged on whether the House should take such action, said on Wednesday that he won t stop it. The House hasn t impeached a cabinet official since the mid-1870s and has never impeached an executive branch official, such as Koskinen, who doesn t hold cabinet rank. Any House action would be largely symbolic, because the effort is expected to be blocked in the Senate if it passes the House. Read more: Newsmax.com The IRS is refusing to recant the targeting criteria it used to single out tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny, according to court filings made public Wednesday that show the tax agency still struggling with the fallout from the scandal.At least three tea party groups are still awaiting approval from the IRS more than three years after agents publicly admitted they d asked inappropriate questions and put the groups through unreasonable delays in obtaining tax-exempt status. Last month the IRS told both Congress and a federal judge that it would start processing the outstanding applications but the agency has refused to say how or when, leaving the groups themselves struggling to make sense of things. Making matters ever more difficult, the IRS specifically refused in court papers to reject further use of the criteria it used to single out tea party and conservative groups in the first place. Despite all the representations made by the IRS about having changed its ways, it still asserts that the viewpoint-based Targeting Criteria are relevant for making a determination of tax-exempt status, Edward Greim, the lawyer representing tea party groups in a class-action lawsuit, told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.Read more: WT | 0 | [
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FMD720 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Katie Couric took to Twitter to call out Charlottesville, VA protesters who allegedly sprayed urine at two of her producers. What leftist hack Katie Couric doesn t mention is that the protesters who sprayed her producers with urine were actually ANTIFA protesters. By leaving that little factoid out of her tweet, she has clearly attempted to mislead anyone reading her tweet into believing that the offending protesters were part of the white nationalist group. While we strongly condemn any group that believes they are superior because of their race or skin color, these people actually obtained a permit to protest, and until Antifa showed up, their protest was peaceful.Two of my producers just got sprayed with urine. Lovely. Hard to keep your cool. Katie Couric (@katiecouric) August 12, 2017Citizen journalist and lawyer Mike Cernovich called out Katie Couric for attempting to mislead her Twitter followers:ANTIFA, a left wing organization, threw urine on a left wing media outlet. https://t.co/xMxHwqGSfJ Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 12, 2017Another person on Twitter verified what Mike Cernovich reported:AntiFa has been hyper aggressive at the #UniteTheRight rally. Throwing urine, feces, paint, chemicals, smoke canisters, & pepper spraying. Millie Weaver (@Millie__Weaver) August 12, 2017THEY'RE NOT ACTIVISTSThey're DOMESTIC TERRORISTSThey're #Antifa & #BLMAnd THEY'RE the ones provoking violence in #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/TWJmnwuh5S Boca Vista (@bocavista2016) August 12, 2017Fox News reported about the #UniteTheRight (no affiliation with conservative Americans who think of themselves as being right of center) having permits to protest in Charlottesville, VA:#UniteTheRight had rec'd proper permits to be assembled. #Antifa was Violent pic.twitter.com/HnIl1V2IfR TrumpsBlonde Angie (@TrumpsBlonde) August 12, 2017A couple of hours ago, a car drove down one of the streets where protesters were walking and drove into several people. Numerous people were injured. Some of the protesters reportedly have life-threatening injuries. Reports are coming from people who are at the rally that an Antifa member was driving the vehicle that smashed into protestors.https://twitter.com/polNewsForever/status/896429441588629506 | 0 | [
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FMD721 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Police in Waco, Tex., said Monday they had arrested 170 people after a shootout involving multiple biker gangs at a restaurant that left at least nine people dead.
While investigators worked to piece together precisely what happened on Sunday, authorities said they remained alert after receiving threats of possible retaliation against police officers after the chaotic brawl.
The sea of people arrested were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, which is a capital murder charge due to the number of victims, Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, a Waco police spokesman, said at a news conference Monday.
“There was a significant danger here yesterday because of the amount of violence that occurred behind us here,†Swanton said while standing in front of the restaurant.
The spasm of deadly violence began when members of biker gangs began fighting inside the restroom of Twin Peaks, a restaurant in a retail strip on Interstate 35 known to locals as a biker bar. In addition to firearms, the fighting involved fists, feet, knives and chains, officials said.
Swanton said that gunfire began inside the restaurant before spilled out onto the patio bar area and then into the parking lot. Several shooting victims were found near the front of the restaurant or in the parking lot around it, he said.
“We had wounded inside, we had people stabbed, we had people shot and we had people beat,†Swanton said.
There were already 18 police officers and another four officers from the state Department of Public Safety in the parking lot because officials had received information about the danger posed by these gangs being in the same place, Swanton said. Once outside, the bikers turned their gunfire on the police officers who responded, he said.
“Those officers’ reactions…to a very hostile, deadly situation saved our citizens’ lives yesterday afternoon,†Swanton said.
After the fighting, authorities said that nine people had been killed, and remarkably no police officers or other bystanders in the area had been injured.
The 170 people taken into custody were initially taken to the city’s convention center for processing before being brought to the McLennan County Jail, which was still working to process all of these individuals on Monday.
Police originally said 192 people were arrested, but Swanton revised that number on Monday and said it was possible the number could still change as they continued to sift through all of the names.
The jail, located about 15 minutes away from the retail strip where the shootings occurred, was still working Monday morning to process all of the people who had been arrested, an official said.
Authorities continued to investigate the area around the Twin Peaks restaurant on Monday. More than 100 motorcycles and dozens of other vehicles remained in the parking lot.
“We’re not in a rush,†Swanton said. “This is obviously a very large investigation involving numerous agencies and organizations, and we’re going to get it right.â€
[Police: Restaurant has some answering to do]
Swanton said police have received information about “payback†against officers and reports of bikers flooding into the area after the shooting. As a result, he said officers have been stationed around the region to watch for any threat.
“There was a green light put out on law enforcement is our understanding from last night,†he said Monday. “We’re aware of that threat, and we have the appropriate response if we have to face that.â€
The brawl occurred on Sunday at noon at the sports bar, with violence erupting and sending terrified patrons diving for cover in a busy Central Texas shopping center.
Swanton was critical of the restaurant, saying after the shootout that its management has “not been of much assistance to us.â€
It was typical to see motorcycles parked outside of Twin Peaks, said Saul Cornejo Bravo, 19, a server at a Mexican restaurant next door.
“But not that many, especially on a Sunday afternoon,†he said. “Usually I see them there later at night.â€
Bravo said that he was working on Sunday when the shooting occurred, and within seconds he saw emergency vehicles flooding the parking lot.
He saw one man wearing a biker’s vest who appeared to have been shot in the stomach. Paramedics tried to perform CPR for several minutes, Bravo said. “Then they just covered him up,†he said.
Off-duty police officers shopping in the retail strip rushed to the scene despite lacking any protective gear, Swanton said. Meanwhile, some of the people who ran away from Twin Peaks as the chaos unfolded took shelter behind an empty building.
“We sat there gathering our wits,†said J.R., who works at Cabela’s Outpost, an outdoors store across the parking lot from Twin Peaks. “At first you think it’s like a carjacking or something. But then, with all the shots and people running you realize it’s something more serious.â€
Police said in a statement Monday said the Twin Peaks restaurant and parking lot were “still a very active crime scene†— one that “is littered with bullets, blood and other evidence. Civilian as well as Police units with bullet holes remain to be processed.†Parts of Central Texas Market Place, where the Twin Peaks sports bar is located, were expected to remain closed for the day, police said.
Five known gangs were believed to be involved in the brawl, Swanton said, but he would not identify them on Monday.
“I am not about to give them the respect of mentioning their names…. We don’t care what their names are, and we’re not going to give them publicity,†he said.
Swanton said it was still not clear how many shots were fired by gang members or police. It was unclear whether any of the nine bikers killed in the fight were shot by police.
“It was chaos,†said J.R., who declined to give his last name. “People were screaming and going crazy. Most of it seemed to be in the parking lot, and it was over very quickly.â€
All of the people charged with organized crime activity will face a capital murder charge, Swanton said, due to the number of people killed Sunday. Texas state law says that a person who murders more than one other person “during the same criminal transaction†can face this charge, while suspects can be charged with organized criminal activity if they carry out a murder or capital murder as part of a criminal street gang.
Eighteen people were taken to hospitals after the brawl with injuries that included stab and gunshot wounds, Swanton said. Some victims were being treated for both, he told reporters in Central Texas on Sunday.
“I was amazed that we didn’t have innocent civilians killed or injured,†Swanton said, according to the Associated Press, which noted:
McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said all nine who were killed were members of the Bandidos or Cossacks gangs, according to the AP.
A threat assessment released last year by the Texas Department of Public Safety classified the Bandidos gang in the second-highest tier threat. The Department of Justice lists the Bandidos as one of the handful of organized motorcycle gangs that “pose a serious national domestic threat.â€
[How the Bandidos became one of the world’s most feared biker gangs]
For some in the region, they could sense rising friction between the different motorcycle gangs when members were at the same bars and restaurants.
“There were these little tiffs going on, and then you add alcohol,†said Richard, a motorcycle enthusiast who also declined to give his last name. “I just felt like there was tension.â€
He said biker had activity had increased in and around Waco in the last few years, probably because of its proximity to both the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Austin.
“Ninety nine percent of of the people who ride bikes are good people, doctors, lawyer, engineers,†said Richard, an engineer. “It’s the one percent that don’t care about anything. They say, ‘We’ll do what we do.’ It was a rude awakening for the rest of us. Is this going to land on our doorsteps? Is this what we have to look forward to? What happens if we’re wearing the wrong shirt in the wrong neighborhood? That’s what has a lot of us worried.â€
On Sunday, witnesses described seeing a mass shootout that involved dozens of of guns being fired inside the restaurant and in the parking lot along Interstate 35, according to CBS affiliate KWTX. The station reported that panicked patrons and employees sought refuge from the mayhem in the restaurant freezer.
Hours later, authorities from multiple law enforcement agencies — including local and state police, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — were still trying to secure the area and survey the large crime scene, which was littered with more than 100 weapons.
“In 34 years of law enforcement, this is the most violent crime scene I have ever been involved in,†Swanton said, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. “There is blood everywhere. We will probably approach the number of 100 weapons.â€
Swanton called it “one of the worst gun fights we’ve ever had in the city limits. They started shooting at our officers.â€
The officers returned fire, Swanton said, and some armed bikers were shot by police. Swanton defended the officers’ actions and said they prevented more deaths.
“Their action has saved lives in keeping this from spilling into a very busy Sunday morning,†he said, according to CNN. “Thank goodness the officers were here, and took the action that they needed to take to save numerous lives.â€
Authorities said it was not immediately clear what precisely triggered the violence, but the potential for conflict did not surprise the Twin Peaks staff or officers. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna told the AP that tensions between the gangs had been building for months.
Police were bracing for violence: Swanton said Waco police officers and state officers were at the sports bar when the fighting began and that they had secured the area because they “expected issues.†He said the restaurant’s management requested the officers in anticipation of trouble.
“We have been made aware in the last few months of rival biker gangs — rival criminal biker gangs — being here and causing issues,†Swanton said. “We have attempted to work with the local management of Twin Peaks to get that cut back, to no avail. They have not been of much assistance to us.â€
Jay Patel, operating partner for the Twin Peaks franchise in Waco, said in a statement Sunday: “We are horrified by the criminal, violent acts that occurred outside of our Waco restaurant today. We share in the community’s trauma. Our priority is to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for our customers and employees, and we consider the police our partners in doing so.â€
Patel added that “our management team has had ongoing and positive communications with the police and … we will continue to cooperate with the police as they investigate this terrible crime.â€
Swanton called Patel’s statement a “fabrication,†according to the AP, which reported that the Waco police “described the management as uncooperative with authorities in addressing concerns about the gangs.â€
“Are we frustrated? Sure,†Swanton said, according to CNN. “Because we feel like there may have been more that could have been done by a business to prevent this.â€
Police said Monday that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission “is implementing a Summary Suspension closing Twin Peaks for at least 7 days. This is not a punitive action on TABC’s part but done due to the ongoing danger it presents to our community.â€
CBS affiliate KWTX reported that the Twin Peaks corporate office canceled the Waco store’s franchise agreement on Monday.
“We are in the people business and the safety of the employees and guests in our restaurants is priority one,†the company said in a statement, according to KWTX. “Unfortunately the management team of the franchised restaurant in Waco chose to ignore the warnings and advice from both the police and our company, and did not uphold the high security standards we have in place to ensure everyone is safe at our restaurants.
“We will not tolerate the actions of this relatively new franchisee and are revoking their franchise agreement immediately. Our sympathies continue to be with the families of those who died and are very thankful no employees, guests, police officers or bystanders were hurt or injured.â€
A witness who had just finished lunch at a nearby restaurant told KWTX that he and his family walked into the parking lot when they heard multiple gunshots and saw wounded people being removed from the scene.
“We crouched down in front of our pickup truck because that was the only cover we had,†said the man, who asked not to be identified.
Another witness, Michelle Logan, told the Tribune-Herald: “There were maybe 30 guns being fired in the parking lot, maybe 100 rounds. They just opened fire. … There’s a lot of people in the hospital, a lot of people shot.â€
Vehicles parked near the restaurant were riddled with bullet holes, the newspaper noted.
Headquartered in Dallas, Twin Peaks is a casual dining chain with dozens of locations nationwide that employs a largely female staff scantily clad in plaid shirts and mini shorts.
“Twin Peaks Girls,†the company advertises, offer customers “signature ‘Girl Next Door’ charisma and playful personalities.â€
The Waco location opened in August and was touted by a company spokesman as offering 24 types of beer and 55 flatscreen TVs, as well as “Bike Night†on Thursdays.
“Get revved up and ready to go at Twin Peaks bike night,†a calendar on the Twin Peaks Waco Web site advertised.
Holley, du Lac and Berman reported from Washington. Madigan reported from Waco.
[This post, originally published on May 17, has been updated multiple times.] | 1 | [
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FMD722 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: 53 Views November 06, 2016 GOLD , KWN King World News
Today a legend who was asked by the Chinese government to give a speech to government officials in China, spoke with King World News about the bear raid taking place in the gold and silver markets.
Eric King: “John, we are seeing another raid in the gold and silver markets, which are getting hit in early trading — your thoughts.”
John Ing: “It’s important, Eric, to make the distinction between physical gold and paper gold. Just like we are seeing now, from time-to-time the paper gold market swamps the physical gold market, but amazingly the physical gold market seems to keep edging up and helping the longer-term upward trend of the gold price… IMPORTANT: To hear which legend just spoke with KWN about $8,000 gold and the coming mania in the gold, silver, and mining shares markets CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
John Ing continues: “Sure we get these high-frequency trades to the downside every now and then, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to push the price of gold lower.
Russia Adding To Its Gold Hoard What we are seeing is steady accumulation of physical gold. For example, recently Russia added 13 tonnes of gold to their growing hoard in the month of September. In fact, the Russians have now been purchasing gold for 20 months in a row.
China’s Relentless Gold Demand Continues We also have China, who continues to be a large buyer. In fact, imports of gold were up 9 percent in the month of September. Eric, the problem is that everybody tends to look at the numbers out of China but they really don’t know how to interpret them. As an example, the most important thing in the recently released figures is the fact that the banks in China across the board continue to be buyers of physical gold. This data is supported by the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which is now the largest physical gold market in the world.
India’s Gold Demand Soars A Staggering 25 Percent! But despite the shenanigans in the paper gold market, the bears are pushing against the seasonal strength of India and Diwali. In fact, India’s physical gold demand was up a staggering 25 percent! So yes, there has been steady, steady physical gold demand.
Against this very strong physical gold backdrop there have been a lot fewer physical supplies of gold. We have just seen in the last quarter that there were mixed results for the producers. We have seen many companies encountering production problems. That tells me that even at the higher price of gold, some of these mining companies are still having difficulty. This negatively affects the total annual gold production. In fact, next year I am looking for lower production from a lot of these producers. So that will further tighten an already strained physical market.
Gold Bears May Get Torched Here In closing, keep in mind what I said in my latest piece (on KWN), that we will see an overnight $100 spike in the price of gold if Donald Trump wins the election. In the event that the bears are caught on the wrong side of that trade, they will experience tremendous pain.”
***KWN has now released the extraordinary audio interview with Egon von Greyerz, where he gives KWN listeners a look what is really happening behind the scenes globally and in the gold market, and you can listen to it by CLICKING HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
***ALSO RELEASED: The Destiny Of The World CLICK HERE.
© 2015 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, linking directly to the articles is permitted and encouraged. About author | 0 | [
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FMD723 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Home » Gold » Gold News » It’s Coming… UNPRECEDENTED US BOND DUMPING | Jim Willie
A dollar collapse is coming… Jim Willie editor of the Hat Trick letter joins Silver Doctors to Sound the Alarm : foreign governments are getting concerned about the Federal Reserve devaluing the U.S. dollar. As a result, foreign governments are dumping U.S. debt at an unprecedented rate.
Regarding the U.S. presidential election, Willie says the polls and voting machines are rigged. However, Willie remains hopeful that after the election we will be released from this “fascist dictatorship.”
Stay tuned to hear The Golden Jackass answer viewers questions!
Subscribe HERE for free to the Silver Doctors’ YouTube channel so you do not miss part 2! | 0 | [
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FMD724 | 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: Obama Lends $2 Billion to Brazilian Oil Company Claim summaries: President Obama signed an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company?
contextual information: Claim: President Obama signed an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company, with no financial gain for the U.S. false Example: [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC. Today on a segment of the "Glen Beck Show" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following: "Today, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil! The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA! Now here's the real clincher... the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil". We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! Wait, it gets more interesting. Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was broadcast on any of the other news networks! Forward this factual e-mail to others who care about this country and where it is going. Also, let all of your Government representatives know how you feel about this. Is this the kind of "transparency" you want from your government? Below is the Wall street Journal article to confirm this. Wall Street Journal editorial Wall Street Journal editorial Origins: The above-quoted article references a segment attributed to Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck criticizing President Obama for signing an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company to finance offshore drilling, all without securing reciprocal oil exports from Brazil or any other benefit to the U.S. Nearly all of the substantive claims made in that article are false, as detailed below: [President Obama] signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company This statement is false: President Obama signed no such executive order. On 14 April 2009, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im), an agency whose mission "is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets," issued a preliminary approval for a $2 billion loan to Brazil's national oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), to help fund offshore oil exploration and development. Ex-Im preliminary approval The approval of the loan was an action undertaken not by officials who had been appointed by President Obama, but by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, as Ex-Im itself stated: The Bank's bipartisan Board unanimously approved the preliminary commitment to Petrobras on April 14, 2009, before any Obama appointees joined the Bank. In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush. Despite the claim that the money committed to Petrobras is "taxpayer dollars," Ex-Im notes that "the vast majority of our financing consists of guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders," that "the bank is self-sustaining and does not receive any appropriated funds from Congress," and that "the Bank's activities do not cost the American taxpayer a dime." We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! This statement is also false, one predicated on the mistaken assumption that the only tangible financial benefit of lending money to Petrobras was to guarantee a supply of Brazilian oil for the United States. The Ex-Im's mission statement declares: mission statement The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank's mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies large and small to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy. Accordingly, as set forth in a 29 July 2009 press release, Ex-Im's chairman and president, Fred P. Hochberg, declared that the bank approved the $2 billion preliminary commitment not as a downpayment to ensure future oil purchases from Brazil by the U.S., but "to encourage purchases of U.S. goods and services by Petrobras": press release I chose Brazil as my first international destination for good reason: Brazil is a powerhouse among South American economies and offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters in many sectors. I want Brazilians to know that Ex-Im Bank has the will and the capacity to finance their purchases of U.S. equipment, products and services. (Although Fred P. Hochberg is an Obama appointee, the President did not nominate Hochberg for the position of Ex-Im president until 20 April 2009, a week after the board approved the loan to Petrobras.) nominate The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. China does have an agreement to buy Brazilian oil from Petrobras, but not literally to purchase the entire output of Brazilian offshore oil fields. In May 2009, the China Development Bank (CDB) agreed to lend Petrobras $10 billion (five times the amount of the Ex-Im loan); in exchange, "the two sides agreed to increase actual crude oil exports from Brazil to China." At the same time, Petrobras and Sinopec (the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation) signed a separate long-term export agreement providing for Petrobras to export 200,000 barrels of oil to China per day from 2010 to 2019. agreed Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. Billionaire financier George Soros has donated large sums of money to groups that support the goals of the Democratic Party (including an estimated $23.5 million towards defeating the re-election effort of President George W. Bush in 2004), and his hedge fund (Soros Fund Management LLC) does hold stock in Petrobras. However, the implication that President Obama unilaterally directed the issuance of a loan to Petrobras as quid pro quo repayment to George Soros is erroneous since, as noted above, the loan was approved and made by a Republican-majority board of Ex-Im officials who had been appointed by George W. Bush. Soros' hedge-fund firm sold off 5 million of its 37 million Petrobras shares in May 2009, and the firm sold off another 22 million shares in August 2009, before Petrobras received any loan funds from Ex-Im. sold sold In a letter published by the Wall Street Journal on 21 August 2009, Ex-Im president Fred P. Hochberg refuted the criticisms expressed in that newspapers' editorial of three days earlier: Your editorial "Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling" (Aug. 18) more correctly should have read, "Obama Underwrites U.S. Jobs." That's because the mandate of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) is to help create and sustain U.S. jobs by financing U.S. exports. Our offer to provide financing to Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras does exactly that. That's what is behind our decision to offer at least $2 billion in loans or loan guarantees to help finance purchases of U.S. goods and services by Petrobras. This increases the likelihood that American not foreign workers will be employed to satisfy part of the company's planned $175 billion investment during the next five years. Ex-Im Bank does not make U.S. policy. In fact, our charter prohibits us from turning down financing for either nonfinancial or noncommercial reasons, except in rare circumstances including failure to meet our environmental standards. We make no grants. The vast majority of our financing consists of guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders, not Ex-Im Bank direct loans. The foreign buyers that use Ex-Im Bank products pay us in full. Over the past 16 years the fees that we collect have netted American taxpayers more than $4.9 billion plus the jobs those exports have created. Thanks to the fees we charge, the bank is self-sustaining and does not receive any appropriated funds from Congress. At a time when jobs, and exports, are more important than ever in helping our economy recover, Ex-Im Bank is achieving its mission to keep Americans working, and we're doing it without burdening the U.S. taxpayer. Additional information: Facts About the Proposed Ex-Im Bank Loans Last updated: 10 February 2010 | 0 | [
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FMD725 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: BREAKING: Trump Set to Break 50-Year-Old Record With Black Voters
A breakdown of that poll showed Trump with an advantage over Clinton among independent voters, a shift from the 2012 election in which President Barack Obama won the state by garnering more support from independents than GOP challenger Mitt Romney.
In Ohio, a poll by Axiom Strategies and the Remington Research Group showed Trump leading Clinton by a score of 46-42. Advertisement - story continues below
Again, Trump won out over Clinton among independent voters by a margin of 4 points and was showing significant support among voters in cities such as Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo. Trump and Clinton were essentially tied in the cities of Youngstown, Cleveland and Columbus.
Another surprise from the Ohio poll was the breakdown of support for the candidates by gender, which seemed to show that Clinton’s alleged massive lead among women has all but vanished, at least in the Buckeye State.
Female respondents to the poll preferred Clinton to Trump by only 2 points, 45-43. Meanwhile, Trump continued to dominate among male voters, leading his opponent by 13 points, 51-38.
Of course these numbers could still change over the course of the next two weeks, but far from showing the race to be essentially over already, they instead reveal that Trump has a pretty decent shot at winning two of the most important states when all the votes have been counted after Nov. 8. Advertisement - story continues below | 0 | [
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FMD726 | 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 Carl Sagan Holding a 'No Billboards in Space' Sign? Claim summaries: An image purportedly showing famed astronomer Carl Sagan holding a sign reading "No Billboards in Space" is fake.
contextual information: When Elon Musk launched the Falcon Heavy rocket (and its payload of a Tesla Roadster) in February 2018, many saw it as a giant step toward commercial space travel and sending a human to Mars. Tesla Roadster Others saw something slightly more cynical, namely a giant advertisement: advertisement Elon Musk pulled off a double marketing coup with the first successful test launch of his Falcon Heavy rocket, the flagship of his private space-flight company SpaceX, and the subsequent debut of its payloada Tesla Roadster driven by a dummy nicknamed Starmanas the first car in space. While the launch was clearly one of the most dramatic moments of livestreaming in recent memory, its the live YouTube feed of Musks own cherry-red Roadster circling the Earth that will perhaps generate the biggest publicity boost for Musks emerging electric-car company. With a famously nonexistent ad budget, Tesla just secured a place in auto marketing history. In the wake of this monumental achievement of space travel advertising, a photograph purportedly showing a disapproving Carl Sagan holding a "No Billboards in Space" sign started recirculating on the internet: This image isn't real. This photograph has been circulating online since at least 2010. A Redditor claimed in a 2011 posting of the image that they had created it for a photoshop contest on the web site Fark, but we were unable to locate the original contest. 2010 claimed created Regardless, this has image has been doctored. The original image showed Sagan holding one of the "Pioneer Plaques," not a sign reading "No Billboards in Space." The Pioneer Plaques were launched into space in the early 1970s aboard the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecrafts. The idea was that the plaques, which contained a pictorial message, would relay some information about the spacecraft's origins in case it was intercepted by an extraterrestrial life form: message It seemed to us appropriate that this spacecraft, the first man-made object to leave the solar system, should carry some indication of the locale, epoch, and nature of its builders. We do not know the likelihood of the Galaxy being filled with advanced technological societies capable of and interested in intercepting such a spacecraft. It is clear, however, that such interception is a very long term proposition. Griner, David. "With a $0 Ad Budget, Tesla Just Pulled Off One of the Greatest Marketing Stunts Ever"
Adweek. 7 February 2018. Sagan, Carl. "A Message from Earth."
Science Magazine. 25 February 1972. | 0 | [
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FMD727 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Florida Governor Rick Scott isn t up for re-election. His creepy, Skeletor-like appearance is secured through 2018. His flip-flopping political ideologies, war on women s health care and ridiculous rules forbidding state workers from so much as saying the words climate change aren t going anywhere. His refusal to expand Medicaid because his own state s failures serve as some kind of an imaginary warning sign is set in stone.Why, then, did the most powerful man in the Sunshine State feel it necessary to have a YouTube ad produced attacking the woman who recently called him out for being an a**hole? Because he is an a**hole, why else? Poor Ricky decided to go the route of butthurt little toddler who was scolded by his mother in public, causing him to hold his breath until someone made it right.His PAC obliged, of course, most likely fearful that he would don his Grim Reaper outfit and send them to the depths of hell with a touch from his evil sickle. Let s Get Working produced a one-minute video, naming the woman the Latte Liberal and attacking her for sitting around coffee shops complaining and demanding public assistance. In case you haven t seen the interaction between them, enjoy. Crypt-Keeper Scott could only stand there and take credit for the economy recovering from a recession his state s housing market bubble helped create with that disturbing smile on his face that is rumored to consume the souls of small children and fluffy kittens:Scott answers her criticism with We ve a million new jobs. Yes, that s true. Unfortunately, far too many of those jobs will serve to lift unemployed people up and dump them into the Medicaid gap of income between qualifying for Medicaid and subsidies for the Health Care Marketplace. Scott didn t have anything to say about the signing of archaic abortion laws and deep budget cuts to any clinic that provides any abortion services, including Planned Parenthood.That video has gone viral, with more than 2 million views, and for poor little Ricky, that just couldn t stand. He felt the need to release this attack on a woman who clearly had the interests of the average person in mind when she gave him a piece of her mind:The answer to criticism from a Republican Governor is about as stereotypical as can be nowadays: The ad s narrator calls her names and dumps rhetoric about how many jobs have been created in a state whose economic growth and unemployment numbers basically mirror that of the rest of the country.Then they find it more appealing to attack her political views rather than address the issue of healthcare. Because all those people who want silly things like affordable ways to see a doctor are just lazy whiners looking for public assistance.Rick Scott, as usual, is completely disconnected from the reality of the people he serves. Featured image from screen capture | 0 | [
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FMD728 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The European Union and the United States are considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar military leaders over an offensive that has driven more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims out of the country, officials familiar with the discussions say. Interviews with more than a dozen diplomats and government officials based in Washington, Yangon and Europe revealed that punitive measures aimed specifically at top generals were among a range of options being discussed in response to the crisis. Nothing has yet been decided and Washington and Brussels may decide to hold off for now, the sources said. There are also discussions about increasing aid for violence-riven Rakhine state. The active discussion of sanctions not even on the table a month ago shows how the dramatic exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar s northwest is putting pressure on Western policymakers to take action. While much of the outcry overseas has focused on Nobel laureate and Myanmar s national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, few Western diplomats see an alternative to her leadership. Suu Kyi does not control the military, which still wields considerable power under Myanmar s army-written constitution. The EU Foreign Ministers Council will discuss Myanmar on Oct. 16, although officials do not expect any move on sanctions that soon. Danish minister for development cooperation, Ulla Tornaes, told Reuters that Copenhagen had been working to get the crisis on the agenda, with the wish to put further pressure on the military . Two Washington-based U.S. officials with knowledge of the Trump administration s Myanmar deliberations said targeted sanctions against commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and several other generals, as well as leaders of ethnic Rakhine Buddhist militias accused of torching Rohingya villages, were under consideration. Such sanctions | 1 | [
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FMD729 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Videos AT&T-Time Warner Merger: Another Media Consolidation That Puts Profits Over Consumers ‘The deals are driven by Wall Street’s insatiable desire for short-term growth at any cost,’ a media analyst at a consumer advocacy NGO wrote, warning about the risks of the deal. | November 2, 2016 Be Sociable, Share!
MINNEAPOLIS — Media analysts warn that a proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner is more likely to enhance corporate bottom lines and pad the pockets of Wall Street investors than benefit consumers.
“Big mergers like this inevitably mean higher prices for real people, to pay down the money borrowed to finance these deals and compensate top executives,” said Matt Wood, policy director at Free Press, an NGO that protects net neutrality and online press freedom, in an Oct. 22 press release .
The media first reported that AT&T was in “informal” talks to merge with Time Warner on Oct. 20 . By Oct. 24, AT&T announced that Time Warner had agreed to be bought out by the telecommunications giant for $85.4 billion.
Currently, Time Warner represents one of a shrinking number of mass media conglomerates that increasingly control the vast majority of news available to Americans. AT&T is one of the world’s largest providers of mobile phone and landline services, and, as owner of DirecTV, a major player in the television marketplace as well.
Corporate executives have promised that the merger could make more content available to consumers , offer new options for mobile viewing , and provide alternatives to traditional cable TV. Representatives of both companies have also tried to mollify concerns that the deal would violate antitrust laws, claiming it represents the “vertical integration” of two different markets , rather than a merger of competitors.
Many media experts have expressed concern and skepticism about these claims, particularly in regard to the potential benefits to consumers. Wood suggested AT&T’s buyout of DirecTV, which was completed in July 2015 , should serve as a warning about the possible effects of this new, larger merger model. He warned:
“The deals are driven by Wall Street’s insatiable desire for short-term growth at any cost. And just as AT&T’s recent purchase of DirecTV was quickly followed by price hikes, there’s every reason to expect this potential tie-up would cost internet users and TV viewers dearly too.”
Kevin Kelleher , a reporter at Time magazine, weighed in on Oct. 24. He wrote that the deal “makes sense for media executives, less so for consumers,” as it’s unclear how bringing content creators and internet service providers together would actually benefit the end user. He continued:
“For now, concerns over the deal seem to be outweighing the benefits, which could end up being negligible. For decades, the pipes that streamed digital content remained largely independent from the companies that provided the content. And no consumers complained.”
