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The NFL has fined Pittsburgh Steelers players $1 million each for staying in their locker room during the national anthem.

On 24 September 2017, the America's Last Line of Defense web site published reporting that the Pittsburgh Steelers football team was fining its players $1 million each for engaging in protests that involved "taking a knee" or "hiding in the locker room" during the playing of the U.S. national anthem:

The Pittsburgh Steelers thought it would be safe to take "taking a knee" to a whole new level by hiding in the locker room while the National Anthem played and everyone else showed reverence for OUR country, but they didn't count on it being extremely costly.

It was a bad decision. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who donated to Donald Trump's election campaign, announced shortly after the game began that every player who "protested" the National Anthem and showed "immense disrespect to our nation" would be fined a cool million dollars.

It is true that the Steelers remained in their locker room (rather than being present on the sidelines) during the playing of the U.S. national anthem prior to their 24 September 2017 game with the Chicago Bears, as ABC News reported:

NFL players, teams and owners across the league responded Sunday to President Trump's criticism of players kneeling in protest during the national anthem, with some kneeling, others locking arms and still others choosing not to participate in the national anthem ceremony at all.

As the "Star-Spangled Banner" played at Soldier Field in Chicago for the noon game between the Chicago Bears and the Steelers, the Pittsburgh team's sideline was virtually empty.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told a CBS Sports reporter prior to the game that his team would stay in the locker room during the anthem.

"We're not participating in the anthem today," Tomlin said, adding that the action was "not to be disrespectful to the anthem" but to remove the team "from this circumstance."

"People shouldn't have to choose" whether to kneel or stand during the anthem, he said. "If a guy feels a need to do something he should not be separated from his teammate who chooses not to."

"So we're not participating today," he said. "That's our decision."

During the anthem, several Steelers coaches were on the sidelines and one player, former Army Ranger Alejandro Villaneuva, stood near the tunnel to the team's locker room, ESPN reported.

However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did not impose any fine (much less one of a cool $1 million each) on the Pittsburgh players, nor did he hand down any other form of punishment or announce any disciplinary action against them.

Reports of whopping fines supposedly levied against Steelers players are a fiction that originated with America's Last Line of Defense, a fake news site whose disclaimer notes that it "is a satirical publication" which presents "fiction as fact" and uses "sources [that] don't actually exist."

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FACT CHECK: NFL Fines Pittsburgh Steelers $1M Each for Skipping National Anthem

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The NFL has fined Pittsburgh Steelers players $1 million each for staying in their locker room during the national anthem. On 24 September 2017, the America's Last Line of Defense web site published reporting that the Pittsburgh Steelers football team was fining its players $1 million each for engaging in protests that involved "taking a knee" or "hiding in the locker room" during the playing of the U.S.

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In 2016 Halloween will fall on Friday the 13th for the first time in 666 years. See Example(s)

Although we're ordinarily loath to trample the life out of simple jokes by dissecting the basis of their humor, the number of "Is this true?" inquiries we've received about this particular item (which is now updated and set loose on the Internet annually) compels us to address it.

For those who are pondering whether it's really been 666 years since Halloween last fell on a Friday the 13th, we would point out that the mid-autumnal celebration we know as Halloween does not date back nearly that far (i.e., to the year 1348 or earlier). The word "Halloween" (or "Hallowe'en") itself originated in the mid-18th century, and the first appearances of the term "All Hallows' Eve," from which the word "Halloween" was derived, date only to the mid-16th century.

Moreover, none of the harvest festivals or other observances typically cited as precursors of the modern Halloween, such as the Celtic festival of Samhain, the Welsh Nos Galan Gaeaf, or the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, is known to have ever been specifically or regularly observed on October 13. Those events have (as far as we know) long been associated with the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 timeframe, not a mid-October date.

Basically, this is a gullibility joke that plays on the idea of the reader's failing to make the connection that a holiday observed on the fixed date of October 31 could not possibly ever have fallen on the 13th day of the month (Friday or otherwise). The mention of "666 years" since the last supposed occurrence of that phenomenon is a reference to the number famously cited as the " Number of the beast" described in the New Testament's Book of Revelation, and of course the selection of Friday the 13th is a nod to the calendar date traditionally considered to be an especially unlucky one in western superstition.

The biggest giveaway to the japing nature of this item, however, is the fact that in October 2016, the 13th day of the month falls on a Thursday, not a Friday (while Halloween itself takes place on a Monday).
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FALSE: Halloween Falls on Friday the 13th for the First Time in 666 Years

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In 2016 Halloween will fall on Friday the 13th for the first time in 666 years. See Example(s) Although we're ordinarily loath to trample the life out of simple jokes by dissecting the basis of their humor, the number of "Is this true?"

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Simon

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An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

Such claims originated with a 27 March 2014 article published by the Huzlers web site:

First Horse meat, then the mysterious "Pink slime", Now Human meat? A shocking discovery has been made in an Oklahoma City McDonald's meat factory and other McDonald's meat factories nationwide. Meat inspectors reportedly found, what appeared to be, Human meat stored in the meat factory freezers of an Oklahoma City meat factory and human meat already in trucks right outside the factory ready to be shipped to McDonald's restaurants. Health inspectors immediately demanded inspection in various McDonald's meat factories across the country and horrifyingly found human meat in about 90% of the factories inspected thus far.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has seized McDonald's production and shipping and will call for more meat factory inspections and restaurant inspections. The FBI is also investigating the factories. FBI agent Lloyd Harrison told Huzler reporters "The worst part is that it's not only human meat, it's child meat. the body parts that were found across the U.S. factories were deemed to small to be adult body parts, this is truly horrible".

The situation brings up many unanswered questions. How long have they been using human meat? Where did they get the children from? Were they already dead when brought into factories? Investigators and Inspectors are currently being deployed for intensive investigations all around the U.S.

However, that McDonald's article was just a spoof from the Huzlers web site, which offers users the ability to "Create your own news prank and trick your friends by sharing it" and has a history of publishing fabricated news stories (such as one about pop star Justin Bieber's admitting to being bisexual and one about the 2014 Super Bowl being rigged). The Huzlers site also carries a disclaimer on its pages noting that "Huzlers.com is a combination of real shocking news and satire news to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief" and is listed in our article about "5 Fake News Sites to Avoid Sharing."

In truth, no part of the McDonald's operation has been cited for having bought, sold, processed, or used either horse meat or human meat (the latter of which cannot legally be vended in the U.S.) for food purposes.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: McDonald's Exposed for Using Human Meat

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An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers. False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

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NASA confirmed the Earth will experience 15 straight days of darkness in November 2017.

