Did 13 countries sign the WEF treaty to engineer an “ethical global famine”?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : 13 Countries Signed WEF Ethical Global Famine Treaty!
People are sharing an article (archive) by The People’s Voice (formerly NewsPunch), which claims that 13 countries signed a WEF treaty to engineer an “ethical global famine” as part of the World Economic Forum’s Agenda 2030 goals!
Here is an excerpt of the long and (intentionally?) confusing article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
13 Countries Sign WEF Treaty To Engineer an ‘Ethical Global Famine’
13 western countries, including the United States, have all signed a WEF treaty to engineer what they are calling an “ethical global famine” as part of the World Economic Forum’s Agenda 2030 goals.
The following countries have agreed to orchestrate a “controlled demolition” of the agriculture industry worldwide while ushering in starvation and famine for humanity:
United States
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Chile
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Germany
Panama
Peru
Spain
Uruguay
Citing “climate change” and “global warming” as the reasons why such drastic measures must be taken, the globalists behind the climate scam are pushing the notion that agriculture, including animal rearing, must end in order to prevent animal flatulence from heating the environment.
Truth : 13 Countries Did Not Sign WEF Ethical Global Famine Treaty!
This is yet another example of fake news created / promoted by The People’s Voice, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : There Was No WEF Treaty
First, let me just point out that no country in the world signed any WEF treaty or agreement to engineer an “ethical global famine”. The WEF treaty that the The People’s Voice article referred to was just a statement.
It was just an announcement that 13 countries have committed to “reduce methane emissions in agriculture“. Those countries did not sign any legal agreement or treaty. Neither did they commit to any goals in methane emission, or any particular timeline to achieve those goals.
Last month, the Global Methane Hub collaborated with the Ministries of Agriculture of Chile and Spain to convene the first-ever global ministerial on agricultural practices to reduce methane emissions. The ministerial brought together high-ranking government members to share global perspectives on methane reduction and low-emission food systems.
The gathering led to a statement in which the nations committed to support efforts to improve the quality and quantity of, and access to, finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the agriculture and food sectors and to collaborate on efforts aimed at lowering methane emissions in agriculture and food systems.
Anyone who reads the announcement can clearly see that none of those countries signed any treaty or legal agreement to reduce methane emissions in agriculture.
If the The People’s Voice article cannot even get this right… you have to wonder – is there anything credible in its article???
While the The People’s Voice article appears to suggest that this happened recently, I should point out that this even occurred more than a year ago – on 17 May 2023 to be precise.
It must either be a really slow day at The People’s Voice, or it took them more than a year to read / realise this…
Fact #3 : World Economic Forum Was Not Involved
The The People’s Voice article claimed that the (non-existent) agreement was a treaty by the World Economic Forum (WEF), but that’s simply not true.
Not only does that agreement not exist, the conference which led to the statement of commitment (to reduce methane emissions in agriculture) was hosted by the Global Methane Hub. in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile and Spain.
The Global Methane Hub is an independent philanthropic organisation dedicated to reducing methane emissions globally, that was established in 2022 in Santiago, Chile. It is led by Marcelo Mena, the former environment minister of Chile, and the director of Climate Action Center at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaís.
To be clear – the WEF was not involved in the 2023 Global Methane Hub conference on “Addressing the challenge of reducing methane in Agriculture“.
Fact #5 : 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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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 13 nations just sign a WEF agreement to engineer global famine by destroying food supply?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
An article (archive) by Global Research claims that 13 nations just signed a WEF agreement to engineer global famine by destroying food supply!
Here is an excerpt from the really long and (intentionally?) confusing article:
13 Nations Sign Agreement to Engineer Global Famine by Destroying Food Supply
The United States has joined 12 other nations in signing a World Economic Forum (WEF) agreement that seeks to engineer global famine by destroying the agriculture industry.
According to the agreement, which was drawn up by the WEF and the United Nations (UN), food production is causing “global warming” and must be eliminated.
To “save the planet” from “climate change,” globalists insist, farms must be shut down across the world.
The WEF agreement sets targets for how much farmland each nation must eliminate in order to comply.
Under the guise of reducing “methane emissions,” thirteen nations have signed the pledge to engineer global famine by gutting agricultural production and shutting down farms.
Announced earlier this year by the WEF’s Global Methane Hub — a cabal of crisis engineers who exploit public panic to destroy the world food supply — those thirteen nations are:
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Chile
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Germany
Panama
Peru
Spain
The United States
Uruguay.
Imagine no meat production from Australia, Brazil, and the USA.
This is the goal of the globalists.
And they admit it’s all part of the climate fraud which has been thoroughly exposed as a quack science hoax, by the way.
Truth : 13 Nations Did Not Sign WEF Agreement To Destroy Food Supply!
This is yet another example of fake news created / promoted by Global Research, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : There Was No Agreement To Destroy Food Supply
First, let me just point out that no country in the world signed any agreement to destroy food supply. The agreement that the Global Research article referred to was just a statement.
It was actually just an announcement that 13 countries have committed to “reduce methane emissions in agriculture“. Those countries did not sign any legal agreement or treaty. Neither did they commit to any goals in methane emission, or any particular timeline to achieve those goals.
Last month, the Global Methane Hub collaborated with the Ministries of Agriculture of Chile and Spain to convene the first-ever global ministerial on agricultural practices to reduce methane emissions. The ministerial brought together high-ranking government members to share global perspectives on methane reduction and low-emission food systems.
The gathering led to a statement in which the nations committed to support efforts to improve the quality and quantity of, and access to, finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the agriculture and food sectors and to collaborate on efforts aimed at lowering methane emissions in agriculture and food systems.
Anyone who reads the announcement can clearly see that none of those countries signed any treaty or legal agreement to reduce methane emissions in agriculture.
If the Global Research article cannot even get this right… you have to wonder – is there anything credible in its article???
While the Global Research article appears to suggest that this happened recently, I should point out that this even occurred more than a year ago – on 17 May 2023 to be precise.
It must either be a really slow day at Global Research, or it took them more than a year to read / realise this…
Fact #3 : WEF + UN Were Not Involved
The Global Research article claimed that the (non-existent) agreement was drawn up by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN). That’s not true.
Not only does that agreement not exist, the conference which led to the statement of commitment (to reduce methane emissions in agriculture) was hosted by the Global Methane Hub. in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile and Spain.
The Global Methane Hub is an independent philanthropic organisation dedicated to reducing methane emissions globally, that was established in 2022 in Santiago, Chile. It is led by Marcelo Mena, the former environment minister of Chile, and the director of Climate Action Center at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaís.
To be clear – neither the WEF nor the UN were involved in the 2023 Global Methane Hub conference on “Addressing the challenge of reducing methane in Agriculture“.
