Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

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.

1508 questions
15
votes
1 answer

Internet Gambling Linked to Terrorist Financing?

Currently there is a debate in the United States over the legal status of Internet Gambling; specifically, playing Poker for "real money" over the Internet. Many of those who are opposed to Internet Gambling in the United States claim that Internet…
John Dibling
  • 251
  • 1
  • 7
15
votes
1 answer

Did the US Government invent ebola to test bioweapons in Africa?

It has been going around that the US government was responsible for creating Ebola in order to test their Bioweapons as stated by CBS news: The largest newspaper in Liberia published a conspiracy theory accusing the United States of intentionally…
Luke
  • 151
  • 4
15
votes
1 answer

Does Ebola pose "little risk to the U.S. general population"?

We are currently in the middle of the largest ever Ebola outbreak, with nearly 900 killed and more than 1,600 infected by the disease in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and now Nigeria. The disease's toll continues to rise. One of the big questions…
samthebrand
  • 4,730
  • 4
  • 32
  • 56
15
votes
1 answer

Did JFK Attempt to eliminate the power of the Federal Reserve Bank to loan money to the US?

According to this site: On June 4, 1963, a virtually unknown Presidential decree, Executive Order 11110, was signed with the authority to basically strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the United States Federal…
Chad
  • 9,099
  • 6
  • 49
  • 96
15
votes
2 answers

Do illegal immigrants in the US get a bus ticket to wherever they have family or friends?

According to a Fox News account of a recent influx of illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border: They have been instructed by the "coyote" who ferried them across the river for an exorbitant fee – as much as $1,000 – to simply wait for the Border…
gerrit
  • 17,636
  • 17
  • 84
  • 137
15
votes
1 answer

Was Truman told that the first atom bomb was going to be used on a military target?

In his diary entry for July 25, 1945, US President Harry S. Truman wrote: This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors…
ike
  • 4,950
  • 1
  • 20
  • 52
15
votes
1 answer

Do US senators and congressmen make abnormally high returns on their stock market investments?

Nate Silver's popular book on the art and science of prediction, The Signal and the Noise has a chapter on financial markets called If you can't beat em.... The chapter spends some time discussing the statistics of market movements and the…
matt_black
  • 56,186
  • 16
  • 175
  • 373
15
votes
1 answer

Does the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provide higher quality, cheaper care than most other US health systems?

The VHA is the integrated health system providing healthcare to US military veterans managed by the Department of Veteran Affairs. It is currently regarded by by some other health systems as a model to learn from (see here for a recent report about…
matt_black
  • 56,186
  • 16
  • 175
  • 373
15
votes
2 answers

Is Walmart the largest company in history?

I have seen a post going around on Facebook containing a list of "facts" about Walmart. Two of them seem like very large claims: Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer, and most speak English. Wal-Mart is the…
user6204
15
votes
1 answer

Did the US military pay $600 for a hammer?

I have heard this story for years now, about how the US military paid $600 per hammer for everyday garden-variety hammers. Today, for the first time, I saw an article debunking the story. But that article is hardly on a credible site. So, did the…
gazza
  • 167
  • 1
  • 3
15
votes
1 answer

Was McCarthy directly involved with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)?

There are often claims that Joe McCarthy started, led, or was responsible for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Examples: BBC reports "Many of those forced to appear before McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee..." …
Russell Steen
  • 12,872
  • 1
  • 64
  • 86
15
votes
1 answer

Do charter schools perform better than other public schools?

I've heard calls for the ordinary public school system in my state to be replaced or supplemented with a charter school system (pdf warning). Do charter schools perform better or worse than other public schools? If so, by what measures?
Dan
  • 253
  • 2
  • 9
14
votes
2 answers

Do astroturfing campaigns target news sites and political discussion boards?

As a person who regularly contributes to comments sections on various news sites and political discussion forums, I have heard this claim being espoused by left-leaning commenters about the overwhelming amount of very similar conservative leaning…
maple_shaft
  • 1,261
  • 1
  • 12
  • 22
14
votes
1 answer

Is there a significant difference between voters' and non-voters' preferences in political elections?

When discussing political campaigns where voting is optional, it is often advocated that everyone (who can legally do so) should vote: Example Example Example It's reasonable to conclude that the people pushing such campaigns must believe that…
Uwat
  • 333
  • 1
  • 9
14
votes
1 answer

Is non-union labor more productive than union labor?

A claim was made today by an equipment manufacturing industry representative that in the last 10 years Non-Union labor had far out paced Union labor in productivity gains and that Non-Union Shops where now significantly more productive than Union…
Chad
  • 9,099
  • 6
  • 49
  • 96
1 2 3
…
99 100