Back in July 2015, the fake news web site Newswatch33 published an article titled "NASA Confirms Earth Will Experience 15 Days of Complete Darkness in November 2015," reporting that:

NASA has confirmed that the Earth will experience 15 days of total darkness between November 15 and November 29, 2015. The event, according to NASA, hasn't occurred in over 1 Million years.

Astronomers from NASA have indicated that the world will remain in complete darkness starting on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 3 a.m. and will end on Monday, November 30, 2015 at 4:15 p.m. According to officials, the "November Black Out" event will be caused by another astronomical event between Venus and Jupiter.

Charles Bolden, who was appointed to head of NASA by President Obama, issued a 1000 page document explaining the event to the White House.

This bit of fake news was lifted from an older (debunked) viral rumor that had already been around the online block several times before and has long since become an "evergreen" online hoax - a jape that is typically resurrected a few times a year by dubious web sites that simply update the time span for the alleged "period of darkness" and send it winging around the Internet again.

While Charles Bolden is a real NASA official, he issued no report or announcement about "15 days of darkness." Moreover, Newswatch33 web site was not a legitimate news outlet, but a fake news site that began darkening the doorstep of social media networks shortly after the nearly identical NewsWatch28 fake news site shut down in mid-2015.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: NASA Confirms 15 Days of Darkness in November 2017?

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NASA confirmed the Earth will experience 15 straight days of darkness in November 2017. Back in July 2015, the fake news web site Newswatch33 published an article titled "NASA Confirms Earth Will Experience 15 Days of Complete Darkness in November 2015," reporting that: NASA has confirmed that the Earth will experience 15 days of total darkness between November 15 and November 29, 2015.

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A years-old bit of political gossip was brought back into the limelight in January 2015 when former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, in an interview promoting his new book, publicly criticized the parenting skills of the First Couple, Barack and Michelle Obama. Many pundits were quick to point out an incident that was much discussed during Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign, one touted as calling Huckabee's own parenting skills into question.

On 11 July 1998, two young men working as counselors at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Arkansas, killed a dog at that Boy Scout camp. One of those young men was 19-year-old Clayton Frady of Texarkana and the other David Huckabee, the youngest son of Arkansas Governor Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee. David Huckabee was 17 at the time of the slaying, although he would turn 18 less than two weeks later. Both young men were fired over the incident.

And that is where the undisputed facts of the story leave off. All the rest of the details, including why the dog was killed, how the dog was killed, and whether Governor Huckabee attempted (successfully or otherwise) to forestall investigations into his son's act, is up for grabs and may never be knowable. (Thus we can only verify the basic fact that David Huckabee killed a dog at a Boy Scout camp, not the ancillary issues of whether he truly did so "brutally" or "for fun.")

While the dog itself was consistently described as a stray that had wandered onto the property, the only additional description of it came from Marcal Young, scout executive of the Caddo Area Council that operated the camp where the animal was killed, who said the canine was "probably a mixed breed."

As to why the dog was killed, different people have offered different reasons. Governor Huckabee said in 2007 interview conducted by Larry King that "It was mangy. It looked like it was going to attack." The father of the other young man fired over the dog's slaying said in a 1998 news article his son had come upon one or more Scouts who had the dog "hung over a limb and choking," so his son helped "put it out of its misery." Scout executive Young said in another 1998 news article the two young men had told him the dog appeared to be ill.

No one connected to any of the principals apparently wanted to talk about how the dog was dispatched. The only person in that group who said anything about this was Danny Frady, father of Clayton Frady (the other young counselor fired over the incident), and even he didn't describe just what his son did beyond averring that when his son came upon the animal, it was being hanged by others. Anonymous rumors about how the dog was killed hold that Frady and Huckabee hanged the dog, slit its throat, and stoned it to death.

One lingering question about the incident is why young Frady and Huckabee would have been fired from their jobs as camp counselors if they had merely put a suffering animal out of its misery or struck down a sickly animal that looked like it was about to attack someone? Scout executive Young, the person who dismissed them from their jobs, said the pair were fired because they had violated a Scout law: "A Scout is kind."

A December 2007 Newsweek article reported that shortly after the animal's death, the local prosecuting attorney wrote a letter to the Arkansas state police asking them to investigate the case to see if the two young men involved had violated state animal cruelty laws. The state police did not look into the matter, and no charges were filed.

John Bailey, then director of Arkansas's state police, told Newsweek that personnel in Governor Huckabee's employ (his chief of staff and personal lawyer) leaned on him to write a letter officially denying the local prosecutor's request for an investigation: "Bailey, a career officer who had been appointed chief by Huckabee's Democratic predecessor, said he viewed the lawyer's intervention as improper and terminated the conversation." Bailey was fired by Huckabee seven months later, with (according to Bailey) one of the reasons given by Huckabee being that "I couldn't get you to help me with my son when I had that problem." Newsweek quoted I.C. Smith, the former FBI chief in Little Rock, as saying "Without question, [Huckabee] was making a conscious attempt to keep the state police from investigating his son."

Governor Huckabee denied using his influence to keep police out of the matter, saying to CNN host Larry King: "Well, let me categorically say that is absolutely not true. I never used my influence. In fact, if anything, I said treat it like you would anything else. I don't want special treatment for him or against him. My son was a minor at the time. It was not a criminal issue. It was an issue that was dealt with."
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

Snopes Delivered to Your Inbox:

Isikoff, Michael and Holly Bailey. "A Son's Past Deeds Come Back to Bite Huckabee."
Newsweek. 24 December 2007 (p. 9).

King, Larry. "Larry King Live."
CNN. 17 December 2004.

McFarland, Elizabeth. "Governor's Son 1 of 2 Fired at Scout Camp After Stray Dog Killed."
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 7 August 1998 (p. B3).

Associated Press. "Huckabee's Son Fired Over Dog Incident."
10 August 1998.

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A years-old bit of political gossip was brought back into the limelight in January 2015 when former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, in an interview promoting his new book, publicly criticized the parenting skills of the First Couple, Barack and Michelle Obama.

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http://www.snopes.com/donald-trump-flag-salute/

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Donald Trump failed to place his hand over his heart during the playing of the U.S. national anthem at the beginning of a GOP debate.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, a cottage industry was started from a single instance in which Democratic candidate Barack Obama, then a senator from Illinois, was captured on video standing with his hands clenched below his waist during the playing of the U.S. national anthem at an Iowa steak fry attended by six top Democratic presidential candidates - an industry that subsequently spawned a plethora of false rumors after Senator Obama won the presidential elections, such as a claim that he wanted to change the national anthem to something more innocuous and a faked photograph showing him and his wife Michelle using their left hands to show respect for the U.S. flag.

