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Tag: misinfomation
Vice President’s Team Caught Spreading Misinformation Surrounding Kamala Harris Coronavirus Test
White House spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, Symone Sanders, was caught spreading misinformation on Monday regarding the vice president’s coronavirus test.
During the White House press briefing on Monday afternoon, press secretary Jen Psaki said that Harris had been tested for the coronavirus and that there was no detection of the coronavirus, attributing the information to the vice president’s office.
“I think the Vice President’s Office put out that she was tested, and that she did — there was no detection of COVID-19,” she said.
But that was not what the vice president’s office had said in a statement Sanders released on Saturday night.
In that statement, Sanders wrote that Harris and her staff “do not need to be tested” after meeting with Texas state lawmakers on Tuesday — even though some of them tested positive for the virus.
Sanders’ full statement read:
On Tuesday, July 13th, Vice President Harris met with members of the Texas state legislature who are temporarily in Washington, D.C. Earlier today, it was brought to our attention that two of the members at that meeting tested positive for COVID-19. Based on the timeline of these positive tests, it was determined the Vice President and her staff present at the meeting were not at risk of exposure because they were not in close contact with those who tested positive and therefore do not need to be tested or quarantined. The Vice President and her staff are fully vaccinated.
When Politico’s West Wing Playbook questioned the vice president’s office about the potential conflict, Sanders responded that both of the statements were true.
The False and Exaggerated Claims Still Being Spread About the Capitol Riot
What took place at the Capitol on January 6 was undoubtedly a politically motivated riot. As such, it should not be controversial to regard it as a dangerous episode. Any time force or violence is introduced into what ought to be the peaceful resolution of political conflicts, it should be lamented and condemned.
But none of that justifies lying about what happened that day, especially by the news media. Condemning that riot does not allow, let alone require, echoing false claims in order to render the event more menacing and serious than it actually was. There is no circumstance or motive that justifies the dissemination of false claims by journalists. The more consequential the event, the less justified, and more harmful, serial journalistic falsehoods are.
Remember That ‘Zip Tie’ Guy Capitol Riot Story? Turns out That’s Not Quite True Either
The media has now backed off a claim that they’ve made now for more than a month: that Officer Brian Sicknick was killed after being hit by a fire extinguisher during the Capitol riot.
Now, we reported back on Jan. 10, a few days after, that there wasn’t evidence to support the claim at that time, that he collapsed several hours later after he had gone back to his office and texted his brother that he was fine after the riot. Authorities said he had no blunt trauma injury so the story about the fire extinguisher doesn’t stand up and they have yet to find any incident in the evidence that they’ve combed that they believe could be a precipitating incident. His family says he died from a stroke at the hospital.
Now there’s another story that may just have been debunked. You may recall the infamous picture of a man climbing over seats in the Capitol gallery of the Senate chamber holding what appeared to be zip ties or flex cuffs. That beamed around the world with people suggesting this was proof of an intent to kidnap lawmakers.
Well, not so much.
Now, this is one of those times where the picture or the video appears clear but actually isn’t.
But in this particular case, the story of the zip ties was distorted out of all reality because the guy didn’t actually bring them to the Capitol. According to prosecutors, the man found them on a desk that he happened to encounter once he got inside the Capitol. He took them apparently to ensure the Capitol Police couldn’t use them on the protesters, according to the prosecutors.
So no, he wasn’t bringing them in to kidnap lawmakers. But the picture has been pointed to and used innumerable times to suggest a kidnapping plot.
Marhsall McLuhan on WWIII…
Breonna Taylor misinformation…
California Bill to Criminalize Misinformation About Elections
Prepared to give up your liberty for the sake of “public peace, health, or safety”? A new California bill would criminalize the spread of election misinformation — even on social media.
Americans can be prosecuted for their private messages on social media platforms if they contain misinformation, according to new legislation. Senate Bill 739 declared that “A person is guilty of a misdemeanor” who distributes “misleading information” about elections whether it be via “mail, radio or television broadcast, telephone call, text message, email, or any other electronic means.”
