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Viral Spiral
FactCheck Mailbag
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of March 19-25.
See letters from previous weeks“ Criticizing the Democrats for citing the only available study on gun purchases for its age seems wide of the target. ” -
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2012 Players Guide
Tag Archives: chain emails
Viral Spiral 2012
We’ve long warned our readers to make good use of the delete key when emails spreading sketchy claims pop up in their inboxes. But we’ve found that old viral emails, unfortunately, never die — and new ones spread like a highly contagious disease. These overwhelmingly anonymous messages are, by and large, bogus.
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No Dialysis Under Health Care Law?
A viral email wrongly claims the federal health care law caused a Tennessee hospital to deny dialysis to Medicare patients, and that anyone over 75 would be denied care starting in 2013. The anonymous author fabricated the account. Read our April 20 Ask FactCheck, ” ‘Death Panels’ Redux,” for more …
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Did Obama ‘Approve’ Bridge Work for Chinese Firms?
Q: Is President Obama responsible for Chinese companies building U.S. bridges with stimulus money, as reported by ABC News? A: No. A viral email distorts an ABC News report. California officials hired a Chinese contractor and rejected federal money to avoid federal “Buy American” laws.
Why Do They Do It?
Why do politicians persist in peddling exaggerations, twisted facts and outright falsehoods? Here's a theory from a veteran political reporter. Jon Keller of WBZ in Boston offered up his explanation in his "Keller @ Large" commentary for Sept. 15. It was prompted by our coverage of the recent Republican presidential …
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