A similar item circulated (to lesser extent) during the 2016 presidential campaign, an image of GOP candidate Donald Trump apparently standing sullenly with his hands at his sides while others around him place their hands over their hearts in the standard gesture of respect for the U.S. flag:

The background elements of this image indicate that it originated with the 15 December 2015 CNN Republican presidential debate held in Las Vegas: it was included in articles about that debate, where it was credited to David Becker of the Reuters news agency. However, we found no evidence that the moment captured in this image actually occurred during that debate.

The debate was aired live on CNN, and it opened with the nine Republican candidates being introduced one-by-one, briefly posing together at the front of the stage for photographs, then remaining in place while the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," was sung by Ayla Brown (daughter of former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown):

We viewed the video of that event multiple times, but we found no instance during the singing of the national anthem in which Donald Trump could be seen in the pose shown above (with his hands at his sides). Every time Donald Trump was visible within the frame of the television coverage, he was standing with his hand over his heart, just like all the other candidates:

There is no doubt that the image in question stemmed from this debate: the arrangement of candidates on stage is the same as shown in the video, the candidates' clothing is the same as shown in the video, and even Senator Ted Cruz's Napoleon-like pose (with his right hand tucked inside his suit jacket) is the same as shown in the video.

In fact, a Reuters gallery of images from the debate taken by photographer Mike Blake includes a clear photograph of Trump standing in the appropriate pose:

The image in question appears to be a digitally manipulated one, blending a photograph from the national anthem sequence with one taken shortly beforehand:

If the image were real, then it would have to have originated with a photographer's managing to snap a picture during a fleeting instant (not captured by the multiple television cameras present) in which Donald Trump briefly held the pose shown. Either way, the video documentation of the event clearly shows that Trump did not stand with his hands at his side throughout the playing of the national anthem; he held his right hand over his heart for the duration, as appropriate.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: Donald Trump Doesn't Salute the Flag?

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Donald Trump failed to place his hand over his heart during the playing of the U.S. national anthem at the beginning of a GOP debate. During the 2008 presidential campaign, a cottage industry was started from a single instance in which Democratic candidate Barack Obama, then a senator from Illinois, was captured on video standing with his hands clenched below his waist during the playing of the U.S.

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Hillary Clinton made fun of hurricane Irma victims and called them "Florida hillbillies."

The web site AsAmericanAsApplePie.org published a story in September 2017 that painted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as behaving callously toward victims of hurricane Irma:

While filming a segment for The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, Hillary Rodham Clinton was nabbed on tape saying the most awful thing imaginable about Hurricane Irma and its potential victims:

"To be honest, Rachel, it would probably be good for the country if Irma were to just wipe every Florida hillbilly off the map. I mean...they live in trailers by the water, right?"

The remark was allegedly captured on tape by a "true patriot" sound engineer who vowed to hold on to it unless he needed to "save the country" or himself.

The story is fabricated, as is every story on the site. Its Facebook page includes this disclaimer:

Nothing on this page is real. It is a collection of the satirical whimsies of liberal trolls masquerading as conservatives. You have been warned.

The same disclaimer also appears verbatim on the Facebook page for another fake news site,TheLastLineofDefense.org, and the two web sites appear to be related.

As American As Apple Pie also has another, more vaguely-worded, disclaimer on its web site:

When no one can trust the lying fake news liberal media anymore because they hate us and guns and Harley Davidson and meat and OUR president, As American as Apple Pie is here to be your beacon of something you can kinda rely on sometimes, but not really because only God can control our fate in this crazy, twisted world. God Bless America and Amen.

We called a phone number listed on As American As Apple Pie's Facebook page and got this voicemail message:

Thank you for calling the Crazy Shiksa Bakery. We'll call you back if you leave your name and your number when we're not busy.

http://www.snopes.com/app/uploads/2017/09/092017-As-American-For-Apple-Pie-message.mp3
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: Was Hillary Clinton Caught on Tape Laughing About Irma's 'Wiping Out All of Those Florida Hillbillies?

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Hillary Clinton made fun of hurricane Irma victims and called them "Florida hillbillies."

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An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

Such claims originated with a 27 March 2014 article published by the Huzlers web site:

First Horse meat, then the mysterious "Pink slime", Now Human meat? A shocking discovery has been made in an Oklahoma City McDonald's meat factory and other McDonald's meat factories nationwide. Meat inspectors reportedly found, what appeared to be, Human meat stored in the meat factory freezers of an Oklahoma City meat factory and human meat already in trucks right outside the factory ready to be shipped to McDonald's restaurants. Health inspectors immediately demanded inspection in various McDonald's meat factories across the country and horrifyingly found human meat in about 90% of the factories inspected thus far.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has seized McDonald's production and shipping and will call for more meat factory inspections and restaurant inspections. The FBI is also investigating the factories. FBI agent Lloyd Harrison told Huzler reporters "The worst part is that it's not only human meat, it's child meat. the body parts that were found across the U.S. factories were deemed to small to be adult body parts, this is truly horrible".

The situation brings up many unanswered questions. How long have they been using human meat? Where did they get the children from? Were they already dead when brought into factories? Investigators and Inspectors are currently being deployed for intensive investigations all around the U.S.

However, that McDonald's article was just a spoof from the Huzlers web site, which offers users the ability to "Create your own news prank and trick your friends by sharing it" and has a history of publishing fabricated news stories (such as one about pop star Justin Bieber's admitting to being bisexual and one about the 2014 Super Bowl being rigged). The Huzlers site also carries a disclaimer on its pages noting that "Huzlers.com is a combination of real shocking news and satire news to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief" and is listed in our article about "5 Fake News Sites to Avoid Sharing."

In truth, no part of the McDonald's operation has been cited for having bought, sold, processed, or used either horse meat or human meat (the latter of which cannot legally be vended in the U.S.) for food purposes.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: McDonald's Exposed for Using Human Meat

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An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers. False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

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Instructions explain how to block Facebook users who are following you without your knowledge.

In early January 2017 a rumor swept Facebook asserting that "Facebook security" people were being paid to watch individual accounts:

According to that rumor, entering the term "Facebook Security" into Facebook's "block users" field would reveal a list of people whom the social network had engaged to furtively monitor your activity, and each of whom had to be individually blocked by you to prevent them from spying on you:

[D]id you know there are people literally watching your Facebook account? Yes. There are people who have a specific duty to monitor your posts and activity. While there are many Facebook secrets, for those who enjoy privacy, this one is for you!

Here is what you need to do to block the majority of the accounts that monitor your Facebook:

1. > Log into Facebook

2. > Account Settings

3. > Click on blocking

4. > In the search field where it says "Block Users" type in: "Facebook Security"

5. > A new window will pop up. The list you see is a list of [most likely] Facebook employees, spies, and private accounts that are paid to shill for who knows who (sarcasm (kind of)).

