Please watch out for the Elon Musk crypto giveaway scam, and warn your family and friends!
Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway : What Is It?
People are sharing a video which purportedly shows Elon Musk telling people to go to the ElonFirst website, which claims to be giving away 20 million dollars worth of bitcoins (BTC) and ether (ETH) cryptocurrencies!
And now breaking news. Take out your phones and go to elonfirst.com right now. You will be thanking me forever for this.
If you go to the ElonFirst website, you will see it claim that Elon Musk is the “founder of this event and one of the main sponsors” of the $20,000,000 crypto giveaway.
Elon Musk ’s Crypto Giveaway
X Payments. Coming early 2025.
Why would we pay millions to advertising agencies instead of giving them to you? You will forward this to everyone. A billboard would get us one pair of eyes only..
Elon Musk : The founder of this event and one of the main sponsors of the event
$20,000,000 : Allocated for the giveaway
60 BTC / 300 ETH : Max amount that we can get on your crypto wallet after participating in this event
Terms of participation : Important: you can only participate in this Giveaway 1 time!
Here are the reasons why the Elon Musk crypto giveaway is a just another scam to cheat you of your hard-earned money!
Elon Musk is not giving away free crypto!
First, let me just point out that Elon Musk is not giving away any Bitcoin or Ether. He is a businessman who loves making money, not give it away.
Even his philanthropy appears to be largely self-serving, making him eligible for enormous tax breaks, and helping his businesses. That’s why he’s a billionaire.
There is also no reason why X (formerly Twitter) would ever give away over $2,000,000 worth of BTC and ETH cryptocurrency, when it is in financial trouble with negative cash flow, and has already lost about 80% of its value!
Elon Musk video was digitally-altered
The video of Elon Musk asking you to go to ElonFirst.com appears to be digitally-altered, using AI software to change the movement of Elon Musk’s mouth to match the fake voice-over.
If you watch the original video from the 2024 Annual Tesla Shareholder Meeting, you can see that Elon Musk never asked anyone to go to ElonFirst.com.
The ElonFirst.com website is a fake or scam website, pretending to be owned by Elon Musk. The website domain name is brand new, and was only registered on 9 October 2024.
The domain name also does not belong to Elon Musk, X or Tesla. In fact, its ownership appears to be hidden – a common practice for scam websites.
All we can tell is that the domain was registered in Stockholm, Sweden, and the server it uses appears to be hosted in Russia.
ElonFirst.com
Registered on : 2024-10-09 Expires on : 2025-10-09 Name Servers : ns5.myarena.ru, ns6.myarena.ru
Organization : Redacted for privacy State : Stockholm Country : SE (Sweden)
Just like an earlier cryptocurrency scam involving Elon Musk, it is likely the scammers will keep switching the same scam website to different domains every time they get exposed.
Just like the earlier Elon Musk BTC + ETH scam, this is a similar double-up crypto scam that relies on your greed to cheat you of your cryptocurrency.
Instead of giving you the cryptocurrency you prefer like a real giveaway would, it asks you to send your own BTC or ETH to receive double the amount in return!
In order to receive BTC from our giveaway – you have to send BTC & we will send back to you double the amount, instantly! This is to avoid bad actors exploiting our giveaway.
That’s utter nonsense. Whatever cryptocurrency you send to those addresses will be lost for good. You will never get it back, never mind get double the amount!
To further tempt you into giving even more bitcoin or ether, the scammers offer special bonuses for large transactions:
Send 0.1+ BTC get 0.2+ BTC back
Send 0.5+ BTC get 1+ BTC back
Send 1+ BTC get 2+ BTC back
Send 5+ BTC get 11.25+ BTC back +25% Bonus
Send 10+ BTC get 25+ BTC back +50% Bonus
Send 20 BTC get 60 BTC back +100% Bonus
All that is bullshit. They are just preying on your greed to trick you into giving them more cryptocurrency.
Please do NOT send any bitcoin or ether to those addresses. It is a SCAM!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
X is back in Brazil, after it caved and paid a hefty $5 million fine, and blocked accounts accused of spreading misinformation! Here is what you need to know…
Elon Musk fight with Brazil over X ban : A quick primer!
The brouhaha between Elon Musk and Brazil started when Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) to remove over 100 accounts that were allegedly spreading misinformation and questioning the legitimacy of President President Lula da Silva’s 2022 election victory.
Musk, who has often claimed to be a staunch advocacy of free speech, publicly opposed these directives, labeling them an infringement on individual rights. His vocal criticisms of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes escalated the situation, leading to heightened scrutiny of X’s operations in Brazil.
In a surprising move, Musk chose to close X offices in Brazil in mid-August, leaving the platform without a legal representative in the country — an essential requirement for operating legally. This led to Justice Moraes ordering internet and mobile service providers in Brazil to block access to X, a significant blow to the platform’s user base in the region.
Elon Musk also publicly mocked Justice Moraes, claiming that the judge has “repeatedly broken the laws he has sworn to uphold“, while sharing a post celebrating X as the top news app on Apple’s App Store in Brazil, stating, “People want to know the truth.”
Last week, X mysteriously reappeared in Brazil after a software update that it claimed resulted in an “inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users”. But Justice Moraes called it “wilful, illegal and persistent”, and levied a R$5 million fine (~US$921,000) on X, adding to R$18.3 million (~US$3.37 million) fine that had already been imposed.
X back in Brazil after paying $5M fine and blocking accounts!
However, just three weeks after defying Brazil’s court orders, Elon Musk and X gave up its fight, and agreed to comply with Brazilian court orders to restore access.
This compliance included appointing a legal representative in Brazil and removing the user accounts that the court deemed threats to democracy. X also paid fines totalling 28.6 million reais ($5.1 million / £3.9 million), as part of the resolution.
On 8 October 2024, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that X had met all the necessary requirements to operate again in Brazil, and ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to restore service within 24 hours.
X said that it was proud to return to Brazil, and added that it “will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law”.
Brazilian Minister of Communications Juscelino Filho labelled it as a “victory for the country“, and stated that “We showed the world that here, our laws should be respected, by whomever it may be“.
Brazil is the sixth biggest market for X globally, with about 21.5 million users according to Statista. However, many of its users migrated to rival platforms like Bluesy and Threads (which is owned by Meta), and it is unknown if they will all return to X.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did the WEF just call for social media owners to be imprisoned?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : WEF calls for imprisonment of social media owners!
People are sharing an article (archive) by The People’s Voice (formerly NewsPunch), which claimed or suggested that the World Economic Forum just called for social media owners to be imprisoned for allowing “non-mainstream” content on their platforms!
Here is an excerpt of the (intentionally?) rambling and confusing article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
WEF Calls for Imprisonment of Social Media Owners Who Allow ‘Non-Mainstream’ Content on Their Platforms
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has called on government’s worldwide to begin imprisoning social media owners who allow ‘non-mainstream’ content on their platforms.
Klaus Schwab’s right-hand man Yuval Noah Harari says people like Elon Musk must be held liable for so-called ‘misinformation’ on X.
Harari’s argument challenges the longstanding defense used by social media companies: freedom of speech. “They always try to protect themselves by appealing to freedom of speech… the companies need to take responsibility for their algorithm,” Harari declared. He insists that platforms must be held accountable not just for user-generated content but for the ways their algorithms amplify or suppress specific messages.
This represents a significant shift in focus, moving beyond content creators and aiming directly at the mechanisms of content distribution. Harari’s stance is clear: “If the algorithm is writing it, then you’re definitely liable for what your algorithm is writing.” This brings into focus the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in moderating online content.
Harari’s comments appear to be a direct shot at Elon Musk, who purchased X with the aim of promoting an open flow of information. Musk has long championed the idea that information should be free, and that a thriving democracy depends on the free exchange of ideas, even controversial ones. Harari dismisses this viewpoint, saying, “Information isn’t truth. Most information in the world is junk… If you think that you just flood the world with information and the truth will float up—no, it will sink.”
Harari suggests that Musk’s hands-off approach—allowing all information to flow freely—creates an environment where truth is overwhelmed by noise. He argues that institutions like newspapers, universities, and courts are necessary to sift through information and determine what is reliable. He draws a comparison to an editor at a major newspaper, noting that just as an editor is responsible for what is placed on the front page, social media companies should be held to the same standard when their algorithms promote content.
Truth : WEF did not call for imprisonment of social media owners!
This appears to be yet another example of fake news created / promoted by The People’s Voice, and here are the reasons why…
WEF did not call for imprisonment of social media owners
Let me start by pointing out that the World Economic Forum (WEF) did not call for the imprisonment of social media owners.
If the WEF actually made such a shocking statement, it would have been widely reported by media outlets all over the world, and criticised by people, as well as those social media platforms themselves.
Yet, there has been no media coverage, not even some outrage on social media. No social media platform has condemned such a declaration either. Nada. Zilch. That’s because the WEF never called for the imprisonment of social media owners!
Unsurprisingly, The People’s Voice article did not provide any evidence to back up its claims. In fact, it only appeared to refer to imprisonment in its title and lede. There was no further mention of any threat of imprisonment in the rest of the very long article.
Yuval Noah Hariri is not Klaus Schwab’s right-hand man
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli professor in the Department of History, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He does not work for the WEF, and he is certainly not Klaus Schwab’s right-hand man.
Yet again, The People’s Voice article provided no evidence to back up its claim that Yuval Noah Harari is Klaus Schwab’s right-hand man.
Yuval Noah Hariri did not call for imprisonment
Yuval Noah Harari also did not call for social media owners to be imprisoned for allowing “non-mainstream” content on their platforms. In fact, he never call for anyone to be imprisoned, period!
In that interview, Hariri never once said that social media owners should be imprisoned for any reason, never mind for allowing “non-mainstream” content on their platforms.
Yuval Noah Hariri did not call for censorship
Yuval Noah Hariri also did not call for censorship of “non-mainstream” content on social media platforms. He only said that social media platforms should take responsibility for the actions of their algorithms.
In fact, Hariri emphasised that “we should be very, very careful about censoring human users“, but pointed out that the social media companies “need to take responsibility for their algorithms“.
If you watch the video, you can see that Hariri believes social media platforms should be held responsible for what their algorithms promote, and not the content itself (unless it was created by their algorithms).
The People’s Voice is the current name for NewsPunch, which possibly changed its name because its brand has been so thoroughly discredited after posting numerous shocking but fake stories.
Founded as Your News Wire in 2014, it was rebranded as NewsPunch in November 2018, before becoming The People’s Voice. A 2017 BuzzFeed report identified NewsPunch as the second-largest source of popular fake news on Facebook that year.
Its articles have been regularly debunked as fake news, so you should think twice about sharing anything from NewsPunch / The People’s Voice. Here are some of its fake stories that I fact checked earlier:
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
For all of his bravado, Elon Musk quickly surrendered his fight with Brazil over its nationwide ban of X. Here is what you need to know…
Elon Musk fight with Brazil over X ban : A quick primer!
The brouhaha between Elon Musk and Brazil started when Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X to remove over 100 accounts that were allegedly spreading misinformation and questioning the legitimacy of President Lula da Silva’s 2022 election victory.
Musk, who has often claimed to be a staunch advocacy of free speech, publicly opposed these directives, labeling them an infringement on individual rights. His vocal criticisms of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes escalated the situation, leading to heightened scrutiny of X’s operations in Brazil.
In a surprising move, Musk chose to close X offices in Brazil in mid-August, leaving the platform without a legal representative in the country — an essential requirement for operating legally. This led to Justice Moraes ordering internet and mobile service providers in Brazil to block access to X, a significant blow to the platform’s user base in the region.
Elon Musk also publicly mocked Justice Moraes, claiming that the judge has “repeatedly broken the laws he has sworn to uphold“, while sharing a post celebrating X as the top news app on Apple’s App Store in Brazil, stating, “People want to know the truth.”
Last week, X mysteriously reappeared in Brazil after a software update that it claimed resulted in an “inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users”. But Justice Moraes called it “wilful, illegal and persistent”, and levied a R$5 million fine (~US$921,000) on X, adding to R$18.3 million (~US$3.37 million) fine that had already been imposed.
In a surprising twist – after three weeks defying Brazil’s court orders, it appears that Elon Musk has given up his fight.
X – the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has agreed to comply with Brazilian court orders to restore access. This compliance included appointing a legal representative in Brazil and removing the user accounts that the court deemed threats to democracy. X also paid outstanding fines, amounting to millions of reais, as part of the resolution.
Despite this apparent victory for Brazilian authorities, the Supreme Court highlighted that X had not filed the necessary documentation confirming the appointment of Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao as its legal representative. The court granted X five days to provide the required paperwork validating her appointment.
Starlink – the satellite Internet service provider owned by Elon Musk, had also capitulated. It was also engaged in a dispute with Brazilian authorities over its refusal to enforce the ban on X. However, it said on 4 September that it would comply with the court orders.
Despite being extremely prolific and vocal on X, Elon Musk has been notably silent on X’s capitulation in Brazil. Neither has X released any statement on why it suddenly decided to comply with the court orders.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
X insiders have refuted Elon Musk who claimed that his disastrous interview of Donald Trump suffered a massive DDOS attack!
Elon Musk : Massive DDOS attack of Trump interview!
On August 11, 2024, X owner Elon Musk announced that he would be conducting an interview of… oh, sorry… a “live conversation” with former President Donald Trump.
Scheduled for 8 PM ET on Monday, August 12, the Musk-Trump “conversation” was hosted on X Spaces (where else?), which should both provide a “safe space” for Donald Trump, and an opportunity for Elon Musk to demonstrate that his “streamlining” of X has not hurt its ability to host major events.
However, the Musk-Trump interview had a disastrous start with a crash. X users who tried to tune in were instead greeted by an error message – “Unable to fetch Space” or “This Space is not available“. Those who somehow managed to get in, only heard lo-fi techno music.
18 minutes later, Elon Musk claimed that X appeared to be under a massive DDOS attack, and X was working to shut it down:
There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down.
Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later.
Several minutes later, Musk claimed that X tested Spaces with 8 million concurrent users, implying that it has to be some kind of nefarious action by someone outside of X.
We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today
When someone suggested that the DDOS attack might have been initiated by the Democrats, Elon Musk agreed.
mark pinkus : Its Dems fighting to ‘save’ Democracy from two massive disrupters!
After the lo-fi techno music finally stopped some 30 minutes later, listeners only heard some rustling from Trump’s microphone, and then silence for another 10-12 minutes, before the interview (sorry, conversation!) finally started.
In the end, the Musk-Trump interview / conversation only hosted some 1 million concurrent listeners on X Spaces – far short of the 8 million Elon Musk claimed Twitter tested earlier.
X insiders deny DDOS attack during Musk-Trump interview!
Oddly, Elon Musk seemed to be hedging his claim with the word “appears”, before offering the 8 million concurrent test as “evidence”. Why would he do that? It’s so weird…
As the owner of X, Musk would clearly know whether X was under “a massive DDOS attack” or not. He wouldn’t need to beat about the bush. He would have network engineers monitoring the traffic, who would be able to spot any suspicious spike in traffic and determine if it was a massive DDOS attack or not.