Fact #4 : GlobalResearch.ca Is Propaganda / Conspiracy Website
Founded in 2001 by Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch.ca (short for the Centre for Research on Globalization) is known for promoting conspiracy theories and falsehoods.
A US State Department report not only labeled it as the most accessed proxy website allied with pro-Kremlin disinformation, a NATO report stated that it plays a “key accelerant role in helping popularize articles with little basis in fact“.
Its articles have been regularly debunked as fake news or propaganda, so you should never share anything from GlobalResearch.ca.
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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 researchers discover that COVID-19 vaccines were “causally linked” to 17 million deaths?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2024-01-09 : Refreshed for the revival of this claim on social media Originally posted @ 2023-10-03
Claim : COVID-19 Vaccines Caused 17 Million Deaths!
People are sharing an article by The Epoch Times which claims or suggests that COVID-19 vaccines did not save lives, but instead, resulted in 17 million deaths in 17 countries!
Here is an excerpt of The Epoch Times article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts:
Researchers Find COVID Vaccines Causally Linked to Increased Mortality, Estimate 17 Million Deaths
Data suggest COVID-19 vaccines haven’t saved lives, but instead, have resulted in 17 million deaths and increased all-cause mortality in 17 countries.
A new scientific report challenges the idea that COVID-19 vaccines have prevented deaths after researchers assessed all-cause mortality in 17 countries and found COVID-19 vaccines did not have any beneficial effect on reducing mortality. Instead, researchers found that unprecedented peaks in high all-cause mortality in each country—especially among the elderly population when COVID-19 vaccines were deployed—coincided with the rollout of third and fourth booster doses.
The report, published Sept. 17 by Correlation Research in the Public Interest (pdf) (not yet peer-reviewed), quantified the vaccine-dose fatality rate (vDFR) for all ages—which is the ratio of inferred vaccine-induced deaths to vaccine doses delivered in a given population. After analyzing mortality data, the researchers calculated a mean all-ages fatal toxicity by injection of vDFR of one death per 800 injections across all ages and countries. This equates to 17 million COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths worldwide from 13.25 billion injections as of Sept. 2, 2023.”This would correspond to a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population (1 death per 470 living persons, in less than 3 years), and did not measurably prevent any deaths,” the authors said. The overall risk of death induced by COVID-19 vaccines is 1,000 times greater than previously reported in data from clinical trials, adverse event monitoring, and cause-of-death statistics obtained from death certificates.
All-cause mortality is the death rate from all causes of death for a population in a specific time period. This is the most reliable data for detecting and epidemiologically characterizing events driving death and for measuring the population-level impact of any surge or collapse in deaths from any cause.
“All-cause mortality is a good feature to use in statistical medical analyses since there is no ambiguity in whether someone has died or not,” Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told The Epoch Times in an email. “It is highly disturbing that these authors have found a consistent trend among seventeen countries showing a significant increase in all-cause mortality coinciding with extensive COVID vaccine rollout. Their estimate of one death for every 800 injections globally is alarming.”
Ms. Seneff said her investigations into potential mechanisms of vaccine injury have led her to believe that it is plausible that these injections are “extremely toxic” and should not have been approved by regulatory agencies.
Key findings from the 180-page report include: In all countries included in the analysis, all-cause mortality increased when COVID-19 vaccines were deployed.
Nine of 17 countries had no detectable excess deaths following the World Health Organization’s March 11, 2020, declaration of the pandemic until the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Unprecedented peaks in all-cause mortality were observed in January and February 2022, during the summer season of Southern Hemisphere countries coinciding with or following the rollout of boosters in 15 of 17 countries studied.
Excess all-cause mortality during the vaccination period beginning January 2021 was 1.74 million deaths, or one death per 800 injections, in the 17 countries studied.
The vDFR increased exponentially with age, reaching almost 5 percent among those 90 years and older who received a fourth vaccine dose.
“There is no evidence in the hard data of all-cause mortality of a beneficial effect from the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. No lives were saved,” Denis Rancourt, co-director of Correlation Research in the Public Interest with a doctorate in physics, told The Epoch Times in an email. “On the contrary, the evidence can be understood in terms of being subjected to a toxic substance. The risk of death per injection increases exponentially with age. The policy of prioritizing the elderly for injection must be ended immediately.”
Truth : COVID-19 Vaccines Did Not Cause 17 Million Deaths!
In this article, I will go through some of their points, and show you what the facts really are!
Fact #1 : It Was A Self-Published Report
First, let’s start by pointing out that the paper in question (PDF download) is not a published scientific report, but a self-published report by Correlation Research in the Public Interest.
As far as we can tell, it has not been submitted to any scientific or medical journal for publication. Even if a scientific report has not been peer-reviewed, it would be available as a pre-print.
Fact #2 : It Has Not Been Peer-Reviewed
There is also no indication that this report has undergone even the basic peer review process. In fact, The Epoch Times confirmed this at the end of their very long article.
It’s important to note the scientific report has not yet been peer-reviewed. Articles that are ultimately accepted by peer review are often revised prior to publication, indicating potential for improvement.
In other words – subject matter experts have yet to inspect their data and findings, never mind verify and authenticate them. Perhaps this should have been mentioned right from the start?
Fact #3 : World Mortality Dataset Covers 103-124 Countries
The World Mortality Dataset (WMD) is a public database maintained by two researchers – Ariel Kaplinsky and Dmitry Kobak, that has been tracking the mortality rates of 103 countries since January 2021. They later expanded their data to cover 124 countries.
It is peculiar that Correlation Research in the Public Interest would focus only on 17 countries, out of 103-124 countries in the World Mortality Dataset. Why not look at ALL countries covered by the WMD data?
The World Mortality Dataset is a big and critical tool for tracking all cause mortality for many countries around the world. However, it is ultimately just a database of all-cause mortality.
There is no way it can be used to demonstrate the causality of any particular cause of death. After all, it only tracks all-cause mortality! It doesn’t differentiate between death from a car accident or a fall, from death from COVID-19, or death from a vaccine injury.
Hence, if you go through the long Correlation Research report (180 pages!!), you don’t see an actual causal link between those spikes in deaths, and COVID-19 vaccines (or any other potential cause of death).
Fact #5 : Eurostat Data Shows Vaccination Reduced Excess Mortality
Perhaps the reason why the European countries were left out of this Correlation Research report is because the Eurostat data showed a strong correlation between high COVID-19 vaccination rates and low excess mortality.
In this chart provided by @dobssi, you can see that the 2021 excess mortality is much lower in countries with high vaccination rates, than countries with low vaccination rates.
Interestingly, two of those highly-vaccinated countries are Australia and New Zealand, both of which had low excess mortality rates in 2021.