6. > Go down the list, and if you don't like being monitored, just hit the "block button." Some of the accounts are unable to be blocked. While this is somewhat disturbing, you must remember that Facebook owns everything Facebook, so in essence, you "agreed" to be monitored. (I know. What moral and reasonable organization needs to hire people to monitor you? Right?)

However, following these instructions does nothing to uncover or block the (non-existent) Facebook security personnel who are supposedly monitoring your online activities. Entering the term "Facebook Security" into "Block Users" search box simply returns "profiles of [users] who have used those particular words somewhere on their profile [or] in a place that's visible to the individual, as in a public post." The list returned by this search neither includes people who are furtively following you, nor persons employed to spy on you by Facebook security.

In September 2017, this rumor took on a slightly new form (one which eliminated the paranoid reference to "Facebook security"):

Again, following these instructions simply produces a list of Facebook users with the string 'Me' somewhere in their screen names or profiles, not a list of accounts of people who are secretly following you:

Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: Are Facebook Users Secretly Following You?

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Instructions explain how to block Facebook users who are following you without your knowledge.

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NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of Nibiru, or "Planet X."

On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the planet Nibiru (also known as "Planet X"), but at the same time was downplaying the grave risks:

Is this the end of the world as we know it? Doomsayers have prophesied for decades about a giant, rogue planet in our solar system - dubbed Planet X or Nibiru - that has the capacity of colliding or passing near Earth, with catastrophic consequences. And of course, NASA has known about the mystery planet for years, but declined to warn us.... until now. Finally, after the announcement of "Planet Nine" in January, conspiracy theorists have proved to the skeptics that they have been right this entire time, and NASA finally has to admit its wrongs. The planet, according to Caltech researchers, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and takes about 15,000 years to make a full orbit around the sun - And it's heading towards Earth, with a collision date of August 21, 2016. Although Caltech researchers have admitted that we are headed for doomsday. NASA continues to tiptoe around the subject.

"Although our scientists at NASA have emphasized for years that Nibiru doesn't exist, we are ready to reveal the fact that it does exist," said NASA spokesperson Heather Cartwright. "The truth is we have been tracking the object for at least a decade and it is definitely headed towards planet Earth. However, we are expecting a close flyby - not the doomsday collision that Caltech researchers are predicting. There is no need to cause mass panic." In a response to NASA's statement, Caltech researcher Randall Smith had this to say: "For NASA to minimize the threat to our earth by calling it a 'close flyby' is insulting to our research. We have concrete evidence that proves Nibiru is headed straight for earth with a collision that will destroy life as we know it. NASA is just trying to avoid mass panic and chaos within our world. But we all deserve to know that our days are numbered."

This report is untrue. It's just another clickbait fabrication originating with News4KTLA, a fake news site that has appropriated the call letters of a legitimate Los Angeles television station and news outlet ( KTLA).

News4KTLA (like many other fake news sites) features no disclaimer warning readers its content is not to be trusted. (The site's "About" page simply states it features "local news for southern Louisiana and the surrounding area.") News4KTLA is one of several virtually interchangeable fake news purveyors employing visual and call-letter elements associated with news affiliates to trick social media users into spreading misinformation.

Previous News4KTLA hoaxes included claims that a woman cut off a rapist's genitals and fed them to him, the Flint water crisis was caused by dead bodies in the river, Dasani was recalled over dangerous "clear parasites" in the product, a teen died due to a social media "masturbation challenge," a man lost his penis during a rape due to the RapeX device, and parents in Las Vegas were arrested for modifying their baby's ears into points.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FALSE: NASA Warns Nibiru Is Headed Straight for Earth

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NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of Nibiru, or "Planet X." On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the planet Nibiru (also known as "Planet X"), but at the same time was downplaying the grave risks: Is this the end of the world as we know it?

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Due to a shortage of men, Iceland will pay $5,000 per month to immigrants who marry Icelandic women.

Beginning in late June 2016, a number of unreliable web sites in Africa and elsewhere published articles reporting that the Nordic country of Iceland was experiencing a shortage of men, and had thus offered a stipend of $5,000 per month to immigrants willing to marry Icelandic women.

The first of these, as best we can tell, was a blog called The Spirit Whispers, where someone posted a barely decipherable entry reading as follows:

breaking news about iceland country incredible but true if you are interested read the full story iceland team was able to achieve an unprecedented achievement in the European after sending England packing Iceland will hope to spring an even more dramatic surprise on one of Europe's footballing superpowers in the quarter finals as they take on hosts France.

Thanks to this win, Iceland became a place of world attention and deliberated some news sites a number of amusing news related to this As the number of population of the country and its customs and traditions

Perhaps the most prominent of our attention the story that it's because of the high proportion of females than males have resorted government of that country to the solution is to grant $5,000 per month per immigrant marries Icelandic, and that the priority in this resolution will go to North Africa's population

leave your comment if you are interested in this offer

As it turned out, many male readers were, in fact, interested in the offer and did not stop at leaving a comment. "Over at least the past week now," the Icelandic web site The Reykjavík Grapevine reported, "numerous Icelandic women on Facebook have attested to being practically spammed with friend requests from non-Icelandic men that they do not know."

The web site labeled the immigrant invite a hoax, pointing out that according to the latest population data, Iceland has a surfeit of men, not women, and the Icelandic government has never offered grants to immigrants for marrying Icelanders, regardless of gender.

The Danish embassy in Egypt, which handles Icelandic affairs in the region, apparently became so fed up with inquiries from men wanting to take part in the scheme that officials posted a disavowal of the rumor on Facebook:

Fontaine, Paul. "No, the Government Will Not Pay You to Marry an Icelander."
The Reykjavík Grapevine. 1 July 2016.

Hafstad, Vala. "No Money for Marrying Icelandic Maiden."
Iceland Review Online. 15 July 2016.

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FACT CHECK: Does Iceland Pay $5,000 Per Month to Immigrants Who Marry Icelandic Women?

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Due to a shortage of men, Iceland will pay $5,000 per month to immigrants who marry Icelandic women. Beginning in late June 2016, a number of unreliable web sites in Africa and elsewhere published articles reporting that the Nordic country of Iceland was experiencing a shortage of men, and had thus offered a stipend of $5,000 per month to immigrants willing to marry Icelandic women.

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Researchers at the Russian Institute for Medical Science discovered a new vaccine that may "prevent" or "cure" homosexuality in humans.

On 6 August 2017, the fake news web site Loyalys posted an article in which it was reported that Russian scientists have discovered a "cure to [sic] homosexuality":

Novosibirsk | Dr. Dimitri Yusrokov Slamini of the Russian Institute for Medical Science in Novosibirsk and his team of researchers have discovered what they claim to be a new vaccine which could prevent early symptoms and even cure humans from homosexuality, if treated at a young age.