It now appears that Elon Musk may not have been entirely truthful about the technical issues that beset his disastrous X Spaces conversation with Donald Trump.
At least two X insiders have refuted Elon Musk’s claim. The first confirmed to The Verge that there wasn’t actually a denial-of-service attack on X. Another X staff said that there was a “99 percent” chance Elon Musk was lying about a DDOS attack.
That makes sense, as outside of that Musk-Trump interview, the rest of X (including other X Spaces) was working normally. A massive DDOS attack would have made it impossible for X to function normally. You cannot just target a DDOS attack to hit one specific livestream, and leave the rest of X running normally.
To be clear – there is no evidence of a massive DDOS attack, and there is also no evidence that the Democrats were involved or responsible for the technical failures that marred the disastrous Musk-Trump “live conversation” on X Spaces.
This isn’t the first time X has suffered such failures. Ron DeSantis suffered a similarly embarrassing failure to launch (nod to you SpaceX fans!) when he launched his ill-fated presidential campaign on X Spaces in May 2023.
At that time, Donald Trump mocked the disastrous launch, posting on Truth Social “Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER!” It’s been said that karma is a bitch.
This failure also highlights the drastic changes that Elon Musk made when he purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. He not renamed it X, he gutted about 80% of its staff, leaving just skeleton crews in key areas like site reliability. Karma strikes again?
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is Keir Starmer planning to build emergency detainment camps to detain UK rioters?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Keir Starmer may build detainment camps for UK rioters!
This screenshot of an article by The Telegraph has gone viral, claiming that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to build detainment camps to detain UK rioters.
Keir Starmer considering building ’emergency detainment camps’ on the Falkland Islands
The camps would be used to detain prisoners from the ongoing riots as the British prison system is already at capacity
Fiona Parker, Senior News Reporter 7 August 2024 11:31am
The screenshot went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter), after X owner Elon Musk shared it out to millions of his followers.
Ashlea Simon (deleted) : We’re all being deported to the Falklands
Truth : Keir Starmer is not building detainment camps for UK rioters!
This is yet another example of fake news originating in X (formerly known as Twitter), and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : The Telegraph screenshot is fake
I should start by pointing out that the viral screenshot is completely fake.
Fiona Parker never wrote, and The Telegraph never published, any story claiming that Keir Starmer was considering the building of ’emergency detainment camps’ to detain UK rioters.
The Telegraph quickly denied that it published such an article, but unfortunately, its reach was much lower than that of Elon Musk – far fewer people saw its denial.
The Telegraph is aware of an image circulating on X which purports to be a Telegraph article about ’emergency detainment camps’. No such article has ever been published by the Telegraph.
The Telegraph also “notified relevant platforms and requested that the post be taken down“.
Fact #2 : No legitimate media reported on detention camp proposal
Anyone who spends even 5 seconds to check online would quickly realise that this is just more fake news on the X social media platform.
Not only is there no such article by The Telegraph, no other legitimate media outlet reported that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was considering a plan to build detention camps in the Falkland Islands to hold UK rioters.
If such a shocking story ever broke, it would have been reportedly widely not only in the United Kingdom, but across the world. Yet, there was no such story, no outraged editorials, nothing. That’s because it was all made up!
But don’t worry – you were not the only one who got fooled. Even one of the richest man in the world, whom some believe is a genius, got fooled.
Fact #3 : Ashlea Simon + Elon Musk deleted their posts
The screenshot appears to have circulated earlier, but only went viral after it was posted by Ashlea Simon – the co-leader of the far-right Britain First political party, and then shared by Elon Musk – the owner of X himself.
Due to his outsized reach and 193 million followers on X, the fake Telegraph screenshot was seen by almost 1 million people in the first 15 minutes, and at least 1.8 million people before Elon Musk deleted his post.
Ashlea Simon also deleted her post after some time. Neither Elon Musk nor Ashlea Simon acknowledged, nor apologised, for posting and then deleting the fake screenshot.
Fact #4 : No Community Notes appeared for Elon Musk’ post
While X has a Community Notes feature which allows X users to help provide context, or highlight fake or misleading posts, it lacks transparency and often works too slowly to matter.
X users who frequently post fake or misleading news can also circumvent the Community Notes feature by simply deleting their posts. Some do this repeatedly, posting and deleting fake or misleading posts after, or sometimes before they get “community-noted”.
For example, it took just under 10 hours for Ashlea Simon’s post to get community noted, with a tag that said:
This story does not exist. It is framed as a Telegraph story to make it appear real.
That Community Note only appeared for a brief time, because she quickly deleted the post. As for Elon Musk, his post never got “community noted” before he deleted it himself.
In any case, there’s no penalty in getting “community noted”. In fact, some of the most popular accounts on X are notorious for being “community noted”.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Elon Musk just shared a video of Kamala Harris (archive) to million of his fans on X (formerly Twitter), with the comment:
This is amazing 😂
The video, which garnered over 7.5 million views as of 11 PM, July 26, is obviously fake and digitally altered. However, Elon Musk did not label it as such.
Why Kamala Harris video Elon Musk shared is fake + digitally-altered!
This is yet another example of misinformation being propagated on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : It Was A Parody Video
Let me start by pointing out that the Kamala Harris video was a campaign ad parody that was created by the Mr Reagan account on X (archive).
Mr Reagan clearly labelled it as a PARODY, although he conveniently did not include a parody label in the video itself, so when people share his video, it may be misinterpreted as genuine.
Unfortunately, Elon Musk did not explicitly mention that the Kamala Harris video was just a parody, when he shared the video with millions of his fans. So it is more than likely that some of his fans might actually believe it’s real. Silly, I know, but we are talking about Elon Musk fans…
To be fair, X does not require users to label parody videos. However, its Civic Integrity Policy explicitly forbids “posting or sharing content that may suppress participation… or lead to offline violence during an election.”
Fact #2 : The Audio Was Digitally Altered
While the parody video uses genuine video clips of Vice President Kamala Harris, its audio was fake, and definitely digitally altered, likely created using an AI voice generator.
I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for President because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate. Thanks, Joe!
I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I’m both a woman and a person of color. If you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist.
I may not know the first thing about running the country, but remember that’s a good thing if you’re a Deep State puppet.
I had four years under the tutelage of the ultimate Deep State puppet, a wonderful mentor, Joe Biden. Joe taught me Rule Number One – carefully hide your total incompetence.
I take insignificant things and I discuss them as if they’re significant, and I believe that exploring the significance of the insignificant is itself significant.
Another trick is trying to sound Black. I pretend to celebrate Kwanzaa and in my speeches, always do my best Barack Obama impression.
And okay, look, maybe my work addressing the root causes of the border crisis were catastrophic but my knowledge of international politics is truly shocking.
And just remember when voting his November, it is to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And by what has been, I mean Joe Biden.
If you think the country went to shit over the past four years, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Fact #3 : Video Only Featured One Kamala Harris Gaffe
It appears that Mr Reagan has to use a fake audio of Kamala Harris because she does not make that many gaffes. In fact, the entire video only featured one gaffe in which Kamala Harris mistakenly touted the U.S. “alliance with the Republic of North Korea“.
In contrast, her rival for the Presidency of the United States – Donald Trump has made so many gaffes, it would be simple to make videos mocking them without faking his voice.
In fact, conservative lawyer and Trump critic George Conway did just that, releasing a campaign ad video highlighting Donald Trump’s best gaffes. The video, which is half as long as the Mr Reagan video, showcases the Trump’s numerous gaffes and obvious cognitive problems in his speeches. Unlike the Mr Reagan video, there was no editing of Trump’s voice.
As Conway explained, Donald Trump “wanted to make this election all about mental fitness“, so the video will show that “even before he began showing age-related cognitive decline, Trump had a long history of doing and saying bizarre things“.
Conway continued, “He was never right in the head. And as he’s gotten older, he’s only gotten worse. Especially now that he’s the only old guy in the race, it’s more important than ever for the public to focus on Trump’s lack of mental fitness when they make their decision this November“.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Kamala Harris idiotically described herself as a woman sitting at the table and wearing a blue suit?! Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Kamala Harris Idiotically Described Herself As Woman Wearing Blue Suit!
Some people are sharing and/or mocking a video of US Vice President Kamala Harris describing herself as a woman sitting at the table, wearing a blue suit.
RNC Research / Libs of TikTok : “I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her, and I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.”
Truth : Kamala Harris Described Herself As Woman Wearing Blue Suit To Visually Disabled!
This is yet another example of fake news about Kamala Harris, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Video Was From July 2022
Let me start by pointing out that this video is genuine, but it isn’t new. The video is actually two years old, being recorded at the White House on July 26, 2022.
This is important because many people are sharing and mocking this video now in July 2024, right after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign, and endorsed Kamala Harris instead.
Fact #2 : Kamala Harris Was Describing Herself To Visually Disabled People
While the video was not digitally-altered, and does indeed show Vice President Kamala Harris describing herself as a woman sitting at the table, wearing a blue suit, she was actually doing that for the benefit of visually disabled people at the meeting.
That video was recorded at a roundtable that Kamala Harris hosted with disability rights leaders to discuss access to reproductive healthcare, on the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
As Sara Luterman, a 19th News journalist who attended the meeting, pointed out – Kamala Harris did so because some of those participants are blind / visually impaired. Luterman herself is partially blind.
This was at a meeting with disability rights leaders earlier today. VP Harris is describing what she is wearing because some of those leaders are blind.
Will those who mocked Kamala Harris now apologise for their crass remarks? One can only hope…
Fact #3 : Self-Description Is Common Practice With Visually Impaired People
According to the Missouri School for the Blind, it is actually best practice to self-describe yourself to visually impaired people:
Introduce yourself using your name and/or position, especially if you are wearing a name badge containing this information.
Be precise and thorough when you describe people, places or things. Don’t leave things out or change a description because you think it is unimportant or unpleasant.
Feel free to use visually descriptive language. Making reference to colors, patterns, designs, and shapes is perfectly acceptable.
Instead of mocking Kamala Harris for describing herself to visually impaired people at the meeting, we should applaud her for doing so.
Fact #4 : Biden Admin Implemented Gender-Neutral Pronouns In 2021
While some are mocking Kamala Harris for describing her pronouns, this isn’t new. Neither is this use of pronouns something that only she does.
Within 24 hours of President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, the White House released a new contact form, in which allows users to select their pronounces of choice.
In other words, Kamala Harris is describing her gender and pronouns to visually impaired people at the roundtable, in line with the Biden Administration’s policy on gender inclusivity.
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Please watch out for the Elon Musk Bitcoin and Ethereum giveaway scam, and warn your family and friends!
Last updated @ 2024-07-17 : Added new scam website domains First posted @ 2024-05-07
Elon Musk Bitcoin + Ethereum Giveaway : What Is It?
People are sharing posts by Tesla Event (archive), and other X accounts with similar names (like Tesla News), about Elon Musk giving away cryptocurrency, in the form of 5.000 bitcoins (BTC) and 100.000 ether (ETH).
Great times have come! 🚀
To support crypto community, Elon Musk initiated 5.000 BTC and 100.000 ETH Airdrop!
💰First come, first served: TESLA.domain-removed
Great times have come! 🚀
To support crypto community, We are initiated #BTC and #ETH GiveAway!
💰First come, first served: TESLA.domain-removed
The links lead to a website that looks like a Medium post by Elon Musk, with this message:
Elon Musk — Official ETH and BTC Giveaway
Our marketing department here at X (Twitter) HQ came up with an idea: to hold a special giveaway event for all crypto fans out there.
If you want to participate, it’s really easy to do. Just go to these sites to find out more information:
Click this official link to get BTC Click this official link to get ETH
Note: Everyone can participate, including those in the United States. You don’t need a special account to partipate: all wallets and exchanges are eligible! The competition will last until the entirety of the 5,000 BTC and 100,000 ETH held in the airdrop-funds have been released. IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU! THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Why Elon Musk Bitcoin + Ethereum Giveaway Is A Scam!
Here are the reasons why the Elon Musk Bitcoin and Ethereum giveaway is a just another scam to cheat you of your hard-earned money!
Elon Musk is not giving away free BTC / ETH!
First, let me just point out that Elon Musk is not giving away any Bitcoin or Ether. He is a businessman who loves making money, not give it away.
Even his philanthropy appears to be largely self-serving, making him eligible for enormous tax breaks, and helping his businesses. That’s why he’s a billionaire.
There is also no reason why X (formerly Twitter) would ever give away over $600,000 worth of BTC and ETH cryptocurrency, when it is in financial trouble with negative cash flow, and has already lost about half of its value.
Those are fake / scam websites
Those websites are fake, pretending to be a Medium post by Elon Musk. There is no such Medium post by Elon Musk.
And think about this – why would Elon Musk post on Medium, when he can post on X (formerly Twitter) – the social medium platform he owns???
The domains are also brand new, and do not belong to X or Tesla, or Elon Musk. In fact, their ownership is being hidden – which is common with scam websites.
finance-promotion.com – hidden ownership, registered on 26 February 2024
event-promotion.info – hidden ownership, registered on 6 May 2024
event-finance.net – hidden ownership, registered on 10 May 2024
event-finance.org – hidden ownership, registered on 10 May 2024
finance-promo.net – hidden ownership, registered on 18 May 2024
finance-foundation.com – hidden ownership, registered on 21 May 2024
finance-foundation.net – hidden ownership, registered on 25 May 2024
finance-promotion.info – hidden ownership, registered on 9 June 2024
finance-promotion.net – hidden ownership, registered on 11 June 2024
promotion-finance.net – hidden ownership, registered on 12 June 2024
promotion-finance.com – hidden ownership, registered on 14 June 2024
promotion-finance.info – hidden ownership, registered on 14 June 2024
teslacrypto-finance.org – hidden ownership, registered on 10 July 2024
teslacrypto-promo.info – hidden ownership, registered on 13 July 2024
teslacrypto-promotion.info – hidden ownership, registered on 16 July 2024
It appears that the scammers will keep switching the same scam website to different domains every time they get exposed.
This double-up crypto scam relies on your greed to cheat you of your cryptocurrency.
Instead of giving you BTC or ETH like in a real giveaway, it asks you to send your own BTC or ETH to receive double the amount in return!
To verify your address, just send from 0.05 to 2 BTC to the address below and get from 0.1 to 8 BTC (x2 back)!
That’s utter nonsense. Whatever BTC or ETH you send to those addresses will be lost for good. You will never get it back, never mind get double the amount!
To further tempt you into giving even more bitcoin or ether, the scammers offer special bonuses for large transactions:
If you send from 1+ ETH, you will receive from 2+ ETH back +40% BONUS.
If you send from 3+ ETH, you will receive from 6+ ETH back +60% BONUS.
If you send from 9+ ETH, you will receive from 18+ ETH back +80% BONUS.
If you send from 25+ ETH, you will receive from 50+ ETH back +100% BONUS.
If you send from 40+ ETH, you will receive from 80+ ETH back +200% BONUS.