The Eurostats data appear to show that Australia has only a small spike in excess death, while New Zealand actually had LOWER excess deaths after vaccinating its population. Imagine that…
The report claim to look at 17 equatorial and Southern Hemisphere countries because they have “no summer and winter seasons”, so there won’t be “seasonal variations” in their mortality patterns.
But the truth is – countries in equatorial and southern hemispheres have at least two seasons, instead of four seasons typically seen in the Northern Hemisphere.
Take Thailand, for example – a tropical country that evokes images of sandy beaches and warm weather. Well, Thailand actually has three seasons:
a wet season that runs from May to October,
a cool season that runs from November to February, and
a hot season that runs from March May
Its capital, Bangkok, itself experiences wide variations in temperature throughout the year – from as low as 21°C in the winter, to as high as 37°C in the summer.
And how exactly does proximity to the equator affect the SARS-CoV-2 virus or the COVID-19 vaccine??
Fact #7 : Those Countries Have Different Vaccination Rates
It is hard to understand why those 17 countries were chosen out of 103-124 countries in the World Mortality Dataset. Especially when they have different vaccination rates.
Yes, the report states that these countries comprise 9.1% of the global population and 10.3% of all COVID-19 vaccine injections. That gives us the impression that they are all highly-vaccinated countries.
That’s really not the case. These countries have very different vaccination rates, ranging from 44% to 97%!
Country
1 Dose
≥ 2 Doses
Argentina
14%
77%
Australia
2%
95%
Bolivia
60%
Brazil
6%
82%
Chile
2%
90%
Colombia
12%
72%
Ecuador
85%
Malaysia
2%
84%
New Zealand
1%
95%
Paraguay
56%
Peru
6%
83%
Philippines
79%
Singapore
1%
92%
South Africa
46%
Suriname
3%
44%
Thailand
5%
78%
Uruguay
5%
83%
If they did not select those countries for their high vaccination rate, then why choose those countries and not the dozens of other countries located near the equator?
Why not pick large countries like Indonesia or India? Why not pick small countries like Brunei or Maldives? Why pick South Africa when there are many other African countries much closer to the equator?
Did they cherry-pick those countries because their data fitted the narrative, or was it something else?
Fact #8 : World Mortality Dataset Study Identified COVID-19 As Cause
The two researchers who maintained the World Mortality Dataset (WMD) actually published a peer-reviewed study in the eLife journal, on 30 June 2021.
Unlike this Correlation Research report, this was an actual peer-reviewed study, published in a journal and the NIH National Library of Medicine. It was also written by the two people who knows the WMD database best – the very people maintaining and updating it!
Both Ariel Kaplinsky and Dmitry Kobak used their WMD data to look at the impact of COVID-19 on the all-cause mortality from 103 countries, and here was what they found:
We found that in several worst-affected countries (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico) the excess mortality was above 50% of the expected annual mortality (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico) or above 400 excess deaths per 100,000 population (Peru, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia). At the same time, in several other countries (e.g. Australia and New Zealand) mortality during the pandemic was below the usual level, presumably due to social distancing measures decreasing the non-COVID infectious mortality
Summing up the excess mortality estimates across all countries in our dataset gives 4.0 million excess deaths. In contrast, summing up the official COVID-19 death counts gives 2.9 million deaths, corresponding to the global undercount ratio of 1.4.
In other words – many people were likely being killed by COVID-19 infections, which appear to be undercounted by some 40%.
To be clear – their data do not show COVID-19 vaccines causing those deaths, never mind 17 million deaths!
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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.
Can the “Mexico Did It” photo infect your phone with a virus in just 5 seconds?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2023-09-13 : Revised for a new wave Originally posted @ 2022-11-07
Claim : “Mexico Did It” Photo Will Infect Your Phone With A Virus!
The warning about the “Mexico Did It” photo or image that will infect your phone with a virus keeps going… viral on WhatsApp and social media.
There are two versions so far – in English, and in Spanish.
FYI: They are going to publish an image that shows how Covid 19 is cured in Mexico and it is called “Mexico did it”, do not open it because it enters the phone in 5 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. It’s a virus. Pass it on to your friends and family. Now they also said it on CNN and BBC. DO NOT OPEN IT
Pass it on
Van a publicar una imagen que muestra como el Covid 19 se cura en Mexico y se llama “Mexico lo hizo” no lo abran porque entra al telefono en 5 segundos y no se puede frenar de ninguna forma. Es un virus. Pasenlo a sus familiares y amigos. Ahora lo dijeron tambien en CNN y BBC
Truth : There Is No “Mexico Did It” Photo / Virus!
This is just another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media like Facebook and Twitter, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : This Viral Message Has Been Circulating Since 2021
The viral message about the “Mexico Did It” photo or virus has been circulating on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter since April 2021.
Fact #2 : This Is A Modified Version Of “Argentina Is Doing It”
This viral message is actually a modified version of an earlier fake message, which claims that a video on WhatsApp called “Argentina is doing it” will hack your phone in 10 seconds.
It just replaces Argentina with Mexico, a video with a photo, and changes it from a 10-second hack into a 5-second virus attack.
Those two fake news are, in turn, probably based on the even older fake claim that hackers are using greeting photos and videos to hack your phone.
Fact #3 : There Is No “Mexico Did It” Photo / Virus
There is no such thing as a “Mexico Did It” image or photo. Neither is there a virus called “Mexico Did It“.
There is also no known virus that can infect your phone with a virus simply using a photo or image.
Fact #4 : CNN + BBC Never Reported On Such A virus
It’s been over 2.5 years since this fake story first appeared on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, but neither CNN nor BBC has ever reported on a “Mexico Did It” virus.
Fact #5 : Image-Based Malware Is Possible, But…
Digital steganography is a method by which secret messages and other data can be hidden in digital files, like a photo or a video, or even a music file.
It is also possible to embed malicious code within a photo, but it won’t be a full-fledged malware that can execute by itself.
At most, it can be used to hide the malware payload from antivirus scanners, which is pretty clever to be honest… but it cannot hack your smartphone by itself.
Fact #6 : Image-Based Malware Requires User Action
In January 2019, cybercriminals created an online advertisement with a script that appears innocuous and would pass any malware check.
However, the image itself has an “almost white” rectangle that is recognised by the script, triggering it to redirect the user to the cybercriminals’ website. Once there, the victim is tricked into installing a Trojan disguised as an Adobe Flash Player update.
Such a clever way to bypass malware checks, but even so, this image-based malware requires user action.
You cannot get infected by the Trojan if you practice good “Internet hygiene” by not downloading or installing anything from unknown websites.
Fact #7 : Malicious Code Executes Immediately
If you accidentally download and trigger malware, it will execute immediately. It won’t take 5 seconds, as the hoax message claims.
