Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the ...
-3
votes
0answers
35 views
Examples of rigorous analysis of news articles (logic, fallacies, etc) [closed]
I am looking for a site that makes sentence-by-sentence analysis of the arguments made by political journalists (fox news would be real fun). There are hundreds of sites that do an "opinionated" or ...
6
votes
1answer
146 views
Is President Obama or his administration responsible for failing to transfer some prisoners out of Guantanamo?
President Obama has come under considerable criticism for failing to uphold his campaign promises to close Guantanamo Bay.
Each detainee can leave that limbo through one of four different routes): a ...
2
votes
1answer
365 views
Is the US Government buying extra ammunition in order to deny it the Civilian Population
During a Press release today Senators Inhofe and Lucas accused the Department of Homeland Security of "limiting what’s available in the market with federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles ...
6
votes
0answers
130 views
Was Silvio Berlusconi working together with the Italian mafia?
Berlusconi implicated in deal with godfathers - The guardian
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, was in personal contact
with some of the mafia's most senior bosses, a major mafia ...
28
votes
2answers
1k views
Are atheists barred from holding public office in Texas?
I saw the following claim in B3ta newsletter #574 (possibly NSFW), under "US Postal Service hates Atheists".
Awful, but then Atheists are not allowed to hold
public office in six US states, ...
17
votes
3answers
747 views
Did the National Rifle Association (NRA) block research into statistics related to gun control?
About 30,000 americans die every year from gun-related deaths (a number likely to exceed those dying from automobile-related accidents very soon if trends continue). This totals more than 300,000 ...
13
votes
0answers
221 views
Did the French Revolution cause people to give the Ace (in a deck of cards) rank above a King?
It has been said"
After the French Revolution some games started to use the ace or 1 as
the highest card which symbolized the lowest in society rising above
the King.
A discussion forum ...
3
votes
0answers
194 views
Did Gorbachev ever admit that his intention was to destroy Communism? [closed]
As I remember the 1980s and the Perestroika epoch, the reforms were advertised to the people as "return to Leninist principles", even deeper implementation of Socialism. The posters claimed it was ...
9
votes
0answers
311 views
In the USA, do supporters of the Republican party make more charitable donations than supporters of the Democrats?
Republicans argue that those that benefit more from capitalism and want the government to do less to help others would be more likely to give that money away.
ABC's 2020 is one source of this claim. ...
5
votes
4answers
4k views
Did Hugo Chávez have a net worth of 2 billion dollars at the time of his death?
I've seen this now numerious times,
Analysts say Leftist leader had 'amassed private fortune of $2 billion' - Dailymail.co.uk
And, that's a pretty sly way to say that "someone said". But, is it ...
4
votes
0answers
369 views
Is the U.S. Tea Party astroturf or a genuine grassroots movement?
According to The Wikipedia article on the United States Tea Party movement (emphasis mine), TeaParty.org defines the Tea Party as "a grassroots movement that calls awareness to any issue which ...
7
votes
2answers
375 views
Did the Republican Party in the House of Representatives recently propose not a single job bill, but many morality and gun-related bills?
This graphic is doing the rounds on the Internet (found on Facebook):
The claim is:
House GOP: 46 abortion bills, 113 religion bills, 73 family relationship bills, 36 marriage bills, 72 gun ...
6
votes
1answer
390 views
Is there an active international arrest warrant against Henry Kissinger?
Infowars in 2010: It seems that Henry Kissinger as Rockefeller’s right hand man had to be at the meeting even though there existed an International arrest warrant from France and Spain who wish to ...
13
votes
5answers
1k views
Do non-educated people tend more to the right/conservative political wing?
This is a common prejudice in my social environment, but is it true?
Are educated people more likely to vote for a social/left wing party?
Examples: [1]; [2].
13
votes
1answer
609 views
Did Barack Obama receive 108% of the vote in one Ohio county?
"Recount the election!" is the 4th most popular petition at whitehouse.gov. It has 69,588 signatures (as of Jan 30, 2012).
As justification for the petition, the creator writes:
In one county ...
18
votes
0answers
271 views
Is there a “red shift” in U.S. elections — a significant shift to republican votes between polls and voting? Does this imply fraud?
This questions on Politics SE introduced me to the concept of the red shift. In short, the claim of a red shift boils down to a statistically significant difference between outcome of final exit polls ...