All that is bullshit. They are just preying on your greed to trick you into sending more cryptocurrency.
Please do NOT send any bitcoin or ether to those addresses. It is a SCAM!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Elon Musk say that US voting machines are designed to allow fraud?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Elon Musk Said US Voting Machines Are Designed For Fraud!
People are sharing an article (archive) by The People’s Voice (formerly NewsPunch), which claimed that Elon Musk said that US voting machines are designed to allow fraud!
Here is an excerpt of the article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
Elon Musk Sounds the Alarm: “U.S. Voting Machines Are Designed To Allow Fraud”
Elon Musk has called for the banning of all electronic voting machines in America, warning that they are designed to allow rampant fraud to take place by bad faith actors.
Posting on the X platform, Musk responded to a post from RFK. Jr., who himself was weighing on the recent rampant fraud that took place during Puerto Rico’s primary elections.
Kennedy posted:
Puerto Rico’s primary elections just experienced hundreds of voting irregularities related to electronic voting machines, according to the Associated Press. Luckily, there was a paper trail so the problem was identified and vote tallies corrected. What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail? US citizens need to know that every one of their votes were counted, and that their elections cannot be hacked. We need to return to paper ballots to avoid electronic interference with elections. My administration will require paper ballots and we will guarantee honest and fair elections.
Musk said he agreed with this sentiment. “We should eliminate electronic voting machines,” he wrote. “The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high.”
As long reported by The Gateway Pundit, electronic voting machines are one of the many methods that Democrats and their electoral allies have used to steal elections. The most notable example of this was in 2020, when machines played an important part in swinging the election to Joe Biden.
This is not the first time that Musk, who has a following of nearly 188 million people, has warned about the risks to America’s electoral system. Last month, he reposted a video urging whistleblowers to come forward to report irregularities ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Truth : Elon Musk Did Not Say US Voting Machines Are Designed For Fraud!
This is yet another example of fake news created / promoted by The People’s Voice, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Elon Musk Did Not Say US Voting Machines Are Designed For Fraud!
First, let me just point out that Elon Musk never said that US voting machines are designed to allow fraud.
If he actually made such a controversial and explosive claim, it would have been extensively reported by the mainstream media. Needless to say – that never happened, because Elon Musk never said anything to that effect.
Needless to say, The People’s Voice article provided no evidence that Elon Musk said that US voting machines are designed to allowed fraud.
In fact, beyond mentioning it in its title and lede, the rest of the article never mentioned anything about Elon Musk saying that US voting machines are designed to allow fraud.
Fact #2 : Elon Musk Only Spoke Out Against Electronic Voting Machines
In response to a Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s post about voting irregularities involving electronic voting machines in Puerto Rico, Elon Musk only stated that “electronic voting machines” should be eliminated due to the risk of being hacked:
We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high.
As you can see, Elon Musk never said that US voting machines (which are still based on paper ballots) are designed to allow fraud. So why would The People’s Voice article claim otherwise???
I should also point out that Puerto Rico does not use electronic voting machines that record the votes directly, called Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) systems.
Puerto Rico uses paper ballots, that are marked either by hand or assistive marking devices called Ballot Marking Devices (BMDs). The paper ballots are then tabulated by hand-fed optical scanning machines.
In fact, the voting discrepancies were not actually due to the machines used, but the software used to calculate the vote totals.
The problem stemmed from a software issue that caused machines supplied by Dominion Voting Systems to incorrectly calculate vote totals, said Jessika Padilla Rivera, the commission’s interim president.
Fact #4 : The People’s Voice Is Known For Fake News
The People’s Voice is the current name for NewsPunch, which possibly changed its name because its brand has been so thoroughly discredited after posting numerous shocking but fake stories.
Founded as Your News Wire in 2014, it was rebranded as NewsPunch in November 2018, before becoming The People’s Voice. A 2017 BuzzFeed report identified NewsPunch as the second-largest source of popular fake news on Facebook that year.
Its articles have been regularly debunked as fake news, so you should never share anything from NewsPunch / The People’s Voice. Here are some of its fake stories that I fact checked earlier:
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Donald Trump warn that it will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he’s not elected as President?! Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Media Lied That Trump Warned Of ‘Bloodbath’ If Not Elected!
Some people are claiming that the mainstream media lied about Donald Trump warning of a ‘bloodbath’ if he is not elected in the 2024 US Presidential elections!
Ian Miles Cheong : The media is lying about Donald Trump with this narrative about a “bloodbath” if he loses the election. He was very clearly talking about the car manufacturing industry—before and after he used the word.
You have to be extremely disingenuous to take what he’s saying out of context, and that’s exactly what the media is doing. They’re all running with the same lie.
Mario Nawfal : 🇺🇸THE WHOLE BLOODY TRUTH – THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF TRUMP’S “BLOODBATH” COMMENT
“Mexico has taken over a period of 30 years 34% of the automobile manufacturing business in our country. Think of it. Went to Mexico. China now is building a couple of massive plants, where they’re going to build the cars in Mexico and think, they think, that they’re going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border.
Let me tell you something to China. If you’re listening President Xi and you and I are friends but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now. And you think you’re going to get that, you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected.
Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it, but they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”
Truth : Trump Did Warn Of ‘Bloodbath’ If Not Elected!
This appears to be another example ofmisinformation circulating on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Donald Trump Warned Of ‘Bloodbath’ If Not Elected
Let me start by pointing out that former President Donald Trump did indeed warn of a ‘bloodbath’ if he is not elected in the 2024 US Presidential elections.
He made those comments at a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on 16 March 2024. Here is the transcript of his speech:
Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.
So yes, Donald Trump did indeed warn or say that “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country” if he doesn’t “get elected“.
Fact #2 : Donald Trump ‘Bloodbath’ Warning Was About Car Industry
That said, it is important to note that Donald Trump’s ‘bloodbath’ warning referred to the automotive industry, because it came after his comments on the car manufacturing plants China is building in Mexico:
Let me tell you something to China. If you’re listening President Xi and you and I are friends but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now. And you think you’re going to get that, you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected.
To be clear – Donald Trump was warning of an economic bloodbath, and not a literal, violent bloodbath.
Fact #3 : Mainstream Media Did Not Misrepresent ‘Bloodbath’ Comments
Donald Trump is known for making inflammatory comments, so it is easy to see how people may believe that he was actually referring to a violent ‘bloodbath’. However, did the mainstream media really misrepresent his ‘bloodbath’ comments as suggested or claimed?
Not quite. Major media outlets, and even some political outlets, made it clear in their titles that Trump was referring to a bloodbath for the auto industry:
CNN : Trump warns of ‘bloodbath’ for auto industry and country if he loses the election
ABC News : Trump, while addressing auto industry, says there will be ‘bloodbath’ if he loses 2024 election, ramps up anti-migrant rhetoric
Daily Express UK : Donald Trump warns of ‘bloodbath’ for US auto industry if he is not re-elected
The Daily Beast : Trump Declares It Will Be a ‘Bloodbath’ for Auto Industry if He’s Not Elected
While other media outlets did not refer to the auto industry in their titles, they were clear in their articles that Donald Trump was referring to the automotive industry.
New York Times : Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses
While discussing the U.S. economy and its auto industry, Mr. Trump promised to place tariffs on cars manufactured abroad if he won in November. He added: “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a blood bath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a blood bath for the country.”
The Guardian : Trump predicts ‘bloodbath’ if he loses election and claims ‘Biden beat Obama’
The US, Trump insisted during comments about the auto workers and the car industry, was headed for “a bloodbath” if he was rejected again at the polls in favor of Biden.
It is very likely that those who have been complaining that the mainstream media was representing Trump’s ‘bloodbath’ comments did not actually read the articles.
Fact #4 : Trump Warned There Won’t Be Another Election
To be fair to those who think that Donald Trump was inciting violence again, he did suggest later that American will never have another election if he is not elected in 2024.
I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election … certainly not an election that’s meaningful.
While Trump appears to quickly backtrack on his remarks, his supporters and fans may not realise it, and may be incited to secure his election victory by hook or by crook.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Elon Musk wrongly suggest NYC migrant Jhoan Boada was set free and given a free ticket to California, after beating up police officers in Times Square?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : NYC Migrant Jhoan Boada Freed After Beating Police!
In a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk appeared to suggest that NYC migrant Jhoan Boada was set free and given a free ticket to California, after beating up police officers in Times Square!
Elon Musk : Illegals beat up American police officers in Times Square, got out of jail for free and, instead of being deported, were given free tickets to California …
Why?
While the post did not mention the illegals he was referring to, Elon Musk attached a photo of NYC migrant Jhoan Boada showing his infamous middle finger salute as President Joe Biden awards him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Truth : NYC Migrant Jhoan Boada Was Exonerated Of All Charges!
Let’s take a closer look at Elon Musk’s post and find out what the facts really are!
Fact #1 : NYC Migrant Jhoan Boada Was Exonerated Of All Charges!
Let me start by pointing out that the NYC migrant in photo that Elon Musk posted, Jhoan Boada, was exonerated of all charges in connection with the Times Square brawl involving a group of migrants and NYPD police officers.
On Saturday, 27 January 2024, two officers and a lieutenant from the NYPD Midtown South Precinct approached a group of men outside a migrant shelter on West 42nd Street at around 8:30 PM. When they tried to arrest one of the men, several other migrants attacked them.
Surveillance video recorded several migrants kicking and punching the NYPD officers, while trying to pry them off a man the police had taken to the ground. Seven migrants were charged for their alleged roles in that fight.
Jhoan Boada, a native of Venezuela, was one of those who were arrested and charged for his alleged participation in the brawl. When Boada infamously showed bystanders the middle fingers after leaving his arraignment in court, he would become the face of the mostly right-wing outrage over the incident.
However, just over a month later – on 2 March 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney dropped all charges against Jhoan Boada, calling it a case of mistaken identity. As Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced:
Our investigation has revealed that Marcelino Estee, not Jhoan Boada, is the individual described in this complaint, wearing the black & white jacket with pink shoes, committing this assault.
We are therefore moving to dismiss this complaint against Jhoan Boada.
To be clear, Jhoan Boada – the infamous NYC migrant who flipped the bird and made right-wing conservatives so outraged, is completely innocent of the crime. He was not involved in the Times Square brawl with NYPD officers.
Fact #2 : Jhoan Boada Photo Was Edited
Just in case you are wondering, the viral photo of Jhoan Boada showing his two middle fingers while receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden isn’t genuine. It was photoshopped.
Fact #3 : Jhoan Boada Was Not Given Free Ticket To California
There is no evidence that Jhoan Boada was given any free ticket to flee to California, after being set free.
There is also no reason for Jhoan Boada to flee to California because… he was exonerated of all charges!
No one, not even Elon Musk, provided any evidence that Jhoan Boada was given a free ticket to California.
Fact #4 : No NYC Migrant Suspect Received Free Tickets To California
The claim that those NYC migrant suspects were given free tickets to California also appears to be false.
On 1 February 2024, a New York City official told CNN that four of the suspects who were arrested and subsequently released were given bus tickets by a faith-based charity, and were en-route to Calexico, California.
However, the same senior law enforcement official backtracked two weeks later, stating that the New York City police no longer believed that the four men actually fled on a bus to California.
When police in Calexico visited an address provided by the charity, no one could identify the suspects. One of the suspects was later arrested in New York City on separate robbery charges. That led the police to believe that the tip was yet another “misidentification”.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just cancelled Project Titan – its long-running effort to build an autonomous electric car! Here is what we know so far…
Apple Cancels Project Titan Autonomous Electric Car!
Apple has finally decided to pull the plug on Project Titan – its long-running and highly-secret effort to build an electric car or autonomous vehicle.
All work on the project has stopped, and Apple is likely to cut hundreds of people from the team. There are about 1,400 employees currently working on Project Titan.
Only some employees will be shifted to its generative AI projects under John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy. All other employees will have 90 days to find a reassignment to other roles in Apple, or be let go.
On Tuesday, 27 February 2024, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, and the vice president in charge of Project Titan, Kevin Lynch, announced the news to the team in a short meeting that lasted just 12 minutes. They did not take questions, according to an employee who was there.
According to this employee, who remains anonymous, the announcement was abrupt but the decision was not. It appears to be a long time coming, with constantly shifting priorities within Apple.
Apple first started working on its Project Titan car project in 2014, oscillating its focus between making an all-electric car to compete with Tesla, and developing a fully autonomous vehicle more like Waymo. The project’s leadership would repeatedly change its focus, under pressure from top executives and the Apple board.
Unfortunately, the team is apparently still years away from producing a viable vehicle, whether it is just an electric car, or a fully-autonomous vehicle, despite reportedly spending up to $1 billion annually.
In response to Apple’s decision to kill off its electric car, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted emojis of a salute and a cigarette on X (formerly known as Twitter).
5 Reasons Why Apple Cancelled Project Titan Electric Car
After spending a decade and many billions of dollars on Project Titan, the decision could not have been easy. Here are the five reasons Apple scraped its electric car project, according to Bloomberg:
The strategy for Apple electric was constantly changing with no consistent plan nor approach.
There was a revolving door of leadership.
The electric car was still years away from being commercially viable, which concerned Apple.
Self-driving technology is tricky and challenging.
The electric vehicle market has been stagnating due to poor charging infrastructure, which soured Apple’s optimism.
While Apple’s electric car dreams has now ended, it doesn’t mean that all of its efforts have gone to waste. It is likely that the company will salvage and repurpose (maybe even licence out) the technologies its team developed.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is Google shutting down Gmail for good by August 2024?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Google Is Shutting Down Gmail For Good!
A post has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter), allegedly posted by the SVP of Product at Google, who claimed that he accidentally fired the entire Gmail team, and ordered it shut down after misreading a message from CEO Sundar Pichai!
Chris Bakke : I’m the SVP of Product at Google ($28.8M TC).
Last night, Sundar asked me to “fire the entire Gemini team.”
I misread his message (insanely bad service at my 7br 11bath cabin in Park City) and I accidentally fired the entire Gmail team.
Gmail…Gemini.
Look at that quickly without your glasses when you’re 7 margaritas deep at the fire pit on a Wednesday and you’d make the same error.
I mean you get how that’s confusing right?
Anyway, I’m rolling with the decision.
Gmail’s gone.
A screenshot of a Google notice about sunsetting Gmail was attached to the post, and it suggested that Gmail accounts would become inaccessible after 1 August 2024.
Google is sunsetting Gmail
Dear Gmail User,
We are reaching out to share an important update about Gmail. After years of connecting millions worldwide, enabling seamless communication, and fostering countless connections, the journey of Gmail is coming to a close. As of August 1, 2024, Gmail will officially be sunsetted, marking the end of its service. This means that as of this date, Gmail will no longer support sending, receiving, or storing emails.
Why Gmail is Sunsetting
The decision to sunset Gmail has been made with careful consideration of the evolving digital landscape and our commitment to providing high-quality, innovative solutions that meet the needs of our users. In the spirit of progress and adaptation, we are focusing our resources on developing new technologies and platforms that will continue to revolutionize the way we communicate and interact online.