Russian scientists developed the so-called "antidote" based on a 1959 scientific research published under the title "Organizing action of prenatally administered testosterone propionate on the tissues mediating mating behavior in the female guinea pig" by Charles H. Phoenix, an american researcher. The study concluded that "INAH [part of the hypothalamus] is dimorphic with sexual orientation, at least in men, and suggests that sexual orientation has a biological substrate".

Among the discoveries we made while looking into this story was that Loyalys.com was less than two weeks old when the article was published (the domain name was registered on 25 July 2017 by the Albanian owner of another fake news site, OnlineNativeNews.com), yet the text itself dates back to May 2014, when it first appeared, verbatim, on the web site World News Daily Report (WNDR), a tireless purveyor of "satirical" content since 2013.

As to the question of the article's authenticity, then, we refer you to WNDR's own disclaimer, which reads:

World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website - even those based on real people - are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.

Getting down to specifics, there is no Russian Institute for Medical Science in Novosibirsk, Siberia (although the Russian Academy of Sciences is located there), nor were we able to find evidence of the existence of the two Russian scientists named as participants in the research, Dr. Dimitri Yusrokov Slamini and Dr. Yuri Krutchev.

So, no, these nonexistent Russian scientists did not discover a "vaccine" or "cure" for homosexuality (which is neither a disease nor a medical condition in the first place).
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: Did Russian Scientists Discover a 'Cure' for Homosexuality?

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Researchers at the Russian Institute for Medical Science discovered a new vaccine that may "prevent" or "cure" homosexuality in humans.

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A worker at a Pepsi or Frooti plant has contaminated those beverage products by injecting HIV-infected blood into them.

A warning about HIV-contaminated Pepsi products began spreading on the Internet and via cell phone text message in July 2011 (with a resurgence in September 2012), and it has also been echoed in recurrent rumors about Mango Frooti, a popular beverage in India:

I am hearing that someone with HIV at a pepsi plant has injected their blood into the product during plant production. Is this true? Why would they still be selling the product I thought. But some people are saying the news said to not drink it right now.

URGENT NEWS. There's news from the police. Its an urgent message for all. For next few days don't drink any product from pepsi company's like pepsi, tropicana juice, slice, 7up etc. A worker from the company has added his blood contaminated with AIDS. Watch NDTV. please forward this to everyone on your list

NOTE: Important msg from Delhi police to all over India: For the next few weeks do not drink any product of Frooti, as a worker from the company has added his blood contaminated with HIV (AIDS). It ws shown yesterday on NDTV... Pls forward this msg urgently to people you care... Take Care!!
'è notizia dalla polizia. È un messaggio urgente per tutti. Per i prossimi giorni non bevi nessun prodotto della Coca Cola, come la coda nera, il fioravanti di succhi, lo sprite ecc. Un lavoratore aziendale ha aggiunto il suo sangue contaminato da AIDS. Vedi MDTV. Si prega di inviare questo messaggio a tutti gli utenti della tua lista. REPETIR: Messaggio importante dalla polizia metropolitana a tutti i cittadini
Per le prossime settimane, non bevi alcun prodotto COCA COLA, in quanto un lavoratore della società ha aggiunto il suo sangue contaminato da HIV (AIDS). E 'stato mostrato ieri in Sky News. Invia questo messaggio alle persone che ti interessano.

REPORT: Important Message from the metropolitan police to all citizens
'It is news from the police. It is an urgent message for all. For the next few days do not not drink any product of Coca Cola, as the 'black tail,' Fioravanti juice, Sprite etc. A corporate worker has added his own blood contaminated by AIDS. See MDTV. Please send this message to all users of your list. For the next few weeks, not drink any product COCA COLA as a worker of the company has added his own blood contaminated with HIV (AIDS). It was shown yesterday in Sky News. Send this message to the people you care about.

Such rumors are standard food contamination urban legends akin to the leper in the Chesterfield factory rumor. No news accounts, government agencies, or other reliable sources have reported Pepsi or Frooti products being contaminated with HIV-infected blood.

In May 2013, Parie Agro (Frooti's parent company) responded to this "unjustified rumor" by posting the following message on their Facebook page:

As for whether consumers can acquire HIV via contaminated food or beverages, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) emphatically says they cannot:

No incident of food being contaminated with HIV-infected blood or semen has been reported to CDC. Furthermore, CDC has received no reports of HIV infection resulting from eating food, including condiments.

HIV does not live long outside the body. Even if small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen was consumed, exposure to the air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid would destroy the virus. Therefore, there is no risk of contracting HIV from eating food.

HIV does not long survive outside its host medium of human bodily fluids: blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, saliva, tears. (Which is not to say HIV can be transmitted by every one of those: according to the CDC, "Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.") The CDC says except under laboratory conditions, HIV is unable to reproduce outside its living host; it does not spread or maintain infectiousness outside its host. Therefore, were HIV-tainted blood to be mixed into foodstuffs or beverages, the virus would neither survive nor while it was still viable multiply and so replenish itself.

Although such cases are rare, the CDC confirms that people have acquired HIV through oral contact with, or swallowing of, HIV-laden bodily fluids. However, no known infections involving oral transmission of HIV have so far come from contact with, or ingestion of, a food product or beverage; all such infections involved sexual contact.

Other ingestibles have previously been fingered as vehicles for the transmission of HIV-infected blood to the unsuspecting public, and these stories too were baseless: The 2004 scare about restaurant ketchup dispensers and the 2005-2006 scare about pineapples.

Updated [19 September 2017]: Added another iteration of the urban legend involving Coca-Cola products.

Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: Pepsi/Frooti Contaminated with HIV

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A worker at a Pepsi or Frooti plant has contaminated those beverage products by injecting HIV-infected blood into them.

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Melania Trump plagiarized her 2017 speech at the United Nations from a speech delivered by Michelle Obama in 2014.

In July 2016, much ado was made about the similarities between Melania Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention and the remarks delivered by Michelle Obama eight years before at the Democratic National Convention. Since then, numerous rumors holding that the First Lady (as well as other members of the Trump family) have plagiarized content have appeared periodically.

A new item was added to the list in September 2017 when a meme purportedly showing the similarities between Trump and Obama's respective speeches at the United Nations was passed around the internet:

The portion of this meme dealing with Michelle Obama's speech is accurate. On 24 September 2014, the former First Lady delivered a speech at the United Nations for the third annual Global Education First Initiative event. The entire speech can be read on the official White House web site. We've reproduced the relevant portion below:

MRS. OBAMA: Good afternoon. It is truly a pleasure and an honor to join you today for the third annual Global Education First Initiative event.