Generally, malware won’t wait a few seconds before it infects your devices. Waiting will only increase the risk of detection.
Unless the malware creator designed it to only infect your phone when you are sleeping (like the early hours of the morning), it pays to execute immediately.
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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 Taylor Swift die suddenly from a tragic car crash, just after leaving her concert?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2023-08-12 : Added new details, including updated MediaMass hoax
Updated @ 2023-07-02 : Added updated details Originally posted @ 2023-06-03
Claim : Taylor Swift Just Died Suddenly In Car Accident!
A TikTok video which claims that Taylor Swift just died suddenly in a tragic car accident has gone viral. The video has been removed, and unfortunately, I was not able to grab a copy of it before it disappeared.
The viral TikTok video was posted by @taylor.fan17, and shows photos of Taylor Swift performing at her concerts, with a male narrator claiming that the singer died suddenly in a tragic car accident.
The video claimed that Taylor Swift’s car was hit by another car while she was leaving her show in Atlanta, and the unnamed driver was taken into custody, and is now awaiting a court trial for the crime.
Some people have also been sharing a photo of a mural showing that Taylor Swift did indeed die.
Truth : Taylor Swift Did Not Die Suddenly In Car Accident!
This is yet another example of celebrity FAKE NEWS created and propagated by people to gain notoriety, generate income from page views and/or YouTube advertising, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : No Legitimate Media Reported Her Death
That viral TikTok video has been circulating for weeks, but some people don’t seem to notice that no legitimate media has reported her death.
Taylor Swift is, arguably, one of the world’s most famous and influential singer today. A mega star, with a legion of fans who call themselves Swifties. If she just tripped in public, the paparazzi and celebrity blogs would have reported on the incident and analysed it to death.
If she got into any car accident, it would have been international news, even if she did not suffer so much as a scratch. Yet no legitimate media outlet reported that Taylor Swift died suddenly in a tragic car accident. Not even small-time celebrity blogs reported her death!
Fact #2 : Taylor Swift Is Still Alive + Well!
The viral video claimed that Taylor Swift died on Monday, May 1, 2023 – just after wrapping up her stop in Atlanta, Georgia for The Eras Tour.
Taylor Swift did not die, and is still very much alive and well, as of August 9, 2023. That was when she announced that she is releasing a re-recording – 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on October 27!
Tens of thousands of Swifties also sang with Taylor Swift that day on her last concert at the SoFi Stadium in Southern California.
“Here we are, on the last night of the U.S. leg of the Eras tour, in the eighth month of the year, on the ninth day (of the month),” Swift said to frenzied screams, before art for the upcoming “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” due Oct. 27, flashed on the gigantic screen behind her.
Needless to say, all that would not be possible if Taylor Swift died in car accident on Monday, May 1, 2023…
Fact #3 : Taylor Swift Memorial Mural Is From 2016
You may have seen people posting photos of a Taylor Swift memorial mural as evidence that she truly died.
The mural is real, and is located in Melbourne, Australia. However, it was created by Australian graffiti artist, Lushsux, to mark the “death” of Taylor Swift’s career in March 2016.
At that time, Kanye West released his single, Famous, with the lines:
I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex
Why? I made that bitch famous.
Taylor Swift then got into a spat with Kanye West and his then-wife, Kim Kardashian. That was when Lushsux created the mural, and posted a video of it on Instagram with this caption:
Please pay your respects at Hosier Lane today by laying flowers or lighting a candle in mourning, taken from us too soon sweet princess.
Fact #4 : Taylor Swift Death Hoax Is Driven By Fake Fact Check Too
This Taylor Swift death hoax, ironically, is also being driven by another fake fact check article by MediaMass Project.
News of singer Taylor Swift’s death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the August 2023 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, the singer best known for hit songs like You Belong with Me or Love Story is alive and well.
Rumors of the singer’s alleged demise gained traction on Thursday after a ‘R.I.P. Taylor Swift’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million of ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of the American singer’s passing:
“At about 11 a.m. ET on Thursday (August 10, 2023), our beloved singer Taylor Swift passed away. Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in Reading. She will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”
Hundreds of fans immediately started writing their messages of condolence on the Facebook page, expressing their sadness that the talented 33-year-old singer and songwriter was dead. And as usual, Twittersphere was frenzied over the death hoax.
Where as some trusting fans believed the post, others were immediately skeptical of the report, perhaps learning their lesson from the huge amount of fake death reports emerging about celebrities over recent months. Some pointed out that the news had not been carried on any major American network, indicating that it was a fake report, as the death of a singer of Taylor Swift’s stature would be major news across networks.
Their claim of a viral R.I.P. Taylor Swift Facebook page is false. There is no such Facebook page. It is their standard fake fact check spiel for fake celebrity deaths.
She joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. She’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.
Hidden in the description page for the MediaMass Project is a disclaimer that it is a “satire” website. That’s the usual “cover” for websites peddling fake news.
Regardless of their reasons, anything posted by MediaMass.net must be considered as fake news, until proven otherwise.
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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.
Santino Godoy Blanco – the 4 year-old face of Argentina’s child vaccination campaign tragically died.
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Santino Godoy Blanco Died From Vaccine Sudden Death!
Right after news broke that Santino Godoy Blanco fell sick and died, anti-vaccination activists immediately claimed that the poster boy for Argentina’s child vaccination campaign died from vaccine-induced sudden death (SADS / VIDS / VDS)!
Heartbreaking: Santino Blanco, the four-year-old boy who had been the face of #Argentina’s national #vaccination campaign #diedsuddenly this morning. This is #murder.
These parents have made this 💉 a religion and they are all willing to sacrifice their healthy children to pharma gods. Shameful and disgusting.
A new slap from Israel to the COVID-19 vaccines, while in Argentina, 4-year-old Santino Godoy Blanco, who was the central figure of the National Vaccination Campaign, died!
Truth : Santino Godoy Blanco Did NOT Die From Vaccine!
It’s becoming a tradition for anti-vaccination activists to immediately blame all celebrity deaths or injuries on the COVID-19 vaccine.
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by anti-vaccination activists, and here are the reasons why…
But before I start, I would like to point out that it is unbelievable how low they would go. They didn’t even bat an eye in lying about a young boy’s death. They have no shame at all.
Fact #1 : Santino Godoy Blanco Died From Pneumonia
Santino Godoy Blanco, who hailed from the town of San Miguel, had been unwell for a week with a high fever that persisted despite being given ibuprofen.
His mother, Agustina Blanco, took him to the Dr. Raúl F. Larcade Municipal Hospital at dawn on Wednesday, November 2, where the doctor said that he had a viral fever, and sent him home.
Unfortunately, Santino’s fever persisted and he started to throw up. He was Reliverán (Metoclopramide) for his vomiting, but eventually went back to the hospital after his condition did not improve.