What This Means for You
• Email Access: Up until August 1, 2024, you will be able to access and download all your emails. After this date, Gmail accounts will become inaccessible.
This is yet another example of fake news circulating on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Google Is Not Shutting Down Gmail
Let me start by pointing out that Google is not shutting down Gmail. For one thing – no one received the “Google is sunsetting Gmail” email. There is also no announcement on the Google blog.
There is also an absence of legitimate news and tech media reporting on such a shocking announcement. In fact, all you will find are fact check articles like this, telling you that this is just another example of fake news on X.
There is also the fact that the official Gmail account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a terse response:
Gmail is here to stay
To be clear – Google is not shutting down Gmail. This is just satire / shitposting on X.
Google is itself highly-reliant on Gmail services, and would be in deep shit if Gmail goes down for even an hour, never mind shut down forever.
I should also point out that Chris Bakke is not the Senior Vice President of Product at Google in charge of Gmail. In fact, he’s currently working at X, not Google!
Chris Bakke was the founder and CEO of Laskie, a tech recruitment company that X (formerly Twitter) purchased in May 2023. He is currently the Product Lead for X, and is known to be a notorious “shitposter” or “trash poster” on the social media platform.
When Austen Allred, another tech founder, tweeted about the acquisition when it was revealed, Elon Musk said he thought it was a good sign:
Austen Allred : Only fitting that Twitter’s first acquisition in the Elon era is a company run by a notorious shitposter.
Elon Musk : I regard that as a good sign 🙂
Elon is probably going to give Chris a bonus for the millions of views and engagement his new “shitpost” has generated on X. Throw some our way, Chris, will ya!
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Elon Musk just told advertisers on X to “f*ck yourself” for trying to blackmail him!
Advertisers Fleeing X After Elon Musk Controversy
Major advertisers like Apple, IBM, Disney, and Sony have pulled their advertising dollars from X (formerly known as Twitter) after several controversial comments by Elon Musk. It didn’t help that they discovered that their ads being shown next to anti-semitic and neo-Nazi posts.
Earlier this month, watchdog group Media Matters published a report claiming that X ran advertisements for major companies next to neo-Nazi posts. Musk would later file a lawsuit against the group.
But Musk escalated things when he publicly endorsed an antisemitic tweet which claimed that the Jewish communities have been “pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them“.
According to Sensor Tower, the biggest advertisers – Apple, IBM, Sony, Disney, Comcast (NBC Universal) and Paramount collectively cut off 7% of total US ad spend on X (Twitter. On top of that, half of the top X advertisers have ceased buying advertisements from a year ago (as of October 2023).
On Wednesday, 29 November 2023, Andrew Ross Sorkin interviewed Elon Musk at the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York. In that interview, Elon apologised for endorsing the antisemitic tweet, saying that he should not have replied to it.
But he was belligerent about the advertising crisis at X. He claimed that those advertisers were trying to blackmail him, and literally told them to go “f*ck yourself”. If that wasn’t enough, he singled out Disney CEO Bob Iger in his tirade:
I don’t want them to advertise. If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money?
Go f*ck yourself. Go. F*ck. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel. Don’t advertise.
Elon Musk also told his interview, Andrew Ross Sorkin, that he didn’t mind being hated for his controversial opinions.
But Musk admitted that the advertisers could kill X by boycotting it en masse.
What this advertising boycott is going to do is it’s going to kill the company. And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.
What Musk may not have realised when he made those profane comments, was that he may well have helped to dig the grave for X.
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Was Bill Gates just destroyed in an ABC News interview with Sarah Ferguson?!
Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2023-10-07 : Updated with new information after video went viral again Originally posted @ 2023-03-08
Claim : Bill Gates Was Destroyed In ABC News Interview!
People are sharing a TikTok video with the title “Bill Gates caught in corner”, which shows Bill Gates getting destroyed in a recent ABC News interview.
Here are the accompanying subtitles from the interview, but it’s rather long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
ABC News : So Mr Gates, in your own words, what have you contributed to the world?
Bill Gates : Um I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I created the world’s most popular computer operating system.
ABC News : No, of course, but as we all know, it wasn’t actually you who created it as a matter of fact, the predecessor of Windows, Emma’s [sic] DOS was created by Gary Kildahl, which you then basically stole from him for a couple of dollars.
Bill Gates : It’s not just development, there’s a whole lot of important factors to running an enormously successful company like Microsoft.
ABC News : So then let’s leave the computer world for a moment. You have been a major spokesperson for COVID vaccines during the pandemic yes [sic], what exactly makes you, a computer engineer who didn’t even programme his initial product himself, a valid representative of the pharmaceutical industry?
Bill Gates : I have read a lot of books about that topic, yes, how does that, wait, wait a second, and met with specialist from the field all over the world.
ABC News : Mister Gates, with all due respect, how do you feel about it now, now that it’s becoming more and more evident that the medication you were promoting whilst having heavily invested in it yourself thus making billions of [sic] it, has caused countless injuries, side effects and death.
Bill Gates : That’s a very immature way of looking at it.
ABC News : Quite frankly, so here’s my final question to you, is this a behavioural pattern?
Bill Gates : What do you mean exactly?
ABC News : Taking technology from other people that you don’t understand, selling a product full of bugs, causing massive damage, and profiting from it in a spectacular way.
Bill Gates : No no no no no no this is not how the world works.
ABC News : Can you sleep at night?
Bill Gates : Okay that’s enough. This interview is over. Thank you.
Truth : Bill Gates Was NOT Destroyed In ABC News Interview!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created to go viral on TikTok, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : ABC News Interviewed Bill Gates On Jan 31, 2023
First, let’s start by sharing some basic context on the ABC News interview with Bill Gates.
The interview was conducted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist, Sarah Ferguson, on her current affairs show – 7.30, and released on Tuesday, 31 January 2023.
Fact #2 : ABC News Did Not Destroy Bill Gates In That Interview
Anyone who watches the actual ABC News interview of Bill Gates will be puzzled by the viral video and claim, because Sarah Ferguson never “destroyed” Bill Gates.
You can read all about her interview and even watch the video in an article written by Sarah Ferguson and her colleague Myles Wearring. In her interview, she only asked Bill Gates about:
COVID-19 conspiracy theories
Elon Musk buying Twitter
the rise of artificial intelligence
climate change and renewable energy
his association with Jeffrey Epstein
his philanthropy, and pledge to give away most of his wealth
Sarah Ferguson ended the interview by thanking Bill Gates, who only nods. He never quit the interview in frustration as shown in the viral video.
Fact #3 : Gates Foundation Called Viral Video Fake
The media department for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation labelled the viral video as fake:
We confirm that the audio in this altered video is fake.
Fact #4 : Viral Video Was Edited Using Artificial Intelligence
The viral video was created by a TikTok creator called bdti989, who posted it with the caption:
How dangerous AI can be 😱 #BillGates #billgates #microsoft #Microsoft #followformore #follow #msdos #uops #ups #ops #world #interview #interviews #artificialintelligence #ai
bdti989 also stated several times that he edited the ABC News interview using artificial intelligence. It is basically a deep fake video.
Yes, it’s AI generated!
Fact #5 : Fake Video Was Not Satire
While some people are trying to justify the creation and/or sharing the video as “satire”, that is not true. Even the content creator himself did not call it satire.
bdti989 does not appear to create satire. His account is full of typical edited news content pushing right wing conspiracies, not satire.
Most of his videos aren’t particularly popular, typically with less than 3,000 views. Only his AI-generated fake video of the ABC News interview of Bill Gates has gone viral, with over 1.4 million views.
It is likely he created it to test his ability to create fake videos using artificial intelligence. Hopefully, it does not inspire him to create more of such deep fake videos to increase the popularity of his TikTok channel.
Did this journalist just destroy Bill Gates in an ABC News interview?! 😆
Regardless of what we may think of Bill Gates as a businessman and/or person, he was well regarded as a programmer. Both Gates and Paul Allen developed Altair BASIC – a BASIC programming interpreter for the MITS Altair 8800 and S-100 computers.
Paul Allen would famously write a bootstrap program for it during a flight to demonstrate their Altair BASIC interpreter, but Bill Gates would famously win the bet on who could write the shortest possible bootstrap program.
Fact #6 : MS-DOS Was Not Created By Gary Kildall
Gary Kildall (wrongly named as Gary Kildahl in the fake video) was the creator of the CP/M operating system that was once considered by IBM for its first PC.
Bill Gates not only did not steal MS-DOS from Gary Kildall, it was Gates who suggested that IBM should purchase CP/M-86 from Kildall for its forthcoming PC.
However, Gary Kildall famously went flying on his private plane instead of meeting IBM representatives, and they failed to reach an agreement.
Fact #7 : MS-DOS Was Based On 86-DOS
MS-DOS (wrongly named as Emma’s DOS in the fake video) was based on 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products.
After IBM and Digital Research failed to reach an agreement on CP/M-86, IBM lead negotiator Jack Sams asked Bill Gates to find a usable operating system for the IBM PC. Gates later proposed using 86-DOS.
Microsoft then purchased a non-exclusive licence for 86-DOS in December 1980 for US$25,000, and hired Tim Paterson to port it to the IBM PC, so it would work on the Intel 8086 processor. IBM would submit over 300 change requests before accepting the final port.
It was only in July 1981 – a month before IBM released the PC, that Microsoft purchased all rights to 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products for US$50,000. Microsoft then licensed the modified 86-DOS to IBM, and it became PC DOS 1.0.
In short, MS-DOS (rebranded from PC DOS) was based on 86-DOS, which was a different operating system from CP/M invented by Gary Kildall.
Kildall would later persuade IBM to offer CP/M-86 with the PC. That would not be possible if Kildall really sold CP/M to Microsoft “for a couple of dollars” as the fake video alleges.
Fact #8 : COVID-19 Vaccines Have Been Proven Safe + Effective
Anti-vaccination proponents are not interested in your health, which is why they keep lying about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
The truth is – COVID-19 vaccines were only approved AFTER they have undergone extensive safety and efficacy tests, involving tens of thousands of volunteers.
The reason why doctors and health authorities STRONGLY advocate vaccination is because the vaccines have been PROVEN to protect the vast majority of people from getting COVID-19 in the first place.
And even if you do get infected after vaccination, the vaccine will protect you against hospitalisation and death from COVID-19.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Find out why many Western countries repeatedly voted against a UN resolution calling for global action against racism and discrimination!
Updated @ 2023-09-29 : Refreshed after message went viral again Originally posted @ 2023-04-30
Claim : The West Voted Against UN Anti-Racism Bill!
Pro-CCP netizens, as well as the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), are claiming that many Western countries like the US, the UK, and Canada voted against a UN resolution calling for global action against racism and discrimination!
UN introduced a bill that called for global action against racism and discrimination
Here’s Why The West Voted Against UN Anti-Racism Bill!
At first glance, it is easy enough to see why some netizens actually believe that Western countries are being hypocrites, with many sharing comments like these:
Hypocrites who tell you you have freedoms but actually you don’t. But you still think you do.
But the truth is – this is just another example of misinformation and propaganda created by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and shared by anti-West netizens, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : It Was A 2020 UN Resolution Against Racism
First, let me just give you some context on the resolution (not a bill) in question.
The claim refers to the 2020 UN resolution called A global call for concrete action for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
This resolution is not new, and has actually been introduced and voted on every year since 2014.
Fact #2 : It Was A Non-Binding Resolution
That UN anti-racism resolution is also non-binding, which means countries are not compelled to abide by it.
Fact #3 : Many Western Countries Voted Against UN Racism Resolution
Let me confirm that most Western countries voted No to that 2020 UN resolution against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.
Total voting membership : 193
Members voting Yes : 106
Members voting No : 14
Members abstaining : 44
Members who did not vote : 29
Countries that voted No that year were Australia, Canada, Czechia (Czech Republic), Congo, France, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Netherlands, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and United States.
If this UN resolution seems familiar, that is because it is similar to the Anti-Nazi resolution that Russia has submitted every year since 2012, and one which many Western countries consistently voted against, or abstained from voting.
Like this anti-racism UN resolution, that anti-Nazi resolution was hypocritical in nature. Russia did not introduce it to fight Nazism or neo-Nazis, but to justify its annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia claims that it had to invade Ukraine to “denazify” it, and is using that UN resolution to justify its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to European Voice before the vote, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, said that “no one should doubt that we are condemning fascism”, but, he continued, “under cover of this condemnation, Russia is pursuing its own agenda”.
Fact #4 : Western Countries Were Against Durban Declaration
Western countries have long boycotted the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), and the resulting Durban Review Conference that was called to implement it.
Even though the DDPA ostensibly has laudable goals – to eliminate “racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”, it is being used to promote anti-Semitism, impose restrictions on free speech, and does not address discrimination against the LGBT community.
Our concerns about the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) are well-known, including its unfair and unacceptable singling out of Israel and its endorsement of overbroad restrictions on freedom of expression that run counter to the U.S. commitment to robust free speech. But we will always stand ready to work with others in the effort to combat racism, bigotry, and racial discrimination.
After another vote on the same resolution in 2021, the Biden Administration reiterated that the United States remain opposed to the DDPA and its “restrictions on freedom of speech and expression“.
As in previous years, we deeply regret that we cannot support this resolution, which does not genuinely focus on countering racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Among our concerns are the resolution’s endorsement of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action (DDPA), the outcome of the Durban review conference and its endorsement of overbroad restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.
We reject any effort to advance the “full implementation” of the DDPA. We believe this resolution serves as a vehicle to prolong divisions , rather than providing an inclusive way forward for the international community to counter the scourge of racism and racial discrimination.
The United States also opposed the UN anti-racism resolution which called for UN States to implement Article 4 of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
And why is Article 4 of the CERD so offensive to the United States? After all, it calls for UN States to declare an offence punishable by law “all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred”, amongst other things.
That’s because the United States Constitution provides the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and association, and this includes even offensive beliefs like Nazism and racism.
As Nicholas Hill, the Deputy US Representative for ECOSOC explained on November 12, 2021, when the United States voted No on the similar Anti-Nazi UN resolution :
The United States Supreme Court has consistently affirmed the constitutional right to freedom of speech and the rights of peaceful assembly and association, including by avowed Nazis, whose hatred and xenophobia are vile and widely scorned by the American people. We nevertheless firmly defend the constitutional rights of those who exercise their fundamental freedoms to combat intolerance and express strong opposition to the odious Nazi creed and others that espouse similar hatreds.
For these reasons, the United States has voted against each new version of this resolution since 2005 and is, again, compelled to vote “No” on this resolution, and calls on other States to do the same.
Fact #6 : Western Countries Do Not Want To Pay Reparations
The United States also objected to the resolution because it called for “former colonial powers” to provide reparations. That is arguably one of the reasons why so many Western nations voted against the resolution, or at least abstained against it.
We also reject the resolution’s call for “former colonial Powers” to provide reparations “consistent with” the DDPA.