2
votes
2answers
276 views
Was every Republican President since 1923 a Member of the Bohemian Grove?
Wikipedia : The membership list has included every Republican and some Democratic U.S. presidents since 1923, many cabinet officials, directors and CEOs of large corporations including major ...
33
votes
1answer
4k views
Are these statistics on US Presidency vacation times accurate?
This picture is making the rounds on facebook:
[Picture of George W. Bush] 32% [Picture of Barack Obama] 5.2%
Percentage of presidency spent on vacation.
Guess which one conservatives call ...
7
votes
1answer
314 views
Did the democrats win the popular vote in the 2012 US congressional elections?
In a review of the year article in the UK newspaper the Independent, Rupert Cornwell argues that the Republican party is in some trouble because of the drift to the right and the resulting inflexible ...
5
votes
3answers
710 views
Was there a deep US involvement with Saddam, Osama and Gaddafi?
U.S. Government Retirement Program
SADDAM HUSSEIN
"FRIEND" 1983 "RETIRED" 2006
OSAMA BIN LADEN
"FRIEND" 1979 "RETIRED" 20?1
MUAMMAR GADDAFI
"FRIEND" 2009 "RETIRED" 2011
...
5
votes
1answer
490 views
Did the EPA fire their chief toxicologist, Dr. William Marcus, for refusing to remain silent on the cancer risk of fluoride?
I read that here in this article:
http://www.nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/NTEU280-Fluoride.htm
EPA fired the Office of Drinking Water's chief toxicologist, Dr. William Marcus, who also was our ...
23
votes
1answer
449 views
Are carrots orange because the Dutch loved orange?
On the web, I find several unsourced claims that carrots are orange because the Dutch loved the colour. For example:
http://www.nextnature.net/2009/08/why-are-carrots-orange-it-is-political/
...
5
votes
0answers
213 views
Are North Korea launching satellites to provide cover for testing of long-range missile technology?
I see recently on the news that the US, Japan, and South Korea are opposed to North Korea's satellite launch because, they claim, it's a cover-up for testing long-range missile technology.
From the ...
8
votes
1answer
511 views
Does a UN Treaty force gun control in the USA?
Is there any truth to the following claims which can be found on several sites, including:
Dr. Orly Taitz Esquire's Defend Our Freedoms Foundation
AboveTopSecret.com
The Obama administration ...
4
votes
1answer
3k views
Does Barack Obama have an aunt who was a homeless illegal alien that used government housing for 10 years?
Just found this one on Facebook. The people making the claim have 11k page likes.
She lived in a homeless shelter for 2 years.
Lived in Government housing for 10 years.
As an illegal alien.
...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Is this map of Israel-occupied territory accurate?
There's an image going around Facebook, showing Israel's occupied territory over the last few decades:
I have seen at least two people (both Christian Zionists) criticize this map as "very biased" ...
17
votes
4answers
3k views
Does Texas have the right to secede from the United States?
There's a common folklore among Texans that Texas was the only state to specifically have it written that Texas may secede, although I've heard that other states have that right as well.
In 2009, Gov ...
19
votes
2answers
865 views
Is voter fraud practically non-existent in the United States?
The issue of voter fraud comes up very often at election times. In the media, it is nearly always pictured as a really important and urgent problem. It ranges from whether photo identification should ...
45
votes
2answers
3k views
Was there 100% turn out and 100% Obama support in Cuyahoga County in 2012 Presidential Election?
The Tea Party Facebook page posted this Monday night.
Is it accurate that:
There are exactly 900135 registered voters in Cuyahoga County Ohio for the 2012 predidental election
There were 900135 ...
8
votes
0answers
109 views
Does gerrymandering of some US electoral boundaries drive polarisation between parties?
Political control of redistricting in state and congressional elections is common in the US. I've already addressed one possible effect in this question: Does politically controlled redistricting in ...
16
votes
1answer
600 views
Is Tagg Romney the owner of a company that makes Ohio voting machines?
This photo is circulating across Facebook:
The new owners [sic] of Ohio's voting machines under the brand name HART Intercivic is none other than Tagg Romney.
We may not be able to buy this ...
3
votes
0answers
212 views
Does politically controlled redistricting in US elections make incumbents more secure?
Many western democracies limit the power of their politicians to control the electoral boundaries to avoid the possibility of gerrymandering. UK electoral boundaries, for example, are redrawn when ...