Santino’s condition continued to deteriorate to Thursday – he kept vomiting, and was weak and not able to eat. Once again, his mother brought him to the hospital, but this time, Santino was so weak, he was no longer able to sit up and had to lie down.
After 10 minutes, the nurse told his mother that Santino needed oxygen, explaining that the doctor who checked him believed he was suffering from bronchospasm, but the three pulse oximeter sensors they tried didn’t work. Santino then went into shock, and they tried but failed to revive him after 1.5 hours.
After Santino Blanco died, an autopsy was conducted on his body, which revealed that he died from pneumonia.
In short, Santino Godoy Blanca’s cause of death was pneumonia, not COVID-19 or the COVID-19 vaccine.
It was also not a “sudden death”, as anti-vaccination activists keep claiming. Sadly, Santino suffered for a long time before dying from pneumonia.
Fact #2 : Argentinian Vaccination Campaign Was Not For COVID-19
Now, I should point out that the vaccination campaign that Santino Godoy Blanco was featured in, was not for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Santino was a model for the Argentinian National Ministry of Health’s vaccination campaign for measles, rubella, mumps and polio (sarampión, rubéola, paperas y polio).
All those nasty antivaxxers mocking his family or the boy for promoting something that “killed him” got it completely wrong. So you have to ask yourself – why should you listen to people who either lied, or just made up that claim?
Fact #3 : Unknown If Santino Blanco Was Vaccinated Against COVID-19
Just because Santino Godoy Blanco was a model for a vaccination campaign, does not mean he was actually vaccinated against COVID-19.
It’s no different from how actors may appear to be macho in a movie, but are quite different people in real life.
For all we know – he may not even be vaccinated! The COVID-19 vaccine is not mandatory in Argentina, despite what anti-vaccination activists may claim.
For example, anti-vaccination activists claimed that Kaden Clymer was almost crippled by a 6-foot long vaccine-induced blood clot, but the high school athlete was never vaccinated against COVID-19!
Fact #4 : Argentina Uses Sinopharm For Child COVID-19 Vaccinations
Anti-vaccination activists are falsely blaming Santino Godoy Bianco’s death on mRNA vaccines.
Even if Santino Godoy Blanco was fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, he never received an mRNA vaccine, because Argentina only approved the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for use in children between 3 and 11 years in age.
The Sinopharm COVILO vaccine, also known as BBIBP-CorV or just BIBP, is an inactivated virus vaccine made from actual SARS-CoV-2 virus grown in Vero cells, and killed using β-propiolactone. This vaccine does not use mRNA technology.
Fact #5 : Pneumonia Is A Common Cause Of Childhood Death
Anti-vaccination activists falsely claim that children do not die from pneumonia.
The truth is – pneumonia is a common cause of death in very young children, accounting for 14% of all deaths of children under 5 years old.
In fact, the WHO points out that pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide, killing 740,180 children in 2019 alone.
Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection by viruses, bacteria or fungi that infect the lungs, and makes breathing difficult and reduces the amount of oxygen the child receives.
Fact #6 : COVID-19 Vaccines Cannot Prevent Other Causes Of Death
COVID-19 vaccines are designed to protect us against severe illness and death from COVID-19, by teaching our own immune system how to create antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
They, however, cannot protect us against other causes of death, whether it’s pneumonia, cardiac arrest or even other viruses. Hence, fully-vaccinated people can and will die from other causes of death.
It is therefore ludicrous for anti-vaccination activists to blame all deaths of fully-vaccinated people on the vaccine. Did they really expect the COVID-19 vaccine to be an elixir of immortality? Please grow up.
Fact #7 : Claims Of Celebrities Dying From COVID-19 Vaccine Proven False
This is yet another example of anti-vaccination activists abusing celebrity deaths / injuries to create and propagate FAKE NEWS about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, claims of celebrity deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false at every instance. Here is the latest dozen of other false celebrity claims!
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next celebrity 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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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.
Sea Limited – the parent company of Shopee – appears to be in dire straits, pulling out of markets, slashing costs and salaries!
Parent Company Of Shopee Slashes Costs + Salaries!
Singapore-based Sea Limited – Shopee’s parent company – appears to be in dire straits, pulling out of markets, slashing costs and salaries!
In March 2022, Shopee shut down its France operations less than 6 months after kicking off its “European conquest” in October 2021.
Then in early September 2022, Shopee exited Argentina, and shut down its local operations in Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Sea Limited’s Garena gaming unit also laid off hundreds of employees in Shanghai.
Today (September 15, 2022), Bloomberg reported that Sea Limited’s top management staff will forgo their salaries, and the company will tighten its expenses.
In a 1,000-word internal memo to Sea Limited staff, CEO Forrest Li said that the leadership team will not take any cash compensation “until the company reaches self-sufficiency”, as well as these additional measures :
business travel is restricted to economy class flights,
travel meal expenses are limited to US$30 a day,
hotel stays for business trips are limited to US$150 a night
reimbursements for meals and entertainment bills will be removed
Sea Limited + Shopee Have Been Struggling In 2022
Li noted that Sea Limited has been struggling against rising interest rates, accelerating inflation, and a volatile market – conditions that he foresees will likely persist into the medium term.
He stressed that the company’s primary objective for the next 12-18 months will be to achieve positive cashflow as soon as possible.
With investors fleeing for ‘safe haven’ investments, we do not anticipate being able to raise funds in the market.
The only way for us to free ourselves from relying on external capital is to become self-sufficient, generating enough cash for all our own needs and projects.
Li’s comments mirrors the “tough times” concerns recently expressed by HUAWEI CEO Ren Zhengfe.
Sea Limited saw its market value soar to more than US$200 billion in October 2021, but its share prices tumbled 85%, reducing its market value to just US$27 billion.
Last month, Sea announced that its net loss in the second quarter of 2022 widened to US$931.20 million from US$433.7 million last year. Its total adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for that quarter also jumped to US$506.3 minion from US$24.1 million.
This was despite a 29% increase in total revenue to US$2.9 billion, from US$2.3 billion in the second quarter of last year.
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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 if the viral Argentinian egg boycott really happened, reducing the price of eggs to a quarter of its original price!
Claim : Argentinian People Reduced Egg Prices Through Boycott!
The story of the Argentinian egg boycott has gone viral, as an example of how the common people can force businesses to reduce their exorbitant prices.
There are a few examples of this story circulating on WhatsApp and social media, but here is one example.
Note : The story is rather long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
Egg Carton
This is a true story, not a fiction. It happened in Argentina.
An Argentine citizen went to buy an egg carton. When he asked the seller about the price, he found that the price was above the usual price. After he asked the seller about the reason, the seller said, “The distributed companies have raised the price!”
