Skeptics Stack Exchange
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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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Was there a Bowling Green Massacre in 2011?

A number of news outlets are publishing claims by Kellyanne Conway that the Obama administration put a moratorium on refugee admissions following a "Bowling Green massacre" in 2011. However, I can't find any reference to such an event in the usual…
GordonM
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If smoking causes lung cancer, why has a decline in smoking not led to a decline in lung cancer?

According to the CDC, smoking prevalence among US adults (18+) has decreased quite a bit over the years: 1974: 37.1% of the population 1980: 33.2 1990: 25.5 2000: 23.3 2010: 19.3 According to cancer.gov the rates of new cases of lung cancer in the…
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Has BLM raised over 1 billion dollars but not yet performed any neighborhood cleanup, school funding, food aid or housing services?

This Twitter post by James Woods claims that the Black Lives Matter movement has raised over 1 billion dollars but has not yet performed any neighborhood cleanup, college funding, student economic support, food aid, or housing services. Are these…
tentaclespeak
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Are Democrats more likely to believe Astrology is a science?

In an answer on politics.SE, a Northwestern University study was highlighted, whose main findings included: more Democrats than Republicans think astrology is scientific Using Fisher’s Exact Test, conservative Republicans are significantly more…
Fizz
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Do airlines in North America make around $10 profit per customer?

A quick google search returns several articles such as this one claiming that airlines make less than $10 in profit from each customer. I feel there are a few reasons to doubt this premise: You can connect through some destinations more cheaply than…
Kevin Laity
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Did Donald Trump say republicans are the dumbest voters in the country?

I saw this image going around Twitter lately: If I were to run, I'd run as a republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They love anything on FOX News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be…
Seth
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Did Fox News win a court case for the right to lie?

Project Censored have an 2010 article titled The Media Can Legally Lie: In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United…
March Ho
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Did Henry Ford say "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"?

Did Henry Ford say If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.
bessarabov
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How accurate are these nine charts of the economy under the Obama Administration?

I've seen the image below around and would like to know the accuracy of the charts. The original image I was sent was fairly low quality and a reverse image search lead to a bunch of right-leaning articles, but I would prefer a less biased…
David Starkey
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Are there any laws preventing the copying of keys containing a DO NOT DUPLICATE stamp?

While I worked at Walmart during college in the states, we would copy keys for customers, unless the key looked like this. We were told that it was illegal to copy such keys, however, customers would regularly tell us it was in fact legal. Are…
Himarm
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Did Susan B. Anthony make these statements regarding suffrage for women and former slaves?

Telesur posted an article on 8 November 2016 which claims Susan B. Anthony made a number of statements under the headline "White Women Pay Tribute to Susan B. Anthony, Notorious Racist": The Bad “I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will…
Luis Masuelli
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Has the marijuana black market in Colorado increased since the state repealed its state laws prohibiting it?

Jeff Hunt, the Vice President of Public Policy at Colorado Christian University, wrote in a recent opinion piece in USA Today: In the years since, Colorado has seen an increase in marijuana related traffic deaths, poison control calls, and…
GreenMatt
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Did Donald Trump "[imitate] a disabled reporter"?

During her speech at the Golden Globes, Meryl Streep said the following: But there was one performance this year that stunned me. It, it sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good. It was -- there was nothing good about it. But it was…
JonathanReez
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Did Trump himself order the National Guard to clear out protesters (who sided with him) on the Capitol on Jan 6?

An op-ed on Russia Today (which obviously has its biases) claims about Trump's reaction to the Jan 6 events: The supposed Nazi fascist dictator himself ordered National Guard and police to clear out the protesters who sided with him, and protect…
Fizz
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Did Bernie Sanders say immigrants steal our jobs?

In an interview with the former Maryland governor, Martin O’Malley, that appeared in The Guardian there are some notable claims that I haven't heard of till now. For example, this part refers to Bernie Sanders (emphasis mine): Here’s a guy who has…
user36020
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