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Questions tagged [united-states]

Use this tag for questions about claims based in the United States, or limited to the United States.

The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, the States, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district.

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Is Obama the first President of the US to write a computer program?

According to a recent Wired article, US President Barack Obama was the first president to write code: President Barack Obama told the world that everyone should learn how to code. And now he’s putting his money where his mouth is. Earlier today, to…
mati
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Did the US ban the Volkswagen XL1 for being too fuel efficient?

There are dozens of articles similar to this one floating around claiming the new Volkswagen XL1, which can get 300+ MPG (0.78 L/100 km) in ideal driving conditions, has been banned in the USA because it is too fuel efficient and it would cut into…
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Has income tax been found unconstitutional by a court?

Someone told me that there are people who claim that the income tax, and by extension the IRS, is unconstitutional, and that some have won in court using this argument. Is this true? An example of a prominent claim is the book The Great Income Tax…
ike
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If attacked, does having a handgun increase your chance of injury?

Rape survivor Amanda Collins spoke during a legislative hearing concerning Colorado’s proposed ban on concealed firearms on college campuses. She explained how she wished she would’ve had a firearm to defend herself from her rapist, which could have…
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Has the War on Drugs disproportionately affected minority communities?

The premise of Eugene Jarecki's The House I Live In documentary is that the US War on Drugs, other than being a mostly failed campaign, has also disproportionately affected minority communities. A summary of the film's premise is presented on its…
yannis
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Against the law to spray-clean not according to label directions?

I have a bottle of Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner with Bleach, marketed for sale in the United States. Its label reads, in part (and with emphasis removed): Directions for use: It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent…
msh210
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Was the date for the 9/11 attack chosen to be the same as the emergency number in the U.S. (911)?

Many sites on the internet cite this coincidence as ether a prof to a conspiracy by the gov. or a message that the terrorists wanted to pass to the American People. Here are just some exmples from around the net: Yahoo Questions: Q: I just got…
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Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said at a September 7 MSNBC presidential debate that "it is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you're paying into a program that's going to be there. Anybody that's for the status quo with Social…
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Are there more guns in America than people?

On Real Time with Bill Maher (aired March 30, 2012), host Bill Maher said: There are now more guns in America than there are people... (I'm guessing he is talking about "civilian firearms ") From Wikipedia - Number of guns per capita by country (a…
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Have 98% of Catholic women used birth control?

An NPR article on the debate about contraceptive coverage makes the following claim: In fact, 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control at some point in their lifetimes. Is this claim true?
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Is Obama the first U.S. president to "bow to a Muslim King"?

This video, makes the following claim, as aired on Fox News: [Obama] did bow to the Muslim King, while he did not do it to the British Queen of England, and by bowing he showed the world that "I am subservient, I do bow down to you as a Muslim…
Flimzy
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Has the US federal government ever defaulted on a loan?

A number of newspapers claim that the US federal government has never defaulted on its loans (though I noted that it did restructure them in 1930). In particular, the Economist states in the article “The Debt Ceiling and Default”, Jan 13th 2011,…
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Has Dr. Fauci entered the Federal witness protection program?

In a public appearance covered by an NBC News affiliate, there is the following comment by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with context (emphasis mine) via DeSantis announces $20M funding for cybersecurity education in Florida on 2 March 2022: A few…
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Was "their" a singular pronoun in English before the 16th century?

I saw this meme on facebook: So, was "their" truly a genderless 3rd person singular pronoun prior to some change in the 16th/17th century? This Wikipedia article indicates that the genderless 3rd person singular pronoun was "it" for early…
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Did a school or college in the United States ban backpacks after a shooting?

There's a story going around that an unnamed college in the United States banned backpacks after a shooting. The lack of details is suspicious and it looks more like a wrongly-captioned prank at a high-school than anything else. It doesn't look like…
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