Regardless of the harm colonialism has done in the past, reparations have nothing to do with eliminating racism today and in the future, does it?
Fact #7 : Western Countries Are Less Homogenous Than China
Since the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) appears to be pushing this narrative, I should point out that Western countries are much less homogenous than China.
Most Western countries have a mix of different races, with a significant number of foreign immigrants. Hence, incidents of racism can appear to be more common, simply because their societies are less homogenous than China’s.
According to the China National Bureau of Statistics, there were 2.77 million foreigners living in China at the end of 2019. That may sound like a lot, but that is less than 0.2% of its population of 1.4 billion!
China proudly declares that it has many ethnic groups, but some 91.5% of its native population are Han Chinese. The 55 ethnic minorities constitute a mere 8.5% of its population.
In other words – China is an extremely homogenous society, so there are very few opportunities for racism. It doesn’t mean the Chinese are not racist. It just means that they just don’t have enough engagement with other races to show their tolerance or intolerance to different looks, cultures and beliefs.
Fact #8 : Western Countries Are More Equitable Than China
I should also point out that Western countries are more open to foreign immigrants, with many of them ending up in positions of political and economic power.
The United States, for example, allow foreigners who become its citizens to run for public office, and many do:
Mazie Hirono from Japan : Lieutenant Governor, US Representative, and US Senator for Hawaii
Pramila Jayapal from India : US Representative for Washington, and Washington State Senator
Young Kim from South Korea : US Representative for California
Ted Liu from Taiwan : US Representative for California
Ilhan Omar from Somalia : US Representative for Minnesota
Victoria Spartz from Soviet Union : US Representative for Indiana
It is the same even in business, where many foreign immigrants were able to rise to the top of their industries:
Sundar Pichai from India : CEO of Google
Satya Nadella from India : CEO of Microsoft
Elon Musk from South Africa : CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter
Jensen Huang from Taiwan : CEO of NVIDIA
Dr. Lisa Su from Taiwan : CEO of AMD
Even though there are many examples of racism in the United States, it remains far more equitable than China, where foreign immigrants do not have the same opportunities as the native Chinese.
Try asking your local pro-CCP activist to name any foreign immigrant who has rose to prominence in politics or business in China, and watch as they gape in stunned silence.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a central committee that consists of 205 full members, and 171 alternate members. Everyone of those 376 central committee members are Chinese natives – there are no foreign immigrants or their children. Not even a token immigrant just for show.
When the CCP Central Committee and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) proudly released their list of top 100 outstanding private entrepreneurs in 2018 – they were all Chinese natives as well. No foreign immigrants or their children were in the list.
This is really nothing more than yet another example of Chinese propaganda created by the infamous Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
All of the wumao articles that I looked at so far have proven to be false in most instances. So please watch out for such false claims. Here is just the latest dozen,.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, Elon Musk shared a viral video which spreads misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, that was posted by Wall Street Silver a day earlier.
To top it off, he appeared to make a pun which suggests that the reported efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines was “dis information”.
Rob Schneider : My family is in the ‘Health Care Industry’…
If you fell for the non-stop fear fest propaganda, hopefully you won’t fall for it again when these mo-fo’s try the same thing NEXT MONTH.
You heard me correctly…
The same people who closed schools and masked children as young as 3 and closed gyms, churches and small businesses while keeping open liquor and Weed dispensaries, have notified hospitals who were told to mass order the same ineffective covid prevention equipment…
They are going back for Sloppy Seconds on the Medical Tyranny Cash Grab…
That is what happens when no safe guards are put in place to prevent its recurrence. Nothing has changed.
The only question they have is… will the people put up with it again?! And for how long?
Or will they have to fake an Alien invasion?! 😉
Have a good night everybody!
Why Elon Musk Should Not Share Such Vaccine Efficacy Misinformation!
The video appears to be legitimate, showing screenshots of news headlines accompanied by the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 – “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.
Let’s take a look at what’s wrong with the video, and why someone like Elon Musk should stop sharing such videos…
Fact #1 : This Is An Old Video From 2022
First, I should point out that this is actually an old video, which originally went viral on Instagram last year – at the end of November 2022.
Fact #2 : Video Timeline Is Not In Order
I should also point out that while the timeline is not in order – the news headlines do not appear in the right chronological order. For example:
Now, you may be wondering – why do COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness jump up and down in the chronological order?
For one thing – they are based on different studies, and some variation is to be expected. But more importantly – the screenshots show different outcomes of those COVID-19 vaccine studies:
March 11, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 97% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 March 31, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 100% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in 12-15 year-old kids
April 28, 2021 : Pfizer and Modern vaccines are 94 percent effective in preventing hospitalisation of older adults
May 6, 2021 : Pfizer vaccine 96.7% effective at preventing COVID deaths May 26, 2021 : Moderna vaccine 100% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in 12-17 year old adolescents
August 5, 2021 : Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine still 93% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 after 6 months
September 23, 2021 : Moderna vaccine 96% effective, Pfizer vaccine 89% effective against symptomatic COVID-19
That is like comparing the results of a 100 m sprint versus a 5 km race and a 4 x 400 m relay race. They are all Olympic track events where the fastest competitor wins, but they are simply not comparable!
Fact #4 : Vaccine Effectiveness Is Different From Vaccine Efficacy
When COVID-19 vaccines started to be approved, the results of their Phase 3 clinical trials were announced. You may have seen tables like this one showing the efficacy of those COVID-19 vaccines:
COVID-19
Vaccine
Protection Against
Symptomatic
Infection
Severe
Disease
Death
Pfizer
95.0%
100%
100%
Sputnik V
91.6%
100%
100%
Moderna
94.1%
100%
100%
AstraZeneca
62% ~ 90%
100%
100%
Sinopharm
79% ~ 86%
90%
100%
Sinovac
50.65%
83.7%
100%
J&J Janssen
66.0%
85%
100%
CanSino
65.7%
90.98%
100%
What many people may not understand is that – the above table shows vaccine efficacy, and that is a little different from vaccine effectiveness mentioned in those screenshots.
Vaccine efficacy is the reduction in disease (in percentage) that occurs in a vaccinated group under optimal conditions, compared to an unvaccinated group.
Do not confuse it with vaccine effectiveness, which is the real world ability of the vaccine to prevent the disease. Vaccine effectiveness may be lowered by underlying chronic conditions, medication, age, and even how the vaccine is stored and administered.
Fact #5 : Vaccine Effectiveness Varies With COVID-19 Variants
The video also (deliberately?) mixes up news headlines comparing the vaccine effectiveness against different COVID-19 variants.
The first-generation COVID-19 vaccines were developed to prevent death and severe disease from the original (or ancestral) SARS-CoV-2 virus. Their Phase 3 clinical trial efficacy results were (mostly) based on that ancestral virus.
However, the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves rapidly, and some new variants will be more capable at evading the antibodies produced by the vaccine, or a previous infection.
That does not mean that those vaccine are useless. It simply means we have to progressively adapt the first-generation vaccines to better deal with the new variants. Those in the military may better recognise this – a classical progression between weapons and armour.
For example, tanks were invented to protect against bullets in the battlefield. Anti-tank guns were then invented to defeat these new tanks. As tanks developed thicker armour, anti-tank guns got bigger and more powerful. After shaped charge rockets (Panzerfaust, RPG) were invented, tank were given spaced armour and later, reactive armour to defeat them.
Similarly, as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves over time, COVID-19 vaccines must evolve to target those new variants.
Fact #6 : COVID-19 Vaccines Have Been Proven Effective
The truth is – COVID-19 vaccines have been proven effective. We see it every day. No more lockdowns. No more overcrowded ICUs or hospitals, with COVID-19 patients gasping for breath in makeshift tents.
Over 13.5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered worldwide in the past 2.5 years, and they are responsible for allowing the world to reopen safely and completely.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Bronny James – LeBron James’ son, almost die from a cardiac arrest caused by the COVID-19 vaccine?! Find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2023-08-27 : Added his heart defect diagnosis, and other updates Originally posted @ 2023-07-27
Claim : Bronny James Almost Died From Vaccine Cardiac Arrest!
Right after news broke that Bronny James collapsed from a cardiac arrest during basketball practice with his team, some people immediately claimed or suggested that LeBron James’ older son was suffering from myocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine, or that his cardiac arrest was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
Elon Musk : We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing.
Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.
William Makis MD : CARDIAC ARREST in the young – Lebron James’ 18 year old son Bronny James had a cardiac arrest during practice at 9:30am on July 24, 2023 – he was fully COVID-19 vaccinated
Some young people survive vaccine injury – 13 cases that did!
OutKick : Elon Musk is right to ask and wonder if the Covid vaccine contributed to Bronny James’ cardiac arrest.
We need to know why this keeps happening to young healthy adults.
No Evidence Bronny James Almost Died From Vaccine Cardiac Arrest!
It’s now tradition for anti-vaccination activists to blame all athlete deaths or illnesses on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Here are the reasons why this is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by anti-vaccination activists…
Fact #1 : Bronny James Suffered Cardiac Arrest During Practice
Born LeBron Raymone James Jr. on October 6, 2004, Bronny James is the eldest son of NBA superstar, LeBron James, and a basketball player for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans team.
At approximately 9:26 AM PDT on Monday, July 24, 2023, Bronny James collapsed while practicing with his team at the USC Galen Center. He was rushed by ambulance to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and confirmed to have suffered from a cardiac arrest.
By the time news broke on Tuesday, July 25, Bronny James was in stable condition, and had already been released from intensive care. A spokesperson for his family said:
Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU.
We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information. LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.
When Damar Hamlin – the Buffalo Bill safety who suffered from a cardiac arrest earlier this year, learned about it, he tweeted his support and pledged to support the family through the same process:
Prayers to Bronny & The James family as well. 🙏🏽 here for you guys just like you have been for me my entire process.
Fact #2 : Bronny James Has Congenital Heart Defect
On Friday, August 25, 2023, the James family announced in a statement, that Bronny James was found to have a congenital heart defect that likely caused his sudden cardiac arrest on the basketball court:
After a comprehensive initial evaluation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center led by Dr. Merije Chukumerije and follow-up evaluations at the Mayo Clinic led by Dr. Michael J. Ackerman and Atlantic Health/Morristown Medical Center led by Dr. Matthew W. Martinez, the probable cause of Mr. James’ sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) has been identified.
It is an anatomically and functionally significant Congenital Heart Defect which can and will be treated.
We are very confident in Bronny’s full recovery and return to basketball in the very near future. We will continue to provide updates to media and respectfully reiterate the family’s request for privacy.
The statement did not mention the type of congenital heart defect Bronny James has, but heart defects can definitely cause sudden cardiac arrest, especially during strenuous exercise or activity.
But to be clear – Bronny James was born with the heart defect (that’s what congenital means). He did not develop it from getting the COVID-19 vaccines.
Fact #2 : Cardiac Arrest Is Common In Young Athletes
Anti-vaccination activists often claim that young, healthy people do not suddenly collapse from cardiac arrest. The truth is many young athletes do suddenly collapse from sudden cardiac arrest, and many don’t survive unless they receive medical attention quickly.
The United States alone records over half a million cases of sudden cardiac arrest cases every year – an incidence of about 130 per 100,000 individuals per year. Many people have undiagnosed heart conditions that may not produce noticeable symptoms in daily life, but could result in sudden cardiac arrest at any time.
The risk of developing sudden cardiac arrest increases during strenuous activities, which is why many US states enacted laws requiring automated external defibrillators (AED) to be made available in health clubs, gyms, schools, and other public places.
And no, COVID-19 vaccines do NOT cause cardiac arrests, no matter what anti-vaccination activists may claim.
Neither can COVID-19 vaccines prevent people from getting cardiac arrests, or dying from them.
Fact #3 : No Evidence Bronny James Had Myocarditis
According to CNN, Bronny James underwent cardiac screening several months earlier, as part of testing for prospective NBA players.
The screening included a transthroracic echocardiogram, which looks at blood flow through the heart and its valves, and an electrocardiogram (ECG / EKG), which shows the heart’s electrical activity.
Both heart screenings came back with normal results. This rules out the possibility that Bronny James was suffering from myocarditis, as Elon Musk and other people have suggested.
In fact, it would be quite impossible for Bronny James to practice with his team if he was suffering from myocarditis, as he would be experiencing chest pain, fatigue, and breathing difficulties, another other symptoms.
Needless to say, neither Elon Musk nor the other people who suggested or hinted that Bronny James was suffering from myocarditis actually provided any evidence…
Just in case you are wondering – the ECG / EKG only captures a snapshot of his heart’s electrical activity at that point in time. Bronny James will need to undergo longer monitoring, even a stress EKG, to see if there is any abnormal electrical activity, especially during more strenuous activity.
Fact #4 : Risk Of Myocarditis Much Higher With COVID-19 Infection
According to the large SAFECOVAC study conducted in Malaysia, there is less than one in a million risk of getting myocarditis from COVID-19 vaccines!
In fact, if you take the SAFECOVAC data, and extrapolate the risk of myocarditis from people who were vaccinated three times (including booster dose) versus a COVID-19 infection, you will see this:
Look at the results! If you are worried about myocarditis, you should definitely want to AVOID getting infected with COVID-19.
Myocarditis
Risk
Per Million
People
vs
Sinovac
vs
AstraZeneca
vs
Pfizer
COVID-19
450
+300x
+214x
+167x
3x Pfizer
2.7
+1.8x
+1.3x
Baseline
3x AstraZeneca
2.1
+1.4x
Baseline
-0.2x
3x Sinovac
1.5
Baseline
-0.3x
-0.4x
No matter how you slice and dice the results, it is very clear that the risk of myocarditis is GREATEST with a single COVID-19 infection, than it is with THREE doses of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccines.
Fact #5 : Unknown If Bronny James Was Vaccinated Against COVID-19
Bronny James has never publicly revealed his vaccination status, so it is unknown if he ever received the COVID-19 vaccine. After all, the COVID-19 vaccine is not mandatory in the United States.
I can only confirm that his father, LeBron James, was fully-vaccinated as he revealed in September 2021:
I know that for me I can speak about myself. I think everyone has their own choice to do what they feel is right for themselves and their family, and things of that nature.
I know that I was very [skeptical] about it all, but after doing my research, and things of that nature, I felt like it was best suited for not only me but for my family and for my friends, and that’s why I decided to do it.
While that may suggest that his entire family was similarly vaccinated against COVID-19, he did not explicitly say so.
Fact #6 : Vaccine Side Effects Appear Within Hours / Days
Even if Bronny James was fully-vaccinated, he would have received his vaccine doses more than a year ago!
He cannot possibly have suffered from a vaccine side effect, because they appear within hours or days, not months later.
Mild side effects like injection site pain, fever, muscle ache, headache, lethargy develop within minutes to hours of the vaccination.
Anaphylaxis develops within minutes, while other severe adverse reactions like myocarditis and VITTdevelop within days or weeks.
The spike proteins produced by the COVID-19 vaccines also do not stick around for months. If these spike proteins are permanent (as antivaxxers claim), we would have lifelong immunity.
