Questions tagged [united-states]
Use this tag for questions about claims based in the United States, or limited to the United States.
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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. ...
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Is Walmart the largest company in history?
I have seen a post going around on Facebook containing a list of "facts" about Walmart. Two of them seem like very large claims:
Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private
...
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Does the US have $54 trillion?
There's a viral video going around about the wealth inequality in the US. It claims the US has $54 trillion. It cites economists from Harvard Business school, but I didn't see where that particular ...
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Will the Affordable Care Act negatively impact radiologists in America?
My doctor, and numerous medical students and residents* I know, have told me recently that most doctors, and especially radiologists, are going to be negatively impacted by the Affordable Care Act, ...
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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 ...
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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 bills, ...
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Are only 5% of Americans naturally blonde?
In his phenomenally thorough study of what the typical porn star looks like (see Is the typical female porn star a big-boobed blonde?) John Millward mentions in passing that:
only 5% of Americans ...
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Who killed Martin Luther King Jr?
Nearly 45 years ago, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. James Earl Ray, a fugitive on the run, was arrested in London and extradited to Tennessee. ...
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Were there only two cars in Ohio in 1895, and they managed to crash into each other?
Currently on Today I Learned, Reddit.
TIL [Today I Learned] In the entire state of Ohio in 1895, there were only two cars on the road, and the drivers of these two cars crashed into each other.
...
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Is the pharmaceutical industry the most profitable business in the United States?
The Russia Today article Pharmageddon: America’s bitter pill claims
The pharmaceutical industry remains the most profitable business in the US. More success and financial gain for the companies ...
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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 ...
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Do death penalty cases cost the state more than life-long imprisonment?
There are some claims on anti-death penalty sites that death penalty (in USA) costs are significantly more then costs of long-time imprisonment.
For example :
The death penalty is much more expensive ...
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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 financial ...
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Do Elite US military units use Kalashnikov weapons?
From Spiegel:
This automatic weapon [Kalashnikov], known in Russian simply as an "avtomat," even receives the highest praise from Americans, Rogozin reported. Elite US military units use it, he ...
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During the decade of the Clinton ban on semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, did crime not go down?
Source: USA Today, Opposing view: Eliminate 'gun-free zone' regulations
Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners of America, made a claim:
During the decade of the Clinton ban on ...
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Did Allied forces use chemical weapons in Okinawa during World War II?
A Japanese friend of mine claimed that Allied forces used poisonous gas during the Battle of Okinawa. I asked for a link to such a claim, and got a link to this section of the Japanese language ...
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If comparing white populations, does the U.S. have the same murder rate as Belgium?
Ann Coulter recently made the following claim on the FOX News show 'Hannity':
On the gun crimes, we keep hearing how low they are in Europe, and oh, they're so low, and they have no guns. If you ...
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Was Oppenheimer a spy passing nuclear secrets to Soviet agents?
From Los Angeles Times:
A Soviet spy chief's memoirs published here today claim that the late J. Robert Oppenheimer, head of the U.S. atomic bomb project during and after World War II, passed ...
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Did/does the US government keep secret papers by Nikola Tesla?
A popular conspiracy theory holds that Tesla invented a free energy device, but that the powers that be prevented him from publishing it, because it would hurt their investments. Of course, free ...
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Did George W. Bush spend 32% of his presidency vacationing, versus Barack Obama's 5.2%?
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 "The ...
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Is lead exposure responsible for the rise and fall of violent crime in the US?
I just found an article titled "America's Real Criminal Element: Lead" via Hacker News that made an assertion about the cause of violent crimes that I found rather surprising.
The article states that ...
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Is there a single US tax law that allows profits to be moved offshore to avoid taxes?
[A] tax provision that allows multinational corporations to defer U.S.
taxes by moving profits into offshore financial subsidiaries. This
provision -- known as the "active financing exception" -- ...
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Does increased gun ownership in the US correlate with a reduction in violent crime rates?
This is somewhat of the converse of the question Is Gun Control Effective:
A quote of famous musician and gun advocate Ted Nugent has been making the rounds on the Internet again lately:
Where you ...
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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 ...
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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
The ...
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Is the "Reader voices strong opinion on atheists" letter a hoax?
I've seen on Facebook the following image being shared:
Letters to the Editor
Reader voices strong opinion on atheists
It's time to stomp out atheists in America. The majority of Americans would love ...