Quietly, the citizen returned the egg carton back to its place, saying, “There is no need for eggs. I can live without eating eggs.” Also, all citizens did this without campaigns or strikes, but it was a people’s culture! People who did not accept blackmail by companies .. In your opinion, how were the results? !!!
The companies insisted on stubbornness, saying that these protests would end in a few days, and people would return to buy eggs as usual. However, the people were more stubborn; they boycotted eggs, and companies began to lose twice, the first in accumulated egg cartons, and the second in feeding chickens that did not stop eating and producing eggs. As a result, the losses accumulated and multiplied!
The owners of poultry companies gathered and decided to return the price of eggs to the previous price even though the boycott continued, and the companies almost declared bankruptcy, so they were only to meet again and decided the following:
– To offer an official apology to the Argentine people in all media.
– To Reduce the price of eggs to a quarter of its previous value.
The lesson:
As a people, we can reduce or increase the price of any commodity without campaigns or strikes. We only need a little bit of will, culture, and determination.
Truth : There Never Was An Argentinian Egg Boycott!
Despite claiming that this is a true story, this is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : There Never Was Any Egg Boycott In Argentina!
First, I should point out that there was never any egg boycott in Argentina that caused egg companies to cut prices to a quarter of its previous price.
Neither did any egg company apologise to the Argentinian people. Look it up yourself. It never happened. The story was completely fabricated.
Fact #2 : This Story Has Been Circulating Since 2015
This fake story has been circulating since at least August 2015, when it was posted on an Arabic website with the title of Union – the story of the Argentine people.
Since then, it has been repeatedly shared on social media – Facebook, Twitter, as well as on WhatsApp.
Fact #3 : Argentina Hit By High Inflation Since 2002
Argentina has been suffering from high inflation since 2022, which got worse from 2014 onwards – going from 10.5% to 58% in April 2022!
Whatever boycotts the Argentinian people may have organised would not have mattered.
Fact #4 : An Egg Boycott Would Never Work
The whole premise of an egg boycott is also ridiculous. Egg prices increase due to escalating costs, as well as supply and demand changes.
If poultry farmers do not make enough money from eggs, they will simply reduce their egg-producing flock, and focus on producing chicken meat instead. When that happens, supply is reduced and prices go up, not down.
A complete consumer boycott of eggs would not collapse the market, because eggs are widely used in the bakery and confectionery trades.
Eggs also have important biotechnology, and other industrial uses. For example, it is used to produce many vaccines, like the annual flu vaccine.
Eggs can also be turned into powdered egg, or even exported. In fact, about $4 billion worth of eggs were exported worldwide in 2020.
Hypothetically, if the Argentinians really boycotted eggs completely, it would result in a short-term reduction in price due to increased supply in the market. However, some chicken farms will collapse, reducing supply and causing prices to spike when consumers start buying eggs again.
Fact #5 : Egg Margins Are Very Thin
According to Poultry World, egg producers in the US generate a margin of just 11.2 cents per dozen eggs at the farm level. That’s less than 1 cent per egg!
So how would it be possible for any egg distributer to sell eggs at a quarter of the original price? It does not even make common sense, never mind financial sense!
I hope you found this fact check useful. Please help to share it out, so people won’t get fooled by this stupid story 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.
The WHO has convened an emergency meeting on the monkeypox outbreak that has spread to 56 countries!
Here is what you need to know…
WHO Convenes Emergency Meeting On Monkeypox Outbreak!
On 23 June 2022, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an emergency committee meeting under Article 48 of the International Health Regulations to discuss the current monkeypox outbreak.
Chaired by Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele and Dr. Nicola Low, this emergency WHO meeting on monkeypox is only open to members and advisors of the Emergency Committee.
The findings of this emergency meeting would be conveyed to the Director-General of WHO, on whether the outbreak should be classified as a public health emergency of international concern, and also on potential recommendations on how to address it.
This meeting comes as an NGO called World Health Network (unrelated to WHO) issued a press release describing the current monkeypox outbreak as a “pandemic”, urging “immediate and effective action” from country and global health authorities.
This led to a bit of confusion, as their names and acronyms were similar (WHO vs WHN). To be clear, WHO has not declared a monkeypox pandemic.
Over 4,000 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 56 Countries!
Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.
Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..
However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 56 countries outside of endemic African countries, with over 4,000 cases!
Country
Confirmed
Cases
Suspected
Cases
Total
Spain
918
100
1,018
United Kingdom
793
–
793
Germany
676
–
676
France
330
–
330
Portugal
328
–
328
Canada
223
45
268
United States
173
–
173
Netherlands
167
–
167
Italy
85
–
85
Belgium
77
1
78
Switzerland
52
–
52
Ireland
28
–
28
Ghana
18
–
18
Brazil
11
6
17
Israel
16
–
16
Australia
13
–
13
Denmark
13
–
13
Sweden
13
–
13
UAE
13
–
13
Austria
12
–
12
Poland
12
–
12
Mexico
9
–
9
Slovenia
9
–
9
Hungary
7
–
7
Czech Republic
6
–
6
Uganda
–
6
6
Romania
5
–
5
Argentina
4
–
4
Finland
4
–
4
Malta
4
–
4
Norway
4
–
4
Somalia
–
4
4
Chile
3
–
3
Colombia
3
–
3
Greece
3
–
3
Iceland
3
–
3
Bulgaria
2
–
2
Latvia
2
–
2
Morocco
1
1
2
Bahamas
–
1
1
Cayman Islands
–
1
1
Fiji
–
1
1
Georgia
1
–
1
Gibraltar
1
–
1
Haiti
–
1
1
Libya
–
1
1
Lebanon
1
–
1
Luxembourg
1
–
1
Serbia
1
–
1
Singapore
1
–
1
South Africa
1
–
1
South Korea
1
–
1
Uruguay
–
1
1
Venezuela
1
–
1
Zambia
–
1
1
TOTAL
4,049
170
4,219
Please Support My Work!
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.
Over 560 monkeypox cases have now been confirmed in at least 25 countries outside of Africa!
Find out if the monkeypox outbreak could become a new pandemic we have to worry about!
Over 560 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 25 Countries!
People are now worried about the rapid spread of monkeypox globally. although the WHO has said that it is unlikely to become a pandemic like COVID-19.
Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.
Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..
However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 25 countries outside of Africa, with over 560 cases!