Your own immune system will identify the spike proteins as foreign, and destroy them within a matter of days, although some may last for up to a few weeks. This is part of how vaccines teach your immune system to identify the enemy and destroy it.
Fact #7 : Claims Of COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries Often Proven False
Most claims of sudden deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false. Here is the latest dozen of other false sudden death claims!
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next death or tragedy…
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
It’s confirmed – Bronny James has a congenital heart defect that caused his cardiac arrest on the basketball court!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Bronny James Almost Died From Vaccine Cardiac Arrest!
Right after news broke that Bronny James collapsed from a cardiac arrest during basketball practice with his team, some people immediately claimed or suggested that LeBron James’ older son was suffering from myocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine, or that his cardiac arrest was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
Elon Musk : We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing.
Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.
William Makis MD : CARDIAC ARREST in the young – Lebron James’ 18 year old son Bronny James had a cardiac arrest during practice at 9:30am on July 24, 2023 – he was fully COVID-19 vaccinated
Some young people survive vaccine injury – 13 cases that did!
OutKick : Elon Musk is right to ask and wonder if the Covid vaccine contributed to Bronny James’ cardiac arrest.
We need to know why this keeps happening to young healthy adults.
Bronny James : Cardiac Arrest Was Caused By Heart Defect!
Born LeBron Raymone James Jr. on October 6, 2004, Bronny James is the eldest son of NBA superstar, LeBron James, and a basketball player for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans team.
At approximately 9:26 AM PDT on Monday, July 24, 2023, Bronny James collapsed while practicing with his team at the USC Galen Center. He was rushed by ambulance to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and confirmed to have suffered from a cardiac arrest.
By the time news broke on Tuesday, July 25, Bronny James was in stable condition, and had already been released from intensive care. A spokesperson for his family said:
Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU.
We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information. LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.
On Friday, August 25, 2023, the James family announced in a statement, that Bronny James was found to have a congenital heart defect that likely caused his sudden cardiac arrest on the basketball court:
After a comprehensive initial evaluation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center led by Dr. Merije Chukumerije and follow-up evaluations at the Mayo Clinic led by Dr. Michael J. Ackerman and Atlantic Health/Morristown Medical Center led by Dr. Matthew W. Martinez, the probable cause of Mr. James’ sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) has been identified.
It is an anatomically and functionally significant Congenital Heart Defect which can and will be treated.
We are very confident in Bronny’s full recovery and return to basketball in the very near future. We will continue to provide updates to media and respectfully reiterate the family’s request for privacy.
The statement did not mention the type of congenital heart defect Bronny James has, but heart defects can definitely cause sudden cardiac arrest, especially during strenuous exercise or activity.
But to be clear – Bronny James was born with the heart defect (that’s what congenital means). He did not develop it from getting the COVID-19 vaccines.
Notably, the statement also did not mention myocarditis – a heart condition associated with mRNA vaccines, that anti-vaccination activists are suggesting caused his cardiac arrest.
As I pointed out earlier, Bronny James underwent cardiac screening several months earlier, as part of testing for prospective NBA players. The screening included a transthroracic echocardiogram, which looks at blood flow through the heart and its valves, and an electrocardiogram (ECG / EKG), which shows the heart’s electrical activity.
Both heart screenings came back with normal results. This rules out the possibility that Bronny James was suffering from myocarditis, as Elon Musk and other people have suggested. In fact, it would be quite impossible for Bronny James to practice with his team if he was suffering from myocarditis, as he would be experiencing chest pain, fatigue, and breathing difficulties, another other symptoms.
Cardiac Arrest Is Common In Young Athletes Like Bronny James
Anti-vaccination activists often claim that young, healthy people do not suddenly collapse from cardiac arrest. The truth is many young athletes do suddenly collapse from sudden cardiac arrest, and many don’t survive unless they receive medical attention quickly.
The United States alone records over half a million cases of sudden cardiac arrest cases every year – an incidence of about 130 per 100,000 individuals per year. Many people have undiagnosed heart conditions that may not produce noticeable symptoms in daily life, but could result in sudden cardiac arrest at any time.
The risk of developing sudden cardiac arrest increases during strenuous activities, which is why many US states enacted laws requiring automated external defibrillators (AED) to be made available in health clubs, gyms, schools, and other public places.
And no, COVID-19 vaccines do NOT cause cardiac arrests, no matter what anti-vaccination activists may claim.
Neither can COVID-19 vaccines prevent people from getting cardiac arrests, or dying from them.
Ultimately, Bronny James joins a long list of athletes whose injuries / deathswere ultimate proven to be wrongly blamed on the COVID-19 vaccines. Here are other examples:
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next death or tragedy…
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Tesla Model Y is now available for order in Malaysia, and here is the price list for the three trims and all available upgrade options!
Tesla Model Y : Available Trims In Malaysia Revealed!
Tesla is finally coming to Malaysia, offering the Model Y in three trims:
Model Y with Rear-Wheel Drive only
Model Y Long Range with Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive, and
Model Y Performance with Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive
The Tesla Model Y is a mid-sized electric SUV offering 2100 litres of cargo space, with seating and storage for up to five passengers. It only takes 3.7 seconds for the Model Y to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h, with a range of up to 533 km (WLTP) per charge.
The Model Y comes with an all-glass roof, autopilot, active safety features, and a HEPA air filtration system. In Malaysia, the Tesla Model Y is covered by a basic vehicle warranty for the first 4 years or 80,000 km (whichever comes first). Its battery and drive unit have a longer warranty of 8 years or 192,000 km, whichever comes first.
Tesla Model Y : Price + Option For Each Trim In Malaysia!
As of Friday, 14 July 2023, you can place an order for any of the three Tesla Model Y trims, but delivery is estimated to take place only in early 2024. Here is the starting price for each available trim in Malaysia:
Model Y (Rear-Wheel Drive) : RM 199,000
Model Y Long Range : RM 246,000
Model Y Performance : RM 288,000
The Tesla Model Y is eligible for Malaysia’s EV incentives, which include:
full import and excise duty exemption for newly-registered zero-emission CBU electric vehicles
100% road tax exemption
individual income tax relief of up to RM2,500 on expenses related to the cost of installing, rental, purchasing (including hire-purchase equipment), or subscription fees for EV charging facilities, for the assessment year of 2023.
companies that rent non-commercial EV may claim tax deduction on the rental amount up to RM300,000 from the year of assessment 2023 until 2025.
After those tax deductions are factored in, the starting price for each Tesla Model Y trim is estimated as:
Model Y (Rear-Wheel Drive) : RM 190,500
Model Y Long Range : RM 237,500
Model Y Performance : RM 279,500
However, those are base prices, and do not include optional upgrades, or the Wall Connector for home charging.
Tesla Model Y : Colour + Upgrade Options In Malaysia!
The Tesla Model Y comes in the Pearl White Multi-Coat colour as standard, but you can opt for the following colours at additional cost:
Solid Black : + RM 5,000
Midnight Silver Metallic : + RM 5,000
Deep Blue Metallic : + RM 5,000
Red Multi-Coat : + RM 10,000
The standard Model Y comes with 19″ Gemini wheels, which you can upgrade to 20″ Induction wheels for RM10,000. The Model Y Long Range, however, only comes with 19″Gemini wheels, with no upgrade options. The Model Y Performance comes with 21″ Überturbine wheels as standard, and no upgrade options either.
All three Model Y trims come with Black interiors as standard, but you can opt for Black and White interiors for an extra RM5,000. Other upgrade options available to all three Model Y trims include:
Enhanced Autopilot : + RM 16,000
– Navigate on Autopilot
– Auto Lane Change
– Autopark
– Summon
– Smart Summon
Full Self-Driving Capability : + RM 32,000
– All functionality of Basic Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot
– Upcoming : Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, Autosteer on city streets
After factoring in ALL available upgrades, here are the Model Y prices in Malaysia, with their estimated prices after EV savings:
Model Y (Rear-Wheel Drive) : RM 256,000 (RM 247,500 after savings)
Model Y Long Range : RM 293,000 (RM 284,500 after savings)
Model Y Performance : RM 335,000 (RM326,500 after savings)
Note : Full Self-Driving (FSD) Capability includes Enhanced Autopilot
But that is not the final top-of-the-line price list though. Tesla has not announced the cost of its Wall Connector home charging solution for Malaysia. It costs $475 in the United States, so expect to top up another RM2,000 to RM2,500 for the Wall Connector in Malaysia.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Was the Pentagon just hit by a large explosion?! Take a look at the viral photo, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Pentagon Was Just Hit By A Large Explosion!
A photo of an explosion at the Pentagon has gone viral on social media, with multiple “blue check” Twitter accounts, an Indian media outlet and Russian state media sharing it!
RT : Reports of an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington DC
Bloomberg Feed : Large Explosion near The Pentagon Complex in Washington D.C. – Initial Report
⚠️BREAKING – Initial Reports of a Large Explosion near The Pentagon Complex in Washington D.C. A Fire is currently Burning at the Location of the Blast with Fire and Rescue Crews arriving On-Scene.
Initial Reports of a Large Explosion near The #Pentagon Complex in #Washington D.C. A Fire is currently Burning at the Location of the Blast with Fire and Rescue Crews arriving On-Scene.
Truth : Pentagon Was Not Hit By A Large Explosion!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created using AI technology, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : There Was No Pentagon Explosion
First, let me just confirmed that there was no explosion at the Pentagon yesterday or today. The Pentagon did not come under attack, as many people have claimed.
For one thing – no legitimate media outlet has reported on such an explosion. No, propaganda outlets like Russia Today (RT) do not count.
This incident has shown just how unreliable RT really is – it was the only state media agency to post the fake photo. RT deleted the photo hours later, but did not appear to apologise for the “mistake”.
Furthermore, police and fire officials in Arlington, Virgina, have confirmed that the viral photo is fake, and that there was no incident at the Pentagon. No explosion. No fire. No smoke.
@PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon.
There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.
Fact #2 : That Is Not The Pentagon
Anyone who has seen the facade / side profile of the Pentagon will immediately realise that the photo does not show the famous building.
The fake building looks like like a university than the Pentagon, which has a flat, sloping roof without a triangular Gable roof.
The facade of the Pentagon is also almost flat and uniform, with uniform, same-sized windows throughout.
The viral photo appears to be created using an AI image generator. If you look closely at the photo, you will see many discrepancies that suggest it was AI-generated:
The facade of the building is distorted, with some windows merging together.
The fence suddenly turns into crowd barriers, both of which have distortions with holes too.
The lamp post appears to be distorted and cut off from its base, literally floating sideways.
Not shown below, but the concrete walkway also gradually fades into grass, which is another sign it was AI-generated.
It is important to point out that while this viral photo tricked many people into thinking it was real, it was the new Twitter Blue and Twitter Gold accounts that helped it go viral.
The photo went viral because multiple Twitter Blue accounts shared the fake photo. Because many people still believe that blue check Twitter accounts are “verified” and therefore trustworthy, they shared it out too.
Elon Musk is responsible for this debacle, by allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry to purchase a blue check to masquerade as a “verified” Twitter account. That was how the fake Bloomberg Feed account was able to trick so many people to share this fake photo.
On top of that, Russian state media – RT (Russia Today) boosted the fake photo by reposting it on its Twitter Gold account, which is a paid and verified account. Even though RT finally deleted the tweet hours later, more than 38,000 people had already viewed the post, and many shared it because they believed RT verified the news.
Fact #5 : Indian News Channel Helped Spread Fake Photo
It also did not help that Republic TV – a right-wing, English language news channel in India, broadcasted a “Live & Breaking” news of the Pentagon explosion using nothing more than that fake photo!
To top it off, they even invited Professor Madhav Nalapat – “an international affairs expert” to opine on the fake explosion!
To be fair – Republic TV relied on RT to verify that news, with a chyron saying, “RT REPORTS EXPLOSION NEAR PENTAGON“. That ought to teach them for relying on Russian state media for facts…
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The body camera and CCTV videos, as well as the 911 call, were just released, finally killing off MAGA and QAnon conspiracies about Paul Pelosi and David DePape!
Earlier : MAGA, QAnon Conspiracies On Paul Pelosi + David DePape
For months now, MAGA and QAnon personalities and supporters have promoted various conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi and David DePape.
Some claimed that Paul Pelosi was having a lover’s tiff with his gay boyfriend, David DePape; while others claimed that DePape was a male prostitute that Pelosi hired.
Seattle Times even came up with a list of 21 American elected officials and candidates, and prominent personalities who spread conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi and David DePape:
Elected Officials and Candidates
Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas : Amplified doubts that all facts were disclosed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia : Suggested Paul Pelosi knew his attacker. Rep. Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana : Suggested the attack involved male prostitution Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Republican of Louisiana : Raised doubts about the details of the attack. State Sen. Wendy Rogers, Republican of Arizona : Suggested the attack might have been staged. State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Republican of Florida : Suggested the Pelosis are hiding vital information. Rep. Claudia Tenney, Republican of New York : Amplified a conspiracy theory about an extra marital gay affair. Mary Williams Benefield, Republican statehouse candidate of Georgia : Suggested the attack might have been staged. Royce White, Republican statehouse candidate of Minnesota : Claimed the attack involved an extramarital gay affair.
Prominent Figures
Donald J. Trump, former US President : Suggested the attack was staged. Devin Nunes, former representative of California : Repeated a false report that the attacker was in his underwear. Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter and Tesla : Amplified a conspiracy theory about male prostitution. Tucker Carlson, Fox News host : Raised doubts about the details of the attack. Peter Hegseth, Fox News host : Raised doubts that all facts were being disclosed. Megyn Kelly, talk show host : Raised doubts that all facts were disclosed. Glenn Beck, conservative commentator : Raised doubts about the details of the attack. Dinesh D’Souza, conservative commentator : Claimed the attack involved an extramarital gay affair. Ryan Fournier, founder of Students for Trump : Claimed details about attacker were fabricated. Sebastian Gorka, former Trump adviser and podcast host : Raised doubts about the details of the attack. Michael Savage, talk show host : Raised doubts that all facts were disclosed. Roger Stone, Trump associate : Suggested the attack was staged.
On Saturday, January 28, 2023, all those MAGA and QAnon conspiracy theories were dismissed as utter nonsense with the release of the body camera and CCTV videos, as well as the 911 call.
The evidence now definitively prove that all those MAGA and QAnon conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi and David DePape were complete fabrication.
They were released after a state court judge ruled on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, that there was no reason to keep them secret.
The San Francisco district attorney earlier refused to release them, forcing a coalition of news agencies to sue for access to the evidence.
Police Body Camera Video
The police body camera video showed Paul Pelosi and David DePape holding onto a hammer, when after Pelosi opened the door. Neither man were wearing underwear, as some conspiracy theorists have alleged.
When the officer asked them to drop the hammer, DePape wrest the hammer from Pelosi and proceeded to attack him with the hammer. The actual hammer hit on Paul Pelosi’s head occurred out of the camera’s view.