Let me start by thanking Chernor for that just touching, very powerful, beautiful introduction. Let's give him a round of applause. That was amazing. (Applause.) I do not feel worthy. But I'm very proud of you and all of the other youth advocates for the tremendous work that you all are doing. You make me proud.

I also want to recognize Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson; UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova; U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown; and, of course, the GEFI Champion Countries and Partners.

But most of all, I want to thank all of you for your visionary work on global education, particularly on the issue I want to discuss today - an issue which is the focus of my international work as First Lady of the United States - and that is providing quality education for girls around the world.

The portion of this meme dealing with Melania Trump's speech, however, is inaccurate. Although an official transcript was not available on WhiteHouse.gov at the time of this writing, CNN posted a video featuring the First Lady's full remarks on cyberbullying at the United Nations on 20 September 2017:

The passage included in this meme does not actually appear in Melania Trump's speech. This graphic was created as part of a seemingly never-ending series of hoax items claiming that a member of the Trump family had stolen some form of content. So far, we have debunked rumors holding that Melania Trump copied statements from Hillary Clinton and outfits from Jerry Seinfeld, and that President Trump had plagiarized from Hitler, the movies Legally Blonde and , and the comic book villain Red Skull.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

Snopes Delivered to Your Inbox:

Thompson, Krissah. "Melania Trump Condemns Bullying - and Raises Some Eyebrows - in her First U.N. Speech."
Washington Post. 20 September 2017.

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FACT CHECK: Did Melania Trump Steal Her United Nations Speech from Michelle Obama?

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Melania Trump plagiarized her 2017 speech at the United Nations from a speech delivered by Michelle Obama in 2014. In July 2016, much ado was made about the similarities between Melania Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention and the remarks delivered by Michelle Obama eight years before at the Democratic National Convention.

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A mother tiger at a California zoo nursed a group of piglets after her own cubs died.

As often happens, an item about a tiger's nursing piglets appears to be a case in which someone came across some unusual photographs with no explanatory context and decided to make up his own background story. The pictures are real, but the accompanying explanation about a mother tiger in California being given piglets to ease her through a depression stemming from the loss of her own cubs is nothing but fiction:

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine.

The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, The depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother.

The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only "orphans" that could be found quickly, were a litter of wiener pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger.

Would they become cubs or pork chops?

Take a look ...

These pictures were actually taken in 2004 not in California, but at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand. Although the Sriracha Tiger Zoo hosted one of the world's most successful tiger breeding programs, unlike most western zoos it also offered circus- and carnival-like shows, exhibits, and interactions, including (as evidenced here) the mixture of adults and young of quite different species in the same enclosures, as described by the AWI Quarterly, a publication of the Animal Welfare Institute:

The Sriracha Tiger Zoo, an hour outside of Bangkok, Thailand, is truly an amazing place. Boasting more than 400 tigers, a handful of Asian elephants, piles of crocodiles, camels, snakes and other exotic animals, the zoo has some intriguing, yet troubling exhibits.

In one glass room, a farrowing crate entombed a pig who, lying on her side, nourished both her piglets and tiger cubs. Across the hall, another glass room housed a female tiger, who fed piglets adorned in tiger-print costumes. This incongruous display was replicated elsewhere, where enclosures housed tigers, pigs, and dogs together.

In another area, a visitor could feed milk to a young tiger resting on his or her lap - a young tiger still in possession of his claws ... There was a tiger circus, not dissimilar from a circus anywhere else: tigers leaping through rings of fire, walking across a double tightrope, parading around the ring on hind legs, and riding around on the back of the horse.

The mixture of tiger and piglets depicted in these images therefore was not something undertaken for functional reasons, but rather as a common form of visual entertainment provided by the zoo for the amusement of its visitors. According to the Pattaya Mail, these tiger-pig nursing relationships have also been reciprocated to the extent that the mother tiger shown suckling piglets was herself nursed by a sow:

Visitors recently witnessed some bizarre feeding habits of the zoo's most famous inhabitants. A two-year-old female pig named Benjamaj is a blended pedigree of parents, Land-Less and Las-White, that were imported from Norway. Benjamaj is a kind and maternal porky. She has taken 4 baby tigers under her care and along with 3 tiny piglets is nursing the tigers as though she were their mum. She loves those cats and they love her back.

Unbelieving, wide-eyed tourists pressed their noses up to the cage to get a better look. As they moved on to the next cage they were in for another surprise, as there, a great Royal Bengal tigress was lolling on her side and suckling 6 tiny piglets.

'Momma' tiger Saimai is two years old and as a baby was suckled by a pig until she was 4 months old. This democratic start in life allowed her to form a loving relationship with other pigs and even a dog. Food in the wild, maybe - but at the zoo, tourists who witness these amazing scenes come away with food for thought.

Although these pictures might appear charming and innocent, the AWI noted back in 2004 that there may be a darker side to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, as press reports stated that Sriracha was under investigation for illegally breeding protected wildlife for commercial export and had been implicated in the sale of a hundred tigers to China (where there is strong demand for tiger body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicines). The AWI also noted that in late 2004 the zoo was closed for a month when between 80 and 100 tigers died or were euthanized due to an avian influenza (probably spread via the raw chicken carcasses fed to the tigers) that swept through the facility.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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A mother tiger at a California zoo nursed a group of piglets after her own cubs died. As often happens, an item about a tiger's nursing piglets appears to be a case in which someone came across some unusual photographs with no explanatory context and decided to make up his own background story.

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An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

Such claims originated with a 27 March 2014 article published by the Huzlers web site:

First Horse meat, then the mysterious "Pink slime", Now Human meat? A shocking discovery has been made in an Oklahoma City McDonald's meat factory and other McDonald's meat factories nationwide. Meat inspectors reportedly found, what appeared to be, Human meat stored in the meat factory freezers of an Oklahoma City meat factory and human meat already in trucks right outside the factory ready to be shipped to McDonald's restaurants. Health inspectors immediately demanded inspection in various McDonald's meat factories across the country and horrifyingly found human meat in about 90% of the factories inspected thus far.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has seized McDonald's production and shipping and will call for more meat factory inspections and restaurant inspections. The FBI is also investigating the factories. FBI agent Lloyd Harrison told Huzler reporters "The worst part is that it's not only human meat, it's child meat. the body parts that were found across the U.S. factories were deemed to small to be adult body parts, this is truly horrible".

The situation brings up many unanswered questions. How long have they been using human meat? Where did they get the children from? Were they already dead when brought into factories? Investigators and Inspectors are currently being deployed for intensive investigations all around the U.S.