8
votes
1answer
376 views
Has the War on Drugs disproportionately affected minority communities?
The premise of Eugene Jarecki's The House I Live In documentary is that the US War on Drugs, other than being a mostly failed campaign, has also disproportionately affected minority communities. A ...
-1
votes
1answer
413 views
Does a tax increase on high incomes slow down economic growth?
The Republican party in the US has a position that that raising taxes on rich people leads to less growth. Is this true?
For one example of the claim, CNN reported in August 2012:
Republicans ...
4
votes
1answer
745 views
Did Tony Abbott suggest that men might be better suited to leadership positions?
Apparently Australian politician, Tony Abbott suggested men are better at leadership in 1998:
He has said, and I quote, in a discussion about women being
under-represented in institutions of ...
15
votes
1answer
465 views
Was the September 2012 jobs report manipulated for political purposes?
A few days ago, former GE CEO Jack Welch made a contreversial accusation/claim that the September 2012 jobs report was manipulated by the Obama administration in an attempt to portray the economy in a ...
8
votes
1answer
10k views
Are these nude photos of Barack Obama's mother?
In the last few days there is a video called "Dreams from My Real Father". The video claims that Barack Obama's mother posed for erotic/pornographic pictures for a pornographic magazine, and provide ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
Do lower income workers tend to vote Republican?
It's election season in the United States and something that you tend to hear from domestic and international pundits is that:
Lower income workers tend to vote Republican...
which also tends to ...
-3
votes
1answer
5k views
Was Ambassador Christopher Stevens raped before his death?
US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens was killed in one of the recent attacks against the US Diplomatic Missions.
NOPCRadio claim that he was raped before his death. Here is a report that ...
-6
votes
1answer
191 views
Is racial resentment towards African Americans correlated with Democrats support of a political position?
The following research claims that there is a link between high "racial resentment" (as measured by answers to questions in the survey) and support for VoterID laws.
Here, CPC researchers found an ...
1
vote
0answers
101 views
Are “undecided voters” actually undecided? [closed]
Various polls take into account "undecided voters," voters whose votes are presumed still up for grabs during an election. A poll, taken by the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project and cited by the ...
7
votes
2answers
515 views
Are voter ID laws harmful to minority voters?
At the NAACP, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday he opposes a new photo ID requirement in Texas elections because:
"the State of Texas filed against the Justice Department under Section 5 ...
3
votes
0answers
90 views
Would Voter ID laws prevent more fraudulent voters than legal voters unable to produce ID?
Cleta Mitchell, president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, wrote:
"Twelve thousand noncitizens registered to vote in Colorado; apparently 5,000 of those voted in 2010. ... There ...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Does the Defense establishment have plants in vast majority of Congressional districts?
One of the commonly cited reasons for the ratcheting of defense spending in the United States is that it's an easily justifiable kickback (tugging on patriotic heart strings) to representatives' ...
2
votes
0answers
52 views
Where do the claims about Obama being Keyan born and using a foreign passport come from? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Did Obama mention in his book he was born in Kenya?
To a friend who believes Obama was born outside the US I sent him links to all the excellent articles on this site. ...
4
votes
0answers
236 views
Has content from Wikileaks led to direct harm (as of Aug 2012)? [closed]
The lawyers of Bradley Manning wish to argue before his jury that classified information he is alleged to have given to Wikileaks has not harmed the USA.
Military.com, 19-July-2012
Coombs has ...
6
votes
1answer
471 views
Is the belief that vaccinations cause autism correlated with liberal political beliefs?
There are some people who continue to believe that there is a link between vaccination and autism. See this question for more:
Are there any other studies (besides the discredited Wakefield studies) ...
115
votes
3answers
15k views
Do victims of rape have biological defenses that prevent pregnancy?
Pro life Rep. Todd Akin, who is running for Senate in Missouri, recently said:
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Needless to say, this ...
3
votes
1answer
637 views
Is Paul Ryan's Congress record of two bills passed unusual?
According to this article, Paul Ryan has passed only two bills during ~13 years in Congress. (By passed, I assume the article means authored or co-authored bills passed in at least the House.) Is this ...
8
votes
1answer
281 views
Are voter ID laws effective tools at *suppressing* voter fraud?
Recent bickering over who should require what to vote where have suggested that requiring a person bring some form of ID to the poll might help alleviate fraud. This makes important assumptions:
...