After police officers wrestled David DePape to the ground, Paul Pelosi can be seen lying face down on the floor, apparently unconscious in a pool of what appears to be his own blood.
WARNING : GRAPHIC VIDEO!!!
This is the official police body camera video showing David DePape attacking Paul Pelosi!|
The surveillance video came from a Capitol Police CCTV camera that was installed at the Pelosi household.
There was not Capitol Police present, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi was away – their protection unfortunately did not extend to her husband.
David DePape is seen arriving at the back of the Pelosi house with two backpacks, before proceeding to use a hammer to smash the glass door six times, before attempting to break in.
After failing to gain entry, DePape proceeded to whack the glass door with his hammer ten more times, before using his shoulder to smash his way through.
He can then be seen ducking through the glass door – he appears to have broken just two glass panels.
This video clip shows David DePape smashing his way into Nancy and Paul Pelosi's home.
The 911 call, which runs almost 3 minutes, showed Paul Pelosi trying to alert the operator to the danger he was facing without triggering David DePape who was listening to the call, and even chimed in.
Here is my rough transcript of what was said in that 911 call between Paul Pelosi and David DePape on one end, and the 911 operator on the other end.
Operator : This is San Francisco Police. Do you need help?
Pelosi : There is a gentleman here waiting for my wife to come back. Nancy Pelosi. He’s just waiting for her to come back. She’s not going to be here for a day, so I guess we’ll have to wait. Is the Capitol Police around? They’re usually here at the house protecting my wife.
Operator : Okay, do you need Police, Fire, or Medical, for anything?
Pelosi : Uh, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. There’s the, um… Is the Capitol Police around?
Operator : No, this is San Francisco Police.
Pelosi : They’re usually here at the house protecting my wife.
Operator : No, this is San Francisco Police.
Pelosi : No, I understand. Uh, okay, well, uh. (speaking to DePape) I don’t know. What do you think?
DePape : I think everything’s good.
Pelosi : He thinks everything’s good. I’ve got a problem, but he thinks everything’s good.
Operator : Okay, call us back if you change your mind.
Pelosi : No, no, no, this gentleman just came into the house, and he wants to wait for my wife to come home. And so, uh… Anyway.
Operator : Do you know who the person is?
Pelosi : No, I don’t know who he is. He’s telling me not to do anything.
Operator : What is your name?
Pelosi : My name is Paul Pelosi. Anyway, this gentleman says that… he’s telling me to put the phone down, and to do what he says. Okay?
Operator : Okay, what’s the gentleman’s name?
Pelosi : I don’t know.
DePape : David DePape.
Pelosi : What’s that?
DePape : My name’s David.
Pelosi : His name’s David.
Operator : Okay, and who is David?
Pelosi : I don’t know. (to DePape) What’s that?
DePape : I’m a friend of theirs.
Pelosi : I don’t… He said he’s a friend, but as I said, I don’t know…
Operator : But you don’t know who he is?
Pelosi : No, ma’am.
Operator : Okay.
Pelosi : He’s telling me I’m being very leading, so I have to stop talking to you, okay?
Operator : Okay. You sure? I can stay on the phone with you just to make sure everything’s okay.
DePape : No, we want you to…
Pelosi : He wants me to get the hell off the phone. Okay?
Operator : Okay.
Pelosi : Thank you.
Operator : Okay, bye.
As you can tell by now – Paul Pelosi had no idea who David DePape was, and you can hear how he’s trying to convey to the 911 operator the danger he was in, without tipping off DePape.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Was David DePape, who attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, a male prostitute he hired the night before?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2023-01-28 : Added the bodycam and CCTV surveillance videos on the night of the assault. Originally posted @ 2022-11-01
Claim : David DePape Was A Prostitute Paul Pelosi Hired!
The Santa Monica Observer went viral recently, after Elon Musk shared a story by its staff writer, Stan Greene, that claimed David DePape was actually a male prostitute that Paul Pelosi hired!
It’s a long, rambling article, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning.
As SF’s gay bars closed at 2 am, two gay men met in a bar and went home together. Happens every night in the City by the Bay. Except one of these two men, was married to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
I might disappear for telling you the truth. If I do, you’ll all know why. But here’s what really happened early Friday morning in San Francisco. IMHO–in my humble opinion.
According to SFPD “RP [Reporting Person] stated that there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife. RP stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but he advised that his name is David, and that he is a friend,” the dispatch official said. “RP sounded somewhat confused.”
It’s been a rumor for years in SF that Paul Pelosi is gay. David Depape is said to be a Castro Nudist. “The lunatic who allegedly assaulted Paul Pelosi is a Berkeley resident and a ‘Former Castro Nudist Protester’ and hemp ‘jewelry maker’ …sounds totally MAGA Republican to me. 🤣🤣” this from Twitter.
Ok, so here’s the theory, as related to me by a source: “Castro Nudists are a group of really radical gay male prostitutes that parade around naked with c–k rings. First of all, the Police did not come in response to an alarm. They come in response to a “wellness check”. So someone called them to check on Pelosi.”
“When he didn’t answer the phone, the cops broke the sliding glass door to get in. Pelosi was struggling with the suspect, who was in his underwear.
Pelosi owned the hammer. Not Depape. Or, the male prostitute was doing something Pelosi didn’t like.”
“And then there was the press conference when they didn’t know the mic was on. During that, a reporter confirmed that the suspect was a gay Castro Nudist, but (authorities) told him he couldn’t use it.”
“Now tell me something. These people are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Nancy is third in line to the Presidency. You don’t think they have the most amazing security? And by the way, when Pelosi was in that drunk driving accident, he had a young man with him, and that too was covered up by the police and the press.”
“How would (suspect Depape) have been able to break a window that without triggering an alarm? He didn’t. The police broke the window to gain entry. There was only one hammer, and it belonged to Pelosi. And only ONE cop quoted the perpetrator saying, “Where’s Nancy?” None of the other sources said that happened. “
“And one of them could easily have broken that window. Remember, there was no alarm triggered. How would (suspect Depape) have gotten into that house without doing that? The cops smashed the glass to gain entry.”
Who called 911 to initiate a wellness check? Either Nancy or her staff, who hadn’t hear from Paul all evening and suddenly it’s 2 am. Or a neighbor, hearing a fight at the Pelosi residence.
Truth : David DePape Was NOT A Prostitute Paul Pelosi Hired!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created to generate page views and money from gullible people.
Fact #1 : Santa Monica Observer Is Notorious For Fake News
Santa Monica Observer is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.
To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news. Here’s a selection of fake claims they posted in the past:
Hillary Clinton died in 2016, and it was her body double who debated Donald Trump.
Trump appointed Kanye West to a high-level position in the Interior Department.
Bill Gates is responsible for the recent polio epidemic.
Fact #2 : David DePape Broke Into Paul Pelosi’s Home
Santa Monica Observerfalsely claimed that David DePape was a male prostitute who stayed overnight at Paul Pelosi’s home, but had a quarrel that resulted in the assault.
It’s a silly claim, because DePape admitted to police, in a sworn affidavit to the US District Court of Northern California, that he broke into the house through a rear glass door at around 2 AM on October 28, 2022.
DEPAPE stated that he broke into the house through a glass door, which was a difficult task that required the use of a hammer. DEPAPE stated that Pelosi was in bed and appeared surprised by DEPAPE. DEPAPE told Pelosi to wake up.
Santa Monica Observerfalsely claimed that Paul Pelosi owned the hammer that was used in the attack.
David DePape planned to take US Speaker Nancy Pelosi hostage, interrogate her, and possibly break her kneecaps. So he brought two hammers (one later found in his backpack), a roll of tape, white rope, one pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and a journal.
[L]aw enforcement searched DEPAPE’s backpack at the Pelosi residence, and they found, among other things, a roll of tape, white rope, one hammer, one pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and a journal.
Police would later find another two hammers, together with a sword, and another pair of rubber and cloth gloves at DePape’s own garage.
On January 28, 2023, CCTV surveillance video showed David DePape hitting the glass door at the back of the Pelosi house 16 times with a hammer, before smashing his way inside.
This video clip shows David DePape smashing his way into Nancy and Paul Pelosi's home.
Santa Monica Observerfalsely claimed that the police went to conduct a “wellness check” on Paul Pelosi after someone else called them.
The truth is – the San Francisco Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from Paul Pelosi at 2:23 AM, after he managed to escape to the bathroom.
Pelosi told the dispatcher that there was a male whom he did not know in his home, and that the man who called himself David was going to wait for his wife – US Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
San Francisco Police Department officers responded to the Pelosi residence at 2:31 AM.
Fact #5 : Police Officers Did Not Break The Window / Door
Santa Monica Observerfalsely claimed that the police broke a window or sliding glass door to gain entry into the Pelosi residence.
The truth is – when the police officers arrived, they knocked on the door, and Paul Pelosi ran to the door to open it. That was when Pelosi and DePape got into a tussle over the hammer.
When the door opened, the officers saw both Pelosi and DePape grappling over the hammer, with DePape holding Pelosi’s forearm with his other hand.
When the officers asked them both to drop the hammer, DePape pulled it out of Pelosi’s hand and hit him on the head, knocking him unconscious.
On January 28, 2023, the police released the bodycam video of the officers who responded. You can see that Paul Pelosi opened the front door (which is a wooden door) for them, before he was assaulted by DePape with a hammer.
Fact #6 : David DePape Is Not Gay, Nor A Prostitute
Santa Monica Observerfalsely claimed that David DePape is a male prostitute. There is no evidence DePape is gay or a prostitute.
He is a hemp jewellery maker who once lived with a nudist activist, Oxane “Gypsy” Taub. She lived with him for many years, and was the mother of his children – two sons and a daughter.
DePape also had another child, with a different unnamed woman, according to his stepfather, Gene DePape.
Fact #7 : David DePape Espoused Right Wing Conspiracy Views
Santa Monica Observer and many US conservatives are trying to frame David DePape as a left wing Castro nudist liberal.
However, DePape’s blog and social media posts show that he is deep into right wing conspiracy theories like:
He posted that journalists who deny Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election “should be dragged straight out into the street and shot”.
He posted and referenced QAnon – the baseless conspiracy theory espoused by Trump supporters, that the US is run by a deep state cabal of child sex traffickers, pedophiles and baby-eating cannibals.
He also claimed that Jews helped finance Hitler’s political rise in Germany.
He was also a Trump supporter, calling for the disgraced former president to run for office again, and make Tulsi Gabbard his Vice President running mate.
Fact #8 : Paul Pelosi Was Alone During His Drunk Driving Accident
Santa Monica Observerfalsely claimed that there was a young man with Paul Pelosi when he hit a car while driving under the influence of alcohol.
The accident report showed that only the two drivers were involved in the accident. There were no passengers in both cars.
Everything that Santa Monica Observer publishes should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Twitter has “sort of” recovered after going down for many hours on Wednesday night / Thursday morning!
Twitter Sort Of Recovers After Going Down For Hours!
At around 7:30 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, December 2022 (8:30 AM MYT on Thursday morning), Twitter went down.
Users reported all sorts of problems – from the Twitter app and website showing a blank screen, or reporting “exceeded rate limit” errors, or getting logged out automatically. Most got this generic error message :
Error : Something went wrong, but don’t fret – it’s not your fault. Let’s try again.
It was roughly three hours later when Twitter started to recover, albeit in fits and starts. Many users were able to log in again, but continue to report seeing their tweets “disappear”, or that Twitter wouldn’t load any tweets.
Full access was restored for me at around 12:15 PM MYT (11:15 AM ET) – just under 4 hours after Twitter went down.
Twitter Going Down : Surprise It Didn’t Happen Sooner…
It’s really a wonder that Twitter didn’t go down earlier, after its new owner, Elon Musk, fired many of its technical staff – people who were paid to keep the service running.
Despite predictions that Twitter would go down during World Cup 2022, it surprisingly stayed up and kept up with the deluge of tweets.
Twitter also surprisingly managed to “sort of” restore access during its latest downtime. Even so – this down time will surely reignite criticisms of Elon Musk’s decision to gut Twitter’s technical teams.
The Twitter Support account is now up, but has not commented on the issue. And since Elon Musk has reportedly disbanded its press office, an official statement will probably come as a tweet from the Big Boss himself.
Elon has not commented on Twitter’s downtime, with his last tweet over 8 hours ago. He may own Twitter and have “god-like” powers, but even he cannot tweet when it goes down.
Perhaps he should consider reactivating the official Twitter account on Facebook, as a backup for such instances…
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did the US FDA finally admit that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes dangerous blood clots?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : FDA Finally Admits Pfizer Vaccine Causes Blood Clots!
Anti-vaccination activists have recently been claiming that the US FDA finally admitted that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes dangerous blood clots on social media.
FDA Finally ADMITSPfizer Covid Vaccine Causes Blood Clots.. The Gateway Pundit REPORTED ON THIS for over a Year..
Here is the article where the FDAadmits yet another reaction that we were exposing over a year ago from the initial covid injections which is – Blood clots…. When will you see? “You trusted Satan and that is the problem!”
It did not help that Elon Musk amplified one of the claims to his millions of followers:
Hodgetwins : So the FDA finally came out and said that Pfizer’s Covid shot causes blood clots? Only 2 years late!
Elon Musk : Much will come to light as (Dr. Anthony) Fauci loses power.
Truth : FDA Did Not Admit Pfizer Vaccine Causes Blood Clots!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by anti-vaccination activists, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Study Shows FDA Vaccine Surveillance At Work
Anti-vaccination activists have long claimed that the US FDA is colluding with Big Pharma companies like Pfizer and Moderna.
But the truth is – this study is evidence that the US FDA is doing its job by continuing to monitor the safety of the four approved COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.
FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are using the Medicare health insurance database, covering more than 25 million elderly persons aged 65 years and older, to conduct near real-time safety monitoring of 14 outcomes on a weekly basis following COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, or Ad26.COV2.S) administration.
Fact #2 : The FDA Study Is Available Online
The FDA study in question is available online, and I strongly encourage you to read it for yourself, but here is a quick summary:
The study is called “Surveillance of COVID-19 vaccine safety among elderly persons aged 65 years and older“.
It was published in the journal Vaccine on 1 December 2022.
It looked at data from the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) covering 30,712,101 elderly persons, from December 11, 2020 until January 15, 2022.
Out of 30.7 million participants, about 17.4 million persons were vaccinated with a total of 34,639,937 doses.
It looked at 14 outcomes of interest, and initially four outcomes met the threshold of a “statistical signal”, but after further evaluation, only one outcome met the “statistical threshold for a signal”.
No signals were detected for the Moderna mRNA-1273, or the Janssen Ad26.COV2.S vaccines.
I should point out that the FDA study looked at people who are 65 years and older, many of whom have pre-existing co-morbidities, or other risk factors like being in assisted living facilities.
High Risk
hospital stay
major surgery – abdominal / pelvic surgery, or knee / hip replacement surgery
major trauma : automobile accident or fall
nursing home living
Moderate Risk
65 years or older
trips over 4 years by plane, car, train or bus
co-morbidities like heart failure, obesity, cancer
In other words – this population has a higher risk than normal for developing blood clots. That’s likely one of the reasons why the FDA team chose to look at the elderly population.