Country
Confirmed
Cases
Suspected
Cases
Total
United Kingdom
179
–
179
Spain
120
–
120
Portugal
96
–
96
Canada
26
37
63
Germany
33
–
33
Netherlands
26
–
26
France
17
–
17
United States
15
–
15
Italy
14
–
14
Belgium
9
–
9
Czech Republic
5
–
5
Switzerland
4
–
4
UAE
4
–
4
Sweden
3
–
3
Ireland
2
1
3
Argentina
2
–
2
Australia
2
–
2
Denmark
2
–
2
Israel
2
–
2
Slovenia
2
–
2
Austria
1
–
1
Finland
1
–
1
Malta
1
–
1
Mexico
1
–
1
Thailand
1
–
1
TOTAL
568
56
617
Monkeypox Cases May Increase, But Unlikely To Become Pandemic
On 30 May 2022, the World Health Organisation’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, gave a public briefing on the 2022 monkeypox outbreak.
Here is a summary of the key points Dr. Lewis shared in that public session :
She does not expect the monkeypox outbreak to turn into another pandemic like COVID-19.
There are still many unknowns about this outbreak, including how exactly it is spreading.
The suspension of mass smallpox immunisation decades ago may have resulted in increased transmission.
Vast majority of current cases seen in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men.
There is a higher proportion of people with fewer visible lesions that are more concentrated in the genital region, and sometimes nearly impossible to see. This is a danger because they are infectious even though their lesions are not visible.
There is a window of opportunity to shut down the outbreak so it does not become endemic in new areas.
Fortunately, the 2022 monkeypox outbreak appears to be of the less virulent West African strain, because there is no proven treatment.
The smallpox vaccine can offer up to 85% protection against monkeypox, and certain antiviral treatments can be attempted.
But otherwise – hospitals can only offer supportive treatment as the patient isolates for 2-4 weeks until the disease resolves.
Monkeypox primarily spreads through close contact, but can spread through respiratory droplets. However, it is far less contagious and is not airborne like COVID-19.
Infected people are also not considered contagious until they start showing symptoms, which limits transmission. This is unlike COVID-19 which is often spread by people who are asymptomatic.
The best way to describe its ability to infect people would be to understand its R0 (Reproduction Number, pronounced as R naught) – how many people an infected person is expected to pass the disease along to.
The ancestral COVID-19 virus has an R0 of between 2 to 3, which increased to 8 with the Omicron variant. That’s really contagious – every infected person will (on average) transmit the virus to 8 other people.
On the other hand, past outbreaks of monkeypox had an R0 of less than one. That means even though there may be clusters of several cases, even outbreaks, the cases die out on their own.
Virus
R0
Measles
12 to 18
Omicron COVID-19
8
Smallpox
5 to 7
Ancestral COVID-19
2 to 3
H1N1 (2009)
1.5 to 2.5
Monkeypox
<1
Monkeypox fortunately does not spread very efficiently between humans. Generally, you need to have skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, or come into contact with his/her bodily fluids, to get infected.
The people most at risk would be close contacts of the infected person, like family members or healthcare workers taking care of them.
Transmission is really happening from close physical contact, skin-to-skin contact. It’s quite different from COVID in that sense.
– Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist
It’s not as highly transmissible as something like smallpox, or measles, or certainly not Covid. It does not spread easily from person to person, the risk to the general public is low.
– Anne Rimoin, infectious disease epidemiologist at University of California.
That is why it is very unlikely to become a pandemic, although if it spreads to susceptible rodent populations, it could become endemic in those areas.
There is also the fact that the monkeypox is so closely related to the smallpox virus, the smallpox vaccine offers 85% protection against monkeypox infections.
In fact, one smallpox vaccine – JYNNEOS – was approved in the United States to serve as protection against monkeypox. Even though there is no public access to this vaccine, that can quickly change.
Several countries, including the United States, have strategic reserves of smallpox vaccines, which can be deployed in a monkeypox outbreak.
Countries have also started purchasing smallpox vaccines :
19 May 2022 : Spain’s Ministry of Health announced that it was in the process of purchasing thousands of doses of smallpox vaccines
24 May 2022 : CDC announced that the US is in the process of releasing some JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine doses for people who are “high risk”.
25 May 2022 : the German government announced that it was buying 40,000 doses of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.
26 May 2022 : the UK Health Security Agency announced that it purchased 20,000 doses of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.
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.
Monkeypox primarily spreads through close contact, but can spread through respiratory droplets. However, it is far less contagious and is not airborne like COVID-19.
Infected people are also not considered contagious until they start showing symptoms, which limits transmission. This is unlike COVID-19 which is often spread by people who are asymptomatic.
The best way to describe its ability to infect people would be to understand its R0 (Reproduction Number, pronounced as R naught) – how many people an infected person is expected to pass the disease along to.
The ancestral COVID-19 virus has an R0 of between 2 to 3, which increased to 8 with the Omicron variant. That’s really contagious – every infected person will (on average) transmit the virus to 8 other people.
On the other hand, past outbreaks of monkeypox had an R0 of less than one. That means even though there may be clusters of several cases, even outbreaks, the cases die out on their own.
Virus
R0
Measles
12 to 18
Omicron COVID-19
8
Smallpox
5 to 7
Ancestral COVID-19
2 to 3
H1N1 (2009)
1.5 to 2.5
Monkeypox
<1
Monkeypox fortunately does not spread very efficiently between humans. Generally, you need to have skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, or come into contact with his/her bodily fluids, to get infected.
The people most at risk would be close contacts of the infected person, like family members or healthcare workers taking care of them.
Transmission is really happening from close physical contact, skin-to-skin contact. It’s quite different from COVID in that sense.
– Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist
It’s not as highly transmissible as something like smallpox, or measles, or certainly not Covid. It does not spread easily from person to person, the risk to the general public is low.
– Anne Rimoin, infectious disease epidemiologist at University of California.
That is why it is very unlikely to become a pandemic, even though it is really abnormal for so many outbreaks to occur simultaneously.
There is also the fact that the monkeypox is so closely related to the smallpox virus, the smallpox vaccine offers 85% protection against monkeypox infections.
In fact, one smallpox vaccine – JYNNEOS – was approved in the United States to serve as protection against monkeypox. Even though there is no public access to this vaccine, that can quickly change.
Several countries, including the United States, have strategic reserves of smallpox vaccines, which can be deployed in a monkeypox outbreak.
We have already worked to secure sufficient supply of effective treatments and vaccines to prevent those exposed from contracting monkeypox and treating people who’ve been affected.
– Dr. Raj Panjabi, White House Pandemic Office.
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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.
Tech millionaire Steve Kirsch challenged me to a debate, claiming to have “the inside story” on how Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died from vaccine-induced myocarditis.
So let’s take a look at his “inside” information, and see what the facts really are!
Steve Kirsch : Taylor Hawkins Most Likely Died From Vaccine!
Tech millionaire Steve Kirsch has been actively creating misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
In his latest effort, he claimed to have “the inside story” on how Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died from vaccine-induced myocarditis.
He even called me out, and challenged me to a debate, for fact checking that false claim earlier. Hilarious!