“Governor Gavin Newsom has already signed,” as of last Friday, Reclaim the Net observed in its September 22 article. The California government website stated “Approved by Governor September 18, 2020” and that it would “take effect immediately.”
Democrat Senator for the 27th Senate District Henry Stern, who authored the bill, did not mince words about the severe, and intentional, outcome of such legislation, according to Reclaim the Net:
If you’re putting out tweets, Facebook posts or using social and other types of media to intentionally mislead voters about their right and ability to vote by mail, that’s now a crime, and it’s my hope local DA’s and the state attorney general will go after violators the moment they see them.
Stern later added that “In the midst of this worldwide pandemic, it is imperative that voters, especially those who are getting a vote-by-mail ballot for the first time, know their rights and are getting accurate, reliable information,” CBS Local reported.
Question everything. Except me.
The Feds Who Made America’s Fentanyl Freakout Worse
Police officers in Texas were told some terrifying news on June 26, 2018: Anti-government flyers poisoned with a deadly opioid had been placed on Harris County Sheriff’s Office squad cars, and a sergeant who had touched one was en route to the hospital with overdose symptoms. The incident set off a flurry of media coverage, and it frightened police halfway across the country. The Maine Information Analysis Center forwarded Harris County’s bulletin to local departments, while the Commonwealth Fusion Center wrote its own safety alert for Massachusetts officers.
But it wasn’t true. Three days later, a laboratory analysis found that there was no fentanyl on the flyers. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office blamed the panic on a problem with field test kits.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid hundreds of times more powerful than morphine, is responsible for about half of overdose deaths in the United States. Among law enforcement, it has taken on mythical properties. First responders around the country have claimed to have nearly died from accidental exposure, based on the scientifically inaccurate idea that a deadly amount of fentanyl can pass through human skin or even poison the air around it.
That myth has spread through a surprising avenue: America’s counterterrorism agencies.
Leaked police documents reviewed by Reason show that fusion centers—local liaison offices set up by the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of 9/11—have circulated fentanyl myths, causing police officers to panic and wasting first responders’ time.
The documents were first released as part of BlueLeaks, a massive trove of law enforcement data leaked by the hacker collective Anonymous. Out of 121 fentanyl-related bulletins in the BlueLeaks trove reviewed by Reason, at least 36 claimed that fentanyl could be absorbed through the skin and at least 41 discussed the alleged danger of airborne fentanyl.
FBI officials even claimed that fentanyl is “very likely a viable option” for a chemical terrorist attack in a September 2018 bulletin, although they also admitted that there is “no known credible threat reporting” suggesting that anyone was actually planning such an attack.
The more the myths spread, the more officers in the field panicked, convinced that they had fallen victim to an accidental fentanyl overdose.
Fentanyl is a genuinely dangerous drug. A state trooper in Salem County, New Jersey, fainted and had to be revived with naloxone in September 2018 during a drug bust, according to a bulletin by the New Jersey Regional Operations and Intelligence Center. The officer had touched their face with fentanyl-contaminated hands—likely bringing the drug into contact with the mouth or eyes—and later tested positive for opioid exposure.
But overdosing “from transdermal and airborne exposure to Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl (IMF) is a near scientific impossibility,” according to the Harm Reduction Coalition.
In other words, fentanyl can’t jump through air or the skin to suddenly kill you.
Accusations of Covid-19 misinformation dismissed against Minnesota doctor who is a state senator
The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice has dismissed the two allegations against Chaska State Senator and physician Scott Jensen.
The original complaint accused Jensen of spreading misinformation about the number of COVID-19-related deaths reported in Minnesota and providing reckless advice in comparing COVID-19 to the flu.
Jensen says he’s “gratified. I appreciate the fact that the Board of Medical practice is doing what it is charged to do, but still, it hangs over your head like a black cloud until the decision is rendered.”
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