Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives.
Search Results (1767) for: oil
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Greg Evensen’s ‘Heads Up Oklahoma’ Posted By Johnnie Cheadle Is NOT About 2020 Coronavirus
Are Oklahoma police planning to set up roadblocks to enforce a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination law and slap micro-chipped bracelets on people? No, this is not true: A video featuring conspiracy blogger Greg Evensen is from a 2009 speech in whic
FactCheck.org→ U.S. Isn’t the Only Country With Lockdown Protests
Quick Take A social media post falsely claims that “the United States is the only country on earth that is protesting” stay-at-home restrictions and business closures. People around the world have opposed mitigation measures designed to slo
FactCheck.org→ Trump Falsely Suggests Pennsylvania Is Making ‘No Effort’ to Reopen
At a May 11 press conference, President Donald Trump falsely suggested that Pennsylvania was making “no effort” to reopen its economy, which was largely shut down by the novel coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the state is in the midst of a ph
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Incredibly Terrible’: L.A. Times’ ‘Mutant Coronavirus’ Story Put Under The Microscope
A Los Angeles Times story reporting the appearance of a “dominant” new strain of COVID-19 has prompted criticism for relying on a document that had not been vetted through a traditional peer-review process. The May 5 2020 story covers the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Barack Obama Did NOT Write ‘If The Political Winds Should Shift, I Will Side With The Muslims’
Did Barack Obama write "If the political winds should shift, I will side with the muslims" in his book titled "Audacity of Hope"? No, that's not true: This exact quote does not exist in the book and is a misrepresentation of what he was explai
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Canada Did NOT Ban Coffee From Black Rifle Coffee Company In Its New Gun Ban
Did Canada's new ban on assault weapons include a coffee company that has "rifle" in its name? No, that's not true: The "Black Rifle Company BR15B" that is included on a long list of assault rifles ordered banned by Canadian Prime Minister Jus
Truth or Fiction?→ COVID-19 HIPAA Face Mask Exemption ‘Passes’
Chances are in early May 2020 you saw at least one Facebook post depicting a somewhat-official looking printable document: A viral image claiming that Americans in any state where masks had been mandated or otherwise advised in public places were spe
FactCheck.org→ An April Filled with Repeats
Throughout April, the White House’s coronavirus task force briefings, at times, sparked feelings of fact-checking deja vu: President Donald Trump made many of the same inaccurate statements repeatedly. The president – as is the case with many polit
FactCheck.org→ A Misleading Ad in Heated Kansas GOP Senate Primary
In Kansas’ bitterly contested Republican Senate primary, a super PAC supporting Rep. Roger Marshall inaccurately describes Club for Growth as an “anti-Trump organization” in a TV ad attacking Marshall’s rival, Kris Kobach. The group, ca
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Viruses DO Exist; NOT Just Cell Erosion Caused By Mucus From Food We Eat
Was the late herbalist known as "Dr. Sebi" (real name Alfredo Bowman) correct when he claimed that viruses don't exist? No, this is false. Viruses do exist, as the world is witnesseing now with the novel coronavirus, which is responsible for m
Truth or Fiction?→ Who Is Mark Grenon?
The Florida merchant claiming credit for United States President Donald Trump’s remarks concerning the use of disinfectants as a “cure” for COVID-19 has a history of pushing other conspiracy theories despite legal and journalistic in
FactCheck.org→ Q&A on COVID-19 Antibody Tests
Much of the focus on COVID-19 testing thus far into the pandemic has been on tests that can determine whether someone is actively infected with the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2. But, in his drive to “open up America again,” President Donald Tru
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a ‘Hot Mic’ at Coronavirus White House Briefing Reveal a COVID-19 Conspiracy?
On April 20 2020, purported “hot mic” footage from a White House coronavirus press briefing appeared and quickly began circulating — involving discussion of what seemed to be fudged case-fatality rate numbers as well as the existenc
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bill Gates CANNOT Prescribe Drugs, And ‘Dr. Sebi’ Was Barred From Practicing In Some States
Is Bill Gates free to prescribe drugs while the late herbalist, "Dr. Sebi," was not allowed to heal people with herbs? No, that's not true: Gates, the founder of Microsoft Corporation and the namesake of the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates F
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘They Opened Up Florida Beaches and Now They Have 1400 New Cases Overnight!’ Facebook Meme
A controversial decision to open Florida’s beaches on April 17 2020 led to a rash of national criticism, and an April 18 2020 Facebook post warned that 1,400 Floridians became ill specifically because of the newly-opened beaches (archived here)
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photograph of Someone’s Kitchen After Microwaving Coronavirus Masks?
On April 7 2020 — in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic — a post began spreading on Facebook, warning people against microwaving face masks to sterilize them (alongside a photograph of the aftermath of a kitchen fire): Please don’t pass
Truth or Fiction?→ Coronavirus ‘Memo from a Grocery Store Manager’
An April 7 2020 Facebook post — purportedly a message from an overworked grocery store manager — racked up over half a million shares in just a few days. The post, accompanied by an image of (what looked to be pre-COVID-19 pandemic) superm
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers April 2020 Update
Editor’s Note: This update reflects only a small part of the huge economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused millions of layoffs and shut down much of the economy before many of these statistics were collected. Summary Since Donald Tr
Truth or Fiction?→ Are COVID-19 Patients With High BMIs Being Denied Ventilators?