Meanwhile, several senators have come out in opposition to the proposed merger, citing concerns about the ultimate implications for consumers, the role of Washington’s “revolving door” into the corporate world, and what this buyout could mean for the future of media consolidation.
On Sunday, Al Franken , a former TV actor and senator representing Minnesota, told The New York Times’ media reporter Jim Rutenberg that the merger could increase prices and reduce the number of choices available to consumers.
“When the company that controls the pipes, so to speak, owns this very, very large content provider, it can cause a whole bunch of different horribles for consumers,” Franken said.
Elizabeth Warren , a senator from Massachusetts known for her consumer advocacy, objected to Christine Varney’s involvement in the deal. Varney, an antitrust lawyer who has been hired to oversee the AT&T and Time Warner merger, previously worked for the Obama administration investigating antitrust claims. On Monday, Warren told Fortune:
“Americans have had it with regulators like Varney, who talk a good game about holding the bad guys accountable while counting down the days until they can collect a fat paycheck from the corporations they were supposed to regulate. The revolving door is out of control. If we want to hold corporate lawbreakers accountable, we can’t ask their friends to do it.”
Bernie Sanders , the senator from Vermont and former 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, also objected to the deal in an open letter published Wednesday on Medium. In addition to echoing the concerns shared by others like Franken, he warned that the buyout could provoke future media mergers that would further consolidate an already limited market.
“At a time when our telecommunications and media industries are already too concentrated, we should be focused on opening those markets to more competition, not less,” he wrote.
In the case that the merger does go through, AT&T’s ties to the national security state may also give rise to serious privacy concerns. A day after the AT&T-Time Warner merger was officially announced, Kenneth Lipp, a reporter at The Daily Beast, revealed that AT&T is storing customer information and selling it for profit . That, of course, came more than three years after Edward Snowden leaked classified information which detailed the telecommunications giant’s close collaboration with the NSA to spy on millions of Americans.
“Where you go, what you watch, text and share, with whom you speak, all your internet searches and preferences, all gathered and ‘vertically integrated,’ sold to police and perhaps, in the future, to any number of AT&T’s corporate customers,” Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and her frequent collaborator, Denis Moynihan, wrote in an editorial published on Thursday .
“We can’t know if Alexander Graham Bell envisioned this brave new digital world when he invented the telephone. But this is the future that is fast approaching, unless people rise up and stop this merger.” Be Sociable, Share! | 0 | [
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FMD730 | 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: Laminin: Evidence of Divine Creation? Claim summaries: Narrative asserts the cross-like shape of the laminin molecule is evidence of God's hand in the creation of the human form.
contextual information: The New Testament's book of Colossians (one of the thirteen epistles traditionally attributed to Paul, this one addressed to Christians in the city Colossae) reads as follows (in verses 1:12-20 of the King James Version): Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. It is not uncommon for sermons and other Christian devotional/inspirational writings to cite this passage in comparison with some scientific concept: Just as gravity or atoms or molecules are the "glue" that holds the physical world together, so God or Jesus is the force that binds the spiritual world. An example involving laminin glycoprotein cited is one example of this form, with the addition of a graphic meant to illustrate how God's design is evident (in the shape of a cross) in the molecular structure of laminin what literally holds us together (in a biological sense) was clearly created by He who spiritually holds us together: laminin A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio ... and I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned ... but I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway. He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is ... how He spoke the universe into being ... how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire ... etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) ... and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking ... "How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???" Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart ... how our loving Creator is also our sustainer. And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!! It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin. Here is how wikipedia describes them: "Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue." You see ... laminins are what hold us together ... LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE. But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already) ... Here is what the structure of laminin looks like ... AND THIS IS NOT a "Christian portrayal" of it ... if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see ... Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing! The 'glue' that holds us together ... ALL of us ... is in the shape of the cross. Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER." Colossians 1:15-17 Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool. Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another....by the cross. You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin "glue" would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!!We praise YOU, Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This particular example is based on the work of Christian pastor/evangelist Louie Giglio, as seen in the following video clip: Discussions about whether or not nature evinces signs of a purposeful (Christian) creator are theological/scientific debates that can (and do) fill volumes, so we'll just note a few items to consider: accidentally crucifixion And when the illustration is returned to its original orientation, many liken it to the appearance of a sword: appearances Davis, Kenneth C. Don't Know Much About the Bible.
New York: Eagle Brook, 1998. ISBN 0-688-14884-0 (pp. 435, 440-441). K. Beck, I. Hunter and J. Engel. "Structure and Function of Laminin: Anatomy of a Multidomain Glycoprotein."
The FASEB Journal, Vol 4, 148-160. | 0 | [
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FMD731 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: NBC News third post-leaked audio, post-second debate poll shows something quite shocking (but not really): Hillary Clinton is gaining an insurmountable lead over Donald Trump, with just three weeks left to go until election day.The new poll, conducted October 10 through the 13th, with 1,000 respondents, shows Clinton with an 11-point lead, 48 to 37 percent over Trump. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, has seven percent in support and Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 2 percent.In a head-to-head matchup, Clinton maintains a 10 point lead, 51-41, with 10 percent undecided.As NBC News put it:To put Clinton s current 11-point lead into perspective, Barack Obama beat John McCain by seven points nationally in 2008. And Obama s margin of victory over Mitt Romney in 2012 was four points.Both pollsters who coordinated with NBC News, Democrat Fred Yang and Republican Bill McInturff, both came to the conclusion that Trump does not have a chance of winning the presidency.One of the biggest contributing factors to Clinton s lead in her 20 point advantage with women (55-35 percent), her 60 point advantage with non-white voters (76-16 percent), and her gain among men in which she s behind by just three points, 48-45 percent.The poll als0 shows President Obama s approval rating at 53 percent, a positive for Clinton heading into the final stretch of the election.Now that the polls have shown a consistent lead for Clinton, Trump has no other way to legitimize his failing, pathetic campaign than to claim it s going to be rigged against them thanks to minority communities, dead people, a globalist conspiracy.Now that InfoWars has overtaken his campaign, the public has been turned off and are showing that they are ready for Hillary.Nate Silver s FiveThirtyEight currently gives Clinton an 86 percent chance of winning the election and Trump a 14 percent chance. This marks the 10th day that Clinton has been in the high 80s, the same place she was at after the Democratic National Convention.Trump has a lot of ground came to catch up on. Can he do it in three weeks? Who knows, but it s not looking good for him.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD732 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: A new, confidential federal report shows that the initial segment of California’s partially high speed rail (HSR) project will come in massively over budget and far behind schedule, the Los Angeles Times reports. [The Times obtained the Federal Railroad Administration risk analysis report, which shows projected costs for just the first Central Valley section of the “bullet train†will soar to 150 percent — $3. 6 billion more, over a previous estimate. It’s the “bridges, viaducts, trenches and track from Merced to Shafter†that could now cost between $9. 5 and $10 billion dollars. This section of the project won’t even yet serve the promised dream of a San Francisco to Los Angeles line. Not only are costs projected to soar, but the segment that was supposed to be complete this year has been projected in the federal report to lag seven years behind schedule with a new projected completion set for 2024. The Federal Railroad Administration provided California with $3. 5 billion between two federal grants for the project. President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus granted funds to the project however, if the state fails to meet a September 30 deadline that requires paperwork to be submitted by June 20, the rail authority could lose up to $220 million of those funds. The federal report that the Times exposed included a host of reasons for the delays, among them, “ management problems: significant delays in environmental planning, lags in processing invoices for federal grants and continuing failures to acquire needed property. †The federal report further found that billing invoices took an unacceptable three months to process, and that environmental reviews have been far too slow and getting worse. The rail authority has pushed back on many of the report findings according to the Times report. Rep. Jeff Denham, who serves as Chairman of the House Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding the new report: Despite past issues with funding this boondoggle, we were repeatedly assured in an August field hearing that construction costs were under control. They continue to reaffirm my belief that this is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. I will continue to fight against any further federal funding of this project. They can expect an audit and oversight hearing in the near future. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( ) also released a statement: This report makes one thing clear: California rail must be stopped immediately. There have been repeated concerns that this project was a designed failure since day one, and what’s worse, this report underscores a pattern of falsehoods that has misled taxpayers on what this project might actually cost and how much more taxpayers might be on the hook for. The California Rail Authority was briefed about this estimate in December, yet decided to keep this report under wraps from California taxpayers and the public. My colleagues and I have been from the start. The train was sold on rosy predictions not grounded in reality, has disrupted the lives and communities of Californians, and remains a publicity project that we cannot afford. This needs to end now. I urge Governor Brown and his Administration to recognize that the only solution left is to pull the plug on this boondoggle. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana | 1 | [
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FMD733 | 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: Texas Horse Hunt Claim summaries: A Texas business provides big game hunters with an opportunity to participate in 'horse hunt adventures'?
contextual information: Claim: A Texas business provides big game hunters with an opportunity to participate in "horse hunt adventures." Example: [Collected via e-mail, May 2013] There's a blog going around about "Texas Horse Hunts" where horses are hunted on paid hunts....could this possibly be true? Origins: In May 2013, social media were abuzz with chatter regarding (and at least one petition calling for the shutdown of) a three-month-old blog site for an outfit advertising Texas Horse Hunts, presented as an opportunity for big game horse hunters to bag themselves some equines: petition blog site If youve dreamed of big game horse hunting in Texas and are interested in a superior, top quality, exciting and successful horse hunting experience, join Texas Horse Hunt Expeditions, LLC and Master Guide Tom D. Welderman IV on your next horse hunt adventure. Youll enjoy some of the most dynamic and beautiful wilderness in the world! We guide areas within National Wildlife Refuges and receive the finest guiding expertise, personal service and attention to detail found anywhere. Im a guide because I love horse hunting, Texas, the outdoors and because I enjoy sharing these things with other humans who appreciate what horse hunts have to offer. Our goal, aside from helping you harvest a magnificent trophy horse, is to share with you this incredible state and all that it has to offer. When you leave one of our camps as a friend, we want you to take home fond lifetime memories of your horse hunt experience. The quality of your horse and your whole experience is my primary concern. We are not narcissistic; your hunt with us is not about us but about you and your horse. This is your horse hunt and we want to help fulfill all of your expectations. Multiple factors pointed to the whole thing being a satirical hoax, however, including: The lack of any previous news coverage or any effort to publicize the business beyond a single blog entry. The photographs on the Texas Horse Hunts blog site were all lifted from other web sites. The picture of the dead equine in the back of a truck was taken from a May 2009 blog entry for Rogues Gallery Kennel (a rescue kennel for sled dogs) about the picking up of a naturally deceased horse in Alaska; the photo of a pair of horses lying dead on the ground was taken from a 2010 news article about San Joaquin County Sheriffs Office investigating five dead horses believed to have died of thirst in a field off Interstate 580 in California; and the picture of a single (apparently undead) brown horse lying on the ground is a stock photo from 2004. Rogues Gallery Kennel lying dead news article stock photo Joseph Robertia, the rightful owner of the first photograph penned an article for The Redoubt Reporter describing the harm the theft of his photo had caused for him and his family, saying (in part): article Hi, my name is Joseph, and I hunt horses with sticks, crossbows and firearms. And if you believe this, Ive got some prime swampland in Florida to sell you. Sadly, though, several people do believe it, thanks in part to a photo stolen from my personal blog, https://www.rogueskennel.com, and used out of context on a site proclaiming to be for Texas Horse Hunts. Not hunting on horseback, but actually hunting and killing horses. It's left me having to assert and explain something so bizarre I never thought Id have to utter these words I have not, do not and would not ever hunt horses. The photo they found on my site and reposted was taken in Alaska, after my wife and I retrieved a horse that died of natural causes from Sterling residents who had no way to bury it and didnt want it to attract summer bears. The part that really smarts is that the most extensive damage to our reputations was not done by the initial website post. Rather, it was from the dozens of outraged animal rights activists on Facebook pages and other social media sites who began spreading the photo with lightning speed. (A week after we published this article, all the photos and descriptive information were removed from the Texas Horse Hunt page.) The promotional material in the Texas Horse Hunts blog states that "All horse meats will be processed at our facilities," but laws forced the shutdown of the last remaining horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. (including two in Texas) back in 2007, and no such facilities are currently legally operating in the U.S. horse slaughterhouses We could find no record of "Texas Horse Hunt Expeditions" being registered as an LLC (limited liability company) in Texas or any other state. The blog site contains obvious jokes such as "You will have the option of killing your horse traditionally (with a stick)," and a "Brief History of Horse Hunting" article describing Henry VIII as a horse hunting enthusiast who "instituted a policy of horse hunting exclusively by club" and referencing a "Back to the Future lead actor who's a vocal supporter of the sport." article One of the best ways of determining whether web-advertised businesses of suspect nature are legitimate is by attempting to purchase what they're supposedly offering for sale (because the whole point of businesses to make money by servicing customers). But the Texas Horse Hunt Expeditions page includes neither a physical address nor even a general indication of where in the world the supposed hunts take place (somewhere in Texas, presumably), key pieces of information which any prospective customer would want to know. And none of our e-mails or phone calls to Texas Horse Hunt Expeditions expressing interest in participating in one of their "adventures" was returned. Last updated: 29 May 2013 | 0 | [
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FMD734 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: demonstrators took the streets of London Saturday afternoon, calling for further intervention against the Syrian regime. [Around 200 demonstrators marched through the centre of the UK capital for the “London against Chemical Warfare in Syria†protest. The organisers explained on their Facebook event: “Please join us this Saturday to say No to chemical attacks in Syria. Join us to ask the UK Government to protect civilians in Syria from these attacks. Join us to support Syrians as they struggle to survive against a regime determined to exterminate them. †| 1 | [
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FMD735 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Comments
Republican nominee Donald Trump has been treading treasonous territory for months now, raising eyebrows around the nation for a foreign policy that openly supports the ambitions of Vladimir Putin, the dictator of the Russian Federation. He’s surrounded himself with men with close ties to the Kremlin and the oligarchs that pull the strings behind the scenes; he’s being openly supported by Russian state-controlled media and by Russian intelligence services, who have breached the electronic servers of Democratic Party operatives and released selected pieces of information in an attempt to sow discord.
Throughout all of this, Trump has insisted that he has no business ties to Russia. “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia” he tweeted in July. Now – brace yourself, this might come as a shock – it appears he’s been lying to us the whole time.
An ABC News investigation has found that Donald Trump has “numerous ties” to Russian interests both here in the United States and in Russia. “The level of business amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars — what he received as a result of interaction with Russian businessmen. They were happy to invest with him, and they were happy to work with Donald Trump. And they were happy to associate—[and] be associated with Donald Trump” says Sergei Millian, who heads a U.S.-Russia business group.
Trump has reaped huge profits off his business deals with Russian oligarchs that stretch from hosting the 2013 Miss Universe contest in Moscow and selling Trump-branded real estate to “large numbers” of Russian buyers – so many that the Sunny and Hollywood Islands in Florida became known as “Little Moscow.”
The oligarchs of Russia made their fortunes by making deals to acquire huge numbers of shares in the state-owned companies of the former Soviet Union as the country shifted to a free-market economy, turning them into billionaires overnight. Towards the end of the Boris Yeltsin era, the oligarchs controlled 50% to 75% of all Russian finance. Now, they use their influence and wealth to prop up the Putin regime, while he turns a blind eye as they rob the country blind. Putin himself has amassed a fortune of $70 billion that could be as high as $200 billion .
The oligarchs are constantly looking to funnel their ill-gotten gains out of the country, and it turns out purchasing Trump properties was a favored way to do so. It makes sense – they are all men cut from the same gold cloth. They are self-entitled narcissistic materialists who care for nothing but increasing their own personal wealth.
“I think material wealth for them is a highly emotional and spiritual thing. They spend a lot of money on their own personal consumption…They don’t read books. They don’t go to [art] exhibitions. They think the only way to impress anyone is to buy a yacht” says former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev , who went on to describe them as “cultural ignoramuses…not interested in social justice.” Sound like anyone we know?
When the US State Department leveled sanctions on the Russian oligarchs in 2014 following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea, the oligarchs had one of their key money-laundering tools cut off. If Trump were president, however, he could end the sanctions and allow them to continue to enrich themselves – and Trump himself. “We’ll be looking at that, yeah we’ll be looking” said Trump on the issue of sanctions in July.
These business dealings obviously present a great conflict of interest between the personal finances of a potential President and the foreign policy of our nation, which seeks to curtail the disruptive and corrupting influences of the Russian oligarchs and put a check on Russian territorial aggression in Eastern Europe. Would President Trump be able to put his personal profits aside? If this election has taught us anything at all, it’s that Trump cares about nothing but himself. We cannot allow him and his Russian cronies to take their corruption to the White House.
Watch ABC News’ report here: | 0 | [
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FMD736 | 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 a BLM Organizer Say, 'I Don't Care If Someone Decides to Loot'? Claim summaries: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of the looting, This is not legitimate First Amendment-protected speech ... This was straight-up felony, criminal conduct.
contextual information: After the police shooting of 20-year-old Latrell Allen in Chicago's Englewood community on the afternoon of Aug. 9, 2020, unrest in that city extended through that night and into the early morning hours of the following day, with looters hitting some stores in Chicagos wealthiest shopping district on North Michigan Avenue. Latrell Allen extended The following evening, members of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement held a solidarity rally in that city with some of the people who had been arrested for looting the night before. Shortly after those events, social media users began circulating a meme stemming from that event, quoting a "BLM leader & organizer" named Ariel Atkins as saying, "I don't care if someone decides to loot, because that makes sure that person eats or has clothes. Anything they want to take, they can, because these businesses have insurance": That was an accurate quote, according to Chicago NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV, who reported on the Aug. 10 event: reported Members of Black Lives Matter held a solidarity rally on Monday night [August 10] with the more than 100 individuals who were arrested after a night of looting and unrest in Chicago. The rally was held at the South Loop police station where organizers say those individuals are currently being held in custody. I dont care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a Macys or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person eats, Ariel Atkins, a BLM organizer, said. That makes sure that person has clothes. Black Lives Matter Chicago organized the rally after overnight unrest throughout the city, with police saying that more than 100 individuals were taken into custody for a variety of offenses, including looting. That is reparations, Atkins said. Anything they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance. Atkins said essentially the same thing a few days later, when she was interviewed by Chicago NPR station WBEZ on the subject of "why she supports looting": interviewed A lot of people are really attacking our pages. Theyre like, Oh, you support the looters. And yeah, we do, 100%. Thats reparations. And like however people choose to protest, especially if it was definitely in line with what happened with the shooting, which would be powerful to see people reacting ... without organizers just being like, Were angry and this is what were gonna do. Were gonna take the power back. I feel like these stores, these Macys, these Guccis, the PNC Banks, theyre not here for us. The city puts way more money and investment into spending time and protecting their spaces and making sure that they exist. And yet our people are constantly being pushed out of the city ... Unemployment is incredibly high, like we are in an incredible situation, and the fact that anybody gives a s*** about these businesses over what is happening in this city right now and the pain that people are in and the suffering that is taking place, I dont care. I will support the looters till the end of the day. If thats what they need to do in order to eat, then thats what youve got to do to eat .... The whole idea of criminality is based on racism anyway, because criminality is punishing people for things that they have needed to do to survive or just the way that society has affected them with white supremacist B.S. So its like her deciding what is criminal and what isnt. WMAQ-TV [Chicago]. "Black Lives Matter Holds Rally Supporting Individuals Arrested in Chicago Looting Monday."
10 August 2020. Black, Curtis. &nbps; "Latrell Allen Police Shooting Exposes Gaps in Body Camera and Foot Pursuit Policies."
The Chicago Reporter. 14 August 2020. Yoon-Ji Kang, Esther. "Officers Disrespected Englewood Residents Following Police Shooting, Activists Say."
WBEZ [Chicago]. 10 August 2020. Wildeboer, Rob and Chip Mitchell. "Officers Disrespected Englewood Residents Following Police Shooting, Activists Say."
WBEZ [Chicago]. 12 August 2020. | 1 | [
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FMD737 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The Senate on Thursday moved closer to approving President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency even as nearly 800 former officials urged the chamber to reject the nominee, who sued the agency more than a dozen times as attorney general of oil-producing Oklahoma. The 773 former officials signed a letter sent to the Senate that said Pruitt’s record and public statements suggest he does not agree with the underlying principles of U.S. environmental laws. Pruitt has also cast doubts on the science of climate change. “Mr. Pruitt has shown no interest in enforcing those laws, a critically important function for EPA,†the letter said. A spokesman for Pruitt did not immediate respond to a request for comment. The Senate advanced Pruitt’s nomination on Thursday, clearing the way for a final vote, expected on Friday. Republican Senator Susan Collins came out against Pruitt on Wednesday, saying she had doubts about whether he would fully support the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. But Pruitt only needs a simple majority for approval, so unless Collins is joined by more Republicans, who control the Senate 52 to 48, his nomination is likely to succeed. Making Pruitt’s chances even likelier, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, said she would cast her for vote for him, even though she had “concerns†about his commitment to renewable power and to cut emissions blamed for climate change. Joseph Santarella, an EPA enforcement lawyer under former Republican and Democratic administrations, who signed the letter protesting Pruitt, said his lawsuits against the agency demonstrated he had “a fundamental lack of understanding and respect for the vital role that EPA plays in ensuring clean air and water for every American.†Senator John Barrasso, a Republican from coal-producing Wyoming and head of the Senate energy committee, said Pruitt had “led the charge to rein in big government and Washington overreach.†The public could soon learn more about Pruitt’s communications with energy companies while he was suing the EPA. Oklahoma County District Court Judge Aletia Timmons ruled that Pruitt will have to turn over 3,000 emails between his office and energy companies to her by Tuesday. Timmons will review the emails before deciding which of them to release. A watchdog group, the Center for Media and Democracy, has sought the release of the documents since January 2015. | 1 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD738 | 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 a Bird Poop on Biden? Claim summaries: Something fell on the president's shoulder. Was it bird poop?
contextual information: On April 12, 2022, a video went viral on social media that supposedly showed bird poop falling onto U.S. President Joe Biden's shoulder as he was speaking at an event in Iowa. We examined that video and photographs from the event and collected statements from White House officials and journalists. Here's what we learned: What landed on Biden's lapel was more likely a corn byproduct than bird poop. Biden was discussing the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to issue a waiver to allow for the production of E15 (a mixture of gasoline and ethanol) in an effort to lower gas prices when something wispy and white fell on his left shoulder. A video of the incident quickly went viral on Twitter as many users assumed that a bird had pooped on the president. But was that really bird poop? Here's what we've been able to find out. Biden was speaking at POET, a bioprocessing and manufacturing plant in Menlo, Iowa. We have not been able to determine the specific facility in which Biden was speaking, but it's important to note that this was an indoor event. Furthermore, Biden was standing directly beside a giant pile of processed corn. In fact, photographs from the event show that corn was actively falling from this pile during Biden's speech. The above-displayed photograph, taken by Mandel Ngan and available via Getty Images, was captioned: "A mound of processed corn is seen in the background as US President Joe Biden announces steps to ease rising consumer prices at POET Bioprocessing in Menlo, Iowa on April 12, 2022." Clay Masters, a reporter with Iowa Public Radio, captured additional photos of the scene before Biden's speech. It certainly seems plausible that what fell onto Biden was a piece of some sort of corn byproduct and not bird poop. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper was at the event and told AGWired.com, an agriculture news site, that it was definitely distillers dried grain with solubles, or DDGS, that fell on Biden's lapel. AGWired reported: "Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper was an eyewitness in the distillers grains barn with President Biden, and he confirmed it was definitely DDGS responsible for spotting the POTUS lapel. 'We did see something falling from the ceiling, and it landed right there on his lapel, and I can confirm it was not a bird dropping,' said Cooper, who took this photo at the event, which shows the mound of DDGS off to Biden's left side and the spot on his jacket. It came just as President Biden started to talk about products made in America and the amount of corn used at the Menlo, Iowa POET plant." Shortly after this video went viral, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield posted a message on Twitter stating that it was corn, not bird poop, that fell on Biden's shoulder. Bedingfield said: "If you guys knew your way around a corn silo at all, you'd know it was corn." Justin Sink, Bloomberg's White House correspondent, came to the same conclusion, writing: "It was bits of corn flying around from the corn silo; the event was indoors." Iowa's Des Moines Register also reported that Biden's jacket was blemished by what he called "distillers grain," not bird poop. But it wasn't a "feathered fiend" relieving itself, as characterized by the Daily Mail, a British tabloid. While there were birds in the "giant barn" where Biden spoke, according to a Des Moines Register photographer who was at the event in Menlo, Iowa, the substance that stained Biden's jacket was, in fact, distillers grain. Distillers grain is "a co-product of the ethanol production process," according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association. The grain was piled 20 feet high at the site of Biden's speech. We examined photographs from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Getty Images to get a closer look at this corn/bird poop. Upon closer examination, the "bird poop" appears to be somewhat yellowish in color (like corn) and looks more like dust (i.e., from corn processing) than a liquid (i.e., bird poop). Here's a slow-motion video capturing the moment of impact. | 0 | [
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"2"
] | 0 |
FMD739 | 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 Russia Post Navalny's Death Notice Just 2 Minutes After Official Time of Death? Claim summaries: "The causes of death are being established," the official notice stated.
contextual information: On Feb. 16, 2024, the Russian prison service announced the death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken and formidable opponent. The former lawyer was 47 years old and was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of extremism in an isolated penal colony above the Arctic Circle. The notice, released by the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region and translated from Russian by Reuters, read as follows: "On Feb. 16, 2024, in penal colony number 3, convict Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established." The notice indicated it was last updated at 2:19 p.m. on Feb. 16. According to a Feb. 17 tweet by Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, he was "murdered," and the official time of his death was 2:17 p.m. on Feb. 16, "according to the official message to Alexey's mother." An employee of the colony stated that Navalny's body is now in Salekhard, having been picked up by investigators from the IC. Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, tweeted on Feb. 17 that when Navalny's lawyer and mother arrived at the colony, they were told that the cause of Navalny's death was "sudden death syndrome." On Feb. 19, Navalny's anti-corruption foundation posted an update reaffirming that his official time of death was 2:17. The Kremlin has not been transparent in releasing more specific details regarding the exact cause of Navalny's death; therefore, information surrounding the exact cause and time of his death cannot be absolutely confirmed without an independent investigation. Because of this, we rate this claim as "Unproven." If more information surrounding the details of his death is confirmed, this story will be updated accordingly. Many world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and U.S. President Joe Biden, publicly pointed to Putin as being behind Navalny's death. Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke at the Munich Security Conference within hours of the announcement of her husband's death. In her speech, she stated that she did not know whether to believe the report of his death because "we cannot trust Putin and the Putin government. They always lie." Just one day before the announcement of his death, on Feb. 15, Navalny was seen in a video-link court hearing in which he joked with the judge about sending him money because he was running out of funds due to the judge's decisions. | 2 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 2 |
FMD740 | 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 Price of Arizona Iced Tea Increase? Claim summaries: This 99-cent can is still 99 cents (in the United States).
contextual information: On June 14, 2022, a tweet went viral that supposedly showed two cans of Arizona Iced Tea labeled with different prices. The tweet suggested that it was time to start "panicking" and insinuated that rising inflation rates had resulted in the cost of cans of Arizona Iced Tea rising from $0.99 to $1.29. tweet went viral rising inflation rates While this photograph is genuine, the cost of Arizona Iced Tea did not increase from $0.99 to $1.29. The picture actually shows the price for cans of iced tea in different countries. The can on the left shows the cost of Arizona Iced Tea in USD, and the can on the right shows the cost of this beverage in CAD (Canadian dollars). Arizona Iced Tea responded to the rumor on social media, writing that there was no need to panic and that the cost of their beverage is still $0.99 in the United States. This was not the first time this rumor has spread on social media. The same picture racked up more than 140,000 likes in January 2021 when it was shared with the caption: "If this world is coming, I dont want to live in it." Arizona Iced Tea also responded to that viral tweet: In April 2022, Don Vultaggio, the co-founder of Arizona Beverage Company, told the Los Angeles Times that he was "committed to that 99-cent price." Vultaggio said: Im committed to that 99-cent price when things go against you, you tighten your belt. I dont want to do what the bread guys and the gas guys and everybody else are doing. Consumers dont need another price increase from a guy like me. No, AriZona Iced Tea Hasnt Raised the Price of Its 99-Cent Can to $1.29. Wtsp.Com, 6 June 2022, https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/verify/money-verify/arizona-iced-tea-price-not-raised-from-99-cents/536-06ac8786-911b-436b-b640-48a013d06f72. Twitter, et al. As Inflation Soars, How Is AriZona Iced Tea Still 99 Cents? Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-04-12/az-iced-tea-inflation-99-cents. | 0 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
FMD741 | 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 iPhone AirDrop Feature 'NameDrop' Dangerous, as Facebook Posts Claim? Claim summaries: Here's the lowdown about the Facebook warnings regarding NameDrop, an iPhone feature that debuted with the September 2023 release of iOS 17.