However, that McDonald's article was just a spoof from the Huzlers web site, which offers users the ability to "Create your own news prank and trick your friends by sharing it" and has a history of publishing fabricated news stories (such as one about pop star Justin Bieber's admitting to being bisexual and one about the 2014 Super Bowl being rigged). The Huzlers site also carries a disclaimer on its pages noting that "Huzlers.com is a combination of real shocking news and satire news to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief" and is listed in our article about "5 Fake News Sites to Avoid Sharing."

In truth, no part of the McDonald's operation has been cited for having bought, sold, processed, or used either horse meat or human meat (the latter of which cannot legally be vended in the U.S.) for food purposes.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: McDonald's Exposed for Using Human Meat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers. False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

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NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of Nibiru, or "Planet X."

On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the planet Nibiru (also known as "Planet X"), but at the same time was downplaying the grave risks:

Is this the end of the world as we know it? Doomsayers have prophesied for decades about a giant, rogue planet in our solar system - dubbed Planet X or Nibiru - that has the capacity of colliding or passing near Earth, with catastrophic consequences. And of course, NASA has known about the mystery planet for years, but declined to warn us.... until now. Finally, after the announcement of "Planet Nine" in January, conspiracy theorists have proved to the skeptics that they have been right this entire time, and NASA finally has to admit its wrongs. The planet, according to Caltech researchers, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and takes about 15,000 years to make a full orbit around the sun - And it's heading towards Earth, with a collision date of August 21, 2016. Although Caltech researchers have admitted that we are headed for doomsday. NASA continues to tiptoe around the subject.

"Although our scientists at NASA have emphasized for years that Nibiru doesn't exist, we are ready to reveal the fact that it does exist," said NASA spokesperson Heather Cartwright. "The truth is we have been tracking the object for at least a decade and it is definitely headed towards planet Earth. However, we are expecting a close flyby - not the doomsday collision that Caltech researchers are predicting. There is no need to cause mass panic." In a response to NASA's statement, Caltech researcher Randall Smith had this to say: "For NASA to minimize the threat to our earth by calling it a 'close flyby' is insulting to our research. We have concrete evidence that proves Nibiru is headed straight for earth with a collision that will destroy life as we know it. NASA is just trying to avoid mass panic and chaos within our world. But we all deserve to know that our days are numbered."

This report is untrue. It's just another clickbait fabrication originating with News4KTLA, a fake news site that has appropriated the call letters of a legitimate Los Angeles television station and news outlet ( KTLA).

News4KTLA (like many other fake news sites) features no disclaimer warning readers its content is not to be trusted. (The site's "About" page simply states it features "local news for southern Louisiana and the surrounding area.") News4KTLA is one of several virtually interchangeable fake news purveyors employing visual and call-letter elements associated with news affiliates to trick social media users into spreading misinformation.

Previous News4KTLA hoaxes included claims that a woman cut off a rapist's genitals and fed them to him, the Flint water crisis was caused by dead bodies in the river, Dasani was recalled over dangerous "clear parasites" in the product, a teen died due to a social media "masturbation challenge," a man lost his penis during a rape due to the RapeX device, and parents in Las Vegas were arrested for modifying their baby's ears into points.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FALSE: NASA Warns Nibiru Is Headed Straight for Earth

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NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of Nibiru, or "Planet X." On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the planet Nibiru (also known as "Planet X"), but at the same time was downplaying the grave risks: Is this the end of the world as we know it?

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Singer Britney Spears committed suicide at the Promises clinic in October 2007.

Britney Spears has dead... See the last moments of Britney with life
Exclusive!!!
Today Monday, October 1, 2007 died
Britney Spears

Look at the pictures and one video captured in the clinic of the suicide.

She made the demonic cry after scrawling the devil's number "666" across her head. Also she repeated several times "I am a fraud".

The medical service of the clinic Promises of Malibu couldn't prevent the suicide of Britney, she hang herself with a bedsheet.
See the last moments of Britney Spears with life
Copy and paste the next link in your navigator if you cannot do click:
http://opcl.org/webcal/includes/tmp.asp
NOTE: To reproduce the video do click in the link and after that select the excecute option.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

This poorly worded e-mail claiming that singer Britney Spears had committed suicide by hanging herself with a bedsheet at the Promises rehabilitation center in Malibu, California, was spammed to Internet users beginning in October 2007. Britney Spears is not dead, by suicide or any other means, nor (at the time of this e-mail, at least) is she a resident of the Promises clinic. This e-mail appears to be a come-on intended to lure unsuspecting recipients into visiting and installing
malware from a web site by purporting to offer a link to a video clip of Britney's "last moments."

1 October 2007

Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without the support of our readers.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here.

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Singer Britney Spears committed suicide at the Promises clinic in October 2007. Britney Spears has dead... See the last moments of Britney with life Exclusive!!! Today Monday, October 1, 2007 died Britney Spears Look at the pictures and one video captured in the clinic of the suicide.

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An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

Such claims originated with a 27 March 2014 article published by the Huzlers web site:

First Horse meat, then the mysterious "Pink slime", Now Human meat? A shocking discovery has been made in an Oklahoma City McDonald's meat factory and other McDonald's meat factories nationwide. Meat inspectors reportedly found, what appeared to be, Human meat stored in the meat factory freezers of an Oklahoma City meat factory and human meat already in trucks right outside the factory ready to be shipped to McDonald's restaurants. Health inspectors immediately demanded inspection in various McDonald's meat factories across the country and horrifyingly found human meat in about 90% of the factories inspected thus far.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has seized McDonald's production and shipping and will call for more meat factory inspections and restaurant inspections. The FBI is also investigating the factories. FBI agent Lloyd Harrison told Huzler reporters "The worst part is that it's not only human meat, it's child meat. the body parts that were found across the U.S. factories were deemed to small to be adult body parts, this is truly horrible".

The situation brings up many unanswered questions. How long have they been using human meat? Where did they get the children from? Were they already dead when brought into factories? Investigators and Inspectors are currently being deployed for intensive investigations all around the U.S.

However, that McDonald's article was just a spoof from the Huzlers web site, which offers users the ability to "Create your own news prank and trick your friends by sharing it" and has a history of publishing fabricated news stories (such as one about pop star Justin Bieber's admitting to being bisexual and one about the 2014 Super Bowl being rigged). The Huzlers site also carries a disclaimer on its pages noting that "Huzlers.com is a combination of real shocking news and satire news to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief" and is listed in our article about "5 Fake News Sites to Avoid Sharing."

In truth, no part of the McDonald's operation has been cited for having bought, sold, processed, or used either horse meat or human meat (the latter of which cannot legally be vended in the U.S.) for food purposes.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FACT CHECK: McDonald's Exposed for Using Human Meat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers. False rumors about McDonald's restaurants using worms as filler in their hamburgers and true reports of some retail chains being vended food products tainted with horse meat due to problems with supplies have been the basis for wild (but apparently believable) claims that an Oklahoma City McDonald's outlet was caught with horse meat and human meat in their freezers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of Nibiru, or "Planet X."

