In our article on Climategate, we cited overwhelming scientific consensus — represented in part by the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — pointing to a global rise in temperatures. But the IPCC’s credibility has been challenged since we wrote that article, with several situations coming to light in which the panel reproduced erroneous results from non-peer-reviewed literature. Himalayan Glaciers: The IPCC’s 2007 Working Group II report misrepresented the melt rate of the Himalayan glaciers, saying they could be gone by 2035.... [Read more]
During an impromptu press conference with the White House press corps on Feb. 9, President Barack Obama claimed that more people are getting their health insurance this year from the government than through the private sector. But that’s not even close to being true. If this had been a basketball shot, it would have missed the backboard: Obama, Feb. 9: I don’t know if people noted, because during the health care debate everybody was saying the president is trying to take over — a government takeover of health care. I don’t know if anybody noticed... [Read more]
"Daily Show" anchor Jon Stewart has an uneven record of fact-checking political figures. In September 2008, we called him out for getting his gun facts wrong — he called Joe Biden "crazy reckless" and wrong when he referred to his Beretta shotgun, claiming that Beretta "is a handgun." In fact, Beretta is famous for its shotguns, as well as the handguns mentioned in James Bond novels. And he could have done better when Betsy McCaughey, who referred to us as "spot-check dot org" on his program, claimed we were mistaken when we... [Read more]
A third-party group, the Committee for Truth in Politics, is out with an ad blasting the House’s "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act." The group, which has no Web site and has made no disclosures to the Federal Election Commission, was created by a North Carolina GOP operative, according to National Public Radio, and is represented by lawyer James Bopp, who sued the FEC on the grounds that the group shouldn’t have to file any kind of spending report to that agency. The ad has run in 35 markets in Arkansas, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois,... [Read more]
Debunking e-mail rumors today seems to require that one be an image analysis expert. We regularly get requests to say whether pictures are real or a result of Photoshop. While some of the photos are obviously fabricated, like the one of the president and first lady in stereotypical "pimp and ho" getup, others are more subtle. For instance, we found that the picture being circulated as "Obama’s crotch salute" was a real photo, but that the circumstances were being grievously misrepresented. The picture of Obama with Tareq (white suit jacket) and... [Read more]