contextual information: In late November 2023, Facebook users shared variations of a viral warning about a relatively new iPhone feature called NameDrop, also known as "Bringing Devices Together." The posts hinted that NameDrop, dubbed by Apple as "a new AirDrop experience," was dangerous and suggested that users needed to take action to protect their privacy and security. Multiple U.S. police department Facebook pages also shared the warnings, which may have contributed to the numerous reader emails we received about this rumor. We reviewed multiple versions of the same warning about NameDrop on iPhone devices. One such warning read as follows: "IMPORTANT PRIVACY UPDATE: If you have an iPhone and have done the recent iOS 17 update, a new feature called NameDrop has been set to ON by default. This feature allows the sharing of your contact info just by bringing your phones close together. While you do need to accept the transfer, if you would prefer to shut this off, go to: Settings, General, AirDrop, Bringing Devices Together. Change to OFF. PARENTS: You may consider changing these settings after the update on your children's phones to help keep them safe as well!" Despite the virality of these warnings, the truth is that these posts are based on a misunderstanding of how the NameDrop feature works with an iPhone, similar to many other technological scares that have been virally shared on Facebook in past years. Barring the possibility of any future security holes being uncovered by users, the NameDrop feature was designed with multiple layers of protection. NameDrop allows two users to hold their iPhone devices very close to each other in order to share a phone number or email address. This also works with an iPhone and an Apple Watch or two Apple Watches. Instead of asking a friend for their contact details or handing your device to a friend to input their information, NameDrop allows this exchange of basic data to happen in a much easier, yet still secure, manner. The feature was first included in the software update known as iOS 17, which was released in September 2023 after being announced in June. Apple states that for NameDrop to work, users' devices must be "within a few centimeters" of each other to initiate the first step of the process. Additionally, both users must be signed into iCloud. Users can then select whether they want to share their phone number or email address and must tap a "Share" button to complete the exchange of one of the two pieces of basic contact data. To be clear, no contact information is automatically shared when two devices are brought together without a user taking action. Furthermore, NameDrop does not work unless the devices are already unlocked. Consider the following scenario: You sit down in a cozy coffee shop with your phone in your purse or on the table. Another customer is sitting several tables away. That customer won't be able to initiate the NameDrop feature on your phone because the devices are further apart than the "within a few centimeters" proximity specified by Apple. Even if that customer walks by and bumps into your purse or phone on the table, if your phone is locked with a passcode or other security feature, they couldn't even begin to initiate the NameDrop feature. Moreover, even if your phone is unlocked, you would still have to tap some buttons for the person to receive your contact details. In other words, there are multiple layers of security implemented for the NameDrop feature that are meant to protect users. The only way a person could misuse the NameDrop feature on your phone is if they take your unlocked phone away from you without your permission and initiate the sharing of contact information. However, this does not make the NameDrop feature unsafe; it simply means that you should not allow strangers to take your unlocked phone away from you. All of the data we've detailed above led us to our rating of False, meaning that, as the authoritative tech blog Wired.com put it in the headline of their article, "No, You Don't Need to Turn Off Apple's NameDrop Feature in iOS 17." If users, including parents, still wish to turn off the NameDrop feature, they can simply navigate on an iPhone to "Settings," "General," and then "AirDrop." To disable NameDrop, toggle the "Bringing Devices Together" feature to off. Parents can learn more about parental controls for Apple devices on the company's website. | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD742 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested that the media was downplaying the news revealing that former President Obama’s national security advisor Susan Rice unmasked the identities of Trump campaign aides during the 2016 election. [“I’m somewhat surprised in terms of the level of interest that I’ve seen from the press corps, one set of developments versus another set of developments,†Spicer said during the White House press briefing on Monday. Since President Donald Trump accused former President Obama’s administration of spying on his campaign staff, journalists have demanded evidence to back up his claims. Spicer suggested that the media was approaching the issue with a double standard after Rice’s activity was exposed. “I’m somewhat more from a media standpoint somewhat intrigued by the lack of interest that we’ve seen in some of these public revelations and reporting that has gone in that direction that we’ve seen in some of the other directions that we’ve seen,†he said. Spicer declined to comment about the new revelations, citing the ongoing investigation. “There’s a troubling direction that some of this is going in, but we’re going to let this review go on before we jump to it,†he said. In the aftermath of the news, some reporters suggested that Rice was merely doing her job by unmasking Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. “If victim Flynn hadn’t been ‘unmasked’ — would Trump had fired him? Would it be better to have ‘masked’ man Flynn running NSC?†New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush asked on Twitter. “’Unmasking’ sounds better than ‘we picked a national security adviser who was on the payroll of 2 other countries. ’†Trump has not reacted to questions about the revelations in the press and has not shared his opinion about the news on Twitter. Spicer said that the administration would not try to assign a motive to Rice’s reported behavior, but wait to see the results of the investigation. “We’re not going to start going down guessing the motives of something that is not assumed in fact yet,†he said. | 1 | [
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"2"
] | 1 |
FMD743 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has made income inequality and Wall Street main themes of his campaign for the Democratic nomination to run for president in November. Here is a look at some of his policy proposals, taken from his website, news stories and interviews. Sanders would expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the Deferred Action for Parents of America program to extend legal protections given to certain immigrants who entered the country illegally. He would establish a whistleblower visa program for workers reporting labor violations. Sanders would end both for-profit and family detention of illegal immigrants. He would reform immigration laws, and would include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the country. The candidate would protect the border with technology such as high-grade cameras, thermal imaging and movement sensors instead erecting of a border wall. Sanders would reverse trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement. He would make it easier for people to join labor unions. Sanders says that permanent normal trade relations with China have been disastrous. He has called for U.S. companies to invest more in the United States. Sanders would seek the breakup of the largest financial institutions and reinstatement of Glass-Steagall, the Depression-era banking law that forced a separation of commercial and investment banking businesses. He would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. Sanders would tax Wall Street speculation to help fund free public college and university tuition, and would establish a progressive estate tax for those who inherit more than $3.5 million. He would set up a $1 trillion infrastructure investment program. The candidate would lift the cap on taxable income above $250,000 to expand Social Security benefits. Sanders supports the Iran nuclear deal, and opposes the use of ground troops in Iraq and Syria. He would close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, and would move toward normalizing relations with Cuba. | 1 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD744 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Amid growing uncertainty around Brexit, the EU risks losing Hungary as well. According to experts from Saxo Bank, after 15 years of membership, Budapest may declare its withdrawal from the association in 2020. | 0 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
FMD745 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday promised zero tolerance in his government s push to punish corruption that stifled political freedom and economic growth under Robert Mugabe s 37-year rule. Mnangagwa, giving his first state of the nation address since he assumed power last month following a de facto coup that ousted his 93-year-old predecessor, has sought to draw a line under years of endemic corruption and impunity. Under pressure to deliver results, especially on an economy crippled by severe currency shortages, Mnangagwa said reforms of a bloated state sector would be launched in early 2018. With opposition parties calling for widespread political reforms before an election next year, he repeated a promise that his government would do everything in its power to ensure a credible, free and fair ballot. Corruption remains the major source of some of the problems we face as a country and its retarding impact on national development cannot be overemphasized, Mnangagwa told a joint sitting of the country s two houses of parliament. On individual cases of corruption, every case must be investigated and punished in accordance with the dictates of our laws. There should be no sacred cows. My government will have zero tolerance towards corruption and this has already begun. The latter was an apparent reference to comments last week he would name and shame those who failed to return stolen public funds after a three-month amnesty ends in February. His government is also pursuing corruption charges dating back over two decades against former finance minister Ignatius Chombo, a close ally of Mugabe and his wife, Grace. Chombo, whose lawyer has said he will deny the charges, faces trial early next year. In the latter half of Mugabe s rule the economy fell apart amid the violent and chaotic seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms. Billions of dollars of domestic debt issued to pay for a bloated civil service triggered a collapse in the value of Zimbabwe s de facto currency and hyperinflation. Mnangagwa said the government would in the first quarter of next year announce a program to reform, commercialize or shut down some state-owned firms he said had been for a long time an albatross around the government s neck . Zimbabwe s efforts to re-engage international lenders and lure investors will rest on the credibility of next year s election, and the president again pledged a commitment to a free and fair vote. To level a playing field they say is skewed in favor of Mnangagwa s ZANU-PF party, opposition parties have however challenged his army-backed government to first enact a long list of electoral reforms. They include a new voters roll, opposition access to public media, allowing an estimated three million Zimbabweans living abroad to vote and international observers including the United Nations. We would like to see genuine, credible electoral reforms that will lead to free and fair elections and they must be underwritten and guaranteed by the international community, Tendai Biti, leader of the opposition MDC Alliance, told reporters ahead of Mnangagwa s address. Biti and other members of the alliance also criticized what they called the militarization of the government following the appointment of two former senior military officials to the new cabinet. Mnangagwa gave his clearest signal yet on Tuesday that he would appoint as vice president Constantino Chiwenga, the military leader who led the coup that ousted Mugabe. Chris Mutsvangwa, adviser to the president and the influential leader of the war veterans association, has rejected the criticism of the appointments, saying they were not unique to Zimbabwe. | 1 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD746 | 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: 'Be Like Bill' Spreads Malware? Claim summaries: The "Be Like Bill" Facebook trend has annoyed some social media users, but there are no credible reports of its behaving maliciously.
contextual information: In January 2016, a Facebook trend most commonly referenced as "Be Like Bill" swept the social network. During that time, users initially posted comics in which a character named "Bill" served as a reinforcer of social media etiquette, before "Be Like Bill" generators enabled users to create personalized versions of the meme. As is often the case with items like "Be Like Bill" that appear seemingly from nowhere and go Facebook-wide, it wasn't long before people became suspicious of this Bill character and his purpose on their News Feeds. Soon after Bill became the meme of the day, a backlash against it began: one that first simply decried the "scolding" nature of the trend, then followed up with rumors that the ubiquitous comic was a vector for malware, information theft, or other undesirable outcomes. Scolding Bill proved so popular and omnipresent that multiple local news outlets carried reports about the potential dangers of creating a "Be Like Bill" meme. Missouri TV station KFVS, Kansas City station KCTV, and Washington, D.C., station WTTG generated concern with coverage about the specific comic, typically lumping it into the general category of "clickbait" and associating it with the risks of all unvetted apps. It's known as 'clickbait,' and if you haven't read the terms and conditions on the creator's website, the details may shock you. The company originally stated in its privacy terms, "You will allow us to use and edit your content with our service permanently, with no limit and no recovery." KFVS-TV also mentioned that, in some cases, content can contain viruses that can damage your computer, use your Facebook profile in ways you might not know, or even attempt to steal your credit card or bank account numbers. As the above-quoted material stated, Facebook has indeed presented a handy way for bad actors to engage in all sorts of unpleasant activities using compelling content. However, the "in some cases" outcomes described apply to malicious apps in general and not specifically to any known vulnerabilities linked to the "Be Like Bill" meme. Many articles cited existing Better Business Bureau warnings about rogue apps that predated "Be Like Bill" and referenced "clickbait," but the term was applied exceptionally broadly and not specifically to malware. In short, whether an item is clickbait itself has no bearing on its potential to cause harm to computers or accounts, and plenty of clickbait exists just to drive traffic to various websites. Of additional interest was a widely reproduced excerpt from the Terms of Service of publisher Blobla (which offered a mechanism for customizing "Be Like Bob" memes) that purportedly stated end users agreed to "allow [Blobla] to use and edit your content with our service permanently, with no limit and no recovery." We were unable to verify that such language ever appeared in the agreement in question, and no such wording was in their agreement as of January 27, 2016. On that date, Chicago station WMAQ published an article reporting that the Better Business Bureau (BBB) didn't suggest "Be Like Bill" posed any specific threat at all to social media users and added that the President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, Steve Bernas, had confirmed only that the BBB was looking into the meme (and keeping an eye out for impostors). According to the outlet, Blobla clarified that the generator didn't require Facebook authorizations of the sort generally associated with malware or rogue apps. However, the Better Business Bureau has not yet definitively ruled whether the generated memes pose a risk to you or your computer. The sensation's creator, Bloba, on the other hand, says they don't collect any data from users and their terms are the same as any others you see on Facebook. "First, our game Be Like Bill doesn't require users to authorize a Facebook app," a spokesperson for Bloba wrote in response. "Of course, if users want to share the results to Facebook, they must be logged into Facebook. However, we use the Facebook share dialog for users to share their results. It's very common... This doesn't allow us to collect any data from users' Facebook accounts." Blobla's creators also explained that the now-elided, widely cited verbiage ("permanently, with no limit and no recovery") was poorly composed and pertained to unrelated functions that might have ended up on their website. "Second, we do not store any information about users on our servers, as stated in our Terms of Service," Bloba continued. "Third, the terms about our right to users' content are about posts on our website (a post may be a game like Be Like Bill, or a quiz, or a video...). Because our website has a function for normal users to create a post in other languages, we have removed that term to avoid misunderstanding." On January 29, 2016, BBB communications director Katherine Hutt clarified the bureau's stance on "Be Like Bill," due to the multiple news reports conflating their earlier "clickbait" warnings with that particular meme and generator: "We don't issue warnings about a specific company without investigating first." Finally, outlets devoted to more detailed reporting on online security (such as Sophos' Naked Security blog) haven't issued any warnings about "Be Like Bill" or the popular comic generator. No widespread reports of adverse outcomes have substantiated news affiliate speculation, and the bulk of "Be Like Bill"-themed reports focused on the general ability for malware to spread through apps, not any reports definitively (or anecdotally) related to that meme specifically. While users might tire of seeing Bill across their feeds, he doesn't pose a threat to anything more than annoyance-free browsing. | 0 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
FMD747 | 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 Trump administration is raiding moneyfrom military service member pensions to pay for the border wall.
contextual information: California Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has sharply criticized President Trump for his plans to divert military funds to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In February, Trump declared a national emergency on the border to access billions of dollars that Congress refused to allocate for the wall. One of Harris's recent attacks caught our attention: she claimed the Trump administration was raiding money from the military pensions of service members to pay for the barrier. "Members of our military have already given so much. Raiding money from their pensions to fund the President's wasteful vanity project is outrageous. Our servicemembers deserve better," Harris said on March 8 on Twitter and Facebook. Is the Trump administration really planning to raid military pensions? FactCheck.org, along with some social media users who commented on Harris's posts, described her claim as misleading or wrong. We decided to fact-check her provocative statement ourselves.
Democratic leaders have called Trump's emergency declaration a power grab, and some Republicans have also said it sets a dangerous precedent. The move allows the president to transfer $3.6 billion from military construction projects to the wall, according to the White House. It also gives him the ability to tap $2.5 billion from drug interdiction programs and $600 million from a Treasury Department asset forfeiture fund. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement in February: "The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available." The House and Senate voted this month to block the declaration. Trump vetoed the joint resolution shortly after. A bid to override the veto failed this week in the House. Sixteen states, including California, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Trump's authority to divert funds for the border wall.
To support her statement, Harris linked in her social media posts to a March 7 Associated Press article. Reading just the headline—"Pentagon may tap military pay, pensions for border wall"—Harris's claim seems mostly accurate. However, the first paragraph describes the money as leftover funds, casting a different light. "The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall," a top Senate Democrat said Thursday. The money is available because the Army missed a recruitment goal by 6,500 enlistees. Additionally, fewer soldiers opted to take financial incentives for voluntary early retirement, according to the article. The Pentagon plans to move the extra money to its drug interdiction account, freeing it up to spend on border barriers, the AP reported.
To further assess Harris's claim of raiding pensions, we spoke with three experts on federal defense budgets. Each said the senator's statement was inaccurate. "It's off-base," said Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization. He explained that the money is leftover in certain Army personnel accounts. "It's a separate issue worth debating whether that money should be used for the border wall or for other purposes within the military. But the fact that they're moving money out of these accounts is not an indication that anyone is cutting military pay or cutting benefits or pension payments. That's not the case. No military service member's pension would be reduced," he said.
Mark Cancian, who worked for the White House Office of Management and Budget on defense budget strategy during the Obama administration, agreed that Harris's statement is wrong. "The answer is, No. They are not raiding military pensions," Cancian said. "I'm sure the Army had some places they would have preferred to send that money. But they are not taking any money from pensions." Cancian is now a senior advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Travis Sharp directs the budget program at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, which provides independent defense budget analysis. He also said Harris's statement is flawed. "This is another example of there being a lot of confusion about what it means to cut something in the budget," Sharp said. "Transferring money after an agency overestimated how much something would cost is not the same as a cut," he explained. "The Department of Defense has to budget in advance for things that are unpredictable. The money that's leftover is what the Trump administration is trying to reallocate. Does that constitute a cut? In my opinion, no. That's not a cut." When the Pentagon has funds remaining in one account, it can reprogram the money to others, such as health care or fuel accounts that have a budget shortfall, Cancian said. If that doesn't happen, Congress will rescind that money and use it for other purposes, Harrison said.
The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Harris campaign provided a written statement: "The AP reported that money is being transferred from a fund dedicated to pensions of armed service members. The President is trying to circumvent Congress, which refused to give him funding for this wall, by diverting resources from other military funds." The spokesperson would not say whether the senator stood by the original claim.
Our rating: Sen. Kamala Harris claimed the Trump administration was raiding money from the military pensions of service members to pay for the wall. In reality, the Pentagon plans to move leftover pay and retirement funds that are available because fewer soldiers opted for an early retirement program and because the Army missed a recruitment goal by 6,500 enlistees. No service members would lose pay or retirement benefits as a result of the move, according to experts on federal defense budgets. The headline in the article Harris relied on did not make this clear. But it's important for anyone, especially a public official, to read beyond a headline before making such a claim. The debate over whether the Trump administration should tap this money is a separate issue. Harris's claim was off the mark. We rate it False. | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD748 | 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: General Motors Sales Claim summaries: In June 2012, were 79% of General Motors' sales made to the federal government?
contextual information: Claim: In June 2012, 79% of General Motors' sales were made to the U.S. federal government. Examples: [Collected via e-mail, August 2012] I just received the following & while it seems phony, I sure would liketo know. "79% of GM's sales last month were government purchased" Remember how obama keeps telling us how he saved GM, and how our economy is getting better, it seems the car company he bought is being saved by Govt employees using our tax money to buy new cars. 79% of GMs sales last month was government purchased. Origins: In July 2012 the above-referenced item began circulating (based on information propagated by web sites such as this one), claiming that a whopping 79% of automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) sales in June 2012 came from purchases of vehicles by the (federal) government and suggesting that the Obama administration had engineered such purchases in order to make GM "appear financially strong" just in time for its upcoming quarterly report all to justify the President's 2009 decision to provide billions of dollars in federal aid to allow GM and Chrysler to restructure after government-backed bankruptcies. this one However, a closer reading the source material on which the claim was based reveals that it is not true that "79% of GM's sales [in June 2012] were government purchased." The 79% figure refers to the percentage by which GM's government fleet sales increased for the month, not to the proportion of GM's overall sales that came from government purchases. Moreover, the phrase "government purchases" doesn't refer only to the federal government: state, county, and municipal governments whose purchasing decisions are not directed by the White House are also large automotive fleet sales customers. source material fleet sales A General Motors spokesman maintained in a response that the percentage of GM's overall June 2012 sales attributable to government purchases was rather low and the bulk of those purchases were from non-federal government agencies: GM sales spokesman, Jim Cain, points out that total government sales for GM in June were still below 5% of total sales and [the] majority of government sales increases were attributed to state and local governments. Bloomberg news reported that all fleet sales (including purchases by rental car companies, typically the largest fleet customers) made up only 32% of GM's overall sales in June 2012. This number was comparable to that reported by Ford, who said fleet sales accounted for 35% of their deliveries that month. Last updated: 10 September 2012 Trudell, Craig. "Auto Sales in June Provided Bright Spot for U.S. Economy." Bloomberg. 3 July 2012. Press Release. "GM Reports June U.S. Sales Up 16 Percent." General Motors. 3 July 2012. | 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD749 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck southeast of the town of Mat as Romero in Oaxaca, Mexico, on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. Slight quake tremors were felt, and seismic alarms sounded on Saturday in Mexico City, which earlier this week was hit by the country s most deadly earthquake in decades. That 7.1 magnitude earthquake destroyed more than 50 buildings in the sprawling Mexican capital on Tuesday, leaving thousands homeless and close to 300 people dead nationwide. | 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD750 | 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: No, Seattle Doesn't Refuse to Hose Poop from Sidewalks Because It's 'Racially Insensitive' Claim summaries: A minor Seattle street-cleaning issue from mid-2017 was played up by partisan websites as if it were a major racial controversy.
contextual information: In July 2017, the Seattle Times reported that two judges in King County (Washington) Superior Court had expressed concerns to county officials about the preponderance of crime around the courthouse located at Third Avenue and James Street in Seattle: reported Two King County Superior Court judges are asking for help cleaning up the courthouse at Third Avenue and James Street after they say two jurors and half a dozen employees have been assaulted. The nearby blocks host most of the citys homeless-shelter beds and many of its social-service outlets, which draw those who need help and the people who prey on them. Thats nothing new, [Judge Jim] Rogers said. But, for whatever reasons, things have gotten worse over the past few years and jurors and potential jurors report being afraid to go to the courthouse, the judges said. The judges said they have started hearing from jurors who want to do their civic jury duty at the countys superior courthouse in Kent because they dont want to come to the downtown courthouse. [Judge Laura] Inveen told the [Metropolitan King County Councils committee on government accountability and oversight] about two incidents, one in late May and one in June, in which jurors were attacked in separate incidents outside the courthouses Third Avenue entrance. On other occasions, Inveen said, employees have been spat upon, slammed against a wall or punched. Although cleaning and patrolling the area immediately surrounding the courthouse would not address some of the deep-seated issues faced by denizens of the space, it would send a signal that somebody was paying attention, she said. She and Rogers asked the county to take immediate steps to clean up the courthouse with a daily power-wash of the surrounding sidewalks, which reek of urine and excrement. They also asked that the county empty trash cans more frequently, remove bus-stop benches, remove tents from the adjoining park and increase the presence of law enforcement not just to arrest people but to deter crime. Another suggestion was closing the Third Avenue entrance and reopening the one on Fourth. Although the Times article emphasized the need for reducing crime (and the fear of crime) around the courthouse as the primary problem, of which cleaning up human waste was just one element, many right-leaning websites focused on the sanitation aspect and one county councilmember's comments in particular. In the middle of the story, the Times quoted Councilmember Larry Gossett as saying that "he didnt like the idea of power-washing the sidewalks because it brought back images of the use of hoses against civil-rights activists." That single line was plucked from its context and used as fodder for articles bearing headlines such as "Seattle Councilman: Cleaning Poop Off Sidewalks Is Racist" (The Daily Caller) and "Seattle Councilman Criticizes Plan to Hose Excrement Off Sidewalks Because It's Racially Insensitive" (The Blaze). And Turning Point USA reduced the whole issue to a single meme asserting that "the city of Seattle leaves poop on their sidewalks because hosing it off is 'racially insensitive': Larry Gossett The Daily Caller Of course, none of those right-leaning sources made clear that Gossett didn't actually use either the term "racist" or "racially insensitive," nor did any of them report as more moderate news outlets did the full context of Gossett's remarks, which was that he felt merely cleaning up waste would essentially be treating a symptom rather than addressing the larger underlying problem. Tacoma radio station KNKX, for example, observed that: observed There is, however, some push back to some of the clean up proposals. King County Councilman Larry Gossett says hes worried that power washing and increased security will affect the vulnerable population on the street. Most of the emphasis seems to be on safety for the jurors and courthouse staff and not enough attention being put to underlying problems that give rise to some of the disruptive activities of the lumpen proletariat out on the street, Gossett said. Likewise, the Seattle Times also included that missing context: Some committee members expressed concern about addressing the symptoms of the areas problems without getting to the cause. Councilmember Larry Gossett said he didnt like the idea of power-washing the sidewalks because it brought back images of the use of hoses against civil-rights activists. The Turning Point USA meme was particularly factually egregious in that it fostered the mistaken impression that the issue of sidewalk-cleaning applied to the entirety of Seattle, when in fact the discussion was about the area around a single courthouse. And the meme also wrongly asserted that "Seattle leaves poop on its sidewalks," even though contemporaneous reporting made it clear that wasn't true, with the Seattle Times noting that "the countys administrative officer, Caroline Whalen, and the facilities manager assured committee members that a stepped-up schedule of power washing and garbage cleanup [around the courthouse] would begin immediately." The coup de grce was that the photograph used to illustrate The Blaze's article and Turning Point USA's meme did not picture a scene in Seattle, or Washington state, or anywhere else in the U.S., but rather ... Moscow: photograph Wissel, Paula. "King County Looks to Improve Safety for Jurors, Other Courthouse Visitors."
KNKX. 11 July 2017. Randall, Amber. "Seattle Councilman: Cleaning Poop Off Sidewalks Is Racist."
The Daily Caller. 12 July 2017. Clarridge, Christine. "Judges Complain Its Unsafe, Unsanitary Outside King County Courthouse in Seattle."
The Seattle Times. 11 July 2017. Gonzales, Sara. "Seattle Councilman Criticizes Plan to Hose Excrement Off Sidewalks Because It's Racially Insensitive."
The Blaze. 13 July 2017. | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD751 | 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 Obama Apologize for Dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan? Claim summaries: While President Obama offered his sympathies during a visit to Hiroshima, he did not apologize for the United States' 1945 actions.
contextual information: On 27 May 2016, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, since the end of World War II. While some media outlets portrayed the historic visit as another stop on Obama's "apology tour," the president did not actually apologize. Still, social media users were outraged at the President's supposed apology. On 26 May 2016, the New York Post published an article criticizing the president for his "shameful" apology tour. While the author assumed that Obama would apologize (despite the White House stating that an apology would not be forthcoming), the article was published a day before Obama's speech and therefore did not serve as evidence. An American president's highest moral, constitutional, and political duty is to protect his fellow citizens from foreign threats. Presidents should adhere to our values and the Constitution and not treat America's enemies as morally equivalent to us. If they do, they need not apologize to anyone. The White House stated that President Obama wouldn't apologize during his visit to Hiroshima. But who believes his press representatives? The president did express regret while he was in Japan, but it wasn't for the atomic bomb. On 25 May 2016, the President offered his "deepest regrets" for the death of a Japanese woman who reportedly had been murdered by a former U.S. Marine. "The U.S. will continue to cooperate fully" and will ensure "justice is done under the Japanese legal system," Obama said. While critics of President Obama preemptively condemned him for apologizing for the United States' 1945 actions (which collectively killed more than 100,000 people), and while the President did express regret for an unrelated incident, he did not actually offer an apology during his speech. Obama did offer condolences for the loss of those who died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but nowhere in the full text of his remarks did he offer an apology. Seventy-one years ago, on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky, and the world was changed. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in a not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead, including over 100,000 Japanese men, women, and children, thousands of Koreans, and a dozen Americans held prisoner. Their souls speak to us. They ask us to look inward, to take stock of who we are and what we might become. | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD752 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Michael Snyder
In the world of politics, the cover-up is often worse than the original crime. It was his role in the Watergate cover-up that took down Richard Nixon, and now Hillary Clinton’s cover-up of her email scandal could send her to prison for a very, very long time. When news broke that the FBI has renewed its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails , it sent shockwaves throughout the political world . But this time around, we aren’t just talking about an investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. I haven’t heard anyone talking about this, but if the FBI discovers that Hillary Clinton altered, destroyed or concealed any emails that should have been turned over to the FBI during the original investigation, she could be charged with obstruction of justice. That would immediately end her political career, and if she was found guilty it could send her to prison for the rest of her life.
I have not seen a single news report mention the phrase “obstruction of justice” yet, but I am convinced that there is a very good chance that this is where this scandal is heading. The following is the relevant part of the federal statute that deals with obstruction of justice …
Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsified, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under Title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
If Hillary Clinton is sent to prison for 20 years, that would essentially be for the rest of her life.
I have a feeling that the FBI is going to find a great deal of evidence of obstruction of justice in Huma Abedin’s emails. But unfortunately there is not likely to be a resolution to this matter before November 8th, because according to the Wall Street Journal there are approximately 650,000 emails to search through…
As federal agents prepare to scour roughly 650,000 emails to see how many relate to a prior probe of Hillary Clinton ’s email use, the surprise disclosure that investigators were pursuing the potential new evidence lays bare building tensions inside the bureau and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic presidential nominee.
Metadata found on the laptop used by former Rep. Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide, suggests there may be thousands of emails sent to or from the private server that Mrs. Clinton used while she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter. It will take weeks, at a minimum, to determine whether those messages are work-related from the time Ms. Abedin served with Mrs. Clinton at the State Department; how many are duplicates of emails already reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and whether they include either classified information or important new evidence in the Clinton email probe.
Of those 650,000 emails, an inside source told Fox News that “ at least 10,000 ” would be of interest to the investigation.
At this point, FBI officials have not even begun searching through the emails, because a search warrant has not been secured yet. The following comes from CNN …
Government lawyers haven’t yet approached Abedin’s lawyers to seek an agreement to conduct the search. Sources earlier told CNN that those discussions had begun, but the law enforcement officials now say they have not.
Either way, government lawyers plan to seek a search warrant from a judge to conduct the search of the computer, the law enforcement officials said.
But the FBI is reportedly already searching a laptop that was co-owned by Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin, and no warrant was necessary for that search because Weiner is cooperating with the FBI.
Many have been wondering why FBI Director James Comey would choose to make such a bold move just over a week until election day. Surely he had to know that this would have a dramatic impact on the election, and it is unlikely that he would have done so unless someone had already found something really big. In addition, Comey was reportedly eager to find an opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his peers at the FBI. The following is an excerpt from a Daily Mail article that was written by Ed Klein, the author of a recently released New York Times bestseller about the Clintons entitled “ Guilty As Sin “…
‘The atmosphere at the FBI has been toxic ever since Jim announced last July that he wouldn’t recommend an indictment against Hillary,’ said the source, a close friend who has known Comey for nearly two decades, shares family outings with him, and accompanies him to Catholic mass every week.
‘Some people, including department heads, stopped talking to Jim, and even ignored his greetings when they passed him in the hall,’ said the source. ‘They felt that he betrayed them and brought disgrace on the bureau by letting Hillary off with a slap on the wrist.’
According to the source, Comey fretted over the problem for months and discussed it at great length with his wife, Patrice.
He told his wife that he was depressed by the stack of resignation letters piling up on his desk from disaffected agents. The letters reminded him every day that morale in the FBI had hit rock bottom.
So what happens next?
In the most likely scenario, the FBI will not have time to complete the investigation and decide whether or not to charge Hillary Clinton before the election. This means that we would go into November 8th with this scandal hanging over the Clinton campaign, and that would seem to be very good news for Donald Trump.
However, it is possible that once the FBI starts searching through these emails that they could come to the conclusion very rapidly that charges against Clinton are warranted, and if that happens we could still see some sort of announcement before election day.
In the unlikely event that does happen, we could actually see Hillary Clinton forced out of the race before November 8th.
Once again, this appears to be very unlikely at this point, but it is still possible.
If Clinton was forced to step aside, the Democrats would need to come up with a new nominee, and that process would take time. In an article later today on The Most Important News I will reveal who I believe that nominee would be.
In such a scenario, the Democrats would desperately need time to get their act together, and so we could actually see Barack Obama attempt to delay or suspend the election . The legality of such a move is highly questionable, but Barack Obama has not allowed a little thing like the U.S. Constitution to stop him in the past.
This week is going to be exceedingly interesting – that is for sure.
The craziest election in modern American history just keeps getting crazier, and I have a feeling that even more twists and turns are ahead.
It sure seems ironic that Anthony Weiner is playing such a central role this late in the story, and I can’t wait to see what is in store for the season finale.
