In late December 2018, the Facebook page for Yahoo! Now shared a link to an article with a comment that two-thirds of millennials “don’t know what Auschwitz was.” The post linked to an article aggregated to Yahoo! from Newsweek on April 12 2018, “One-Third of Americans Don’t Believe 6 Million Jews Were Murdered During the …
Do Two-Thirds of Millennials Not Know What Auschwitz Is? Read More »
On December 27, 2018, a brief video appeared to show Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussing homosexuality and referring to the Rapture, which according to certain sects of evangelical Christianity is the end of the world in which all “true believers,” dead or alive, ascend to Heaven: One of the “battles” Pompeo is …
Did President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Call Same-Sex Marriage ‘Evil’? Read More »
In late December 2018, a screenshot of a tweet attributed to a Twitter user who goes by “@MAGA_diane” began circulating on social media: The tweet appeared with a link to a GoFundMe campaign to fund a border wall between the United States and Mexico (created and pushed by Brian Kolfage, who has a history of …
In December 2018, claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had once deemed the holiday classic film It’s a Wonderful Life to be “communist propaganda” circulated on various social media sites: Fun Fact: Months after It’s A Wonderful Life was released, The FBI thought it was communist propaganda due to the wealthy banker being the villain. — …
Did the FBI Declare That ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Was ‘Communist Propaganda’? Read More »
On December 17, 2018 YouTube content creator and former NASA engineer Mark Rober shared a video called “Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap,” which purportedly showed the aftermath of a glitter bomb deployment on unwitting porch pirates who were unable to resist stealing Apple-branded packages from unguarded front entryways: Someone stole a package from me. Police …
Is a Viral ‘Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap’ Video Real? Read More »
A tweet published in December 2018 reiterated a long-circulating purported “life hack,” in which an easy-to-miss arrow on a car’s gas gauge indicated the side of the vehicle on which its gas tank was located: How old were you when you realized the arrow on the gas pump in your car shows which side the …
Does the Arrow on a Car’s Gas Gauge Indicate Which Side Has the Fuel Tank? Read More »
On December 15, 2018, a Facebook user shared what appeared to be a screenshot of an article reporting the shocking news that dozens of Japanese scientists had been killed by rebellious artificial intelligence: An Instagram handle was visible in the screenshot, and that account featured the following post: 4 artificial intelligence robots killed 29 scientists …
Did Four Artificially Intelligent Robots Kill 29 Humans in a Japan Lab? Read More »
On December 18, 2018, a spate of posts and articles about fast food chain Popeye’s new “emotional support chicken” appeared on social media: The move appeared to be a stunt that was either tasty or tasteless, depending on your perspective. Although several general news outlets posted about the Popeye’s product, readers and social media users …
Is Popeye’s Offering ‘Emotional Support Chicken’ to Harried Travelers? Read More »
On December 17 2018, a Facebook page shared the following meme purporting to reveal the surprising etymology of the word “hospital”: With a nod to the “today years old” meme, it read: How old were you when you realised that HOSPITAL means House Of Sick People Including Treatment and Labour. Fun (but often unreliable) assertions …
Does Hospital Stand for ‘House of Sick People Including Treatment and Labour’? Read More »
Is the War on Christmas a holiday tradition in its own right?