I should point out that the Pfizer cohort comprised of particularly old people (85 years and older) who were nursing home residents (implying that they have cognitive or mobility issues), and had a higher percentage of previous COVID-19 infections.
Fact #4 : Increased Risks Were Only Modestly Elevated
Initially, the CMS database showed four outcomes that met the threshold for a “statistical signal” of modestly elevated risks (RR of less than 2) after vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine.
But after further evaluation, only one outcome ultimately met that statistical threshold for a signal – pulmonary embolism (PE).
Outcome of Interest
Overall
Rate Ratio
(RR)
Rate Ratio of
Signal Identified
Pulmonary Embolism (PE)
1.15
1.54 on 27/2/2021
Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI)
0.97
1.42 on 27/2/2021
Disseminated Intravascular
Coagulation (DIC)
0.92
1.91 on 13/2/2021
Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP)
1.26
1.44 on 24/4/2021
Fact #5 : The Study Did Not Say Pfizer Vaccine Causes Blood Clots
Let me be clear – the study did not say that the Pfizer vaccine causes blood clots.
The study authors pointed out that these statistical signals do not necessarily mean that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes them, as the potential association was less than twice that of historical rates, and may be associated with other factors:
many of those who received the Pfizer vaccine were much older (85 years+) nursing home residents, and people with more co-morbidities
these outcomes may be explained by co-morbidities that existed before vaccination, including previous COVID-19 infections
In fact, they warned against any conclusion that the Pfizer vaccine caused those outcomes:
Our new findings of statistical signals for four important outcomes for the BNT162b2 vaccine should be interpreted cautiously because the early warning system does not prove that vaccines cause the safety outcomes.
What anti-vaccination activists gloss over as well, is the fact that the FDA study showed NO SIGNALS for other clotting, or clotting-related, disorders like deep vein thrombosis (DVT), heart attacks, and non-hemorrhagic stroke.
It should be noted that pulmonary embolism often happens when a blood clot in the leg (like in a DVT!) breaks free and gets lodged in the lungs. How likely is it for a person to develop pulmonary embolism without a deep vein thrombosis?
Fact #7 : FDA Is Not Taking Any Action
The study also notes that the FDA is currently not taking any regulatory actions based on these signal detection activities, because they need further study to determine if they are causal or merely coincidence.
These signal detection studies are part of the FDA’s active surveillance systems, and serve to identify potential adverse outcomes for further study. They cannot be used to make regulatory decisions.
Just because these signals were detected, does not mean they were caused by the vaccine. Until there is proof that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes blood clots, there is simply no reason for the FDA to take any action.
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Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Twitter quietly removed its COVID-19 misinformation policy, and stopped taking action against people breaching those rules a week ago – on Wednesday, 23 November 2022!
Twitter quietly “announced” in its COVID-19 Misinformation Transparency report that it would stop enforcing its policy.
Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.
Instead of announcing the change in its COVID-19 misinformation policy page, Twitter quietly removed the page completely, even though you can still find it in the search results.
Removal Of Twitter Policy To Usher New Age Of COVID Misinformation!
The quiet removal of the Twitter COVID-19 misinformation policy is set to trigger a rush of disinformation and misinformation about the coronavirus, and its vaccines.
Twitter first initiated its COVID-19 misinformation policy in April 2020, with a five strike system against accounts posting “demonstrably false or misleading” content that “may lead to significant risk of harm”.
first-time offender will receive one strike, but no action would be taken against their accounts,
the second and third strikes would result in users being locked out of their accounts for 12 hours,
the fourth strike would result in a 7-day account lock-out, and finally,
those with five or more strikes would have their account permanently suspended.
Twitter challenged and removed a ton of accounts over COVID-19 misinformation. Here are the last updated stats as of September 2022:
11.72 million accounts challenged
11,230 accounts suspended
97,674 content removed
Even though it was far from perfect, Twitter’s COVID-19 misinformation policy did have an effect on misinformation about the coronavirus and its vaccines.
Unfortunately, it was set to break after Elon Musk laid off half of Twitter’s staff, and significantly reduce its content moderation department.
Elon Musk appears to be set on relying on Twitter users to conduct their own “content moderation” using Community Notes. Twitter users can vote on whether a note is useful or misleading, or add context if necessary. The updated Community Notes will introduce “scoring” to allow users to vote on the quality of the note. How well that will work out remains to be seen.
In the meantime, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination activists will have free rein to post whatever misinformation they wish.
Twitter advertisers may not like this, but it looks like Elon Musk has made up his mind to favour freedom of speech, over preventing harm through content moderation.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Elon Musk just stumbled on a great way for SpaceX to make more money – add a Starlink donation option!
Starlink Donation : Way Out For Elon Musk + Brilliant Way To Make $$$
Right after being forced to withdraw his demand for more Starlink funding, Elon Musk just found a fortuitous escape hatch for that PR debacle, and a new and brilliant way to make more money!
Chipper CEO Ham Serunjogi tweeted a day earlier that he would be happy to donate money to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.
Just installed Starlink and quite impressed with initial speeds & ease of setup. Most excited about its potential to bring internet access to remote & rural areas that lack infrastructure. @elonmusk I’d be glad to commit $$ to donate Starlink to schools & hospitals in Uganda. pic.twitter.com/zsab7ESBUd
Musk jumped on it and asked if anyone else would be interested to donate Starlink to places in need.
Are there others that want to donate Starlinks to places in need?
Without waiting for a poll or positive response from his legion of fans, the SpaceX CEO announced6 minutes later that SpaceX will add a donate option for Starlink.
Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink
It took Elon Musk only 6 minutes to realise the genius of the idea. A Starlink donation option would kill two birds with one stone.
Not only would it absolve him of the need to (partially) donate to Ukraine or Iran, or impoverished communities, SpaceX gets to financially benefit from those donations, AND reap the PR benefits on top of that!
That’s a pay nothing, and get all three FREE deal right there! What is there not to like?
Elon Musk + SpaceX Do Not Need A Starlink Donation Option!
Call me a cynic, but this is nothing more than a ploy to enrich SpaceX by squeezing the common people to donate Starlink.
Of course, we don’t yet know how the Starlink donation option will work – it was just a declaration of intent. But neither Elon Musk nor SpaceX actually need to add a Starlink donation option.
SpaceX received and continue to receive tens of millions of dollars in donations to provide Starlink to Ukraine, and we know that because their letter of demand leaked inconvenient details – some 85% of Starlink terminals were donated by third party entities like:
USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
US : almost 1,700 terminals
In other words – there are already institutions donating vast amounts of money to fund Starlink for such “places in need”. Elon Musk himself can fund a lot of CSR projects with his wealth of over $200 BILLION, even if he ends up buying Twitter.
Elon Musk didn’t become a multi-billionaire by donating his money; and despite signing the Giving Pledge in 2012, he has done very little of it.
What is clear though is that neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk need us common folks trying to make ends meet, to donate Starlink.
Why Is Ham Serunjogi Even Asking For A Starlink Donation Option?
I don’t even understand why Ham Serunjogi is publicly asking Elon Musk if there’s a way to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.
As far as I can tell – SpaceX hasn’t even applied for regulatory approval for Starlink in Uganda. So donating to Uganda is a non-starter, the question moot. Pointless.
But if Ham Serunjogi or any other rich technopreneur wants to help connect “places in need” under Starlink coverage, they can simply order and pay for Starlink. As the Nike motto says – Just do it!
Unless the purpose is to get some nice PR without actually doing anything, or heavens forbid – to give Elon Musk a way to switch the topic away from SpaceX’s less than heroic donations to Ukraine.
Here I lay to rest my cynicism, in hopes that I’m wrong, and Ham Serunjogi and other rich people will do their bit to bring Internet connectivity to people who don’t yet have access.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Elon Musk has officially withdrawn SpaceX’s demand for more Starlink funding in Ukraine!
Elon Musk Withdraws Demand For Starlink Funding!
Elon Musk was seen as a saviour to Ukrainians, after his company – SpaceX, shipped thousands of its satellite terminals to Ukraine, and activated its Starlink satellite Internet services.
But he came under fire after a SpaceX letter demanding more funding leaked, exposing how most of Starlink service in Ukraine was being funded by third party entities, including the US, UK and Polish governments.
The backlash resulted in an angry “The hell with it” retort by Musk, which could either mean he was going to continue subsidising a small part of Starlink services in Ukraine, or he was just being sarcastic.
That was finally clarified when he tweeted that SpaceX officially withdrew its request for (additional) funding.
SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding
He could barely hide his indignation at being “exposed” for only subsidising a small percentage of Starlink services in Ukraine, with his follow-up tweet to “clarify” that SpaceX was only getting paid for 42% of Starlink users in Ukraine.
To be precise, 25,300 terminals were sent to Ukraine, but, at present, only 10,630 are paying for service
While that sounds “bad”, the truth is – SpaceX was charging an ultra-premium $2,500 for its Starlink service in Ukraine, when most users only needed the much cheaper $500 connectivity, or the $60 consumer connectivity.
That’s like charging them for Gigabit broadband, when they only need 50 Mbps or 100 Mbps connectivity. The cost is the same, but the company gets to claim that they are being fleeced, when the truth is – they are looking to profiteer off a country desperately trying to fight off a Russian invasion.
Elon Musk / SpaceX Is Making Money Off Starlink In Ukraine!
As a capitalist and a corporation respectively, Elon Musk and SpaceX are entitled to profit off the Starlink satellite service. But it is also important to note that Ukraine has offered SpaceX a unique opportunity to showcase the advantages of the Starlink system.
The overwhelmingly positive media coverage of Starlink’s importance in the Ukraine War is something money can’t buy. So it is important that Elon Musk and SpaceX do not abuse their unique position, to focus on profit, profit, profit.
Not only do they stand to lose that positive news coverage, it could also open a bag of worms… like when the leaked letter exposed that SpaceX was not as charitable as everyone thought.
According to the leaked SpaceX letter, about 85% of the 20,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were paid or partially paid for by countries like the US, the UK and Poland. Those countries also paid for about 30% of the Internet connectivity, which costs $4,500 per month per unit.
That service cost was also brought into question since it was their top-tier pricing, when the majority of users in Ukraine only needed the much cheaper $500 per month connectivity, and consumer connectivity only cost $60 per month. It looked like SpaceX was profiteering off Ukraine’s desperation.
The SpaceX letter naturally rankled the Pentagon, with one senior defence official saying that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” and present them with a bill for tens of millions of dollars, when Starlink service in Ukraine was already being sponsored in large part by outside sources.
Let’s hope that Elon Musk and SpaceX has learned their lesson on trying to profit off the Ukraine War…
Earlier : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!
According to an exclusive report by CNN, SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote a letter to the Pentagon, warning that it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service.
SpaceX delivered about 20,000 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine so far, with CEO Elon Musk stating on Friday that the “operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year“.
We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.
In the letter that was sent in September, SpaceX asked the Pentagon to fund the Ukraine government’s use of Starlink, which would cost $124 million for the rest of the year, and could cost as much as $380 million for the next 12 months.
Here is a breakdown of Starlink costs in Ukraine, and who paid for what:
USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
US : almost 1,700 terminals
SpaceX priced the two Starlink satellite terminal models it sent to Ukraine at $1,500 and $2,500, even though the consumer model is cheaper at just $599.
SpaceX claims to have paid for about 70% of the service provided to those Starlink terminals, but that’s based on their claim to have offered the highest level of service at $4,500 per month, even though the majority only signed on for the cheaper $500 per month service. Starlink consumer service in Ukraine, in comparison, costs just $60 per month!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Amidst the recent funding controversy, Elon Musk has begrudgingly agreed to keep (partly) funding Starlink services in Ukraine!
Elon Musk To Keep (Partly) Funding Starlink In Ukraine!
Elon Musk was seen as a saviour to Ukrainians, after his company – SpaceX, shipped thousands of its satellite terminals to Ukraine, and activated its Starlink satellite Internet services.
Starlink has been critical in providing the Ukrainian government and military forces with secure communications, and the ability to control drones to monitor or attack Russian forces.
But that burnish was just soiled by the raging controversy over SpaceX’s reluctance to “keep paying” for Starlink in Ukraine, especially when it’s revealed that most of the “free” terminals and services were funded by other parties!
In what appears to be a rage post, Elon Musk begrudgingly agreed to keep (partly) funding Starlink services in Ukraine on Saturday, October 15, 2022:
The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.
Of course, that could be nothing more than Musk’s sarcastic response to what he probably perceives as a lack of appreciation for SpaceX’s efforts.
Elon Musk / SpaceX Is Making Money Off Starlink In Ukraine!
As a capitalist and a corporation respectively, Elon Musk and SpaceX are entitled to profit off the Starlink satellite service. But it is also important to note that Ukraine has offered SpaceX a unique opportunity to showcase the advantages of the Starlink system.
The overwhelmingly positive media coverage of Starlink’s importance in the Ukraine War is something money can’t buy. So it is important that Elon Musk and SpaceX do not abuse their unique position, to focus on profit, profit, profit.
Not only do they stand to lose that positive news coverage, it could also open a bag of worms… like when the leaked letter exposed that SpaceX was not as charitable as everyone thought.
According to the leaked SpaceX letter, about 85% of the 20,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were paid or partially paid for by countries like the US, the UK and Poland. Those countries also paid for about 30% of the Internet connectivity, which costs $4,500 per month per unit.
That service cost was also brought into question since it was their top-tier pricing, when the majority of users in Ukraine only needed the much cheaper $500 per month connectivity, and consumer connectivity only cost $60 per month. It looked like SpaceX was profiteering off Ukraine’s desperation.
The SpaceX letter naturally rankled the Pentagon, with one senior defence official saying that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” and present them with a bill for tens of millions of dollars, when Starlink service in Ukraine was already being sponsored in large part by outside sources.
Let’s hope that Elon Musk and SpaceX has learned their lesson on trying to profit off the Ukraine War…
Earlier : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!
According to an exclusive report by CNN, SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote a letter to the Pentagon, warning that it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service.
SpaceX delivered about 20,000 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine so far, with CEO Elon Musk stating on Friday that the “operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year“.
We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.
In the letter that was sent in September, SpaceX asked the Pentagon to fund the Ukraine government’s use of Starlink, which would cost $124 million for the rest of the year, and could cost as much as $380 million for the next 12 months.
Here is a breakdown of Starlink costs in Ukraine, and who paid for what:
USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
US : almost 1,700 terminals
SpaceX priced the two Starlink satellite terminal models it sent to Ukraine at $1,500 and $2,500, even though the consumer model is cheaper at just $599.
SpaceX claims to have paid for about 70% of the service provided to those Starlink terminals, but that’s based on their claim to have offered the highest level of service at $4,500 per month, even though the majority only signed on for the cheaper $500 per month service. Starlink consumer service in Ukraine, in comparison, costs just $60 per month!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
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