On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the planet Nibiru (also known as "Planet X"), but at the same time was downplaying the grave risks:

Is this the end of the world as we know it? Doomsayers have prophesied for decades about a giant, rogue planet in our solar system - dubbed Planet X or Nibiru - that has the capacity of colliding or passing near Earth, with catastrophic consequences. And of course, NASA has known about the mystery planet for years, but declined to warn us.... until now. Finally, after the announcement of "Planet Nine" in January, conspiracy theorists have proved to the skeptics that they have been right this entire time, and NASA finally has to admit its wrongs. The planet, according to Caltech researchers, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and takes about 15,000 years to make a full orbit around the sun - And it's heading towards Earth, with a collision date of August 21, 2016. Although Caltech researchers have admitted that we are headed for doomsday. NASA continues to tiptoe around the subject.

"Although our scientists at NASA have emphasized for years that Nibiru doesn't exist, we are ready to reveal the fact that it does exist," said NASA spokesperson Heather Cartwright. "The truth is we have been tracking the object for at least a decade and it is definitely headed towards planet Earth. However, we are expecting a close flyby - not the doomsday collision that Caltech researchers are predicting. There is no need to cause mass panic." In a response to NASA's statement, Caltech researcher Randall Smith had this to say: "For NASA to minimize the threat to our earth by calling it a 'close flyby' is insulting to our research. We have concrete evidence that proves Nibiru is headed straight for earth with a collision that will destroy life as we know it. NASA is just trying to avoid mass panic and chaos within our world. But we all deserve to know that our days are numbered."

This report is untrue. It's just another clickbait fabrication originating with News4KTLA, a fake news site that has appropriated the call letters of a legitimate Los Angeles television station and news outlet ( KTLA).

News4KTLA (like many other fake news sites) features no disclaimer warning readers its content is not to be trusted. (The site's "About" page simply states it features "local news for southern Louisiana and the surrounding area.") News4KTLA is one of several virtually interchangeable fake news purveyors employing visual and call-letter elements associated with news affiliates to trick social media users into spreading misinformation.

Previous News4KTLA hoaxes included claims that a woman cut off a rapist's genitals and fed them to him, the Flint water crisis was caused by dead bodies in the river, Dasani was recalled over dangerous "clear parasites" in the product, a teen died due to a social media "masturbation challenge," a man lost his penis during a rape due to the RapeX device, and parents in Las Vegas were arrested for modifying their baby's ears into points.
Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.

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FALSE: NASA Warns Nibiru Is Headed Straight for Earth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NASA has warned of imminent disaster due to the trajectory of Nibiru, or "Planet X." On 10 March 2016, the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that NASA had issued a frightening advisory concerning the planet Nibiru (also known as "Planet X"), but at the same time was downplaying the grave risks: Is this the end of the world as we know it?

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FACT CHECK: Does a photograph show a group of daisies that mutated due to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant?

Claim: A photograph shows a group of daisies that mutated due to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

MIXTURE:

WHAT'S TRUE: A photograph shows a group of mutated daisies in Japan.

WHAT'S FALSE: The flowers in the photograph are proven to have mutated due to radiation from the power plant.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2015]

Is this photograph real? No similar mutations were found near Chernobyl, as far as I know.

Origins: On 27 May 2015, Twitter user @San_kaido uploaded a photograph purportedly showing mutated Shasta daisies growing near the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan:

Translation: "The right one grew up, split into 2 stems to have 2 flowers connected each other, having 4 stems of flower tied beltlike. The left one has 4 stems that grew up to be tied to each other and it had z ring-shaped flower. The atmospheric dose is 0.5 μSv/h at 1m above the ground."

Although many viewers assumed that the mutations displayed in the photograph (taken in Nasushiobara City) were caused by nuclear radiation from the Fukushima power plant, which experienced a catastrophic meltdown following a tsunami in March 2011, that may not be the case.

@San_kaido claimed in the tweet that the radiation level near the daisies was measured at "0.5 μSv/h at 1m above the ground." This is only slightly above normal and is classified as safe for "medium to long term habitation."

Furthermore, daisies showcasing similar mutations have been found at locations far away from nuclear radiation. This photograph, for example, was taken in 2010 in the Dutch nature area de Groesplaat, in North Brabant:

And this photograph was taken in a cow pasture in Island Park, Idaho, in 2010:

In fact, the appearance seen in the photograph depicting mutated daisies near the Fukushima plant may simply be the result of fasciation, not nuclear radiation:

More often than not, a flower which is affected by fasciation can be identified by a variety of common problems or mutations, if you will. Flower stems can appear much flatter and wider than the average plant and some may even have more flower heads than expected.

Whilst it's an extremely rare condition for plants to have, it has been recorded in over 100 different types of plant across the world and it probably affects many more which haven't been found yet. Due to the rarity and the strange cases that can result from fasciation, some people have been known to grow prize winning flowers with this disorder thanks primarily to deformations that actually enhance the look of the plant.

There is no one single cause for fasciation as some people are led to believe. Instead, there are a variety of factors that can cause a plant to become fasciated and these have been listed below:

Hormonal imbalance - Having a hormonal imbalance can have an impact on certain cells in the plant where growth mainly occurs. Because of the imbalance these cells do not grow or develop properly like they would in a regular plant.

Infections - Plants can be fouled by viral or bacterial infections which go on to take over the plant and cause mutilations [sic]. Certain bacterium has been linked with plants which have fasciation, but by no means is it exclusive to every plant that has the problem.

Genetics - Just like in humans, genetics play a huge role in the structure of the body and a plant is no different. Whilst there are no specific causes for genetics to be altered or predisposed to certain plants, it is simply considered to be a random mutation in the genetics of a plant.

Environment - The environment that the plant grows in can also play a huge role in the things that come into contact with it. Insects and animals attacking the plant and causing damage can both lead to fasciation; same as fungi or mites. Harsh chemicals used to get rid of pests may also cause problems, as well as exposure to harsh weather conditions in winter like frost. Many of these can be a factor in causing fasciation.

While radiation from the Fukushima disaster in 2011 certainly has had an impact on the plant life in the surrounding area, the above-displayed photograph doesn't necessarily show the mutation of daisies due to nuclear radiation. It is much more likely that this image simply displays an example of fasciation.

Last updated: 22 July 2015

Originally published: 22 July 2015

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FACT CHECK: Does a photograph show a group of daisies that mutated due to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant? Claim: A photograph shows a group of daisies that mutated due to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. MIXTURE: WHAT'S TRUE: A photograph shows a group of mutated daisies in Japan.