Courtesy of Michael Snyder | 0 | [
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FMD753 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Michael Strickland, 36, was arrested after pulling a handgun on Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, Thursday night. Video of the incident shows Strickland pulling what appears to be a Glock 26 on protesters who were demonstrating against the recent fatal shootings of black men by police officers. It was revealed that the gun owner had a round in the chamber and five other magazines of ammunition of him while aiming the gun at the anti-police brutality group, according to court records.Strickland is accused of two counts of unlawful use of a firearm, menacing and second- degree disorderly conduct, according to The Oregonian.Multnomah County deputy district attorney Kate Molina Friday successfully argued for Strickland s bail to be set at $250,000 after two felony counts of unlawful use of a firearm were added to misdemeanor allegations of menacing and second-degree disorderly conduct.Strickland had an extended clip in his firearm that he swept at chest level multiple times in front of the demonstrators. The gun owner also waved it in front of a plain-clothed Portland police officer.Portland Officer Branden L. Combs was in Chapman Square during the protest and heard people running by him yelling, Gun! Gun! and He s got a gun, according to a probable cause affidavit.Police were told by one of the protesters that Strickland has tried to incite or instigate others at different demonstrations.Officer Combs witnessed the incident. He was standing just about 20 to 25 yards away from Strickland when he went all Second Amendment on the protestestors, sweeping the crowd with his firearm.After the arrest, police found an extended clip in Strickland s handgun, a round in the chamber of the gun, plus two magazines of ammunition in a belt pouch, two magazines in one of his pants pockets and one magazine in the other, Molina said. In addition, he also had a pocket knife in his right front pants pocket.According to Strickland s attorney Chris Trotter, his client was a journalist who has a concealed carry permit, adding that he has every right to protect himself. Trotter alleged that the District Attorney s office was making an example of Strickland.Molina responded, saying that Given that Mr. Strickland pulled a gun on a crowd of people in front of the steps of the Justice Center and has a past police report alleging possibly race-based threats against an attendee at a Portland vigil for the victims of last month s Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, his client s bail set at $250,000 is justified.From the video, it looks like Strickland aimed his Glock at a man who is armed with only a camera.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvV3BQ-RoJw]In a separate incident, a white male showed up at a memorial for Alton Sterling, the black Louisiana man who was fatally shot by police officers.Hey guys, you re doing the Second Amendment wrong.Image via screen capture. | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD754 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana has so far played the role of Donald J. Trump’s translator to conservatives, character witness to evangelical Christians, and clarifier in chief, issuing explanatory statements after Mr. Trump has committed a variety of unforced political errors. By now, he had hoped to add another line to his 2016 political résumé: surrogate in chief, stumping with and raising money for Republican Senate candidates. But, especially among vulnerable incumbents, the reception has been tentative at best. The problem is not Mr. Pence, strictly speaking: He is largely viewed with respect and appreciation by fellow Republicans. The problem is the man on top of the ticket — and the fear that Mr. Pence is an unwitting carrier of a kind of political toxicity. “This notion that, ‘I’m Mike Pence, I’m here to help, and people won’t notice I’m associated with Donald Trump,’ in these close Senate races, is notionally absurd,†said Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who was a senior adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “The association with Trump that Pence brings into your campaign — I think most Senate candidates are going to want Mike Pence in their states the way they’re going to want a mosquito bite in Miami. †Aides to Republicans in several contested Senate races, when asked if their candidates had any plans to appear with Mr. Pence, politely demurred. “Kelly is focused on the Senate race and talking to as many New Hampshire voters as she can, and we’ll see what happens,†said Liz Johnson, a spokeswoman for Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. “We look forward to helping Republicans up and down the ticket to make sure career politicians from the past like Senator Feingold and Hillary Clinton aren’t elected,†said Brian Reisinger, a spokesman for Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. And from the team of Senator Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania: “Pat and Mike are friends, and Pat would be happy to see him in Pennsylvania, but there are no plans to campaign together at this time,†said Ted Kwong, a campaign spokesman. Even the campaign of Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who has endorsed Mr. Trump, said the senator had no events scheduled with Mr. Pence, though he was “not closing the door. †At one point after his selection by Mr. Trump, Mr. Pence — the understated, half of the Republican ticket — was expected to play the role of national cheerleader, bringing party loyalty and a frisson of excitement to the aid of Republicans in statewide and Senate races and helping to rally conservative voters to turn out in November. “Pence gives vulnerable senators an opportunity to campaign with the presidential ticket without the baggage of the photo op with Donald Trump,†said Nathan Gonzales, editor of The Rothenberg and Gonzales Political Report. “Trump makes it hard for many Republicans to be excited or unified about this entire election, but Pence is a breath of fresh air for them. †But that may be in doubt, as Mr. Pence has increasingly backed up Mr. Trump, echoing some of his more contentious statements. In a CNN interview Thursday, Mr. Pence seconded Mr. Trump’s contention that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was a stronger leader than President Obama. “I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country,†Mr. Pence said. Mr. Pence did, however, break with Mr. Trump in saying he believes Mr. Obama was born in the United States. And on Friday, he released 10 years of his tax returns — though it remained unclear whether Mr. Trump would follow suit. Some appearances involving Mr. Pence may yet unfold: His aides have held discussions with several Senate campaigns, including that of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, about coordinating joint outings. (“Marco has tremendous respect and admiration for Governor Pence,†said Olivia a campaign spokeswoman, “but we have no joint events scheduled with him at this time. â€) To be sure, Mr. Pence is no outcast: Some Republicans believe that he can help shore up the party’s base in states like Arizona, Georgia and Missouri, helping to energize social conservatives who appreciate his opposition to abortion rights. He recorded a video testimonial for Representative Joe Heck, the Republican candidate in the competitive Senate race in Nevada. He has appeared with at least 17 House members, many in solidly Republican districts where turnout will be crucial three governors and four senators — including Richard Burr of North Carolina, who is in a tough fight, and Mike Lee of Utah, who hosted Mr. Pence at a policy forum recently. “Mike’s excited to continue to unify the party behind the ticket and he looks forward to helping competitive Senate races wherever he can,†said Marc Short, a senior Pence adviser. “He knows it will be important to have a Republican Senate when he and Mr. Trump are elected. †But Mr. Pence’s firepower in attracting favorable attention, including that of major political donors, is somewhat limited. He lacks the star power of a Sarah Palin or Paul D. Ryan: Though reporters, aides and Secret Service agents were looking on while Mr. Pence got a haircut in Pennsylvania recently, the barber had no idea his customer was a candidate. Another indication: He has appeared on Fox News only about a dozen times since becoming Mr. Trump’s running mate. As Mr. Pence himself likes to joke, he’s “kind of a Republican celebrity. †Instead, he has been more active behind the scenes, not only helping Mr. Trump, but also burnishing his own credentials and relationships — something that could help further his own political ambitions if Mr. Trump is defeated. He has quietly reached out to former Trump rivals, like former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and to fierce opponents, like the Wisconsin radio host Charlie Sykes, to try to quell lingering tensions. “It’s a very, very soft sell,†said Mr. Sykes, an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump who met privately with Mr. Pence during a recent campaign swing through the state. “He asks nothing. He basically said, ‘Can we keep the lines of communication open? ’†The Trump campaign has also largely ceded donor outreach to Mr. Pence, according to an Indiana Republican briefed on the discussions Mr. Trump does not enjoy making donor calls, and Mr. Pence’s team has an existing apparatus. On Tuesday, Mr. Pence will headline a in Washington — the first in the capital for the campaign. Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who worked for Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2012, said that while Mr. Pence was “a nice guy†and generally some Senate candidates understandably choose to avoid unnecessary risks. “The concern isn’t that Mike Pence is going to say something crazy,†Mr. Williams said. “It’s that Donald Trump, on the other side of the country, is going to say something crazy, and he’ll have to clean it up — and that will involve other Republicans at the event. So even just having Mike Pence there could be a distraction. †| 1 | [
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FMD755 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: in World — by Mirza Yawar Baig — November 10, 2016
Whew! Finally, the charade is over. Donald Trump is now the President of the United States of America. What does that mean? It means that Simpsons prediction came true: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2146815/the-simpsons-correctly-predicted-a-donald-trump-presidency-16-years-ago-in-episode-set-in-the-near-future/
So now you know who to refer to for accurate predictions about the future. Goodbye Tarot cards, et al. In 1995 I recall reading a survey which concluded that America was not likely to be ready for a woman president for the next twenty years. Twenty-one years later, it looks like that prediction was true. Given that women in America to this day are paid 80% of what men are paid, it is not surprising that Americans find it tough to visualize a woman in the White House in any place other than the President’s bed.
So, what does Trump mean for America, for American Muslims, for Muslims worldwide, for non-whites in America and globally? I am asking this rhetorical question as I see all kinds of doomsday predictions flying around. I apologize for taking a different view. I see the Trump presidency as an opportunity for those who believe in the opposite of everything that Donald Trump promoted in his campaign to put their actions where their mouths are and show that they are as willing to stand up for what they believe in as he was.
What does Trump mean for America? I hope he will be the best thing that happened to America ever. I hope that he can truly make ‘America Great Again’. I say that because though I am not American (should I say, ‘Thank God?’), I am one who believes that a truly ‘Great America’, can make this world great. The world truly needs to change. We need someone to lead the way to make the world compassionate, caring, fighting against injustice, corruption and poverty; disease and ignorance. Which nation is better suited to lead that fight? America has the resources, the intelligence, the education and the leadership ability which I hope it chooses to exercise. Trump won on the anti-establishment platform. I support that fully. The establishment has shown that what it can do is to fail spectacularly. The economy crashed and Obama rewarded those who crashed it. People were and are homeless when there are empty homes on foreclosed loans enough for every American to have two homes, not only one. Yet they are on the streets. I hope Trump can put Americans back in their own homes.
Bush father and son, started never ending wars. Obama continued them adding his own flavor to it of drone strikes – using technology to create bug splats (the arrogance is incredible) – thereby escalating the global threat level that comes from driving people to desperation. Obama’s dabbling (what else to call it?) in Middle Eastern politics resulted in continuing the misery for people of Afghanistan and Iraq and new misery for people of Syria and by inference for the rest of the world. And to top it all ISIS came into being because of all of the above. The credit can be shared by all of them. So, Trump standing against the establishment means that he is against all of this. I sincerely hope so.
All the jingoism that he rode on will get tempered when it comes to facing reality. It is easy to talk about kicking out the Mexicans and so on. But the day he does that, reality will dawn on him and his cohorts like it did on those who voted Pro-Brexit; that the rich need the poor to survive while the poor don’t need the rich. When nice white Americans get to pay $3 per potato, they will realize the value of cheap labor. Meanwhile some contractor will get the contract to build the Wall, which he will do from the Mexican side, no doubt as otherwise his margin will not make it worthwhile. So also, the wonderful idea to outlaw the H-1 visa. I don’t think it will take very long for Trump and his gang to realize that there is a reason there are blond jokes. And that Indians are not blond. Go figure that.
The good news is that Trump made public what was private – racism, misogyny in a country that never stops ‘trumpeting’ about women’s equality, support for genocide, wars and weapons sales, the evils of unbridled capitalism, locker-room conversations which indicate attitudes – have all come out of the closet and locker-room. Now it is up to those who like to say that they believe in the opposite of all these things, to get off their backsides and bring about change. They can no longer live the lives of pretense and lies that they had become used to, saying, ‘It is not happening here.’ Trump proved that it is happening and has trumpeted it from the top of Trump tower. Sorry for so much bad punning in one breath. But there you go.
As for Muslims and Trump, believe me Trump is far better than what Muslims have seen in the past. He is far better than what we have today. Take Sisi, the Oily royals who are personal friends of every weapons dealer, the Paki leadership and I can think of several more and Trump begins to look like a choir boy. What will he do that is not already happening? Frankly I don’t know and don’t care to speculate because the prime movers behind Muslim affairs and how they are, are Muslims themselves. Our leadership or more correctly its spectacular failure. Ordinary citizens pay the price, but what’s new about that? The fact remains that until we sort that out and do something about taking charge of our destiny, we must remain satisfied with others writing the script we are compelled to live by. Play endings depend on the script, not on the players.
India is a classic example where a so-called minority of 200 million is kicked around like a football and used at will by every mercenary politician for his own ends. But Indian Muslims seem to be satisfied with that, so who is anyone else to complain. If you disagree and tell me that they are not satisfied, then I must ask you what it is that prevents them from doing what is glaringly obvious; get their act together, change their leaders and write their own script. 200 million is not a minority. It is a nation. But only if it chooses to be. Same story for Muslims globally. No point in blaming Trump or looking up to him to find solutions. It is our problem and we must solve it, so let us start doing that.
Two other points: what about wars, global warming and such issues? Well, when you have a nation that lives on perpetual warfare and is supported in that by all the other major industrial nations who either manufacture and sell weapons or buy them, how can you pin it all on Trump? If weapons are made and sold, there will be wars. Wars will happen if they continue to make profits for those who run them. That people die is incidental. Those at the top who laugh all the way to the bank, don’t. Those that do, don’t count. They are ‘collateral’, who are necessary to prove the efficacy of the weapons that were used to vaporize them. If it wasn’t for the bugs who splatted, how would you assess the drones or their operators? The fact that the bugs were innocent or that they had families and so on; well, bugs are bugs. And that’s all that there is to it.
Global warming? America decided on that when it chose Bush instead of Al Gore. For a minute I thought that was because they got confused because his name is Al Gore like Al Ghurair. But then I realized that it was because he had a terminal problem; he had a brain. See his famous movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and you will see what I mean. https://www.algore.com/library/an-inconvenient-truth-dvd If you do nothing else, buy this and see it. At least you will know why you died. Since you chose that, especially Americans, I believe it is only fair that you understand what you did. With Trump, that came out in the open, so get used to summer all year long. You won’t need to go to the French Riviera for a tan. You can get it at home. That is not inconvenient.
Add to this the effect ofunending wars, refugee movement, changing cultures, security nightmares coming true, widening gap between the rich and the poor, global poverty and hunger, preventable disease which is not prevented because there’s no profit in it – when I think about all this and Trump’s election, Nero comes to mind. Renewing our link with tradition. Let us dance to the tune. What’s the use of fiddling otherwise?
Final question that everyone is asking, ‘How safe is it to have someone like Trump with his finger on the nuclear button?’
My answer is, ‘The one who actually pressed that button was as different from Trump as could be. Yet he did it.’ Let me leave you to figure out the rest.
Meanwhile it is midnight where I live, far away from Trump and America and time to go to bed. Truly it is said that there is solace in sleep. So, good night, world. Sleep well. As long as you stay asleep you can escape responsibility.
Mirza Yawar Baig is based in Hyderabad, India and is the founder and President of Yawar Baig & Associates; an international leadership consulting organization. He can be reached at [email protected] Share this: | 0 | [
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FMD756 | 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: Gun Ownership and Homicides in Honduras vs. Switzerland Claim summaries: A contrast of radically different gun laws and homicide rates in Honduras and Switzerland is based on flawed premises.
contextual information: Every mass shooting event in the United States prompts renewed debate about the efficacy of gun control regulations, and the 1 October 2015 shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon that left nine people dead on was no exception. Such debates typically feature each side presenting charts contrasting violent crime and homicide rates in countries with permissive and restrictive gun ownership laws to make the case that the prevalence of guns corresponds to either higher or lower crime rates. The wake of the Umpqua Community College shooting brought the widespread online circulation of an image which sought to make the point that two countries of roughly equal population, Honduras and Switzerland, had radically different laws regarding gun ownership and radically different homicide rates: Switzerland, where gun ownership is supposedly mandatory, has the world's lowest homicide rate, while Honduras, where gun ownership is supposedly prohibited, has the world's highest homicide rate: First off, even before we check the specific claims about each country, we have to note that this item presents a flawed premise. For a comparison of this nature to be valid, the two things being compared should be fairly equivalent outside of the factors being examined, but that isn't the case here. The two countries mentioned here are so very different that this isn't just a comparison of apples and oranges; it's more like a comparison of apples and radishes. Honduras and Switzerland are roughly equivalent in population (a little of upwards of 8 million people each), but other than that, they aren't the least bit similar in geography, economics, or culture. Switzerland is a small, landlocked country in western Europe surrounded by three of the most affluent countries in the world (Germany, France, and Italy) in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), and even though Switzerland itself is fairly small in population (96th in the world) and size (134th in the world), it ranks in the top 20 in terms of GDP. On the other hand, Honduras is a Central American country that is nearly three times the size of Switzerland and possesses coasts along both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean sea, but is a "lower middle-income country with persistent poverty and inequality challenges,"with a GDP only about 2.5% that of Switzerland and three neighbors (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala) that share similar economic conditions. Not to mention that Honduras is right in the path of the flow of drugs shipped by sea and air from Colombia and has therefore been ravaged by the drug war and its attendant factors of massive criminal organizations, violence, and governmental instability. population GDP size poverty drug war As far as homicide rates go, Honduras does have the highest intentional homicide rate in the world at about 90.4 homicides per 100,000 people per year (which is even shockingly higher than the homicide rate of the next worst country, Venezuela, at 53.7). Although Switzerland's intentional homicide rate is indeed low at 0.6, it isn't quite the lowest in the world: it's bested by several other countries such as Liechtenstein, Monaco, Iceland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the latter two of which have some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the world. Moreover, a better metric for comparison purposes here might perhaps be the firearm-related death rate rather than the overall intentional homicide rate; in that case, Honduras is still the worst, but Switzerland doesn't fare quite as well (ranking behind about 43 other countries). highest latter two firearm-related Additionally, it is not true that Honduras "bans citizens from owning guns" nor that Switzerland "requires citizens to own guns." Honduras enacted a ban on open and concealed carry in 2007, but a 2012 news report stated that "under the existing law, citizens are allowed to own as many as five personal firearms," and in mid-2014 Guns & Ammo rated Honduras as one of the "10 Best Countries for Gun Owners," saying that "Hondurans may purchase most popular types of shotguns, handguns or rifles for the recognized purposes of self-defense and recreation." While Switzerland ranks fourth among all countries in gun ownership per capita (much higher than Honduras), they do not "require" all their citizens to own guns. Switzerland has a long history of mandatory military service for all able-bodied male citizens. The government issues firearms to conscripted men which, after training, they take home with them and keep until the conclusion of their military obligation (about age 34 for non-officers), but no other citizens are "required" to own guns: news report rated gun ownership mandatory firearms Switzerland trails behind only the U.S, Yemen and Serbia in the number of guns per capita; between 2.3 million and 4.5 million military and private firearms are estimated to be in circulation in a country of only 8 million people. Yet, despite the prevalence of guns, the violent-crime rate is low: government figures show about 0.5 gun homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010. By comparison, the U.S rate in the same year was about 5 firearm killings per 100,000 people, according to a 2011 U.N. report. Unlike some other heavily armed nations, Switzerlands gun ownership is deeply rooted in a sense of patriotic duty and national identity. Weapons are kept at home because of the long-held belief that enemies could invade tiny Switzerland quickly, so every soldier had to be able to fight his way to his regiment's assembly point. (Switzerland was at risk of being invaded by Germany during World War II but was spared, historians say, because every Swiss man was armed and trained to shoot.) The "gun in every closet" tradition was challenged in 2001, after a disgruntled citizen opened fire with his army rifle inside a regional parliament, killing 14 and injuring 14 others. The subsequent opposition to widespread gun ownership spearheaded a push for stricter arms legislation. The government and pro-gun groups argued, however, that the country's existing laws regulating the sale, ownership and licensing of private guns, which includes a ban on carrying concealed weapons, are stringent enough. The law allows citizens or legal residents over the age of 18, who have obtained a permit from the government and who have no criminal record or history of mental illness, to buy up to three weapons from an authorized dealer, with the exception of automatic firearms and selective fire weapons, which are banned. Semiautomatics, which have caused havoc in the U.S., can be legally purchased. The authorities made one concession, though: since 2008, all military but not private ammunition must be stored in central arsenals rather than in soldiers homes. The debate culminated in a nationwide referendum, when 56% of voters rejected the proposal initiated by anti-gun organizations to ban army rifles from homes altogether. Swiss citizens may buy and keep firearms, subject to certain restrictions and licensing requirements: restrictions An acquisition license is required primarily for handguns. Rifles and semiautomatic long arms that are customarily used by recreational hunters are exempt from the licensing requirement,whereas fully automatic guns are banned. An applicant for a weapons license must be at least eighteen years of age, may not have been placed under guardianship, may not give cause for suspicion that he would endanger himself or others with the weapon, and may not have a criminal record with a conviction for a violent crime or of several convictions for nonviolent crimes. The license is issued by the canton of residence of the applicant but is valid throughout Switzerland. All in all, this meme compares two countries that aren't the least bit similar, then gets wrong nearly all the aspects of those countries it references. As such, it isn't the least bit useful or instructive as a discussion point for debates over gun ownership laws. | 0 | [
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FMD757 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Why do we even need a Congress anymore? We have a King, and it appears the majority his council are there at his behest. In fact, why do we even need a Constitution or elections? Chief Obamatrade proponent House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) admitted during Congressional testimony on Wednesday evening that despite tons of claims from him and other Obamatrade supporters to the contrary, the process is highly secretive.He also made a gaffe in his House Rules Committee testimony on par with former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi s (D-CA) push to pass Obamacare, in which she said infamously said: we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it. It s declassified and made public once it s agreed to, Ryan said of Obamatrade in Rules Committee testimony on Wednesday during questioning from Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX).What Ryan is trying to convince House Republicans to do is vote for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) which would fast-track at least three highly secretive trade deals specifically the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) and potentially more deals.Right now, TiSA and T-TIP text are completely secretive and unavailable for even members of Congress to read while TPP text is available for members to review although they need to go to a secret room inside the Capitol where only members of Congress and certain staffers high-level security clearances, who can only go when members are present, can read the bill.Ryan s exchange in which he made this gaffe came as Burgess, who opposes Obamatrade, and Rules Committee chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)65% , who stands with Ryan supporting it, were discussing the secrecy of the deal with him. It came right after an incredible exchange where Ryan attempted a ploy to try to save immigration provisions contained within the Obamatrade package as a whole specifically TiSA that were exposed by Breitbart News earlier on Wednesday, a problem for which he put forward a phony non-solution designed to get more votes for his Obamatrade agenda but not stop the immigration provisions. I would like to add and I stated this up front, that the gentleman Mr. Ryan worked well with not only myself but other members to address specific ideas, concerns, issues and you have done an outstanding job to make sure instead of saying, well that s not a problem, no I m not going to get into that, you ve bent over backwards Mr. Ryan, Sessions said. I ve watched you do this and working with us, whether it be a request from the United States Senate that was done on a bipartisan basis or whether it be one of our members, we have tried to work with those things. This, Dr. Burgess, this is why I can tout this agreement because we ve tried to go in whether it s the areas that I ve talked about foreign policy, dispute resolution, climate change, sovereignty, immigration, currency, transparency, fast-track, presidential power and more that haven t previously been addressed we ve tried to thoughtfully articulate a good answer and Mr. Ryan has done that most favorably and I think his articulation today is evidence of his knowledge of those parameters therein. After Sessions pitch, Burgess jumped back in to make another point. And I appreciate all of that but again, you read through this language down in the secret room and I welcome the day when people can read it Burgess said, before Ryan cut him off. By the way, TPA it s declassified and made public once it s agreed to, Ryan said.What Ryan is technically referring to is that TPP will become public if TPA is agreed to but Congress will lose much of its ability to have oversight over and influence on the process, since TPP is, in many respects, already negotiated. It s 800 pages long, and on fast-track, Congress will only get an up-or-down vote and won t be able to offer amendments. The Senate vote threshold also drops down to a simple majority rather than normally having a 60-vote threshold, or in the case of treaties, a 67-vote threshold.Burgess then moved forward with his point. But this is really tough sledding and it s not an area where I have a lot of familiarity and I m sorry, Burgess said. The language as its written looks to me as if it is something that could be exploited. I appreciate all the safeguards you ve tried to put in place. And with this administration you can leave no stone unturned as far as putting in safeguards but I m not convinced that we again I can t get into the specifics of what I ve read because of the agreement that I signed downstairs but it concerns me and I ll just leave it at that and I ll yield back. Sessions then jumped in to say he and Ryan are available to answer any questions about this matter whenever anyone wants yet Sessions committee staff is publicly refusing to answer any detailed questions from Breitbart News on Obamatrade at this time. I thank the gentleman, Sessions said.. In fact the gentleman, Mr. Levin is correct there will be some changes that have to go back to the United States Senate but I would like to say with great confidence to my dear friend the gentleman from Lewisville, Texas, that if you still have reservations from your reading of anything I would encourage you to engage the gentleman Mr. Ryan or myself, Dr. Burgess, any time you d like. I m available. Mr. Ryan s available. We ve made ourselves available with specifics on the same level. Burgess noted how the process seeking fast-track in the Bush administration was much more transparent than it is now. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I promised to be on my best behavior today and I am really trying it took a long time for me to even be able to see the agreement down in the secret room even though I was willing to sign the release that said I wouldn t talk about it. It took me a long time to get an audience with the U.S. Trade Representative, Burgess said. It should not have done that. Ten years ago we did CAFTA [Central American Free Trade Agreement], Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)56% was in my office he lived there. I couldn t get rid of him. This time, I couldn t get a it was an act of Congress literally to get him to come and talk to my subcommittee on Energy and Commerce, which is the subcommittee of Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. That s how difficult this has been, so please I thank you for the work you ve done in trying to make this an open and fair process but my confidence in this administration has been and remains at an all time low and I appreciate what we ve heard today but I can t tell you that I m mollified by Ryan then interrupted Burgess again to argue that his concerns over the secrecy are why Republicans should relent and support Obamatrade. All I would say is all the more reason to pass TPA, Ryan said. First of all, yes this administration is different and I can jump on the bash bandwagon better than anybody else as far as how they conduct themselves. Via: Matthew Boyle Breitbart News | 0 | [
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FMD758 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Get short URL 0 8 0 0 US defense contractor Lockheed Martin has not yet settled with the F-35 Joint Program Office on three main contractual points regarding two low-rate initial production (LRIP) lots for the F-35 jet, and has been lagging on the schedule for roughly a year.
The deal on the F-35 program’s LRIP 9 and 10, originally intended to be inked in November 2015, is still in negotiations, Defense News reported. The More You Spend the More You Save?! US Lawmakers Fight to Increase F-35 Budget Lockheed’s chief financial officer, Bruce Tanner, explained during a Tuesday earnings conference call that the sides are yet to agree on the cost of fulfilling the contract obligations, terms, and conditions regarding jet construction, and the amount of money to be paid to the manufacturer.
“I'd say we haven't really reached closure on any of those three [points],” Tanner was quoted by Defense News as saying.
Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson stated that the delay is normal, as the contract is “very large” and that there is “a lot of work that has to happen.”
During the negotiation process, Lockheed spent some $900 million of its own capital to keep the beleaguered project afloat. However, the Defense Department reimbursed the aircraft manufacturer’s expenses in a $1 billion transaction in August. Earlier this month, an additional $743 million was allocated for LRIP 9.
Still, Lockheed says it lacks funding to maintain the pace of production process for both LRIPs. “Despite not yet receiving funding sufficient to cover its costs, the corporation continued work in an effort to meet the customer’s desired aircraft delivery dates,” the Lockheed's news release stated. “Currently, the corporation has approximately $950 million of potential cash exposure and $2.3 billion in termination liability exposure related to the F-35 LRIP 9 and 10 contracts.” © Flickr/ Times Asi Can’t Fix the F-35? US Navy, Air Force Look Towards 6th Generation Fighter Instead Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman, a principal member of the F-35 production team, stated on Tuesday that they had settled with Lockheed on the pricing of LRIP 9 and 10, Flight Global reported.
“We have completed our negotiations on lots 9 and 10 with Lockheed, which is typical for a prime contractor to want to lock down its supply chain as it finishes off negotiations with a customer,” Northrop chief executive Wes Bush said Tuesday.
The LRIP 9 and 10 effort, costing some $14 billion, suggests the production of about 150 of the jets. The troubled contract is now expected to be finalized December 2016, according to F-35 Joint Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan. ... | 0 | [
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FMD759 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Militants seeking independence for Cameroon s English-speaking regions killed four soldiers and two policemen in attacks this week, President Paul Biya said late on Thursday, vowing to eliminate the secessionists as a threat to peace. Dozens of civilians have been killed since October, after the government cracked down on members of a movement protesting their perceived marginalization by Cameroon s Francophone-dominated government. The repression has driven many into the arms of a once-fringe separatist movement, which has launched a series of deadly raids before presidential elections in 2018. I think things are now perfectly clear to everyone. Cameroon is the victim of repeated attacks, Biya said as he arrived home from a summit of European Union and African leaders in Ivory Coast. Faced with these attacks of aggression, I assure the Cameroonian people that all measures are being taken to end these criminals ability to do harm, he said. Two secessionist leaders confirmed the movement carried out the first raid, late on Tuesday in the town of Mamfe, near the border with Nigeria in Cameroon s Southwest Region, in which four soldiers were killed. One of the main objectives is to clear the checkpoints that they have put on our roads. They are the symbols of occupation, Ben Kuah, the chairman of the defense wing of the Ambazonian Governing Council (AGC), told a Reuters reporter in Dakar. The separatists claimed to have looted weapons during the raid. Ambazonia is the name the separatists have given to the homeland they hope to create. We will dismantle all of these military outposts that have been used to prosecute the occupation of our homeland, said Cho Ayaba, another leading member of the AGC. Two police officers were killed in a similar attack the following night in the nearby town of Out. Separatist leaders were not immediately available to comment on that raid. Cameroon s language divide is a legacy of World War One, when the League of Nations split the former German colony of Kamerun between allied French and British victors. The two entities were reunited following independence. (This version of the story has been refiled to fix typo in paragraph five) | 1 | [
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FMD760 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Two of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans joined four Democrats on Monday in demanding that the White House provide more information about an executive order that has sown confusion among international organizations involved in family planning, AIDS treatment and other healthcare issues. In one of his first actions as president, Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 23 reinstating the so-called Mexico City policy, known by critics as the “global gag†rule, which withholds U.S. funding for international organizations that perform abortions or provide information about abortion. Although other Republican presidents have also adopted the policy, Trump broadened the scope to all global health assistance, “which may encompass as much as fifteen times more federal funding than previous Republican administrations’ versions of this policy,†the six senators wrote in the letter, which was seen by Reuters. The order withholds half a billion dollars or more in U.S. funds, and aid groups said it was issued with so little guidance that they have been scrambling to figure out how to proceed. In the letter, the senators said Trump’s broader order now includes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and all other global health programs funded through the Department of State, Agency for International Development and Department of Health and Human Services. PEPFAR, which enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress, is the largest provider of AIDS-fighting medicine in the world, and has been credited with saving millions of lives. “This directive ... has caused mass confusion among federal agencies and international relief organizations. While they wait for clarity from this administration, there’s been a global chilling effect on life-saving work,†said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who organized the letter. Among other things, the senators asked if Trump’s administration had conducted a cost-benefit assessment of the policy, whether it had determined how many lives might be saved or lost or whether it had researched how transmission of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Zika might be affected. Besides Shaheen, the letter was signed by Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, Democrats Ben Cardin and Richard Blumenthal and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. The Trump administration is planning to submit a budget proposing steep cuts in spending on the U.S. State Department and foreign aid. Several Republican members of Congress have expressed reservations about that plan. | 1 | [
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FMD761 | 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: Cat and Rat Ranch Hoax Claim summaries: We feed the cats to the rats, the rats to the cats, and get the skins for free!