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List comparing countries attacked by Iran and the USA accurate?
Is the following infographic's comparison of Iran and the USA accurate?
I'm not skeptical of the claim that the USA has attacked a lot of countries, but I am skeptical of the claim that, based on the ...
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Did this US judge rule that poker is a game of skill and not chance?
I just read a NY Times article which claims that a US Judge ruled that poker is a game of skill and not one of chance.
In a ruling that goes to the heart of what it means to play poker,
Judge ...
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Does United States have no technology to allow Internet voting in a secure way?
In 2011, nearly a quarter (24.3%) of participating voters in Estonia cast their ballot by remote electronic voting (that is, on their computer/phone/tablet via the Internet).
Several larger ...
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Is it illegal in any U.S. jurisdiction to be in neutral at a red light?
In this related question, I asserted that it was illegal to be in neutral gear while stopped at a red light. The first comment to that question challenged me to quote chapter and verse.
Astonishingly,...
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How often are guns used by private citizens in self defense per year in the United States?
According to Wikipedia the numbers reported range from 65 thousand to 2.5 million. I am very skeptical of the 2.5 million figure and in fact I am even skeptical of the 65 thousand figure. This ...
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Does the use of tasers by the police lead to an increase in people killed by police?
The anti-taser blog, Truth Not Tasers lists over 768 people that they claim have been killed by police tasers since the 1983.
On the other hand, the Wikipedia article contains an unsourced statement:...
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Did Japanese people misspell "We pray for MacArthur's election"?
The Internet is full of references to the same story:
It was probably in 1946, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur was temporarily put in charge of running Japan, which was in tough shape after ...
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Are lax gun laws responsible for the high rate of handgun violence in the United States? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What real evidence is there for the effects of gun control?
In the wake of today's horrible tragedy in Connecticut, many say US handgun laws are to blame:
If laws ...
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Are Auto Manufacturers required under US Federal Law to provide parts for a set period of time?
Via snopes.com Message Board and here, and a similar question on mechanics.stackexchange.com:
Auto manufacturers are required by US Federal Law to have parts available for any models they sold for ...
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Do the 3 red stars on Washington DC's flag represent 3 city states?
There seems to be an explanation of the meaning of the stars on Washington DC's flag.
There are three cities (city-states) across this planet that share striking similarities and play a crucial role ...
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Are "black-box" data recorders to be installed in all new US cars?
Occupy Corporatism reports:
With complete disregard for driver privacy, the Obama administration gave their consent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to mandate black box ...
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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 ...
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Who writes congressional bills?
I'm not even American and even I know of School House Rock's "Just a Bill" and the Simpson's parody "An ammendment to be". In Just a Bill the bill is written by a congressman because of public outcry.
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Did the US military pay $600 for a hammer?
I have heard this story for years now, about how the US military paid $600 per hammer for everyday garden-variety hammers.
Today, for the first time, I saw an article debunking the story.
But that ...
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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 (26th November 2012).
She lived in a homeless shelter for 2 years.
Lived in Government housing for 10 years.
As ...
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Are more sunglasses sold in Seattle than in any other US city?
Seattlites and sunglasses enthusiasts proudly assert the claim, but I've found no comparative analysis to back it up.
Typical claim
Terry D. Seidler, a Seattle tour guide, makes the typical statement ...
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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 ...
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Was there 100% turnout 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 ...
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Was the 16th Amendment (income tax) improperly ratified?
Bill Benson released The Law that Never Was in 1985, which "claims that the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, commonly known as the income tax amendment, was never properly ...
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Did NASA invest a million dollars in the research of a space pen, when the USSR simply used a pencil?
I encountered this picture of the "Russian space pen" from the MIT Museum gift shop
When NASA first started sending astronauts into space, they realized that the ball-point pen would not ...
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Do 31 US states give rapist fathers visitation rights?
I saw an image on Facebook that claimed 31 US states allow the fathers of children conceived by rape to have visitation rights to the children.
The image linked to an alternet article that listed it ...
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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 ...
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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 election, ...
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Does a customer have the legal right to receive change in whatever denomination they want if the cashier can cover it?
I am a cashier at a gas station in California and I recently had a customer put me in this situation. They prepaid for $50 in gas with a fifty dollar bill and filled their car. They had $19 in ...
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