Separating Fact From Fiction

Discussion in 'In the News' started by Ken Anderson, Oct 26, 2016.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Here is a "news story" that some of the pro-Trump people on my Facebook page are sharing, and I can see that a few serious political blogs and web sites have picked up on it as well, but it's fake.

    Source: CNN

    Please click on the source link so that you can see what I'm talking about. It looks like a CNN news site carrying an AP story. I was also aware that there have been some actual overtures toward reaching out to the Amish community, so there's a context there.

    There are no crazy ads or flashing pop-ups like you often see on spoof sites, and the story is written like a news story. The domain is cnn.com so it seems to be legit but, wait a moment -- it's cnn.com.de so one would have to wonder why CNN is using a German domain extension.

    Most people wouldn't notice that, and I probably wouldn't have either if not for the fact that I am fairly familiar with the Amish and it seemed so unlikely that they would abandon centuries of non-involvement in politics, and it also seemed improbable that they would do so en mass, given that Amish congregations are independent.

    Then when i look more closely, I can see the headlines of other stories that this CNN news site has published and they include:

    Obama Signs Executive Order Banning the Pledge of Allegiance in Schools

    President Obama Declares September National Muslim Appreciation Month

    Proof that Heaven and Hell Do Not Exist

    Donald Trump Says the Earth is Flat

    This is a pretty well done spoof site. I had actually begun to write something up to share it here, and then I would have felt like an idiot, as I now feel about some of my friends who have eagerly shared this story on Facebook.

    This stuff works because our government and our politicians actually do say and do things that are absolutely crazy, so a lot of this stuff is believable. We have a Democrat congressman from Texas who actually did worry that Guam might capsize if there were too many people on one side of the island, for example, and he did that during a congressional hearing; and we have a Democrat congresswoman, also from Texas, who was berating Wikipedia for the Hillary Clinton email releases. There was a time when life was so much easier.

    cnn.jpg
     
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    Last edited: Oct 26, 2016
  2. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    It's good that you noticed the extension. I've seen some crazy things shared on Facebook in particular, but also on Twitter. I don't spend much time on other sites, so I can't speak for what's floating around on Snapchat and the like. I do spend some time on Instagram, but mainly just to post a few pictures, peruse the recent postings of those I follow, and then I leave. Facebook seems to be the big one for spoofs and inflammatory posts. Another thing that contributes to this is that people are grasping for news stories, since our media appears to be a publicity arm of the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, some of those they find in their search are ones like this that aren't true, and can confuse and/or mislead people.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The Drudge Report was linking to this story so I guess he was taken in too.
     
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  4. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I saw it on a site called ABC.com.co
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Yeah, that's another one.
     
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  6. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    ..my sis forwarded me this email that's going around so I decided to start a thread here because I figure I have the best chance of finding out the truth here.

    So here's the challenge, is this true or false..and if it's true..is there anyway we can run the obamas out of the country, LOL?? I know enough truth about them already that we should be able to deport them, but this is kind of icing on the cake:

    I CAN NOT BELIEVE MY OWN EYES, HOW CAN THEY DO THIS IS BEYOND ME !! TO BAD TRUMP DOES NOT MENTION THIS ONE TO THE PUBLIC.
    JM
    This is such a disgrace of use of our tax papers dollars. Insane that she should get a lifetime pension for caring for her grandchildren. I could scream! No wonder this country is in such debt.
    >
    > Subject: Sit down before you read this!
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Can someone explain how this is NOT corruption???
    >
    >
    >
    > An article appeared in yesterday's (October 17, 2016) Boston Tribune titled "First Grandma to Receive $160K Lifetime Pension."
    >
    > Marian Robinson is Michelle Obama's mother. When the Obamas moved into the White House in 2008, Grandma Robinson came along to care for her grandchildren, Malia and Sasha.
    >
    > When the Obamas leave the White House in January 2017, for her eight years of "service" -- caring for her own grandchildren, for God's sake -- she will receive a lifetime pension of $160,000 per year -- of our taxpayer dollars, of course. She should not receive one friggin' dime!
    >
    > The Boston Tribune article states that it confirmed this information through a Freedom of Information request.
    >
    > I think my head is going to explode....
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The Boston Tribune is a spoof site. There used to be a real newspaper by that name, but it's hoax. If you look at the Boston Tribune site, one clue is that there is no run of the mill news there. There are no stories of murders, robberies, arrests, or political machinations in Boston. Every news article is a sensational one.
     
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  8. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    Well that's a relief, thank you @Ken Anderson I'll let my sis know;)
     
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  9. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    Oh great!! I didn't know this thread was around, Ok, I'll know where to post these types of things now;)
     
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  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    There was no one right place for it, but since your thread was about the same sort of thing, I merged them.
     
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  11. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    This is a great idea for a thread, this isn't political, but I am sick of the lies (hoaxes just nice word for lies). Yesterday I saw an article that Goldie Hawn had died, and she was found with a note in her hand. I wonder how many "clicked" and went to read that? I didn't, but I googled to see if she had died, and no, saw all the hoax info, geesh:(
     
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  12. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Some of the spoof sites are kind of clever and fun, I think. Although no one likes to play the part of an idiot, I have shared some of these stories before, thinking they were real. What I hate is when the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN or Fox News tell lies and present them as news.
     
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  13. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    Exactly @Ken Anderson, it's no better than propaganda, or someone like Tokyo Rose that broadcast lies to scare our guys during the war with Japan:(

    I don't go on the site I was frequenting anymore called "Friends who support Donald Trump" on FB because they rarely have any facts, and although I am glad they are all for Trump (I guess) they just say mostly, a lot of stupid things that I heard from the left way back in the beginning of this when people immediately started laughing about Trump even running. Surprise surprise!
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    This might fit equally well in the conspiracy section, except that it is news.

    Source: Denver Guardian

    NOTE: I am still checking this. It could be a fake news site. The ads on the bottom are suspect but it otherwise appears to be a newspaper.
     
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  15. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Okay, I'll be merging this with my fake news site thread. The Denver Post says there is no such newspaper as the Denver Guardian. This one really looked good. They even went so far as to include regular news stories. However, its filler content was skimpy for a newspaper that claimed to be an old newspaper, but mostly the garish ads on the bottom were what had me suspicious, that and wondering why a Denver newspaper would have scooped a Maryland news story. They had me fooled, though. I'll admit that.
     
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    Last edited: Nov 5, 2016
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