contextual information: Claim: A serious prospectus inviting investors to become part of a cat-and-rat farm was once circulated, the basic premise of which involved skinning cats for their fur, feeding the cat carcasses to rats, then feeding the rats to the cats being raised for their fur. Origins: This grey-bearded leg pull has been around for a whopping 125 years, since that day in 1875 when Willis B. Powell, editor of a newspaper in Lacon, Illinois, pulled the wool over the collective eyes of Associated Press by supplying that newswire with details about a supposedly real cat-and-rat ranch being advertised in that area. Despite its silliness, the story evaded scrutiny, and an obvious prank took on a life of its own in the imaginations of many. Then, as now, the Associated Press imprimatur conferred credibility. Not until April 1940, when an article appeared in Goldfish Bowl (a publication of the National Press Club of Washington, D.C.), was the famous Lacon, Illinois, ranch for felines and rodents widely revealed as a hoax. The spurious prospectus on which the Associated Press news accounts were based read as follows: Glorious Opportunity To Get Rich!!! We are starting a cat ranch in Lacon with 100,000 cats. Each cat will average 12 kittens a year. The cat skins will sell for 30 cents each. One hundred men can skin 5,000 cats a day. We figure a daily net profit of over $10,000. Now what shall we feed the cats? We will start a rat farm next door with 1,000,000 rats. The rats breed 12 times faster than the cats. So we will have four rats to feed each day to each cat. Now what shall we feed the rats? We will feed the rats the carcasses of the cats after they have been skinned. Now Get This! We feed the rats to the cats and the cats to the rats and get the cat skins for nothing!Barbara "ratified" Mikkelson Sightings: The 1934 film Maniac contains this urban legend, and various music lovers have informed me that on its 1985 album New Day Rising, Husker Du features a song called "How to Skin a Cat." The lyrics, I'm told, go something like "We'll feed the rats to the cats and the cats to the rats ." Just goes to show that you can't keep a good story down. Last updated: 10 August 2011 Hoaxes Sifakis, Carl. The Big Book of Hoaxes. New York: Paradox Press, 1996. ISBN 1-563-89252-9 (p. 41). The Big Book of Hoaxes Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations. Rockville, Maryland: Assurance Publishers, 1979. ISBN 0-88469-100-4 (p. 289). | 0 | [
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FMD762 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: One conservative group produced colorful flow charts warning millennials that a “border adjustment†tax proposed by Speaker Paul D. Ryan would raise prices on “the Jose Cuervo tequila that’s in your happy hour margarita. †Three days later, a second conservative group kicked off a lobbying campaign saying it would amount to a $1. 2 trillion tax on seniors and the working poor. The next day, still another group weighed in, issuing a news release that highlighted how Latinos would be “among those hardest hit†by the new tax on imports. All three organizations share a common lineage: They are part of the political network overseen by Charles D. and David H. Koch, the billionaire conservative businessmen. Now they are among a host of conservative organizations mounting a furious campaign against a new tax on imports proposed by House Republicans, imperiling what is supposed to be a centerpiece of the Republican tax overhaul effort. Their opposition threatens yet another rupture with President Trump, some of whose advisers see the provision as a critical way to bring about tax reform while protecting American manufacturers. The battle could not only jeopardize Mr. Trump’s second major legislative initiative, but also redefine the boundaries of conservative economic policy. Much like the failed repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the import tax is dividing conservatives, the business sector and some of the groups funding conservative politics. Along the way, it is exposing the broader ideological divide between nationalist policies embraced by Mr. Trump and the traditional movement that his election ejected from the driver’s seat of Republican . “Trump ran on a different set of economic issues than traditional conservative Republicans have,†said Stephen Moore, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation who favors the border tax on intellectual grounds, but said he had come to see it as a “poison pill†for broader tax reform. “The baton has been passed on from Reagan to Trump,†Mr. Moore continued, “and there’s no doubt he ran on a much more populist economic message. †The idea of a border adjustment tax has percolated among academic economists and in think tanks since the 1970s, as the United States has considered ways of harmonizing its tax code with countries that use taxes. Central to the plan is a provision that would tax imports at a rate of 20 percent while exempting exports from taxation. In theory, this would buttress domestic manufacturing, make American products more competitive with foreign goods and encourage American companies to bring home cash they have been parking overseas. “It is a simple and elegant way to get good tax compliance,†said Douglas a Republican economist and president of the American Action Forum, a nonprofit tied to a “super PAC†that backs House Republicans. Some conservatives oppose it for the same reason: In their view, such a tax would be too easy to increase, with the potential costs to Americans hidden behind rising prices. Groups like Americans for Tax Reform — headed by Grover Norquist, perhaps Washington’s most famous crusader — have praised the border tax proposal, saying it would put American businesses “on a level playing field†with foreign competitors. Retailers that import many of their goods are lobbying against the idea, while domestic manufacturers like Boeing and Caterpillar — whose interests figure heavily in Mr. Trump’s economic thinking — are supporting it. The Koch network and groups like the Club for Growth, which for years have targeted what they call “crony capitalism†in Washington, have opposed the border tax as an unnecessary tax increase and a form of favoritism that would hurt the economy. But Mr. Trump and his team have pledged to target what they see as a more insidious kind of cronyism, including unfettered free trade that some Trump advisers say benefits wealthy elites at the expense of American workers. The dispute echoes Mr. Trump’s battles with his party last year, when the Club for Growth, a group of wealthy conservatives that backs candidates in Republican primary races, financed a advertising campaign against him. The Koch network, uncomfortable with Mr. Trump’s proposals on trade and immigration, sat out the presidential election entirely, turning its advertising dollars and activists to races. Both the Club for Growth and the Koch network also played a critical role in killing a proposal backed by Mr. Ryan and Mr. Trump to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In March, as the repeal vote approached, two groups pledged to spend upward of $1 million on ads defending any Republican who voted against the replacement legislation. Now, some of the same groups are organizing visits to lawmakers and paying for an online advertising campaign attacking the border tax proposal. The roster includes Americans for Prosperity, the Koch network’s flagship political advocacy group the Libre Initiative, which is aimed at Latinos and Generation Opportunity, which focuses on young adults. In 2015, the most recent year for which tax returns are available, the three groups took in a combined $34 million from Freedom Partners, an umbrella group representing the Kochs and other donors who pool money for political and educational initiatives. Policy experts at think tanks financed by the Koch network have also weighed in against the border tax idea. Veronique de Rugy, a senior fellow at the Mercatus Center, where Charles Koch sits on the board, has clashed with Mr. and other policy experts, accusing them of misleading the public about the true effects of the border tax on economic growth. Americans for Prosperity is calling on Mr. Trump to rely more on spending cuts, rather than on a border adjustment tax, to finance the tax overhaul. The group’s list of proposals include indexing Social Security benefits to a different measure of inflation — a popular idea in conventional conservative circles but one that could violate Mr. Trump’s campaign pledge to protect the program’s beneficiaries. “When you look at the network broadly, we’re all guided by the same vision,†said James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners. “We’re all going to be active on the major policy decisions that are happening in Washington. †That campaign has aligned with a vigorous lobbying campaign by Koch Industries, one of the largest private companies in the United States, prompting complaints from some proponents of the tax that the family is chiefly interested in protecting its business. Last fall, after the House plan for a border tax was first unveiled, lobbyists from Koch Industries circulated a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers showing it would lead to huge new taxes on the petroleum and coal products industry, which includes some of Koch Industries’ most profitable subsidiaries. More recently, Koch has circulated studies indicating that the tax would increase the price of gasoline, which the company says would lift its profits in the short term but harm the economy in the long term. Philip Ellender, a top executive at the company, said in an interview that Koch Industries was lobbying against the new tax out of principle, not for profit. “In the short term, Koch would profit handsomely from it,†Mr. Ellender said. His summary of the company’s case against the tax: “It would stifle free trade, it picks winners and losers, and it raises prices on consumers so that corporations can get a tax break. †The debate has divided the White House, too. In an interview with Reuters in late February, Mr. Trump embraced the notion of a border tax. “I certainly support a form of tax on the border,†he said, arguing that it would encourage companies to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, a critical component of his platform. Mr. Trump’s Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn — both former Goldman Sachs bankers — are said to be leery of the border tax. Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, the former Breitbart publisher Stephen K. Bannon, has supported it, as has Peter Navarro, a trade skeptic and top White House trade adviser. A profusion of strategic and political motives also divides Republicans on the issue. To enact a tax overhaul that does not increase the federal deficit but delivers rate cuts to wealthy taxpayers and corporations, Mr. Trump and Congress need to find some source of new revenue — hence the border tax. For Mr. Ryan, who holds more conventional views than Mr. Trump, the new tax provides a way to satisfy Mr. Trump’s protectionist impulses without imposing punitive, and potentially even more disruptive, tariffs. But some conservatives are not so sure. In opposing the tax, Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Walmart’s home state, Arkansas, finds himself in the position of defending his local corporate giant and the conservatism that he thought he knew. “Most conservatives I know have long believed that tax reform would look at all of the in the tax code,†Mr. Cotton said, “not introduce a whole new concept of taxation. †| 1 | [
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FMD763 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Was a Man Named Carl Twinly Arrested For Pretending to be a Cow? Claim summaries: The mugshot included in this rumor is genuine, but the story?
contextual information: In April 2022, an image of a person in a cow costume was circulated on social media along with a decidedly NSFW claim about its origins. The person in the photograph was named Carl Twinly, the meme claimed, and he had been arrested after tricking people into fondling him while he pretended to be a cow in a milking contest: This is not a genuine news story. This image is a screenshot of a fictional story that was published on the satire site Ringsssss.com in December 2021. This satire story started: Ringsssss.com in December 2021 Carl Twinly of Beaumont Texas has been arrested on charges of public indecency and masturbation by deception. Mr. Twinly posed as a dairy cow during the local 4-H milking competition. Carl was milked by a total of 13 contestants before his ruse was uncovered. While Ringsssss states in a disclaimer that it is a "fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website," many people encountered this story after it was removed from its original context and started spreading online detached from any explicit indication that it was a satire story. Ringsssss states in a disclaimer The story about "Carl Twinly" is a work of fiction. However, the mugshot shown above is real. It was taken in 2008 and shows a woman who was arrested in Middleton, Ohio. According to Fox 19, she had been hired to dress up as a cow to promote a local haunted trail. She was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct after she allegedly got drunk, chased some children, and interrupted traffic. Fox 19 reported: "A Middletown woman is behind bars, charged with disorderly conduct after she was arrested while wearing a cow suit ... Police say Michelle Allen was getting in the way of traffic and chasing children while wearing her cow suit. She's also accused of urinating on a neighbor's front porch." Fox 19 reported Man Pretends To Be A Cow In Milking Competition, Gets Jacked-Off For Hours. Ringsssss, 24 Dec. 2021, https://ringsssss.com/human-interest/man-pretends-to-be-a-cow/. Police: Woman in Cow Suit Had Been Arrested Many Times. Https://Www.Fox19.Com, https://www.fox19.com/story/9097572/police-woman-in-cow-suit-had-been-arrested-many-times. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022. | 0 | [
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FMD764 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Senior Mexican diplomats on Monday condemned the upcoming execution of a Mexican inmate on death row in Texas, calling his sentence illegal and vowing to exhaust all possible efforts to prevent him from being killed later this week. In a news conference in Mexico City, Carlos Sada, Mexico s deputy foreign minister for North America, told reporters that Texas prosecutors did not follow due process in the case of Ruben Cardenas, who was sentenced to death for raping and killing his 15-year-old cousin in 1997. From the start, there has been a failure, and from our perspective, this is an illegal act, Sada said. The planned execution comes as relations between Mexico and the United States are at a low, hurt by U.S. President Donald Trump s vows to build a wall along the Mexican border, and his threats to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Cardenas, who is due to die on Wednesday, was not given the chance to speak with consular officials in contravention of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Sada said. He added Mexico would look to stay the execution by seeking to overturn how Cardenas confession was obtained, while also looking to exonerate him with up-to-date DNA testing. There are currently two separate appeals under way and Mexico is willing to take Cardenas case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary, Sada added. Mexico does not have the death penalty and opposes it, regularly clashing with the United States when Mexican nationals are set to be executed on U.S. soil. Sada said 54 Mexicans were currently facing U.S. death sentences. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled in 2004 that the United States had violated international law by failing to inform 51 Mexicans now on death row of their right to consular assistance, and said the cases should be reviewed. Alejandro Alday, a legal advisor to the Mexican government, said Cardenas was one of the 51 covered by the ICJ ruling, and accused Texas of breaching the Vienna convention in failing to advise Cardenas of his right to consular assistance. | 1 | [
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FMD765 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: In light of the Flint water crisis, Michigan Republicans are publicly and privately acknowledging that their party s approach to governing has been a total disaster.As Michigan s Eclectablog reports here, despite the shiny, happy face that Gov. Snyder is putting on and despite his continuing calls for more privatization and the success of Emergency Management, off the record, state Republicans have been quietly admitting that the GOP s plan to run government like a business has been an utter failure. John Lindstrom, of Michigan s Gongwer News Service, detailed a string of off-the-record interviews with the state s Republican leadership here.As reported by Gongwer, All of them recognized Flint as a failure, a spectacular failure, of state government. They also worried that it was particularly a failure of their party, as they almost universally said: Our guys. No matter the setting, or the day, or the circumstance of the conversations, or who was speaking (and not everyone speaking would have known each other), there was an almost stunning repetition to each conversation s tone: They brought up the Flint situation, and they said, unprompted, it was a failure of state government and their party. Even more telling, on February 22, Dennis Schornack, a former Sr. Policy advisor to Michigan s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, was interviewed by the Detroit Free Press.During the interview, Schornack said the Flint water crisis is the direct result of the Republican approach to governing, which promises to run government like a business.Schornack, who has plenty of insight into how the Snyder administration functions, told the Free Press, that Snyder used a single dimension for decision-making. He explained that Snyder uses a financial spreadsheet to make every single decision.To illustrate the point, Shornak confided that, in spite of all the talk about Christian values, as it turns out, Snyder s decision to oppose gay marriage was never based on his Christian beliefs, it was based on a financial spreadsheet.As the Free Press reports here, Schornack said another example of a Snyder failure related to running government like a business was his administration s handling of gay marriage, which it opposed until it was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court. Gay marriage must be decided in the heart; safe drinking water in the laboratory, Schornack said.But the Snyder administration used spreadsheets to address both issues, deciding gay marriage on the basis of how much it would cost the state to provide benefits to same-sex couples among state employees, he said. Schornack did not hold back when discussing how the Republican approach to governing created the Flint water crisis. Government is not a business and it cannot be run like one, he told the Free Press.He went on to say, The people of Flint got stuck on the losing end of decisions driven by spreadsheets instead of water quality and public health. Having been a Snyder staffer, luckily in a spreadsheet-rich area like transportation, I lived the culture amidst its faults. Earlier this week a petition to recall Rick Snyder was approved by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers.When asked if he believes Snyder will be removed from office in November, Schornack said The issue has totally spun out of the governor s control, and if a recall question makes it onto the ballot, he s dead. In light of the situation in the city of Flint, the use of the phrase he s dead, is entirely inappropriate.Snyder is very much alive and will continue to be alive, whether he is recalled in November or not. His political career might be dead, but he will have the luxury of living the same extravagant, greedy lifestyle he s been accustomed to, for many years to come.On the other hand, at least ten people are known to have actually died because of Snyder s poison-policy choices, which valued the almighty dollar over all things, including their health and their lives.Add to that the thousands of people who will live with the consequences of Snyder s irresponsible, immoral and illegal decisions for the rest of their lives, many of whom will die from complications associated with lead poisoning.What s worse, as the citizens of Flint struggle to cope with a crisis of monumental proportion, Republican leadership continues to put the almighty dollar before their lives and their health.On February 25, residents of Flint spoke out about the many issues that have yet to be addressed by state or federal leaders, during a town hall with Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders.Months after the situation became public knowledge, Flint citizens still struggle to get accurate information, they continue to lack resources for healthcare and many are still faced with the challenges of collecting water from one of the designated locations in the city, without the means to do so.While state Republicans whine about the financial costs of doing the right thing in Lansing, in Washington GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz is single-handedly blocking federal funding from reaching the people of Flint.And at the front of the pack for the Republican presidential nomination is Donald Trump, a corrupt businessman, who is way more similar to Rick Snyder than GOP leaders would like to admit. Trump wants to bring the GOP s disastrous agenda for running government like a business to the entire country.If Trump s policies of hate and violence aren t enough to give you the chills, his agenda to run government like a business had better.If we don t learn from what happened in Flint, Republican leaders will bring this same dangerous agenda to every city, town and state in the country, with similarly disastrous consequences.image credit: GOP elephant from wikimedia commons, I love spreadsheets mug via Flickr | 0 | [
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FMD766 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is a total ass. There is no other way to say it! This jackwagon claimed on ESPN2 s The Paul Finebaum Show Monday that people have to be made to feel uncomfortable, specifically singling out white people. It s no secret that he doesn t like President Trump and has made disparaging remarks about the president in the past. Now he says he thinks all white people should be made to feel uncomfortable? What a way to piss off your white fans! Wow!WHO MADE THIS GUY THE ONE WHO DECIDES WHO S COMFORTABLE AND WHO ISN T? Well, because it s uncomfortable, and there has to be an uncomfortable element in the discourse for anything to change. Whether it s the LGBT movement, women s suffrage, race, it doesn t matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people because we re comfortable. We still have no clue of what being born white means, he stated.POPOVICH RESPONDS TO SPURS BEING UNINVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE:Popovich on #Warriors White House visit being rescinded #Spurs #NBA pic.twitter.com/aY3KyV3uJL Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) September 25, 2017NBA COACH IS A SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR? WHO KNEW? If you read some of the recent literature, you ll realize there really is no such thing as whiteness, but we kind of made that up. That s not my original thought, but it s true, Popovich said.He added, Because you were born white, you have advantages that are systemically, culturally, psychologically there. And they have been built up and cemented for hundreds of years. But many people can t look at it. It s too difficult. It can t be something that is on their plate on a daily basis. People want to hold their position, people want the status quo, people don t want to give that up. And until it s given up, it s not going to be fixed, the coach stated.REALLY???Read more: Daily Caller | 0 | [
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FMD767 | 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: Since 1965, California has built six (college) campuses but 23 prisons.
contextual information: Candidate for California governorDelaine Eastinbills herself as the education candidate. She has, after all, spent her career in education - serving as a community college professor, as the states superintendent of public instruction and on the boards of the University of California and California State University systems. Early in her campaign, the Democratic candidate has called for a reinvestment in education, including funding for universal preschool and tuition-free college. Also on the topic of higher education, Eastin has claimed in recent months that California has failed to prioritize college construction in favor of prisons. Weve built six total (college) campuses one UC, three CSUs, two community colleges since 1965. Thats six campuses but 23 prisons, Eastin said in aninterview with Capital Public Radioon Oct. 16, 2017. This is not the only time Eastin has made this colleges-to-prisons comparison. In May, during herspeechat the 2017 California Democratic Party State Convention, Eastin asserted that California had built just six colleges but 22 prisons since 1985. Was Eastin right? Has California built nearly four times as many prisons as colleges since 1965, or perhaps since 1985? We set out on a fact check. Our research First, we looked at prisons. The portion of Eastins claim about 23 prisons built since 1965 is correct, according to achronological listproduced by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Twenty-one have opened since 1985. Altogether, California operates 35 state prisons and houses about 129,000 inmates, according to a March 2017reportby the California Legislative Analysts Office. California is also home to 12 federal prisons. But because the state is not responsible for their construction or operation, we have decided not to include them. Colleges A glance at the history of the UC and CSU systems shows Eastin is again correct, at least on this portion of her claim: The University of California at Merced opened in 2005, the lone campus in the 10-campus UC system added since 1965. Meanwhile, the state has constructed three California State University campuses during this period: Cal State San Marcos in 1990, Cal State Monterey Bay in 1995 and Cal State Channel Islands in 2002. They are the newest additions to the 23-campus CSU system. We found, however, a glaring error on Eastins count of community colleges. There have been 41 of those campuses built since 1965 -- not the two she claimed in the radio interview. Thats according to a list on the California Community Colleges Chancellors Officewebsite. See a list of the colleges below: I think it speaks to the important role that California community colleges play in meeting local education demand, said Erik Skinner, the community college systems deputy chancellor, about the pace of construction. Skinner said the system has also opened 70 smaller community college satellite centers, across the state during this period. Nine of the systems full-scale community colleges have been built since 1985, again far more than the two Eastin claimed for this time period in her convention speech. An error in good faith Eastins spokesman Jon Murchinson acknowledged the inaccuracy of the community college statistic -- a figure that greatly throws off her six colleges to 23 prisons comparison. He told PolitiFact California it was an error in good faith as (Eastin) had heard the number from someone, and that she regrets using it without verifying the source. He said she wont be using it in the future. While Eastin missed the mark, a look at campus data shows the California community college system has significantly slowed its pace of construction. It built a combined 32 campuses in the 1960s and 70s but only nine in the nearly four decades after. Skinner, the systems deputy chancellor, said construction is driven by population growth and economic conditions, which fueled the campus boom in the 60s and 70s. It has focused on adding to its existing colleges and on student completion rates in recent decades. Our ruling In a recent Capital Public Radio interview, candidate for California governor Delaine Eastin claimed the state has built only six college campuses, including two community colleges, but 23 prisons since 1965. Eastin was right in her count of state prisons. But she was way off the mark on colleges: California has opened 41 community colleges, three California State University campuses and one University of California campus for a total of 45 campuses since 1965. Eastin made a similar claim at the California Democratic Convention in May, though she used a more recent timeline. She said California had built just six colleges but 22 prisons since 1985. That statement is also inaccurate. Eastins campaign told us the candidate made a mistake and will correct her figures in future statements. We rate Eastins claim from her radio interview False. FALSEThe statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. PolitiFact California intern Kathryn Palmer contributed research and writing for this article. Governors race Delaine Eastinis among several Democratic candidates competing to succeed Jerry Brown in the 2018 California governor's race. Others include former Los Angeles MayorAntonio Villaraigosa; California TreasurerJohn Chiang; andGavin Newsom, the states current lieutenant governor. Republican candidates include state AssemblymanTravis Allenand San Diego businessmanJohn Cox. PolitiFact California is fact-checking claims in this race. See ourTracking The Truthgovernors race fact-checkshere. Tracking the Truth: Hear a claim you want fact-checked? Email us at[email protected], tweet us@CAPolitiFactor contact us onFacebook. | 0 | [
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FMD768 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The U. S. general in charge of the Middle East and North Africa said Thursday he has found no evidence of incompetence, poor or bad judgment in a January special operations raid in Yemen. [Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of U. S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he conducted an “exhaustive†review to understand exactly what happened on the January 28 raid, during which a U. S. Navy SEAL was killed and a $70 million aircraft was destroyed. “I am looking for indicators of incompetence or poor or bad judgment. … So what I can tell you is that we did an exhaustive review on this,†he said. “It went down to a level including people who were on the specific objective. As a result of that, I was satisfied that none of those indicators that I identified to you were present,†he said. The ground raid to collect intelligence on in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) the first ordered under the Trump administration, has become the source of significant controversy. Critics of the Trump administration have called the raid “botched,†claiming it had gone off track from the start. Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan†Owens was killed in the raid and three others injured. In addition, a Osprey was destroyed. And in a messaging snafu, Centcom sent out a video obtained from the raid to show the significance of the intelligence collected, but journalists quickly discovered that the video had already been available online for years. Some unnamed U. S. officials have also told NBC News that the raid led to no significant or actionable intelligence. Owens’ father has also questioned the raid, which was reportedly approved five days into Trump’s administration, over dinner with his top military and national security advisers. Pentagon officials have pushed back hard, saying the intelligence found has been valuable and “potentially actionable. †Trump further stoked controversy after an interview where he said “they lost Ryan,†referring to his generals, fueling critics who said he was shifting blame for the death. It is not clear exactly what Trump approved during dinner. A Pentagon spokesman said earlier this week Trump had delegated authority to approve missions, including the raid and airstrikes against AQAP, to Votel. According to a CNN extensive account of the raid’s approval, Votel recommended the mission during the Obama presidency to get a better intelligence picture of AQAP, considered the most dangerous affiliate. Votel delivered the plan to the Pentagon on November 7, where Pentagon lawyers reviewed and approved the plan. The Pentagon signed off on the plan and sent it to the National Security Council on December 19. The Obama administration reviewed and discussed the plan but never approved it, former officials told CNN. A current White House official said the former administration discussed the raid on January 6 and decided it would be best conducted during a moonless night, which would occur after Trump’s inauguration, so the raid was not approved. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis received the plan on January 20, reviewed it, and sent it back to the NSC on January 24. It was presented to Trump on January 25. He reportedly gave the during dinner but asked that deputy officials review it. He signed off on the plan the next day. The raid occurred two days later, on January 28. At a Washington, D. C. briefing Thursday, Votel took full responsibility for the raid and said it yielded “valuable†intelligence. “First and foremost, I am responsible for this mission. I am the Centcom commander, and I am responsible for what’s done in my region and what’s not done in my region, so I accept the responsibility for this. We lost a lot on this operation,†he said. He added: We lost a valued operator, we had people wounded, we caused civilian casualties, [and] lost an expensive aircraft. We did gain some valuable information that will be helpful for us. Our intention here was to improve our knowledge against this threat — a threat that poses a direct threat to us here in the homeland. And that was what we were focused on. Votel also announced that there were between four to 12 civilian casualties during the raid. He said he has not communicated with Owens’s family yet. | 1 | [
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FMD769 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: MANILA — Samsudin Dimaukom, the mayor of a town in the southern Philippines, was watching television last Sunday after midnight when he was startled to hear the country’s new president call out his name. It was no honor. President Rodrigo Duterte was reading a list of more than 150 officials he said were involved in the illegal drug trade. He ordered Mr. Dimaukom and the others to turn themselves in within 24 hours or be hunted down. “We were really surprised when the president came out to announce it,†Mr. Dimaukom, the mayor of Datu said by email. “Not once were we involved in drugs. In fact, we were fighting drugs. I support the president’s drug war. †Since he took office six weeks ago, Mr. Duterte, 71, has roiled the nation with a violent war on drugs that has left hundreds dead, most of them poor and powerless. This week, in what seemed to be a new phase, he took on judges and police generals, military officials, more than 50 mayors and local officials, and three men said to be current or former members of Congress. He stripped them of their weapons permits and, in some cases, their government security details, potentially leaving them vulnerable to vigilantes. The escalation provoked a clash with the Supreme Court, nearly causing a constitutional crisis before Mr. Duterte backed down, and it has raised questions about the list, a McCarthyesque device of uncertain origin and unencumbered by evidence. “How are the lists being prepared?†asked Senator Leila de Lima, a former justice secretary and former chairwoman of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights. “Who are the sources? If they have evidence, they should file charges, and that’s the only time they should disclose the name. †But if anything, the campaign has made him only more popular. His approval ratings soared to 91 percent in July, according to a Pulse Asia poll, far higher than the 39 percent of the vote he received on Election Day in May. Even some people who have been killed by vigilantes were wearing “Duterte†wristbands when they were gunned down. “He’s doing what he promised,†said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. “He’s not surprising anybody. People like him because he is an action man. †Mr. Duterte, a combative former mayor and prosecutor, has repeatedly called for the killing of drug dealers, and an estimated 800 people have died at the hands of police or vigilantes since his election, officials say. Many were gunned down in the street and left with a cardboard sign identifying them as drug pushers. Such killings have become known as “cardboard justice. †More than 600, 000 drug users and dealers, fearing for their lives, have turned themselves in, the authorities say. Most have been sent home after giving the police a statement and are likely to face investigation later. But his clash with public officials has been less . On Monday, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno of the Supreme Court challenged the president over the seven judges on his list, telling them not to submit to arrest without a warrant. The court also announced that it would investigate any allegations of the judges’ connection to the drug trade. “To safeguard the role of the judges as the protector of constitutional rights, I would caution them very strongly against ‘surrendering’ or making themselves physically accountable to any police officer in the absence of any warrant of arrest,†Justice Sereno wrote. Mr. Duterte angrily warned her not to interfere with his campaign to bring an end to what he calls the “pandemic†drug problem in the Philippines. In a speech at a military camp on Tuesday, Mr. Duterte said she “must be joking†by demanding arrest warrants, which he said could take months to obtain. And he warned her not to create a crisis “because I will order everybody in the executive department not to honor you. †“Please, don’t order me,†he said. “I’m not a fool. If this continues, you’re trying to stop me, I might lose my cool. Or would you rather I declare martial law?†But on Thursday, Mr. Duterte apologized, saying he never intended his “harsh words. †He said he had been moved by “the magnitude†of the drug problem and was seeking to solve it within his authority as president. At the same time, questions were being raised about the list of names that Mr. Duterte read on national television and the death threat it carried. Critics pointed to flaws in the list and questioned whether it had been properly vetted. Justice Sereno said that only four of the seven judges on the list were still on the bench. One of them died in 2008. Another was dismissed in 2007. Jeffrey Celis, who was listed as a congressman, never served in the body, according to the local news media. Many of the elected officials quickly denied any involvement in the illegal drug trade. Some volunteered to take drug tests. One vice mayor said he had been the victim of mistaken identity it was probably his brother the police were after, he said. Mr. Dimaukom, the Datu mayor, said he had been wrongly placed on the list because of false accusations spread by political rivals. Mr. Duterte acknowledged that some names might be on the list by mistake. He said he would take responsibility for anyone who was wrongly accused, although what action he would take was not clear, particularly since the list might be seen by vigilantes or the police as a license to kill. Dionisio Santiago, former head of the Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency, said in an interview that the list was similar to one prepared by his agency that he presented in 2010 to the president at the time, President Benigno S. Aquino III. Mr. Aquino, he said, took no action. Mr. Santiago said some people might have been placed on the list erroneously or because of a grudge. But he said most of the list was accurate, and he defended the inclusion of deceased officials. “Does being dead exonerate you?†he asked. “Dying does not erase your reputation. †The police said that most of the people the president named had reported to the authorities as he demanded. Mr. Duterte’s presidential immunity may shield him from any repercussions, which is fine with his supporters. “The president’s public shaming of government officials involved in the illegal drugs trade is the best use of the presidential immunity from suit in our history,†Representative Danilo Suarez, the minority floor leader in Congress, wrote in The Manila Standard. Ms. de Lima, who leads the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said the committee would hold hearings this month on the wave of extrajudicial killings. “He’s now a runaway train,†she said. “It’s very revolting to me. So far, the victims of the summary killings are the lowly ones, the powerless, who cannot afford lawyers, who cannot seek audiences with the president. †Despite Mr. Duterte’s threat, so far that fate has not befallen the officials, suggesting that despite his bravado, he may not want to unleash a civil war. In Datu a town of about 20, 000 people, Mr. Dimaukom said he was not worried about an investigation. “First, our defense is the truth,†he said. “If you are not guilty, why should you be afraid?†But he was taking no chances. The morning after the list was announced, he reported to the local police, then flew to Manila, the capital, to meet with officials there. | 1 | [
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FMD770 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: pay-for-play that the Clinton campaign has taken. Here’s a great video by my friends from Truthstream Media with even more revelations. Wikileaks says they have 50,000 of Podesta’s private emails.If they keep releasing them in batches, there’s a distinct possibility that we will get some on election day itself. I wonder if Wikileaks is keeping the best for last? The desperate attempt to silence Julian Assange The efforts to shut up Assange have led all sorts of ugly places. If you can’t drone him ( like Hillary Clinton suggested ), then frame him and accuse him of pedophilia. Wikileaks has provided a timeline and supporting links for the sustained efforts to discredit Assange. May , when self-claimed dating agency “ToddAndClare” (T&C) approach saying they were contacted by the Russian government. Sep 3 , T&C email Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per Samuelson offering one million dollars for Assange to appear in a video advertisement for the “dating agency” ToddAndClare.com (See attachment). This is the first contact. Sep 15 , email sent from a member of Mr. Assange’s defence team to [email protected] requesting further details (See attachment). Sep 19 , [email protected] email with elaborate bonafides, proposed agreement and the claim that the source of the US$1 million is the Russian government. The email states that T&C was approached by Russian representatives in May 2016 and that “The source of the $1,000,000 is the Russian government” . The email then goes on to “verify” bonafides by giving a detailed description of the interior of the house and desk of Mr Assange’s lawyer, Helena Kennedy, who is a member of the UK Parliament, including a reference to a photo of Tony Blair (Kennedy states that the Blair reference is accurate, although out-of-date). Sep 20 , a representative of Mr Assange’s defence team writes to [email protected] stating that the proposal appears to be an “elaborate scam designed to entrap Mr Assange’s reputation into unwanted and unwarranted publicity”. writes stating that “The offer expires at midnight, October 31 st 2016.” Late Sep , WikiLeaks announces a press conference for Oct 4 for its ten year anniversary. Late Sep , Press widely misreport that WikiLeaks is going to launch its “October Suprise” against Hillary Clinton on 4 October, misinterpreting its press conference call Oct 4 , T&C files its “Assange pedophile” libel through the UN’s Global Compact system, alleging that there is an active criminal investigation in the Bahamas against Julian Assange for the abuse of an eight year old girl and claiming to have chat logs and photos. The allegation appears on the UN website with a UN Gobal Compact letterhead and is contextualised with a complex backstory. The request targets the UN WGAD (part of the UN Human Rights system) which found that Mr Assange is being illegally detained by the United Kingdom and Sweden. Oct 4 , T&C files claim through the UK courts, apparently using it as a method to place the pedophile accusation into the public record (See attachment). Oct 4 , WikiLeaks holds a press conference, where it becomes clear that its publishing of Clinton-related documents will occur later. Oct 5 , T&C’s UK court claim arrives at Ecuadorian embassy in London Oct 7 , WikiLeaks commenses its release of the Podesta Emails Oct 11 , T&C pushes out its Assange pedophile claim through the PRWeb newswire service. Oct 12 , UN Global Compact delists T&C , citing “integrity” issues. Oct 12 , T&C issues a press release opposing the UN delisting with an elaborate story, claiming that Julian Assange is threatening US citizens (T&C). Oct 17 , Investigative report into Toddandclare.com prepared for Mr Assange’s lawyers is concluded, finding “T&C Network Solutions exhibits the characteristics of a highly suspicious and likely fabricated business entity” (See attachment “FINAL REPORT T&C 17 Oct 2016”). Oct 18 , The pedophile part of the plot is launched through US Democrat-aligned website DailyKos and pushed by pro-Clinton twitter accounts. Now, I’m no stranger to the tinfoil, but this seems to me the most blatant attempt to discredit someone that I’ve ever seen. The timing is quite the coincidence, don’t you think? For more Assange, here are some of the conspiracy theories that have been going ’round the internet lately. Assange has made some incredibly powerful enemies. His longevity is far from certain. And then there was that day that the US internet got hacked. First, there was this tweet by Wikileaks, which was pinned on Twitter all day. Zero Hedge reported : The “police” presence apparently began to amass earlier this week just as Wikileaks confirmed that the Ecuadorian had agreed to cut Julian Assange’s internet access after a little political pressure from John Kerry…and as an allegedly bogus plot, with links to the Clinton campaign, was revealed that attempted to link Julian Assange to a pedophilia ring. Shortly after the Tweet appeared, the internet went down over much of the United States. Dozens of websites such as Twitter, Reddit, Amazon, Netflix, the New York Times and Spotify, as well as general internet service in certain areas of the country, were all down for part of the day (the entire list is at this link) . A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack was blamed for the outage. Ironically, NorseCorp , the company that has the real-time cyber attack map, was also down for most of the day. This happened not once, but twice. The FBI and the DHS are investigating the cyber attack so I’m sure we’ll get the *truth* soon. Rumors abound, including blaming Russia (of course, and after VP Biden’s idiotic threat to cyber attack them , could you really blame them?), that it was our own government hoping to cover up some even they’d like to distract us from, or, interestingly, that it was a hacker group who did this in defense of Julian Assange. (Wikileaks seems to think that too – see the screenshot below of their Tweet.) But…another group altogether has taken credit for the massive hack. SHTFplan reports that this is the beginning of WW3 – which could be fought online : A hacking collective calling itself “New World Hackers” are taking credit – and they are based out of Russia and China, so there is little doubt that it will fuel the narrative for more war, tighter security and an age of online instability as the new world (where the dollar is no longer king) is sorted out. New World Hackers responded to a request for an interview with Anon Intel Group . Their message to the world? “Stay educated.” Anything to add to Survival Saturday? What do you think of Assange and Wikileaks? Love him or hate him? Why? Share your opinion and any supporting links in the comments below! Please join the discussion! Submit your review | 0 | [
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FMD771 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Was a study able to determine if a vegan diet might offer greater health benefits for dogs compared to meat-based diets? Claim summaries: Vegan diets were described by researchers as less hazardous for dogs than conventional or raw meat-based diets.