As the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic became more omnipresent in American life in mid-March 2020, Twitter and Instagram rumors about coronavirus patients with high body mass indices being denied ventilator treatment began to spread. On Twitter on March
Truth or Fiction?→ USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort Dock in Cities for Coronavirus Response
Amid jarring scenes of metropolitan hospitals dangerously strained by COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic, two naval hospital ships (the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy) were docked in New York City and Los Angeles respectively in late March 2020
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Woody Allen Did NOT Say ‘New York Should Disown Trump’
Did Woody Allen urge New Yorkers to "disown" President Trump? No, that's not true: This is a parody from a website stating it is "satire for flat earthers, Trumpsters and Y'all Qaeda." The article originated on a web site called Daily World Up
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a ‘Coronavirus Challenge’ on Social Media Prompting Teens to Infect Themselves With COVID-19?
Amid wall-to-wall reporting on a novel coronavirus and COVID-19 in late March 2020, articles breathlessly claimed that a “coronavirus challenge” or “COVID-19 challenge” was spreading on platforms like TikTok and Twitter, inciti
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: There Is NO Evidence Of Worldwide COVID-19 Conspiracy Involving U.S. Government, Its Military, 5G Tech And The Illuminati
Is there already a vaccine for COVID-19 that the U.S. govenment is hiding in a wide plot to kill people off? And is the next-generation wireless technology 5G responsible for the novel coronavirus? Further, are the Illuminati also involved in
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO, Trump Is NOT Promising To Send Americans Checks – Only After Checking People’s Social Media History
Did President Trump tweet that he had ordered the U.S. Treasury to send checks to Americans - but only after checking people's social media posts to make sure they were not unfavorable to the president. No, this is a satirical post: Whle Trump
Truth or Fiction?→ Will Americans Go Into a Four-Week Quarantine on April 1 2020?
In mid-March 2020, completely unsubstantiated but frightening rumors began circulating about a four-week-long quarantine blanketing the entire United States, purportedly to begin on April 1 2020. The rumor spread from person to person in individual
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 15 Minutes In Sauna Will NOT Kill The Coronavirus
Can the novel coronavirus survive the heat? And, specifically, will 15 minutes in a sauna kill the virus? No, that's not true: An internationally recognized expert in infectious disease epidemiology has quashed those assertions. The claims ori
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Cristiano Ronaldo NOT Turning His Hotels Into ‘Hospitals’ To Fight Coronavirus
Is Cristiano Ronaldo turning his CR7 hotels Into 'hospitals' to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus? No, this is not true. The Portuguese soccer legend's management company told Lead Stories that the claim - which has already been debun
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO, Dallas Student Celebrating Spring Break On South Padre Island Did NOT Suddenly Collapse From Coronavirus
Did a Dallas student celebrating Spring Break suddenly collapse from symptoms resembling coronavirus, possibly contaminating those around her? No, that's not true. This is a headline from a prank fake news generator site, and nothing about the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Coronavirus: Act Today or People Will Die
Did a story about the grave threat posed by the new coronavirus overstate the threat? No, it didn't. It may sound grim, but it's backed by science, according to medical experts. The story, which has gone viral on social media, appeared in an a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Soldiers Are NOT On Streets Of Philly, NOT Hauling Off COVID-19 Patients To FEMA Camps
Does a video of military troops walking on a sidewalk show U.S. soldiers on a Philadelphia street preparing to invoke martial law on the city and round up citizens to be "hauled off to FEMA camps" because of the coronavirus crisis? No, that's
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Coronavirus Has NOT Been Found In Crab Legs
Has the novel coronavirus been found in crab legs? No, that's not true: The story making the rounds was created by a mobile phone app that allows users to make television-style news screenshots. It is a prank, but some people are falling for t
Truth or Fiction?→ Did 12,000 Americans Die of H1N1/Swine Flu, and Were 275,000 Hospitalized?
As concerns over novel coronavirus strain COVID-19 crested in mid-March 2020, comparisons between the effects of the strain versus that of H1N1 (or “swine flu”) more than a decade before triggered a flurry of fact checks, a Facebook flag o
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: AOC Did NOT Claim Illegal Immigrants Were Held In Nazi Detention Camps
Did U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claim Hitler held Jews in detention camps for being illegal immigrants. No, that is misleading, and the claim seems to be a new spin on a controversy sparked in Summer 2019 by the liberal New York Congres
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Searches for International Men’s Day Peak on International Women’s Day?
On March 7 2020, one day before International Women’s Day, @the_female_lead tweeted a screenshot claiming that there is also an International Men’s Day — but searches for the latter spiked around International Women’s Day every
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trump Did Not Tweet About "Dow Joans" Falling More Than 1,000 Points
Did Donald Trump tweet in 2015 that if the "Dow Joans" were to fall more than 1,000 points in a single day, the president should be shot out of a cannon? No, that's not true: The tweet-within-a-tweet was made up, and the author has admitted it
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Quarantined Kids in in Wuhan Defeat a Homework App by Spamming it With One-Star Reviews?
In a tweet which became a Facebook post, @zenalbatross reported that Wuhan’s clever schoolchildren “defeated the app assigning them homework” by spamming it with one-star reviews to trigger its deletion from an app store: good morn
FactCheck.org→ Trump Spins California’s Water Conservation Rules
In criticizing California for how it has managed its water supplies, President Donald Trump falsely said that residents “very shortly” will “get 50 gallons” of water to use a day. That’s a distortion of two state water laws, w
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: San Diego Lab Says It Has Created Coronavirus Vaccine In Three Hours
Did a San Diego laboratory create a novel coronavirus vaccine in three hours? Yes, it says it did just that, and here is some context: Vaccines at Inovio Pharmaceuticals do not contain the virus but instead contain DNA sequences. Lead Stories
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: International Space Station Camera Did NOT Capture New UFO Footage
Did a camera aboard the International Space Station capture new footage of a UFO? No, that's not true: Several Internet hoaxers have shared the video to suggest that NASA was tracking a UFO. However, a couple of Internet sleuths on YouTube det