contextual information: Well-rounded vegan diets may be less hazardous and better for the health of dogs compared to conventional meat or raw meat diets, according to research published in April 2022. Pets are a multibillion-dollar industry. According to estimates published in 2018, there are 471 million pet dogs and 373 million pet cats worldwide, which sets the international worth of pet food sales at nearly 132 billion euros. Such high demand has a significant impact on the environment, particularly in the sourcing of the animal and agricultural products that make up pet food. Feeding pets is also a lucrative market. In 2020, the vegan pet food market alone was worth $8.7 billion in the U.S. and was expected to grow to over $15 billion in the next six years. Because pets and their nutrition represent large shares of both the economy and its production line, researchers at the University of Winchester in the U.K. set out to determine which diets are best for the health of pets. To explore the links between diet and health, the team advertised an online survey through social media between May and December 2020 and analyzed the data of more than 2,500 dogs included in the survey responses from the pets' guardians. Each dog had been living with its guardian for at least one year. About half were fed conventional meat-based diets, around one-third raw meat, and 13% were fed a vegan diet. The survey included questions about the dogs' health, such as veterinary visits, medications, and overall health disorders, and consulted both the guardian and a veterinarian on the dog's health status. "We believe our study of 2,536 dogs is by far the largest study published to date exploring health outcomes of dogs fed vegan and meat-based diets," wrote the researchers in a news release. It analyzed a range of objective data, as well as owner opinions and reported veterinary assessments of health. It revealed that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets. Figures show the three main diets fed to the 2,536 dogs included in the survey. Publishing their work in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, the team found that overall, dogs on conventional meat diets were less healthy than those on raw meat or vegan diets. Previously, it was thought that raw meat diets were linked to an increased risk of pathogen exposure, while vegan diets might result in nutritional deficiencies. However, when necessary hygienic and nutritional supplements were taken into consideration, both diets were, by and large, shown to be healthier and less hazardous to the canine consumer. In summary, when jointly considering health outcomes and dietary hazards, our results and those of other studies indicate that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets, concluded the researchers. However, there are several limitations to the study that should be taken into consideration. For one, it could be the case that dogs given a raw meat diet were not necessarily healthier than those given a conventional diet, but rather that their guardians might have been less likely to take their pets to a veterinarian. Because the frequency of veterinarian visits was considered a health indication, this internal bias may have skewed the results. Furthermore, dogs given a raw meat diet tended to be younger in age than those eating other diets, which could further explain why they were deemed healthier. The study authors also didn't factor in the sex or breed of each dog, a limitation that may have influenced the results given that certain breeds are more prone to illness than others. Let's also look at the structure of the study itself. Participating guardians were asked to consider the main ingredients within their pets' normal diet, which means that a pet may not have been fed the identified diet exclusively, nor were treats or other dietary supplements excluded. It was also an opinion-based study in which respondents gave their thoughts on a dog's health in a non-standardized way. Additionally, because the survey was conducted online, this required that respondents have internet access and the time necessary to complete the survey, which may have excluded pet guardians of lower income statuses. Lastly, there is an inherent unconscious bias within the study structure, which means that a given guardian might have been expecting a better health outcome based on the preferred diet, and this expectation could have influenced how they responded to the survey question. While there is now scientific evidence to suggest that both raw meat and vegan diets are better than conventional diets alone, the study authors said more research is needed to determine which of the two is associated with better dog health outcomes. Dog guardians should ensure that all aspects of their dogs' nutrition are being met, regardless of primary diet preference. They should check pet food labels and consult with manufacturers to ensure that healthy practices are in place to provide nutritional soundness. | 1 | [
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FMD772 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday that the North American Free Trade Agreement’s rules of origin can be improved but denied that Mexico was a “back door†for Chinese goods to enter the United States. Speaking in a live interview on CNBC, Guajardo also said he believed there were grounds to believe that NAFTA can be renegotiated to benefit the United States, Canada and Mexico. He said, however, that “Plan B†for Mexico would be to revert to World Trade Organization tariff rates for exports to the United States such as the 2.5 percent tariff for passenger cars. “Obviously, (it is) a little bit more expensive, but it’s not the end of the world,†he added. He said that the Chinese content of cars traded between North American countries was very low, about 3 percent, largely using parts that are no longer produced in the region, such as flat panel display screens and other electronic items. “This idea that Mexico is being used as a back door for Chinese imports into the U.S. is not the right one,†he said. Under the current NAFTA agreement, motor vehicles must have 62.5 percent North American content, a figure that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said is too low and allows for too much content from other regions to benefit from NAFTA tariff-free status. Guajardo warned that raising the bar too high on North American content could make the region less competitive. “We can make an effort to strengthen that, no question about it. But if you go too far, you may be shooting yourself in the foot, because you’re losing competitiveness,†he said. Negotiations to modernize the 23-year-old NAFTA trade deal are expected to start after Aug. 16, at the conclusion of a U.S. government consultation period with lawmakers, industries and the public. Guajardo also said that he and Ross were close to announcing an agreement on sugar trade between the two countries. | 1 | [
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FMD773 | 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: Americas federal business tax rate is the highest in the world.
contextual information: Duringa speechin which he warmed up to U.S. House SpeakerPaul Ryan, gave a shout-out toVince Lombardiand even name-droppedKanye West, president-electDonald Trumpalso reaffirmed his promise to cut taxes. Trump appeared Dec. 13, 2016 with vice president-electMike Penceand a host of Badger State Republicans, including Ryan, at the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center. This stop on his multi-state thank-you tour was mostly a campaign-style rally, but there was some policy, too. Midway into his remarks,Trump said: Were going to undertake one of the great tax reforms and simplifications in American history. This includes a massive tax cut for themiddle-classand middle-class families from Wisconsin, too. Were also going to lower ourbusiness tax rateso that new companies will come to our shores and hire workers in cities like right here. Is that OK? Thats what we want. Were going to bring our rates down from 35 percent, were going to try to get it down to 15 percent. So, right now -- and by the way the jobs will pour in -- so, right now, were the highest-taxed nation in the world. And when we finish, well be one of the lower taxed, one of the lower. Whether the president-elect keeps his promises on taxes will be something to be determined by PolitiFact Nationals Trump-O-Meter, whichwill be launchedin 2017. But we can answer now whether Americas business tax rate is the highest in the world. Top U.S. rate: 35% The corporate income tax rates in the United States range from15 to 35 percent. And that 35 percent top rate -- at least as a statutory rate (more on that below) -- is relatively high. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development publishesthe top corporate tax ratesfor the35 countriesthat belong to its organization, which includes most advanced, industrialized nations. The U.S top rate of 35 percent ranks first, just ahead of France, 34.4 percent; Belgium, 33 percent; and Australia and Mexico, 30 percent. On the low end: Switzerland, 8.5 percent; Ireland, 12.5 percent; Latvia and Canada, 15 percent; and Germany, 15.8 percent. Sometimes references are made to a combined corporate tax rate, which includes federal and state corporate taxes; the U.S. combined rate is38.9 percent. But Trump was referring to the 35 percent federal rate, the one he vows to reduce. There are, however, two clarifying points to make. Other nations, and what is paid To back Trumps statement, his campaign cited aForbes articlethat noted the United States has the highest corporate rate among industrialized nations. But Trump didnt limit his statement to industrialized nations. The accounting firm PwC tracks the top federal corporate tax rates for155 countries.That listshows five other countries that also have a top rate of 35 percent: Argentina, Chad, Congo, Malta and Zambia. And there are two countries with higher top corporate tax rates: United Arab Emirates, 55 percent; and Puerto Rico, 39 percent. It also needs to be understood that Americas 35 percent top rate is the statutory rate -- before deductions -- but U.S. companies arent actually taxed at that rate. Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. Indeed, aMarch 2016 reportby the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that in each year from 2006 to 2012, at least two-thirds of all active corporations had no federal income tax liability, although larger corporations were more likely to owe tax. And aMay 2016 paperby Reed College economics professor Kimberly Clausing found U.S. multinational firms have used tax planning to generate effective tax rates that are far lower than the statutory rate, and often in the single digits. Our rating Trump said Americas federal business tax rate is the highest in the world. The top corporate tax in the United States is 35 percent, highest among the worlds industrialized nations. But five smaller nations have the same rate and two smaller ones, United Arab Emirates and Puerto Rico, have rates above 35 percent. Also, the 35 percent U.S. rate is only the starting point, given that corporations can use exemptions and deductions to effectively reduce that rate and pay lower taxes. For a statement that is accurate but needs clarification, our rating is Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD774 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Malaysia has asked Interpol to try to locate a Malaysian financier for questioning over his suspected involvement in a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the deputy prime minister said on Monday. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to seize $1.7 billion in assets that it said were bought with misappropriated funds from 1MDB, according to dozens of civil lawsuits filed by the department in the past two years. The assets include a private jet, a hotel and real estate in New York, and a $107 million interest in EMI Music Publishing bought by Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, the lawsuits said. Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, has not been charged with any crime. But U.S. authorities have said they are pursuing a criminal probe into 1MDB-linked transactions. We are confident Interpol will act professionally, but the police have yet to receive any detailed information (on Low s whereabouts), Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in parliament. A spokesman for Low could not be reached for comment. Low has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying that the U.S. Justice Department s actions were a further example of global overreach in pursuit of a deeply flawed case . Interpol did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. 1MDB, founded by Prime Minister Najib Razak, is facing money laundering probes in at least six countries including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore. A total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to the U.S. lawsuits. Low is accused in the lawsuits of using 1MDB-linked funds to buy Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio a $3.2 million Picasso painting, and giving about $9 million in jewelry to Australian model Miranda Kerr. DiCaprio and Kerr have turned over the items to U.S. authorities and promised to cooperate in the 1MDB probe. The lawsuits also said $681 million from 1MDB was transferred to the account of Malaysian Official 1 , which U.S. and Malaysian sources have previously identified as Najib. Najib has denied any wrongdoing and a Malaysian government investigation has also cleared him of any wrongdoing. A Malaysian police probe into 1MDB is under way. | 1 | [
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FMD775 | 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: Legislation on Immigration Offering Complimentary Vehicles Claim summaries: A 2013 immigration bill provides young people with free cars to transport them to their jobs?
contextual information: Claim: A 2013 immigration reform bill provides young people with free cars to transport them to their jobs. Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2013] BREAKING: Immigration bill now includes free cars (at tax payer expense) for young people to help them get to work! LIKE if you agree: The Senate should vote no on this Gang of 8 immigration bill! Call and let them know what you think! (888) 978-3134 Fox News reported that the riders made to the 2013 Immigration bill now in the Senate that Bernie Sanders has added a provision for free cars, motorcycles or scooters for "young people to use as transportation" to jobs. This was reported by Laura Ingraham on Fox and Friends on June 25, 2013. Is there any truth to this report. I can not find a copy of the 1,190 page 2013 immigration bill to read it my self S.744 Hoeven-Corker Amendment "The Hoeven-Corker amendment takes big and important steps on the immigration issue that matters most: border security," Senator Lamar Alexander said. "It would double the number of agents on the southwest border, construct 700 miles of new or upgraded fencing and spend $3.2 billion on new security technology that was perfected in Iraq and Afghanistan." The Hoeven-Corker amendment would add 20,000 border patrol agents, enough to allow putting one agent every 1,000 feet along the U.S. southwest border. The border patrol agents, fencing and security technology plan would have to be in place before anyone under the immigration legislation's "Registered Provisional Immigrant" program would be allowed to apply for legal permanent residency, otherwise known as a green card. Democratic-affiliated Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been outspokenly critical of the potential economic effects of S.744, arguing that the bill would "allow college students from around the world to take jobs that young Americans would otherwise perform." In response, he drafted a Youth Jobs Plan that would "provide $1.5 billion over two years for states and local communities to help find jobs for more than 400,000 16- to 24-year-olds who were hard hit by the Wall Street-caused recession." That job plan was incorporated into the Hoeven-Corker Amendment under a heading of "TITLE V JOBS FOR YOUTH." Youth Jobs Plan TITLE V The claim that the immigration bill includes a provision granting "free cars, motorcycles or scooters for young people" stems from a very broad, speculative interpretation of one sentence in the jobs plan portion of the Hoeven-Corker Amendment which generally directs how the job plan funds should be used: IN GENERAL. The funds made available under this section shall be used (A) to provide summer employment opportunities for low-income youth, with direct linkages to academic and occupational learning, and may be used to provide supportive services, such as transportation or child care, that is necessary to enable the participation of such youth in the opportunities; and (B) to provide year-round employment opportunities, which may be combined with other activities authorized under section 129 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 17 2854), to low-income youth. As stated, the bill does not contain a specific provision to provide "free cars for young people to help them get to work." It includes a clause allowing that youth job program funds may be used to "provide supportive services, such as transportation" to low-income youth taking part in summer employment opportunities. Whether and how that provision would be applied in practice is purely speculative at this point and could vary widely from place to place, potentially ranging anywhere from arranging carpools and subsidizing bus fare to buying, leasing, or renting motor vehicles to be temporarily utilized in ferrying job program participants to work. But the government isn't going to be buying up cars and turning ownership of them over to young people engaged in summer job programs. Last updated: 26 June 2013 | 0 | [
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FMD776 | 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 Ukraine Preparing to Legalize Porn Production to Raise Military Funding? Claim summaries: Viral posts mischaracterized a legislative proposal to decriminalize pornography in the country.
contextual information: On Oct. 17, 2023, an account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a screenshot of what it alleged was an Aug. 19, 2023, headline about the Ukrainian government legalizing the production of pornography to help fund its military during the country's war with Russia. Snopes was unable to identify any website with this alleged headline, but it closely matched the framing of a story published that same day (Aug. 19) on the Russian state-backed media outlet RT. That story by RT referenced a real legislative proposal by a member of Ukraine's parliamentary body, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, to decriminalize pornography in the country. However, that measure is an attempt by supporters to limit the state's control over consensual sexual activity, not an effort to raise money for the country's military. Nowhere in the legislation is military funding mentioned, and it does not spell out how the proposed changes to the porn industry would drive more money for Ukraine's armed forces. Like many former Soviet Bloc countries, pornography is entirely illegal in Ukraine. In August 2023, however, Zhelezniak introduced the proposal titled (via Google Translate), "Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on Ensuring Freedom from Interference in a Person's Private Life," to remove some restrictions on the production of porn specifically. As described by the Kyiv Independent, an English-language news outlet in Ukraine, producing and distributing pornography is currently illegal in Ukraine. Broad interpretations of the law mean that even sharing a nude photograph with a partner can land a person in jail. In 2023 alone, 699 cases have been opened over the distribution, sale, and production of pornography, not including cases of child pornography. In one case in July, a court in Poltava Oblast fined a woman almost $1,000 for sending two videos to her boyfriend. Meanwhile, in Sumy Oblast, a man was sentenced to three years in prison with one year of probation for sending intimate photos and videos via a dating website. Lawmakers and advocates say this has to change. In their view, the decades-old prohibition of pornography harms ordinary citizens by prosecuting them for consensual sexual content, wasting state resources in the process. Zhelezniak argued that current Ukrainian law prohibits the production and distribution of material that many Ukrainians already produce or engage with. He believes the law should do more to prevent people from sharing nude photos without consent by including additional legal penalties and protect individual adult content creators against abuse by law enforcement authorities by removing other legal penalties. Supporters say the current legal climate allows authorities to coerce people who produce adult content or perform on webcams. As Zhelezniak explained to the Kyiv Post in August 2023, one of the problems with the current legislation is that law enforcement officers, namely cyber police officers, correspond with users of pornographic platforms— for example, those who strip for clients on webcams. They pretend to be customers and then offer them cover for a price, Zhelezniak said. The proposal would add explicit protections against victims of revenge porn, reaffirm the illegality of child pornography and "extreme" pornography, and remove criminal penalties for the production and distribution of legal porn. The proposed legislation was in committee as of this writing. Nowhere in the draft law was military funding mentioned. An explanatory note attached to the bill, however, pointed out— in an apparent attempt to highlight the current system's alleged flaws— that the Ukrainian government spends money to prosecute models on the adult content creation platform OnlyFans using tax revenue it receives from the same site. In 2021, Ukraine implemented a so-called Google tax that levels a 20% tax on foreign corporations that provide services in Ukraine. That tax applies to London-based OnlyFans, despite the fact that, in some cases, it hosts content that is technically illegal in the country. The explanatory note mentions that surpluses in the government's annual budget generally go toward the Ukrainian military. It is plausible that such a law could provide funding to the armed forces, but that was not its intent. Additionally, the explanatory note argues that the government spends significant resources investigating and prosecuting cases against models generating revenue for OnlyFans and, by extension, Ukraine. As described in the Kyiv Independent, OnlyFans, one of the world's largest platforms for erotic content, has already generated more than Hr 34 million ($920,000) in tax revenue for Ukraine's state budget from value-added tax in the first six months of the year, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, who has been spearheading the latest effort to legalize porn, told the Kyiv Independent. It's stupid to collect taxes for that and say it's criminal at the same time, Zhelezniak said. If we decriminalize porn, it means less corruption and more taxes for the budget. The explanatory note also referenced an organization that allows Ukrainians to donate erotic photos to people who provide evidence of a donation to the armed forces of Ukraine— TerOnlyfans. That group is independent of the Ukrainian government. It was referenced only in the draft law's explanatory note, nowhere in the actual legislation. That section (via Google Translate) read: TerOnlyfans. Adult pornography is widely available in Ukraine, and most of its aspects do not cause public disturbance. On the contrary, such an approach usually causes positive public reaction and media coverage. For almost one and a half years of existence of the TerOnlyfans platform, volunteers collected about UAH 31.5 million in donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine for erotic photo cards. Quotes from TerOnlyfans Executive Director Anastasia Kuchmenko were included in most news stories about the draft law, and that media focus seemingly contributed to the spread of false claims that the proposal to decriminalize the production of porn was connected to military funding. In reality, however, while the bill indeed proposed lighter restrictions on porn production, it did not call for the government to use revenue from that proposed change for its armed forces. | 0 | [
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FMD777 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Pakistani authorities issued a final warning on Friday to members of an Islamist party blocking a main road into the capital, raising fears of a violent clash. Hundreds of supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party have been blocking the route into Islamabad for nearly 10 days, demanding the minister of law be sacked for what they say is blasphemy. You all are being given a last warning, the Islamabad deputy commissioner said in the order. A court had already ordered the party to end the protest, the order added. After this final announcement, you all are being warned to end the illegal sit-in immediately. Tehreek-e-Labaik blames the minister, Zahid Hamid, for changes to an electoral oath that it says amount to blasphemy. The government puts the issue down to a clerical error. Pakistan s blasphemy law is a lightning rod for Islamists, especially since 2011 when the liberal governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was murdered by a bodyguard for questioning it. The law mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammad. A spokesman for the Labaik party, Ejaz Ashrafi, said the group would not comply with the deputy commissioner s ultimatum. We re not moving, he told Reuters by phone from the sit-in. Pakistan s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal appealed to the protesters to end the sit-in before a delegation of Chinese investors arrived in Islamabad on Monday, making a last offer to negotiate on their demands. But he added: If some group tries to hold the state hostage, that behavior will not be tolerated. A government official, Khalid Abbasi, said protesters on the road were carrying rods and sticks. Since they were given the warning, he said, hundreds more party workers had joined the sit-in. The government has blocked several roads with shipping containers in an effort to corral the protesters, causing hours-long traffic jams in and around the capital. In 2007, a confrontation between authorities and supporters of radical preachers at an Islamabad mosque led to more than 100 deaths. All resources can be used to break this sit-in, the deputy commissioner s warning said. | 1 | [
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FMD778 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Prometheus Brings Fire To Man(image by Friedrich Fuger) License DMCA I have been 'accused' by another contributor at OEN of advocating violent resistance against the US government. So I need to address this issue. In a comment on an anti-war article by David Swanson, I stated clearly that I am not a violent revolutionary because peace has to begin somewhere and the only place I have real control is with myself so I accept the principle that a peace and an anti-war position begins with me. But what does taking a serious peace-position mean? Many years ago, more than once, I protested and 'marched' with Martin Luther King Jr. for peace and justice at home and abroad (Vietnam). I paid for this with threats on my life, a broken wrist, and a fractured occipital bone. A man I knew at the time told me that if I had cut my hair and stayed at home or just gone to a baseball game or some other proper American activity instead of walking the street and asking for trouble, I would never have suffered those threats and injuries. He said that I was the one who caused the violence. And in a way, he was right. When MLK decided to organize protests and marches, he was asking for trouble. And he knew it better than anyone. When he was talking and marching about racial equality and against war he was risking the possibility of injury or death, but when he moved to Chicago to live with the poor and began openly demanding changes in the economic system that risk possibility became a certainty. From that decision on there was a bullet with his name on it. Many people suffered threats, injury, and sometimes death because of MLK. He caused a great deal of violence because he was serious about radically changing the socio-economic system he lived in and knew the change would never come if he simply wrote letters to his congressman and restricted his activity to baseball games and other proper things. When Bobby Kennedy decided to begin dismantling the CIA, he was asking for big trouble. And he got it: Murder. Poor man should have just stuck to baseball games, flag waving, and ineffective idealistic speeches. Or he and King should have just dropped out of public view and retreated into an Eastern monastery, anonymously meditated for the rest of their lives, and let karma take care of everything. Because taking a serious position in the world (outside a monastery) is just asking for trouble, as in VIOLENCE. - Advertisement - When I was a teenager there was a huge popular wave of anti-Christian and pro-Hindu sentiment among mostly white young people in the US. India was endlessly referred to as the true Holy Land in which rose the true Holy Men. All Western 'saints' were just shallow pretenders. I was always troubled and alienated by this partly because I had some knowledge of the history of India and was quite aware of its age-long atrocious poverty and class-discrimination reality. I was amazed at the fact that hip kids in the US would rant about poverty and injustice and class distinction in the US and simply ignore these realities in India because there were these bearded-beaded gurus in lotus-position Samadhi transcendence in India. Very strange reality-disconnect. I never bought it and it took me years of academic study and self-examination to see how deep this doubt on my part really went. I finally realized that I actually saw the transcendental Hindu philosophy of India as itself being ethically lacking in some essential way that I had difficulty articulating to myself. It wasn't a matter of political activity. By this time I had already realized that I was an anarchist and rejected political structures on principle because they were inevitably hierarchical and therefore gave powers and rights to a few people and denied these powers and rights to the rest of the people. My rejection of India and its spiritual philosophy wasn't political. It went deeper than that. Then it suddenly hit me that India's poverty was a blazing symbol of India's denial of the reality and value of the material world. It simply didn't matter that masses of people lived in nightmare poverty. I was a child in the Roman Catholic Church and I took it very seriously. I took Jesus Christ very seriously. I took all of Christian mythology very seriously. I thought and felt and evaluated all things in life in terms of this mythology. Then something began to happen that caused some major cracks in the walls of my cathedral world. I began to get a sense, a tormenting sense, that there was some sort of core contradiction in the whole thing. I started becoming very uneasy about this unimaginably big guy called GOD. It wasn't that I doubted that He was there (somewhere). It was more that I was profoundly troubled about what it was exactly that He was up to. I mean what was all this really about? I was a serious theology student even as a young man and this is the problem I ran into: If God was infinite, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent and perfect in every possible way, then what was the point of me? I was completely unnecessary because everything was already perfect. And me? I was unimaginably far away from perfect. So what was the point of me? I was like an infinitesimal stain on perfection. And I couldn't erase myself. I could only hope that GOD would tolerate me. Forever. And the idea that I was loved by GOD precisely because I was a miserable and hopelessly imperfect little sinner was actually more disgusting and terrifying than it was affirming. I mean what the HELL was going on? Why was I created? I was sure that I knew exactly how Frankenstein's monster felt. And I began to sense what I would later think of as the blind cruelty of the transcendent. Let me explain one more thing before I return to the original question of revolutionary violence. The story of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ in Christian mythology is very peculiar if one looks at it very closely. I am not referring merely to the claim that someone actually rose from the dead. It goes beyond that. Please look at this with me. The mythology claims that Jesus rose from the dead physically and showed himself to his disciples who saw and heard and touched him physically. It was a physical body addressing them. Then this physical body began to do things that physical bodies can't ordinarily do. It moved through physical walls without doing any damage to itself or the wall. Then it finally ascended. That is, it disappeared leaving absolutely nothing physical behind. The ordinary explanation for this in Christian teaching is that the body of Christ was spiritualized. But if that is the correct explanation then why was it ever physical or material to begin with? Why did Jesus bother to rise from the grave physically at all if he was only going to spiritualize in the end? For that matter, what was the point of 'imperfect' material creation at all if its destiny is only to return into pure spirit in the end? It's not only senseless, it is downright perverse. It's a grotesquerie that has no point. The material world has a point in itself or it doesn't and if it doesn't then why is it even here? And if it does then we need to become conscious of what its point is. The frequently expressed opinion that we are really spiritual beings who are just here in the material world to learn is nonsense to which I say, "Learn what? How to be spiritual? If we are meant to be learning how to be spiritual then we should have stayed spiritual. And if we are learning how to be material then material existence has a meaning in itself that is not just spiritual. And if material existence has meaning in itself then we need to learn how to guard the sanctity of material existence, which means that it is not acceptable that people force other people into poverty or into war or into any form of material deprivation or abuse . We material revolutionaries fight for the sanctity of material existence. To fight for this means to stand up physically and if standing up physically leads to violence then that is the price we pay for doing what is right. And to deny the sanctity of the material world is to render it absurd and therefore to render reality absurd." - Advertisement - I do not advocate any initiation of violence. But if violence comes to us for standing up for human material dignity then we accept it and we persist until we triumph or until death lays us down. "To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite; To forgive wrongs deeper than death or night; To defy Power, which seems omnipotent; | 0 | [
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FMD779 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, on his Chinese microblog Weibo account, praised the lead singer of China s most popular boy band for asking about life beyond Earth. Wang Junkai, leader singer of the wildly popular TFBOYS, posted a video of himself on his Weibo account on Friday asking the author of A Brief History of Time how humanity should prepare for interstellar migration in years to come. Hawking recently warned that the human race must evacuate Earth in 600 years before soaring energy consumption turns the planet into a ball of fire . Earlier this month, Hawking made a video appearance at a science summit organized by Tencent Holdings and pleaded for investors to support his idea of traveling to the closest star outside our solar system in the hope of finding an inhabitable planet. The 75-year old physicist said in a video posting on his Weibo account that Wang asked an excellent question , which gave him insight into Chinese millennnials and their curiosities regarding the future. Wang and his two other band mates each have more than 30 million followers on their Twitter-like Weibo microblog accounts. Owned by Weibo Corp, Weibo is China s biggest social media platform with more than 200 million active users. Hawking, who opened his Weibo account last year, has 4.3 million followers, while British Prime Minister Theresa May has more than 900,000, having inherited her account from David Cameron. | 1 | [
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FMD780 | 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 Trudeau Tell Canadians to Stop Talking to Unvaccinated Relatives? Claim summaries: This doctored message was widely spread by supporters of the "freedom convoy."
contextual information: Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In February 2022, an image went viral that supposedly showed a social media message from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in which he encouraged Canadians who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 to stop talking to their unvaccinated relatives. This was not a genuine message from Trudeau: This message was posted in the days following a protest against COVID-19 vaccination requirements in Canada. Trudeau has commented on this protest, but he did not post the above-displayed message. The doctored message reads: "Please help do your part to make this stop. If you have family or friends that still haven't been vaccinated, do not allow these to family dinners, do not speak to them on the phone, do not reply to their texts. You need to do everything you can to make life difficult for them until they comply." This message does not appear on Trudeau's Twitter or Facebook pages. We also searched archived versions of these pages and found no trace of this message. Additionally, we have yet to see anyone share a link to the original message. This post, it appears, exists purely in screenshot form. Trudeau's Twitter Facebook pages A representative for the Office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Reuters: "This is not our post." Reuters Here is a genuine message from Trudeau in response to the protest: This is not the first bit of misinformation to circulate in the wake of the "freedom convoy" protest in Canada. We previously addressed rumors about the convoy's size, a number of miscaptioned videos that supposedly showed global support for the convoy, and an edited clip that purported to show "The Simpsons" had predicted the protest. addressed rumors about the convoy's size supposedly showed global support for the convoy purported to show "The Simpsons" had predicted the protest Facebook Post Falsely Attributed to Canadian Prime Minister. AP NEWS, 2 Feb. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-955941374482. Fact Check-Canadian Prime Minister Did Not Publish Message Encouraging the Social Rejection of Unvaccinated People. Reuters, 1 Feb. 2022. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-canada-prime-minister-message-idUSL1N2UC1ZZ. Freedom Convoy: Trudeau Calls Trucker Protest an Insult to Truth. BBC News, 31 Jan. 2022. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60202050. Staff, Shannon Larson Globe, et al. Whats Going on across the Border? The Canadian Trucker Protests, Explained. - The Boston Globe. BostonGlobe.Com, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/02/02/world/whats-going-across-border-canadian-trucker-protests-explained/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2022. | 0 | [
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FMD781 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Does Health Insurance under the Affordable Care Act require monthly payments in the hundreds or thousands range? 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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FMD782 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Amid the hand-wringing over the gutter-level sexual exchanges between Trump and Cruz, it doesn’t hurt to remember that it has been ever thus in American politics.
The innuendos flying back and forth between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump about the mutual sexual peccadillos of the candidates and their wives has elicited an abundance of hand-wringing over how such mud-slinging has dragged presidential politics into the gutter. Actually, it has returned it to the steamy, if seamy, flow of American history that harkens back to the Founding Fathers. The only surprise is that pundits affect to be surprised by this turn of events. In fact, sexual indiscretion and its consequences are an indelible part of our nation’s political tradition
The issue is not whether our forbears who attained, or aspired to, the White House were plaster saints but, rather, how the times in which they lived responded to their behavior. The ink had hardly dried on the Constitution in 1791 when our first secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, entered into a liaison with Maria Reynolds, whose scoundrel of a husband, James, blackmailed Hamilton in return for his silence, further implicating Hamilton in corruption charges. It wasn’t until six years later that Hamilton’s political enemies exposed the affair. Hamilton responded by coming clean, admitting that he’d slept with the lady but denying the corruption charges. His response won him points for candor but the mud never quite came unstuck.
Ted Cruz might not want to follow the path pursued by Andrew Jackson, who killed Charles Dickinson in a duel in 1806 for impugning the reputation of Jackson’s wife, Rachel. The duel did nothing to mar Jackson’s reputation, as evidenced by his being elected president two decades later. The more notorious sexual scandal of Jackson’s political career occurred during his presidency when he insisted on defending the virtue of Peggy Eaton, the wife of his War Secretary, John Eaton. Peggy, a local tavern keeper’s daughter disparaged in Washington society for her allegedly easygoing ways, was shunned by the wives of Jackson’s cabinet. What started out as a contretemps of social snubs soon grew into a full-blown political schism. Eaton eventually resigned, but Jackson revenged himself on his recalcitrant cabinet members by dismissing several of them. Jackson won the battle but at a cost that contributed to a growing schism in the Democratic Party.
A different set of circumstances entirely arose from two men who entered the White House as bachelors: James Buchanan (1857-1861) and Grover Cleveland, who served two terms in the Gilded Age. There, their similarities end. Buchanan was rumored to have had a homosexual friendship with William Rufus King, himself a former vice president, whom Jackson disparagingly referred to as “Miss Nancy.†The real scandal of Buchanan’s tenure was his virtual abdication of executive responsibility as the nation unraveled in the months leading up to the Civil War.
Grover Cleveland was another story. Running as a reforming Democrat in 1884, he was vilified by his Republican enemies as the father of an out-of-wedlock son whom he’d sired during an earlier sojourn in Buffalo. The GOP, which had run the bribe-receptive Sen. James G. Blaine against Cleveland, sought to detract from their own candidate’s turpitude by sullying Cleveland’s reputation. Cleveland was mocked with the chants of “Ma, ma, where’s my Pa?†accompanied by cartoons lampooning the errant father who’d abandoned his illegitimate son. Cleveland turned the tables on his tormenters by acknowledging responsibility for the boy and providing for his welfare, although he never fully owned up to admitting paternity. The exposure may have dented his campaign but didn’t derail it as he went on to win the White House.
Then there was Warren Harding, the first president to be elected with the women’s vote, who displayed his fondness for the ladies by maintaining a long-term affair with his best friend’s wife, Carrie Phillips, when he was elected in 1920, and, for good measure, embarking on a second liaison in the White House with the youngish Nan Britton. Their trysts led to the birth of an illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth. Monthly payments to the parties involved assured their discretion. Harding’s tenure was ushered in by Prohibition and the ensuing Jazz Age. But his teetotaling supporters came to have greater concerns than rumors of randy hijinks in the Executive Office when the Teapot Dome scandal blew the roof off the GOP White House.
The age of Democratic ascendancy, which roughly stretched from the New Deal through the Great Society, provided an Era of Good Feeling where the human lapses of our Chief Executives were overlooked by a forgiving press. It was only after their tenures that a more prurient, or judgmental, posterity examined their private affairs more closely. Thus, the discreet indiscretions of Franklin Roosevelt with Lucy Mercer and Missy LeHand (or, for that matter, Eleanor with Lorena Hickock), Jack Kennedy’s serial philandering, or LBJ’s randy ways, were all suppressed  by a media that was more concerned with presidential policies than peccadillos.
With the sexual abandon of the Cultural Revolution came a new approach to residents of the Oval Office or aspirants for the job. Those who sought or won the post, for the most part, had the same human frailties as their predecessors. The difference was in the Anything Goes approach of the media, whetted by the success of exposing the Watergate scandal and abetted by a technological revolution that made what was once the province of intimacy the source of prurient interest under the rubric of “the public’s right to know.†Watergate, whatever its virtues, made the president fair game and encouraged an “investigative†journalism that devolved from monitoring public malfeasance to invading what had once been considered private affairs.
So by the 1988 campaign, when Democratic Sen. Gary Hart’s presidential hopes and political career became caught in the maw of tabloid journalism and left to the mercies of reporters on the scent of sexual scandal, the quest for the presidency had become an adjunct of the entertainment industry. The Oscars for this spectacle went to the Clinton impeachment proceedings.
Donald Trump took it to the next logical step from turning a candidate into a celebrity to simply making a celebrity a candidate. Americans love a circus and the circus has now come to town, or rather the electronic Town Hall of social media, digital dazzle, squawk radio, and cable wrestling that passes for discourse in our political arena. The unrestrained passions of partisan politics and party faction that Washington futilely warned against were there from the beginning. They have simply been amplified by technology. The list cited above is a short one. | 1 | [
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FMD783 | 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: No, Magic Johnson Didn't Donate Blood to the Red Cross Claim summaries: A popular tweet said that Johnson "donated some of his blood to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities help fight COVID-19."
contextual information: On Aug. 18, 2022, a Twitter user named @cocksources tweeted a picture that appeared to show former NBA superstar Magic Johnson giving blood. The caption in the tweet read, "Earlier today, NBA legend Magic Johnson donated some of his blood to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities help fight COVID-19." tweeted Why would this be news of interest? Johnson announced his retirement from the NBA in 1991 after testing positive for HIV. announced his retirement Despite the tweet, the truth was that @cocksources publishes satire, which meant that the news wasn't real. The Twitter account's bio said that part of its mission was "spreading narratives with misinformation (satire)." bio Five days later, Johnson addressed the satirical news, tweeting, "Im aware of the false story circling the internet, and to be clear, I have never donated blood." addressed According to the TinEye reverse image search website, the oldest posting of the picture was in an article from 2013 on 24ur.com. The story said that the photograph had already raised eyebrows on Twitter years before and that it simply showed Johnson "undergoing a medical examination" in the 2012 documentary, "Endgame: AIDS in Black America." TinEye reverse image search website article Twitter Johnson We previously reported on this photo back in 2015, when a different misleading rumor said it showed Johnson donating blood for leukemia and lymphoma patients. reported In sum, no, Johnson wasn't donating blood to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities help fight COVID-19, nor did the picture show him donating blood at all. Red Cross Dvignil Prah: HIV Pozitiven Magic Johnson Daroval Kri? 24ur.com, 26 Mar. 2013, https://www.24ur.com/ekskluziv/tuja-scena/dvignil-prah-hiv-pozitiven-magic-johnson-daroval-kri.html. Nadel, John. AP Was There: Magic Announces He Has HIV, Retires from NBA. AP News, 23 Feb. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-nba-entertainment-sports-health-d51716031d2641c7e58957e9ef9da718. TinEye. https://tineye.com/. | 0 | [
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FMD784 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The newly elected US Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) just won the election by a small margin in a state where a Republican hasn t won for 25 years. Jones was pegged as a liberal and a pro-abortion by his opponents in the highly contentious race against the accused sexual predator, and ultra-conservative candidate, Roy Moore. Jones, however, is no dummy. In a deep-red state who voted overwhelmingly for President Trump in 2016, Jones knows that he will be a one-term senator unless he gets behind the wildly popular Donald Trump, and based on his first interview with the press, that s exactly what he plans to do.Senator-elect Doug Jones is already breaking with some prominent Democrats by refusing to call for President Trump to step down over ongoing sexual harassment allegations. I don t think that the president ought to resign at this point, Jones (D-Ala.) told CNN s State of the Union. In his first round of Sunday show interviews since securing a stunning victory in red state Alabama over accused sexual predator Roy Moore, Jones said he doesn t want to get bogged down in Trump s sexual harassment allegations and would rather work on real issues. I think we need to move on and not get distracted by those issues, Jones added. Let s get on with the real issues that are facing the people of this country right now. That s at odds with some high-profile Democrats like Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Cory Booker (NJ) who believe the president should step down because at least 19 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct.Unlike other politicians who have stepped down, like Sen. Al Franken and Rep. John Conyers, Jones said the difference is the voters knew about these allegations and still elected Trump to the highest office. Those allegations were made and he was elected president of the United States, Jones said. I think the American people spoke. Jones said he s willing to work with Republicans on passing some of Trump s priorities like infrastructure investment said the sexual harassment allegations are not reason to get on Trump s bad side. We need to move on and try to work with some real issues that are facing the country and not worry about getting at odds with the president any more than we have to, Jones said.Gillibrand last week said Trump committed assault according to the very credible allegations and he should resign. Trump, who has routinely denied any wrongdoing, shot back at the junior senator with what was widely panned as a sexually suggestive tweet Tuesday the same day Democrats turned out in droves for Jones in Alabama to defeat a Trump-backed candidate. NYP | 0 | [
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FMD785 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Democratic state senators in California on Thursday unveiled a series of bills designed to freeze in place Obama administration-era environmental regulations in the event the Trump administration moves to weaken them. The bills, collectively known as the “Preserve California†package, aim to make existing federal clean air, water, and endangered species laws enforceable under state law and protect federal lands in the state from being sold to oil companies. “The goals and objectives of these measures... is to do everything within our power to make sure the federal government doesn’t encroach on our far-reaching progressive policies,†California Senate Leader Kevin de Leon said during a press conference in Sacramento on Thursday. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bills. If the bills become law, they could set the stage for legal battles between the left-leaning state and the conservative Trump administration, which have already clashed over President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration. After the presidential election, California Democrats hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who served in the Obama administration, to help in any legal battles with the Trump administration. De Leon said that while the state is not looking to go to court against the administration over the proposed policies, it will deploy Holder as needed. “The less that we use Eric Holder, the better,†de Leon said. “The more we use Eric Holder, that means bad things are happening towards California.†One of the bills released on Thursday is designed to prevent federal lands in the state from being opened up to development and would give the state the right to halt the sales of federal land. “There are prominent members of Congress and prominent members of the Trump administration who are on the record supporting a large-scale sell off of our federal lands,†said Senator Ben Allen, the bill’s author. “Either opening them up to mineral and oil and gas exploitation or direct sales to corporations who want to use those lands for commercial gain,†he said. Another bill would shield whistleblowers in federal agencies who are also licensed to practice in California from losing their professional certification under state law. It would also direct state environmental and public health agencies to protect any data under state law, even if parties in Washington D.C. order their censorship or destruction, according to Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, the bill’s author. | 1 | [
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FMD786 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room tonight 6:00 PM PST | 8:00 PM CST | 9:00 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for bar fly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher and Spore along with Jay Dyer from Jays Analysis, FunkSoul (21WIRE & ACR contributor), and Basil Valentine (21WIRE & ACR contributor) for the hundred and tenth episode of BOILER ROOM. Turn it up, tune in and hang with the ACR Brain-Trust for this weeks boil downs and analysis and the usual gnashing of the teeth of the political animals in the social reject club. This week on the show we re talking about the terror event in Manchester, what do you think? Blowback? False Flag? Gladio 2.0? Hoax? A deeper esoteric combination of the options presented? Join us for a discussion on the unfolding of these events, one thing is for sure, regardless of where you stand in your own analysis of these and similar events, the result is higher tensions, social chaos and more police/surveillance state manifestations as civil liberties erode.Direct Download Episode #110Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved! Reference Links: | 0 | [
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FMD787 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Will the 2016 election be rigged?
That depends on what the definition of “is” is – and whether or not you count blatant media bias, operatives and instigators, shady quasi-voters, bizarre electronic voting “errors” and a heavy-handed advantage in the electoral college and the shifting demographics of a socialist state that promises much to certain groups.
With the GOP leadership turning its back on Trump, and the Democratic machine dedicated solely to providing for Her, it will be a difficult win for Trump, despite overwhelming enthusiasm at rallies across the entire country and lop-sided pro-Trump crowds that literally dwarf pro-Hillary gatherings of very few.
But as most everyone knows by now, it isn’t the popular vote that counts – but only the delegates awarded state-by-state to the electoral college… and that is a game that Hillary’s operatives are very good at playing.
There are several states that are being surprisingly maneuvered for her advantage… and if successful, will block Trump from even coming close the presidency.
Texas Could Turn “Blue” For the First Time In 20 Years
This is the big enchilada, so to speak. For the first time in many decades, Texas is in play for Hillary and the Democrats. Texas has been as solidly “red” as any state in the union, but 2016 could be different.
With 38 electoral votes, the Lone Star State is the biggest prize on the map next to California, whose 55 electoral votes have gone to the Democrats since before history began. Since at least 2008, the Dems have been massaging their electioneering strategy to capitalize on shifting demographics – with plenty of Hispanics in the next generation of voters. On paper, Hillary should be able to play well to Hispanics with all the controversy over Trump’s immigration stances and talk of a border wall. Rumors of illegal immigrants be encouraged to vote could be a crucial factor, with polls in Texas close to neck and neck… it could go either way.
Of course, there is every reason to think that Team Hillary is not taking any chances.
As Michael Snyder and many others have reported , electronic voting machines have been mysteriously flipping votes for Hillary in several counties in Texas… and that doesn’t bode well for a massive electoral prize that is within range for her campaign:
Early voting has already begun in many states, and a number of voters in Texas are reporting that the voting machines switched their votes from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton. The odd thing is that none of the other choices were affected when these individuals attempted to vote for a straight Republican ticket. If Hillary Clinton is declared the winner of the state of Texas on election night, a full investigation of these voting machines should be conducted, because there is no way that Donald Trump should lose that state. I have said that it will be the greatest miracle in U.S. political history if Donald Trump wins this election, but without the state of Texas Donald Trump has exactly zero chance of winning.
At least one county is making an emergency switch to paper ballots after irregularities were found with the electronic machines during early voting.
Meanwhile, Infowars confronted the head of Texas’ elections about his decision to violate voter laws and abandon a manual count of a random sampling of 1-3% of votes (which should theoretically reflect the larger voting trend, unless something is fishy). Without that count, there is less accountability than ever:
This is major issue, and Texas isn’t the only state… just the biggest.
2. Utah’s Independent Republican Could Actually Beat Trump
OK, so Utah only has a grand total of 6 electoral college votes… and has never been a decisive swing state in a presidential election. But that is because the state has been so solidly “red.” However, this election is totally different.
A little known independent candidate named Evan McMullin has actually taken the lead in several recent polls in Utah, and is neck-and-neck with both Trump and Hillary in several other polls (at or around 30% apiece). Libertarian Gary Johnson is also playing (relatively) well at about 5% – possibly enough to swing further momentum away form Trump.
But Evan McMullin is the real surprise hit – in a state that is suddenly considered an important battleground in the election.
McMullin is a Mormon, which gives him a significant boost. He is officially tied to Better for America, which is basically a #NeverTrump operation – backed by neocons like William Kristol. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Evan McMullin has a pretty colorful and telling background : on top of being a former policy director for House Republicans, he’s also a former CIA operations officer; a member of the elite think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and a volunteer refugee resettlement officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Jordan.
Wow! I wonder if there could be an agenda there. Hillary probably won’t win Utah, but Trump may not either – and it could make a crucial difference if he is within striking distance of 270 electoral votes.
3. Florida Is a Must Win Swing State for Trump… But Current Polls Show Possible Hillary Win
Oh boy… Florida all over again. With 29 electoral votes, it remains a major contender that is so often on the fence and swinging in the wind. It is considered essential for a Trump victory, and indeed for just about any successful Republican bid for the presidency.
Sure, we all know the polls are rigged, and may be oversampling Dems to look better for Hillary on paper – but nonetheless, that perception drives expectations.
If She can create a convincing win there, it could change the course of the election once again. Florida has consistently been the closest outcome – in 2008 and 2012 it went blue for Obama; in 2000 and 2004 it went red for Bush (and not without major controversy and some very shady recounting).
Her team is pushing heavily for early voting in Florida, and so far they claim an early voting advantage.
But campaign surrogate Roger Stone is now reporting that Hillary has met secretly with Broward County officials in Florida, and there is speculation that problems with the voting machines may soon be happening all over again.
Pay very close to what happens there, because of course, Florida could be THE deciding state (again). Right now polls are within 2 points , currently in favor of Trump by a very narrow margin.
4. Colorado Has Known Voting Fraud Issues – With Dead People on the Voter Rolls
With 9 electoral votes, Colorado is currently swinging “blue” but could go either way. CBS4 and the Washington Times reported that an investigation was started by Colorado’s Secretary of State after multiple examples were found of deceased people registered and in the voter rolls:
“This is the kind of thing you hear rumored, joked about in Chicago, that kind of thing,” Mr. Maasssaid during a Thursday evening broadcast. “Tonight, that changes. We did find voter fraud in Colorado that essentially waters down your vote.”
[…]
“This is the kind of thing you hear rumored, joked about in Chicago, that kind of thing,” Mr. Maasssaid during a Thursday evening broadcast. “Tonight, that changes. We did find voter fraud in Colorado that essentially waters down your vote.”
It’s not clear whether or not Colorado could make a difference in the outcome, but the results could prove suspect.
5. Hillary Is “Leading” In These Key Swing States
While Trump is expected to win the crucial state of Ohio, and also North Carolina, Hillary is projected to take key states including Pennsylvania, Colorado, Iowa, Virginia and Arizona.
According to the Washington Post :
if Clinton can hold Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, then she only needs one more out of many swing states — New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, or Florida — barring any surprise Trump win in a blue-leaning state like Wisconsin. That is currently looking very plausible.
While any of these could change in the actual outcome, it shows that Hillary has definitely maneuvered to win where it counts – not with the people, but with the electoral college.
The details are too numerous to follow here, and anything could happen.
6. You Know Voter Fraud Is Happening If the Media Claim It Isn’t
What should be very telling to everyone is how loudly the major media – in concert – are trying to debunk Trump’s claims of voter fraud and insist that all is well when it is quite clear that there are major issues.
This is one claim that the system is very afraid of, because quite frankly, they have a great deal to hide.
There is more reason than ever for accountability, reporting on any irregularities and an insistence that the will of the people be respected – because the system is desperate to hold onto control at any cost.
Read more:
Electronic Voting Machines Caught Switching Trump Votes To Hillary: “Trying to Steal Texas”
Trump Resists Pledge To “Absolutely Accept” Election Results… But Why Should Anyone Accept Fraud?
Unrest and Martial Law? Leaked Military Drill Anticipates “No Rule of Law” After Election Results
Trump Resists Pledge To “Absolutely Accept” Election Results… But Why Should Anyone Accept Fraud?
If Trump Wins, Will Obama Declare Martial Law To Remain In Office? “These Are Not Normal Times”
After Bernie Cheated By DNC, Trump Fears “Election Going To Be Rigged” | 0 | [
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FMD788 | 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 a Cornell Student Cut 37 Pounds Using Apple Cider Vinegar and Supplements? Claim summaries: Stories promoting a "diet hack" involving apple cider vinegar are based on unrelated photographs and false claims.
contextual information: In April 2017, an advertisement for a diet product called "Refresh Garcinia Cambogia" or "Garcinia Slim" was disguised as a genuine news report and published on websites such as RunningEvolutions.com and The Platinum Beard. The article featured a student from Cornell University who claimed to have lost 31 pounds on a university budget. Amanda Haughman, a student at Cornell University, reported that she was able to drop 31 pounds in one month without spending any of her own money. Amanda is studying nutrition sciences at Cornell, and for a required research project, she thought it would be perfect to use university funds to discover how to 'hack' her weight loss. According to Amanda, "the most expensive part of it all was actually finding what worked. But the actual solution only cost about $5." "I had struggled with my weight my whole life. I tried things like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, which just didn't work as well as they promised. I am a single mom with a child at home, and I am also working towards my degree, so I don't have any time to be at the gym. When I was assigned this big research project, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to get a deeper look at the natural weight loss options available, and that is when I discovered the combination of Refresh Garcinia Cambogia and apple cider vinegar. The best part of it all is that I can tell my daughter is proud of me." - Amanda Haughman. These reports included a number of false and misleading claims. For instance, the lead photograph purportedly showing Amanda Haughman's tremendous weight loss is actually of Rachel Graham, who lost nearly 100 pounds in a year. Graham told Today in 2016 that she credited her weight loss to exercise and a healthy diet. Graham did not mention the alleged magic formula of apple cider vinegar and garcinia cambogia. When asked how she managed to lose almost 100 pounds in one year, Rachel Graham stated that the formula is simple: healthy food and exercise. "No secrets. No gimmicks. No quick fixes." She was also honest about the impact of going from 235 pounds to 144 pounds, especially the loose skin on her stomach, thighs, and arms. "I want people to know that it is 110 percent possible," Graham told TODAY. "I used to feel as though it wasn't, that I didn't have what it takes, and that it was just too far out of reach... If you want to make changes, it is completely possible with healthy food and exercise." This weight loss advertisement also fabricated an interview with CNN and claimed that the network ran a segment on this Cornell student's "amazing discovery." The article stated, "We sat down with Amanda to ask her more about how she found out about Refresh Garcinia Cambogia and whether or not that is all she used to lose 31 pounds so quickly." The supposed interview included questions and answers that never appeared on CNN. Not surprisingly, the Platinum Beard post links to a site selling Garcinia Cambogia. The Running Evolutions article links instead to what appears to be borrowed content from Barry's Boot Camp, a personal training program. We reached out to Barry's Boot Camp for comment but have not yet received a reply. Although we can't speak to the effectiveness of drinking apple cider vinegar with Refresh Garcinia Cambogia, we can say that this text did not originate from a genuine news article. This is an advertisement that used a fabricated interview, falsified claims, and an unrelated photograph to sell a diet product. Pawlowski, A. "Mom gets real about weight loss: Here's how she shed 90 pounds in a year." Today, 3 October 2016. | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD789 | 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 There a Warrant for CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel's Arrest? Claim summaries: Activists have called on German prosecutors to move against Haspel, but no warrant has been issued.
contextual information: The Trump administration has had its share of embattled nominees, but President Donald Trump's pick to head the Central Intelligence Agency in March 2018 is controversial even by those standards. Trump nominated the agency's deputy director, Gina Haspel, on 13 March 2018. But her record has come under question both in the U.S. and abroad because of her service while stationed at a secret CIA facility in 2002, leading to allegations that she committed war crimes (with commentary appearing, naturally, in meme form): A human rights advocacy group the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has called for Haspel to be taken into custody if she travels to the continent. The group has petitioned federal prosecutors in Germany since 2014 to issue a warrant, saying: saying: Those who commit, order or allow torture should be brought before a court this is especially true for senior officials from powerful nations. The prosecutor must, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, open investigations, secure evidence and seek an arrest warrant. If the deputy director travels to Germany or Europe, she must be arrested. Andreas Schller, director of the group's International Crimes and Accountability Program, has said that ECCHR does not expect that Haspel will actually face a warrant; its goal, he said, is that German officials recognize Haspel's alleged actions: said If you allow her to come here, you are making a clear political decision that you prioritize that over your obligations under the Convention Against Torture They can't say they didn't know who was coming here. Haspel, who first joined the agency in 1985 during President Ronald Reagan's administration, was reportedly in charge of a secret "black site" prison in Thailand at which a prisoner and terror suspect, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was waterboarded. She also allegedly supported the destruction of videotapes in 2005 capturing waterboardings at the prison. (However, a report stating that she was in charge of the facility, code-named "Cat's Eye," at the time another suspect, Abu Zubaydah, was tortured was retracted.) reportedly retracted. The use of waterboarding or "enhanced interrogation," as officials called it at the time was banned in 2009 by President Barack Obama. Five years later, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a report criticizing the practice. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), who was the committee chair at the time, wrote in the foreword to the report: banned report CIA personnel, aided by two outside contractors, decided to initiate a program of indefinite secret detention and the use of brutal interrogation techniques in violation of U.S. law, treaty obligations, and our values. In March 2018, Feinstein called on the agency to declassify documents related to Haspel's role in the program: called As we move forward with the nomination process for Ms. Haspel, my fellow Senators and I must have the complete picture of Ms. Haspel's involvement in the program in order to fully and fairly review her record and qualifications. I also believe the American people deserve to know the actual role the person nominated to be the director of the CIA played in what I consider to be one of the darkest chapters in American history. Two of Feinstein's GOP Senate colleagues, Rand Paul of Kentucky and John McCain of Arizona, have also called for Haspel to explain how involved she was with the agency's interrogation program while it was active. Paul McCain Michaelson, Jay. "Could CIA Nominee Gina Haspel Be Prosecuted for War Crimes?"
The Daily Beast. 19 March 2018. Senator Dianne Feinstein. "Feinstein to CIA: Release Haspel Torture Documents."
15 March 2018. Goldman, Adam. "Gina Haspel, Trump's Choice for C.I.A., Played Role in Torture Program."
New York Times. 13 March 2018. Bonner, Raymond. "Correction: Trump's Pick to Head CIA Did Not Oversee Waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah."
ProPublica. 15 March 2018. MacAskill, Ewen. "Obama: 'I Believe Waterboarding Was Torture, And it Was a Mistake.'"
The Guardian. 29 April 2009. Paul, Rand. "Why I'm Against Gina Haspel."
Politico. 18 March 2018. Sen. John McCain. "Statement by SASC Chairman John McCain on Leadership Changes at State Department & CIA."
13 March 2018. | 0 | [
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FMD790 | 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: Hillary Clinton: Supreme Court Exists to 'Change and Shape the Law' Claim summaries: A quote purportedly from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton about the role of the Supreme Court is a hoax.
contextual information: On 10 October 2016, an meme appeared featuring a photograph of Hillary Clinton accompanied by text of a purported quote from her during from the second presidential debate the night before: The quote was not uttered by Clinton during the any presidential debate. It does not appear in the transcript of the event, nor can Clinton be heard speaking this phrase during the broadcast. transcript broadcast It seems to have originated with a social media user named Rocky Raczkowski, who (according to his post) was not directly quoting Clinton, but was giving his interpretation of what he thought Clinton had said in response to a question about Supreme Court justices: Rocky Raczkowski Raczkowski's interpretation was later shared by Mike Hewitt, a politician and radio show host, who posted the message as if it were a direct quote from Clinton, while darkly hinting at a media so corrupt that they refused to cover the what she had really said: message Of course, the reason that most media sources did not report on this quote is that it is not a quote, but a highly subjective (and inaccurate) interpretation of her words. Here's Clinton's actual response to a question about how she would select a Supreme Court justice, which is nothing like the questionable paraphrase offered by Raczkowski and shared by Hewitt: QUESTION: Good evening. Perhaps the most important aspect of this election is the Supreme Court justice. What would you prioritize as the most important aspect of selecting a Supreme Court justice? RADDATZ: We begin with your two minutes, Secretary Clinton. Thank you. Well, youre right. This is one of the most important issues in this election. I want to appoint Supreme Court justices who understand the way the world really works, who have real-life experience, who have not just been in a big law firm and maybe clerked for a judge and then gotten on the bench, but, you know, maybe they tried some more cases, they actually understand what people are up against. Because I think the current court has gone in the wrong direction. And so I would want to see the Supreme Court reverse Citizens United and get dark, unaccountable money out of our politics. Donald doesnt agree with that. I would like the Supreme Court to understand that voting rights are still a big problem in many parts of our country, that we dont always do everything we can to make it possible for people of color and older people and young people to be able to exercise their franchise. I want a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v. Wade and a womans right to choose, and I want a Supreme Court that will stick with marriage equality. Now, Donald has put forth the names of some people that he would consider. And among the ones that he has suggested are people who would reverse Roe v. Wade and reverse marriage equality. I think that would be a terrible mistake and would take us backwards. I want a Supreme Court that doesnt always side with corporate interests. I want a Supreme Court that understands because youre wealthy and you can give more money to something doesnt mean you have any more rights or should have any more rights than anybody else. So I have very clear views about what I want to see to kind of change the balance on the Supreme Court. And I regret deeply that the Senate has not done its job and they have not permitted a vote on the person that President Obama, a highly qualified person, theyve not given him a vote to be able to be have the full complement of nine Supreme Court justices. I think that was a dereliction of duty. I hope that they will see their way to doing it, but if I am so fortunate enough as to be president, I will immediately move to make sure that we fill that, we have nine justices that get to work on behalf of our people. | 0 | [
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FMD791 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: It was with some trepidation that I set out last week to try “Soundwalk 9:09,†a piece the Metropolitan Museum of Art commissioned from John Luther Adams, the Pulitzer composer. Composed of sounds recorded in the area, the work is intended for people to listen to on their smartphones as they make the walk between the museum’s mother ship, on Fifth Avenue, and its new outpost, the Met Breuer, in the old Whitney building on Madison Avenue. What if I did it wrong? The piece lasts nine minutes and nine seconds, because that’s how long it took Mr. Adams to make the trek. But he’s an avid runner. So should I and risk arriving at the Breuer before it was over — or take my time but possibly run out of music too soon? Then there was a conundrum that I sadly agonize over with even the shortest, most routine of journeys: what route to take. This time, though, each choice really would matter: Listening to the piece on leafy Fifth Avenue, beside Central Park, would offer a very different experience from listening among the elegant jewelers and boutiques and eateries on Madison. Finally, I had to get over my longstanding aversion to wearing earphones while out and about in the city. As a lifelong New Yorker, I’ve never liked being taken out of my surroundings, preferring to rely on auditory cues for advance warning in case, say, a taxi were to jump the curb, or a street scuffle were to break out nearby, or the branch of an elm were to crack. But I was reassured by the composer himself, who wrote on the Met’s website that “these pieces are not complete until you are present — listening, walking your own route and creating your own unique mix with the sounds you encounter. †So, not sure of what I was in for, I downloaded “Soundwalk†on the steps of the Met, my wingtips and hit “play. †The sound coming through my earbuds could have been tinkling wind chimes, followed by what reminded me of something I had as a kid, an old corrugated plastic tube that howled a ghostly, breathy high pitch when swung in circles. The sound bleeding in from the street? The theme music from “Rocky,†segueing into “If You’re Happy and You Know It,†played by a saxophonist seeking tips from the crowd on the museum steps. The live and recorded music blended so eerily that you could easily imagine Mr. Adams’s having scored his opening as a backing for the buskers. As I walked through the atmosphere in front of the museum, a whole battery of noises came pouring in from the outside, soloing over Mr. Adams’s atmospherics: the splashing of the Met’s new fountains tour bus operators’ pushing tickets snippets of conversation in at least four languages hawkers of prints, magnets (“Six for $10! â€) portraits. Food vendors, it turns out, favor repeated, rhythmic triplets: “Water for one dollar, one dollar, one dollar†was followed just steps later by an offer of “Cashew nut, cashew nut, cashew nut. †Hearing the jumble of serendipitous noises fuse into something musical suddenly called to mind another work: John Cage’s infamous “4’33â€. †When I first heard about that piece — in which performers play nothing at all for four minutes and 33 seconds — it struck me as an elaborate prank. But I came to be intrigued by Cage’s explanations of it, as when he wrote to a critic that it was not silent, but rather “full of sound, but sounds which I did not think of beforehand, which I hear for the first time the same time others hear. †As I heard the improvised fugue of the Met’s street vendors, his idea began to make sense. The “Soundwalk†was the brainchild of Limor Tomer, the museum’s general manager of concerts and lectures, who was interested in linking the two buildings: one an established outpost, the other a part of the Met franchise. The Met established a partnership with Q2, WQXR’s online station for contemporary classical music, which invited its listeners to record the sounds Mr. Adams used in the piece and then offered downloads of the finished product from its website. The Met said it could not say how many people had downloaded the work. For my excursion, since this was a piece by Mr. Adams — who lived for decades in Alaska, where he was an environmental activist as well as a composer, and whose Pulitzer composition, “Become Ocean,†was inspired partly by his concerns about climate change — Fifth Avenue, under the green canopy of Central Park’s stately trees, seemed like far and away the best route. But the sounds inside and outside my earbuds made it clear that this was no nature preserve. The brakes of an M4 bus squeaked. Food cart generators rattled. Wait, was that siren real or recorded? (Recorded.) Squeals came from children in the park, playing what must have been disorganized sports in fields where signs warned, “No organized sports allowed. †A stand became an elaborate percussion instrument, with the staccato paradiddle of metal tongs clanging open the metal bin where the buns were kept, slamming it shut and then repeating the pattern on the metal bin where the franks were cooking. Then another siren, real this time. Turning east on 76th Street, I was distracted by some chirping sparrows, which sounded like some birds on the recording, and by a motorcyclist, when I was jolted out of my reverie. “This marble tombstone marked the resting place of one Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim,†a woman was saying. I’d been too slow, and the Adams piece, which I had downloaded on Soundcloud, had been followed seamlessly by a track about one of the Met’s exhibitions. But even after I reached the Breuer, on Madison Avenue near 75th Street, I was not done. Mr. Adams, after all, had made two different versions of “Soundwalk,†one for people walking downtown, and one for people heading uptown. And since I don’t like to do things by half measures — why go to “Die Walküre†when you could see a whole “Ring†cycle? — I wanted to try both. Call it “Soundwalk 18:18. †This time I’d stay on Madison and pick up the pace. As Mr. Adams’s otherworldly sounds began, they were punctuated almost immediately by a blaring car horn, from a black Mercedes outside Travers Fine Jewelers. Then came a chorus of resonant express bus motors, doors being slammed shut by chauffeurs, workmen crumpling up the wrappers of their lunches as they sat on overturned buckets, and kids eating ice cream outside E. A. T. But I didn’t slow down to savor it. I turned west on 81st Street, just before getting to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, and ignored a rather quiet fashion shoot that was going on. I reached the Met, where I could hear the faint sound of a sax, just as the “Soundwalk†ended — nine minutes and nine seconds later. | 1 | [
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FMD792 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Twitter has reversed one of its new features following complaints that it encouraged even more abuse on the platform. [After Twitter announced on Monday that a new feature would stop notifying users when they’d been added to a list, several complaints started to immediately gain traction. We want you to get notifications that matter. Starting today, you won’t get notified when you are added to a list. https: . — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 13, 2017, “Being added to a list and knowing what list you were added to was literally the last useful thing about Twitter,†complained one user. @TwitterSafety Being added to a list and knowing what list you were added to was literally the last useful thing about Twitter. — Anthony Quintano 🌴 (@AnthonyQuintano) February 13, 2017, “This isn’t a good move. Please reconsider,†added another. @TwitterSafety @Support @mrdonut @peterseibel This isn’t a good move. Please reconsider. — EricaJoy (@EricaJoy) February 13, 2017, “Yeah no this update is bad and seems to misunderstand the nature of abuse on the platform,†another user proclaimed, while one verified account simply added: “you just made it easier for people to stalk other people so good job. †@SwiftOnSecurity @TwitterSafety @Support yeah no this update is bad and seems to misunderstand the nature of abuse on the platform cc @jack, — jake (@jakebeckman) February 13, 2017, @TwitterSafety you just made it easier for people to stalk other people so good job. — Carli Velocci (@velocciraptor) February 13, 2017, @TwitterSafety @Support Man, I was having hope y’all would make one smart move to start 2017. Come on. — Austin Braun (@AustinOnSocial) February 13, 2017, @TwitterSafety lol you are so fucking bad at this, — Lev Novak (@LevNovak) February 13, 2017, @TwitterSafety how boneheaded. — Stephen Toulouse (@Stepto) February 13, 2017, Following complaints, Twitter quickly reversed their decision, announcing, “We heard your feedback — this was a misstep. We’re rolling back the change and we’ll keep listening,†just hours later. We heard your feedback — this was a misstep. We’re rolling back the change and we’ll keep listening. https: . — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 13, 2017, Twitter first announced their new wave of features in a blog post last week. The changes reportedly include extra measures to stop suspended users from creating new accounts, “safer search results,†and the collapsing of “potentially abusive or Tweets. †“In the days and weeks ahead, we will continue to roll out product changes — some changes will be visible and some less so — and will update you on progress every step of the way,†declared Twitter in their post. “With every change, we’ll learn, iterate, and continue to move at this speed until we’ve made a significant impact that people can feel. †Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 1 | [
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FMD793 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: This week, Donald Trump disappointed the entire world by pulling out of the Paris climate deal. It was a decision that was condemned by several world leaders, and marked yet another way that Trump had ruined America s standing as a global leader. To celebrate his horrible decision, Trump organized a Pittsburgh not Paris rally to celebrate America s exit from the deal. There was just one major problem Trump blew it off.The Trump campaign had hyped up this event so much, and even organized it to be located right across the street from the White House put Donnie wasn t there. He bailed, and decided to play golf instead. So much for being a dedicated POTUS and showing his dwindling number of supporters that he appreciates them, as his approval ratings continue to plummet to historic lows.The White House Press Pool told PoliticusUSA: After an uneventful ride along highways and byways toward Sterling, Virginia, motorcade pulled up to the Trump National Golf Club at 10:42 a.m.Motorcade split off and pool is now holding in a spectacular clubhouse overlooking indoor tennis courts. If any of Trump s supporters still think Trump cared about and appreciated them, this is a pretty rude awakening. When Trump s campaign announced the rally, it certainly sounded like Trump would actually be present. However, the event invitation was a little more cryptic. It said: As you know, the President has been under siege from the mainstream media and the Democrats, especially now that he put American jobs first by withdrawing from the Paris Accord. Therefore, we are organizing a group to demonstrate our support for President Trump and his fearless leadership. Either way, these Trump supporters expected Trump to be there, and he wasn t because he was playing golf his main hobby when he wants to avoid doing his job. Trump must know that his presidency is doomed, because blowing off a rally full of supporters when his popularity is suffering is a bold move. To make matters worse, this rally couldn t have been more convenient it was just across the street! And yet, Trump couldn t be bothered.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD794 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Tweet Widget by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
President Donald Trump? How did such a thing happen? A competent and purposeful Clinton campaign should have beaten Donald Trump. How did Hillary Clinton and one-percenter Democrats snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory? America Might Not Deserve Trump, But Dems and Hillary Deserved To Lose by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
It’s over. The crotch-grabbing racist con man beat the lying corporate warmonger. Donald Trump is president-elect of the US.
It didn’t have to happen that way. Trump’s winning 58 million votes were a hair fewer than Clinton’s popular vote, a million or two less than Republican losers McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012, six and ten million behind Obama’s 2012 and 2008 numbers. The buffoonish Trump was elected with such a low turnout because Hillary Clinton’s campaign was even less competent and credible. To borrow the condescending language Barack Obama deploys before black audiences, Hillary’s campaign never gave Cousin Pookie much reason to get up off the couch and vote.
Republican and Democratic parties are alike owned by their one-percenter investor/contributors. Democratic party shot callers decided they’d risk losing with Hillary Clinton rather than winning with Bernie Sanders. So Democratic party leadership, their media allies and the entire black political class got behind Hillary Clinton and helped collude and conspire to eliminate VT Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democrat with the best chance against any Republican opponent.
Once Bernie Sanders was eliminated Hillary waged a lazy and ineffective campaign, playing a hand with just three cards.
The first was the broken record of how unthinkable and unprecedented a disaster a Trump presidency would be… a clownish sexual predator who pronounced climate change a hoax and would criminalize abortion, open concentration camps, repeal Obamacare, legalize stop and frisk, build a wall, appoint neanderthals to the Supreme Court, deport six or ten million immigrants instead of Obama’s paltry two million and who might be in hock to the Russians. Except for the thing about the Russians, it’s roughly the same picture Democrats have drawn of every Republican presidential candidate since Nixon. A story told that many times just gets old. Party leaders counted on it anyway, and it wasn’t enough. That was incompetence.
A second and relatively weak card Democrats played was conjuring up an Imaginary Hillary Clinton, a defender of womens’ and human rights who held hands with the moms of killer cop victims, and occasionally mumbled about black lives mattering and the need to reform the criminal justice system. But Hillary’s decades-long record as a tool of banksters, billionaires and one-percenters was so well established in the public mind that Imaginary Hillary was a difficult sell, not credible.
The one-percenter Democrats’ third card, on which they staked a lot was the early and unconditional endorsement of Hillary Clinton by and Michelle. This had proven effective in Chicago in 2011 and 2015 where Obama’s blessings in 2011 and 2015 were key to fastening Rahm Emanuel on the city’s jugular vein after a half century of Daley rule. The entire black political class got behind Hillary too, from civil rights icons who ruminated on how they hadn’t seen Bernie Sanders back in the day to some other wise heads who assured us a vote for the Green Party’s Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka was an act of “ narcissism ” or maybe white privilege . But at the end of ’s time in office, the Obama endorsement didn’t carry the clout it used to.
Thanks to two generations of lazy Democrats who refused to try to consolidate the victory of the 1965 Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court in 2013 nullified its key provisions, enabling a constellation of laws and practices aimed at limiting access to the ballot on the part of students, minorities, the elderly and constituencies likely to vote Democratic. In the 2016 election cycle these practices stripped another few million Democratic voters from the rolls.
All in all, Democrats were the authors of their own defeat this presidential election. Hillary couldn’t campaign against the one percent because her party is a party of the one percent. Hillary Democrats including Bernie himself after the convention could no longer acknowledge joblessness, low wages, lack of housing, permanent war or the high cost of medical care or they’d be campaigning against themselves.
Donald Trump didn’t win because of some mysterious upsurge of racism and nativism. He won because Hillary Clinton’s campaign was even less inspiring and less competent than his own, and worked hard to snatch its own defeat from the jaws of victory. America might not deserve President Donald Trump. But Hillary Clinton didn’t deserve to win, Bruce Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report and co-chair of the GA Green Party. He lives and works near Marietta GA and can be reached | 0 | [
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FMD795 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Assuming all Republicans support Gorsuch, the nominee would need the votes of five more Democrats to achieve the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. If the number does not hit 60, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he will invoke the nuclear option to end filibusters of Supreme Court nominees and require only a majority vote for confirmation.Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Joe Minchin, D-W.Va., announced Thursday they would vote to confirm Gorsuch to the Supreme Court: Senators have a constitutional obligation to advice and consent on a nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy and, simply put, we have a responsibility to do our jobs as elected officials, Manchin said in a statement Thursday. I will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the Supreme Court. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csE04bREOAEHeitcamp of North Dakota also pledged her vote for Gorsuch and released a statement to confirm: After doing my due diligence by meeting with Judge Gorsuch and reviewing his record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I ve decided to vote in favor of his confirmation. He has a record as a balanced, meticulous, and well-respected jurist who understands the rule of law, . | 0 | [
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FMD796 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: HUGE NEWS: The head coach of the University of Michigan s football team just tweeted that the football team WILL watch American Sniper. Coach Harbaugh made his remarks in defiance of the university and the Muslim Student Association who canceled an upcoming screening of the film. Coach Harbaugh said he is proud to be an American and if that offends anybody then so be it. To hell with a true story about one of the most important American military heroes of our time. Sadly, PC trumps all in liberal colleges and universities across the United States University: While our intent was to show a film, the impact of the content was harmful, and made students feel unsafe and unwelcome at our program A scheduled movie screening of American Sniper at the University of Michigan was abruptly cancelled Tuesday after nearly 300 students and others complained the film perpetuates negative and misleading stereotypes against Muslims. The movie American Sniper not only tolerates but promotes anti-Muslim rhetoric and sympathizes with a mass killer, according to an online letter circulated among the campus community via Google Docs that garnered the signatures.The signers were mostly students, but also some staff, as well as the Muslim Students Association and the president of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, a Palestinian solidarity group at UMich.The online memo, titled a collective letter from Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Muslim students on campus, accused the public university of tolerating dangerous anti-Muslim and anti-MENA propaganda by showing the movie, the highest grossing film of 2014.It follows U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who served four combat tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, two Navy and Marine Corp Achievement Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps commendation, according to his official Facebook page. But the protestors see him differently. Chris Kyle was a racist who took a disturbing stance on murdering Iraqi civilians, the collective letter stated. Middle Eastern characters in the film are not lent an ounce of humanity and watching this movie is provocative and unsafe to MENA and Muslim students who are too often reminded of how little the media and world values their lives. The University of Michigan should not participate in further perpetuating these negative and misleading stereotypes. The film was set to be shown Friday on campus, but the letter which asked for its cancellation was successful. While our intent was to show a film, the impact of the content was harmful, and made students feel unsafe and unwelcomed at our program, stated The Center for Campus Involvement, which oversees student activities and is run by university employees, as it announced its decision Tuesday on its various social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook. We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students and staff alike. Image of collective letter; not all signatories shownUniversity spokesman Rick Fitzgerald confirmed to The College Fix on Tuesday the movie was cancelled. The Center for Campus Involvement did hear concerns from students, Fitzgerald said, noting he did not have further details at the time.The Center for Campus Involvement did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment, but its official Twitter account noted Paddington Bear, a PG-rated movie about a stuffed animal s misadventures, will be shown instead of American Sniper. We have elected to pull the film from this week s program and screen another movie in its place that we believe better creates the fun, engaging atmosphere we seek, without excluding valued members of our community, the center stated.But not all students agree with this decision. It would be nice to see the university take a stand against outrageous claims of student exclusion, University of Michigan sophomore Jason Weaver told The College Fix. The film American Sniper in no way creates student exclusion any more than Saving Private Ryan. Both show American soldiers at war, the atrocities of war, and the costs of war, yet I m sure Saving Private Ryan would not illicit the same response. Just because the enemy in American Sniper shares ethnicity with students on campus does not mean they are conflated as the enemy any more than a German student should be conflated with Nazism. American Sniper was set to be shown as part of the center s UMix Late Night program, which brings movies, games, dances and other social events to the student body. The center is responsible for more than 300 co-curricular programs each year, including cultural and educational programs, films, art exhibits, UMix Late Night, athletic/spirit activities and various performance groups and concerts, its website states. We in the Center for Campus Involvement and the UMix Late Night program did not intend to exclude any students or communities on campus through showing this film, the center s announcement stated. UMix should always be a safe space for students to engage, unwind, and create community with others, and we commit to listening to and learning from our community in the interest of fostering that environment. We will take time to deeper understand and screen for content that can negatively stereotype a group. Via: College Fix | 0 | [
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FMD797 | 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 Monica Lewinsky 'Leave Behind' an 'Impressive' Net Worth? Claim summaries: Online advertisements falsely implied that Monica Lewinsky was dead and claimed that her net worth stunned her family.
contextual information: In late December 2020, a misleading online advertisement appeared, announcing that Monica Lewinsky was dead and that her net worth stunned her family. It read: "Monica Lewinsky's Net Worth Stuns Her Family At Age 47. Monica Lewinsky Leaves Behind A Net Worth That Will Boggle Your Mind." However, this was not true. She is alive, and despite what the ad claimed, there was no indication in the resulting story that her net worth shocked her family. The ad was sponsored by the Therapy Joker website and was hosted on the Yahoo! Gemini advertising service. Readers who clicked the ad were led to a 430-page story with the headline: "The Biggest Hollywood Celebrities & Their Incredible Net Worth: Can You Guess Who Has The Biggest Bank Account?" Lewinsky's net worth appeared on page 417, meaning that readers had to click "Next Page" 417 times to reach her section: "Monica Lewinsky: Activist and TV Personality - $500,000." Monica Samille Lewinsky is a woman of many skills. This popular American television personality is also a successful fashion designer, activist, and a former intern at the White House. The paparazzi constantly followed her, and she was a regular face in the media during her time at the White House. However, she decided to leave all that behind and pursue a different career. Additionally, she authored the book, "Monica: Her Story," which added to her fame. The London School of Economics and Political Science alumna is now 47 years old and remains a popular television personality. She rents a lavish apartment and enjoys a luxurious lifestyle. Her fleet of cars includes a Mini Cooper and a Cadillac. We hope she has a professional financial advisor to assist her with her banking needs. Currently, the media personality, activist, and fashion designer has retained her fame, and we hope Lewinsky continues to manage the money she has accumulated over the years. The page mentioned nothing about Lewinsky's purported death, nor did it present any information about her family being stunned by her net worth. The misleading advertisement and exceptionally lengthy article reflect a strategy known in the advertising world as "arbitrage." The Therapy Joker website's goal was to make more money from ads displayed on each of the 430 pages than it cost to lure readers with the initial "Monica Lewinsky's Net Worth Stuns Her Family" ad. The business and technology blog Margins defined "arbitrage" as "leveraging an inefficient set of systems to make a riskless profit, usually by buying and selling the same asset." Margins also referred to it as "the mythical free lunch that economics tells us does not exist." Lewinsky was a White House intern in the mid-1990s who became famous after her affair with former U.S. President Bill Clinton became a public scandal. In December 1998, Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the Senate did not vote to convict and remove him from office, and he served the remainder of his second term in the White House. We previously covered similar misleading net worth stories for Sean Connery, Jaleel White, Richard Gere, Chuck Norris, Clint Eastwood, and Alex Trebek. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with many pages. It's called advertising "arbitrage." The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. | 0 | [
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FMD798 | 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: Will an order from Trump result in a reduction of insulin prices to just a few cents per day? Claim summaries: The president described it as a "massive cost savings," but the fine print of his executive order lacked specifics.
contextual information: Sitting in front of a mock pharmacy and flanked by people in white lab coats, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on July 24, 2020, that he framed as end-all solutions for Americans who struggle to pay high premium prices for prescription drugs. Of one of the directives, specifically, Trump told a crowd of supporters and reporters at the ceremony: told Under this order, the price of insulin for affected patients will come down to just pennies a day pennies a day from numbers that you werent even able to think about. Its a massive cost savings. News outlets such as The New York Times and Washington Post described the signing event like it was largely symbolic, since the executive orders are unlikely to take effect this year, if at all (we explain more below). The New York Times Washington Post Meanwhile, at least two conservative media sources, Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire and CNSNews which claims to balance "liberal bias" in mainstream news with its coverage reported on the president's pledge to slash prescription prices at face value, and highlighted the above-mentioned quote by Trump regarding insulin. Daily Wire CNSNews published the story, "Trump Says Executive Order Will Drop the Price of Insulin Down to Pennies a Day," which mainly quoted the president verbatim, and numerous Snopes readers reached out to us to investigate the claim's accuracy. Namely, diabetic patients wondered whether they would indeed pay less for insulin syringes or insulin cartridges for their pens or pumps because of the president. story pens According to a Congressional analysis in September 2019, insulin averaged $34.75 per dose in the U.S. a total that's almost 2.5 times higher than the average price in other countries. First, we'll lay out what was unequivocally true: Trump issued Executive Order on Access to Affordable Life-saving Medications during the July 24, 2020, signing event, and that directive authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make certain changes regarding the cost of EpiPens for Americans with severe allergies and the cost of insulin for those who suffer from diabetes, specifically. It stated: Executive Order on Access to Affordable Life-saving Medications Department of Health and Human Services EpiPens The price of insulin in the United States has risen dramatically over the past decade... While Americans with diabetes and severe allergic reactions may have access to affordable insulin and injectable epinephrine through commercial insurance or Federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, many Americans still struggle to purchase these products. Medicare Medicaid Here's some more context: Medicare, the federal program that covers the majority of Americans over age 65 and those with disabilities, offers plans that help diabetic patients cover the cost of some insulin products. Meanwhile, policies for Medicaid, the government-run health insurance system for low-income people, vary state by state variances that include whether or not the program covers the cost of diabetic enrollees' insulin, or to what extent. state by state Trump's directive pertained to "federally qualified health centers" (FQHC), which are about 1,400 community health care clinics nationwide that treat low-income patients on sliding fee scales and purchase discounted drugs from pharmaceutical companies under an existing federal program, known as 340B. The July 2020 executive order was worded like this: federally qualified health centers 1,400 340B In other words, the president's order requires participants of the 340B Program to offer insulin at greatly reduced prices to patients with no or little insurance coverage, without providing specifics on how or when the change would take effect. Advisory Board, a news site for health care providers, said in a statement: "Only patients with low incomes; those with high cost-sharing requirements for insulin or epinephrine; those with high, unmet deductibles; and/or those without health insurance would be eligible for the discount." A news release from the HHS said: statement news release This will increase access to life-saving insulin and epinephrine for the patients who face especially high costs among the 28 million patients who visit FQHCs every year, over six million of whom are uninsured. For perspective, about 34.2 million Americans had diabetes as of 2018, which represented about 10.5 percent of the population, according to the American Diabetes Association. So, hypothetically, if the same proportion of people had diabetes within the FQHC population of 28 million patients (a total reported by the HHS), then Trump's executive order could help about 2.9 million people, depending on whether their insurance already covers the treatment. American Diabetes Association So to recap, in regard to the claim in question, it was true to state Trump signed an executive order in July 2020 that aimed to make it easier for low-income diabetic patients to pay for insulin. But nowhere in the federal document did the presidential administration explain its plan for implementing the change, nor the level to which insulin prices would drop. There was no proof that the order would allow any American to someday pay "pennies a day" on the protein hormone. We should note here: In addition to that previously explained executive order, a separate directive signed by Trump on July 24, 2020, touched on a yet-to-be-finalized initiative by the White House to relax international drug importation rules and added insulin to a list of prescription medications that can be imported from Canada. The president characterized that directive, too, as a positive step for people who want lower insulin costs. separate directive yet-to-be-finalized And that brings us to our final point: Much of what Trump celebrated in the July 2020 executive orders had been proposed by his administration prior to the signing ceremony but stalled amid opposition from pharmaceutical companies and political barriers. "[None] of these ideas put forth are new, or in fact any more implementable than before, especially without congressional action, an investor told FeircePharma, a trade publication for the pharmaceutical industry. FeircePharma For instance, in May 2020, Trump unveiled a plan to cap the cost of insulin for Medicare recipients at $35 per month beginning in 2021 (even that initiative would cost patients more than "pennies a day"). But as of this writing, it was unclear exactly how that directive would roll out, and when or if qualifying seniors with diabetes would notice a price difference. The Washington Post reported on July 24, 2020: May 2020 Washington Post The moves [by Trump] are largely symbolic because the orders are unlikely to take effect anytime soon, if they do so at all, because the power to implement drug pricing policy through executive order is limited. Voters will not see an impact before the November elections, and the drug industry is sure to challenge them in court. A couple days after the July signing ceremony, for example, Politico reported that representatives of major drug lobbies refused to meet with the president to discuss one of the four executive orders: a non-specific and controversial proposal to link Medicare payments for certain medicines to lower costs that people pay in other countries. After that refusal on industry leaders' part, investors told MarketWatch that the executive orders were "largely campaign fodder" and "come without the necessary force to meaningfully change prices in the U.S." Politico reported meet controversial MarketWatch In sum, while it was truthful to claim Trump issued an executive order in July 2020 that was intended to lower the price of insulin for some Americans, it was misleading to claim that all diabetic patients would save money as a result of the directive the directive only targeted low-income patients who are uninsured or underinsured and seek help from certain federal community health providers. Additionally, it was unclear as of this report when, if at all, that group would actually reap the benefit of the cost savings, and the estimated amount of such was unknown. It would be wrong to state based on available evidence that the executive order alone would drive down prices to "pennies a day." For those reasons, we rate this claim a "Mixture" of truth and falsehoods. White House. "Executive Order On Access To Affordable Life-saving Medications".
24 July 2020. White House. "Executive Order On Lowering Prices For Patients by Eliminating Kickbacks To Middlemen".
24 July 2020. White House. "Executive Order On Increasing Drug Importation To Lower Prices For American Patients".
24 July 2020. White House. "Remarks By President Trump At Signing Of Executive Orders On Lowering Drug Prices".
24 July 2020. Sanger-Katz, Margot. "As He Woos Drugmakers On Virus, Trump Demands Drug Price Controls".
New York Times. 24 July 2020. Arter, Melanie. "Trump Says Executive Order Will Drop the Price of Insulin Down to Pennies a Day".
CNSNews. 24 July 2020. National Conference of State Legislatures. "Diabetes Health Coverage: State Laws And Programs".
10 January 2016. HHS.gov. "Trump Administration Announces Historic Action To Lower Drug Prices For Americans".
24 July 2020. American Diabetes Association. "Statistics About Diabetes".
Accessed 30 July 2020. White House. "Executive Order On Increasing Drug Importation To Lower Prices For American Patients".
24 July 2020. Luhby, Tami. "Trump Administration Proposes Allowing Imports Of Certain Drugs From Canada".
CNN. 18 December 2019. O'Donnell, Carl. "Explainer: Trump's Plan To Cut Drug Prices".
Reuters. 27 July 2020. Abutaleb, Yasmeen and Josh Dawsey. "Trump Signs Executive Orders Aimed At Lowering Drug Prices In Largely Symbolic Move".
Washington Post. 24 July 2020. Cohen, Joshua. "Trump's Executive Orders On Drug Pricing Contain Caveats And Limitations".
Forbes. 25 July 2020. Ways And Means Committee Staff. "A Painful Pill To Swallow: U.S. Vs. International Prescription Drug Prices".
September 2019. Reklaitis, Victor. "Trump's Meeting With Pharma Execs Called Off, As Analysts Say His Moves On Drug Prices Lack Bite". Prestigiacomo, Amanda. "Trump Issues Executive Orders To Slash Insulin, EpiPen Prices; End 'Global Freeloading'.
The Daily Wire. 27 July 2020. | 2 | [
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FMD799 | 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 median male worker in this country has not seen a raise, inflation adjusted, for 30 years, basically.
contextual information: For all the advances since the era of teased-out rocker hair, one thing hasnt changed for Americas average working man: the amount of bacon he brings home. So says Rana Foroohar, a CNN global economic analyst andTimemagazine assistant managing editor (who, by the way,snagged thefirst interviewwith new Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen). Appearing on CNNsThe Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,Foroohar brought up the point during a general discussion about the countrys economic woes. You know, I have to jump in on this because we are living in a time when the corporate share of the overall economic pie is as high as it has been in decades, Foroohar said. Meanwhile, the median male worker in this country has not seen a raise, inflation-adjusted, for 30 years, basically. Foroohars eye-popping statistic about median male worker income is certainly interesting. We wanted to know if it is correct. Comparing 1982-2012 TheU.S. Census Bureauproved a go-to source. The bureaus Septemberreporton income, poverty and health insurance coverage in 2012 contains text and tables outlining historical changes (or lack thereof) in earnings for both men and women. Foroohar referenced median earnings, which experts say is a better measure than the average because the income difference between the countrys rich and working-class earners is stark. In 2012, the latest year for which data is available, the median full-time, year-round male worker earned $49,398. In 1982, exactly 30 years earlier, earnings in 2012 dollars were $48,152. So from 1982 to 2012, there was actually an inflation-adjusted raise of $1,246.But thats more because Foroohar is looking at two years in isolation. Tracking the income of median male workers over time shows that incomes climbed steeply from 1960 to 1970. But the figure has ebbed and flowed and remained mostly stagnant since 1970, dipping as low as $46,841 in 1996 and reaching a high of $51,670 in 1973. (You canview the tableon page 50 of the report.) Point being:You could just as easily widen or shrink Foroohars 30-year window by a few years and find a number that supports her point. Median earnings of the 2012 male worker are down compared to his counterpart 25 years ago (who earned $50,166 in 1987), 35 years ago ($50,480 in 1977) or 40 years ago ($50,074 in 1970). Even though Foroohars window shows a 2.6 percent pay increase between 1982 and 2012, its really pretty close to flat, said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. It means that male median earnings increases just 0.085 percent per year (that is, 85 one-thousandths of a percentage point per year), he said. Some say men are even worse off Foroohars larger point, while technically correct and oft-repeated, misses the larger economic picture and is actually too generous, argues Michael Greenstone, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Greenstone co-authored a2012New York Timespostwith Brookings fellow Adam Looney that presented another way to examine median male wages. Instead of counting only the earnings of men with jobs, as the Census Bureau does, Greenstone factored in all working-age men. Factoring in men without jobs brings down the median income. The fraction of men in the workforce has declined sharply over the last several decades, he wrote, from 94 percent of prime-age men working in 1970 to 81 percent in 2010. It happened as incarceration rates and enrollment in the Social Security disability insurance program increased and labor force participation waned, as well as the wild success of women entering the labor market, he said. His 2012 study found real earnings of median males actually dropped by 19 percent since 1970, he found. This means that the median man in 2010 earned as much as the median man did in 1964 nearly a half century ago. The reasons for the trend are complex, Greenstone told us. Yes, there have been sweeping changes in technology, machinery and trade over the last 30 or 40 years that have had some effect. More striking, he said, is that educational attainment among men, which used to climb with each generation, has dropped off. The decline in working is concentrated among the men who have lower levels of education, Greenstone said. Its not concentrated among the college-grad guy who is married to a super successful woman. Michael Saltsman of the conservative Employment Policies Institute also argued the idea of stagnant wages is more controversial than it seems -- to a different end. He cited a 2012study in the National Tax Journalthat analyzed middle-class income from the past three cycles. Instead of using pre-tax income data, the researchers expanded the income definition to include taxes, income transfers and fringe benefits. Middle-class Americans are found to have made substantial gains, and these increases are even larger when including non-cash income, such as the ex-ante value of health insurance, the report says. Meanwhile, the earnings of female workers isnt cited as often as a metric of the economy because their participation in the workforce jumped sharply over the last 50 years. In any case, the 2012 full-time, year-round median female worker earned $37,791, according to census figures. In 1982, when about half as many women were working, median earnings were $29,731. Our ruling Foroohar said, the median male worker in this country has not seen a raise, inflation-adjusted, for 30 years, basically. Federal data for 1982-2012 shows a slight increase, though the numbers show the real value of median male earnings have been in the range of $46,840-$51,670 for about 40 years. We found another point of view that says the real median income has declined significantly once men without jobs are factored in. We also found a broader definition of income that changes the dynamic. Still, Foroohar clearly has a point. We rate her claim Mostly True. | 1 | [
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