I would love to debate Dr. Wong on this, but he doesn’t seem anxious to engage with me or Peter McCullough. I’ve posted the link to this story on his “fact check” but it has to be approved by him to appear.
So I’m going to publicly expose the truth about what Steve Kirsch shared, because facts aren’t subject to a debate. They remain true, irrespective of our opinions.
Why Steve Kirsch Is Wrong About Taylor Hawkins Dying From Vaccine
In case you guys don’t know him, Steve Kirsch is a tech millionaire who made his money as one of two people who independently invented the optical mouse.
So he’s definitely a smart guy… when it comes to tech. But let’s see if Steve Kirsch is correct in any of his claims…
I will go through the list of “facts” that Steve Kirsch posted, and tell you what the facts really are.
Claim : He was found dead in his hotel room… after complaining about chest pains. Fact : Hawkins called the hotel front desk for help, complaining of chest pain. He was treated by a health professional (doctor) hired by EMI, who failed to revive him.
Claim : Press reported he died of cardiac arrest. The vaccine causes death by cardiac arrest. Fact : There is ZERO evidence that any COVID-19 vaccine causes death by cardiac arrest.
Claim : Marijuana and heroin and the other drugs aren’t consistent with the symptoms observed before he died. Fact : No one actually observed his symptoms that we are aware of. Hawkins only reported chest pain, so what other symptoms is Kirsch alluding to? Fact : A cardiac arrest is pretty much consistent with opioid overdose, and less commonly, marijuana use. Even if we discount marijuana, Hawkins had heroin and other opioids in his urine.
Claim : Taylor Hawkins was all about the music and his fans. He was just a great guy. Fact : Unless his passion for music was a trigger for the vaccine to kill him, it is completely irrelevant and is just Kirsch name dropping his “inside source”.
Members of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) remove the lifeless body of the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins, at the Casa Medina hotel, in Bogota, Colomia
Claim : He was married for 17 years and had three kids. He had everything to live for. Fact : People with everything to live for can still partake in drugs. A strong desire to live does not prevent a drug overdose either. Does Kirsch really believe that being married for XX years and having X number of kids precludes death from opioid overdose? Seriously?
Claim : There was no mention of the amount of each substance (in the toxicology report). Fact : This is true, probably because the forensic team would have to first corroborate the urine test results, with the blood test results. It does not change the fact that the 10 types of substances in his urine included marijuana, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids.
Claim : People have mentioned that drug reports from Columbian sources can be unreliable. Fact : Not only is that incredibly condescending, it is an opinion that is not backed by facts. Where is the evidence that a simple urine test that any laboratory in the world can perform is unreliable because it was conducted in Colombia?
Claim : Columbian authorities claim … Columbian sources…
Fact : The demonym of Colombia is Colombian, not Columbian. Hawkins died in the country of Colombia, not Columbia, South Carolina or the District of Columbia.
Claim : COVID vaccine can cause a heart to double in size and then kill you. Fact : Vaccine-induced myocarditis can cause the heart to enlarge (but not necessarily so), and in rare cases, it can be fatal. However, you are many times more likely to get myocarditis from a COVID-19 infection, than from any COVID-19 vaccine. If you are worried about myocarditis, you will want to get vaccinated. Read more :Vaccine Myocarditis Risk Less Than 1 In Million!
Claim : It seems unlikely that he just decided on a spontaneous heroin / benzo / cocaine bender right before a show. Fact : Unlikely? The fact is the preliminary toxicology test showed that he had 10 different substances in his urine, and a police officer reportedly told prosecutors that he saw a “cocaine-like powder” in Hawkins’ room. Does Kirsch have any “inside” facts to share? Or was he just pontificating?
Claim : He still smoked weed. This was well known [Insider]. Opinion : I’ll take his insider’s word for that, and point out it refutes Kirsch’s point that Hawkins learned his lesson in 2001 (when he almost died from an overdose). If he can still smoke weed, he certainly can still partake in cocaine and heroin.
Claim : Hawkins made it very clear he was against masks, lockdowns and the COVID vaccines. Opinion : While plausible, there is no public record of Hawkins saying that he was against masks, lockdowns and the COVID vaccines.
Claim : Hawkins was under pressure from both Dave Grohl and the band manager to take the vaccine. Opinion : While plausible, there is no public record of Hawkins being forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Claim : Hawkins’ heart was likely already somewhat damaged from an earlier vaccine dose when … his doctor said he had a “big heart”. Fact : That is a baseless opinion by Kirsch, unless he is willing to share with us evidence that Hawkins’ “big heart” was related to any vaccine he took.
Claim : So the timing on this suggests that Hawkins had his first and/or second dose before the medical exam. Fact : This is complete bullshit. Kirsch is doing a logic pretzel – claiming (without evidence) that Hawkins’ cardiomegaly in June 2021 was definitely due to the vaccine, and then using that as “evidence” that Hawkins must have been vaccinated before that. Opinion : If Kirsch really spoke to insiders who knew Hawkins on a personal basis, they would have told him when Hawkins got his vaccine doses. Kirsch doesn’t even know what vaccine Hawkins took. It may not even have been an mRNA vaccine, for all we know.
Claim : So this is all consistent with a damaged heart on an earlier vaccine shot. Fact : Kirsch conspiciously “forgot” to point out that Hawkins’ doctor told him that he was “in amazing shape“. If Hawkins had vaccine-induced myocarditis, he would have had noticeable symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. His doctor certainly would not have told him that he was in great health.
Claim : Hawkins got a booster on Feb. 26, 2022 [Insider], just a month before he died. Fact : There is no way to confirm this insider claim, but I should point out that none of the countries that the Foo Fighters were going to play at required a booster dose. They only required travellers to be fully-vaccinated, so it would not have been necessary for Hawkins to get a booster dose before flying to Australia – the first overseas stop. Opinion : Assuming that his insider source was correct, it actually PROVES that Hawkins did not suffer from vaccine-induced myocarditis – an acute condition that occurs within a few days of receiving an mRNA vaccine. It wouldn’t crop up a month later, and Hawkins would not have been able to undertake strenuous activities like playing with the Foo Fighters in Australia, Chile and Argentina.
Claim : Large study in JAMA said most heart problems surfaced 3 weeks after the vaccine Fact : Kirsch interestingly did not reference the JAMA study, so we will never know which study he was referring to. In any case, vaccine-induced myocarditis surfaces WITHIN DAYS of receiving an mRNA vaccine.
Claim : Those involved in physically demanding activities are … more likely to get myocarditis due to catecholamine release interaction with the vaccine. Fact : There is currently no evidence that individuals who participate in physically demanding activities are more likely to get myocarditis. The paper Kirsch quoted to back up that claim is a literature review (not an actual clinical study) by his friend, that has not been peer-reviewed. Fact : The paper Kirsch quoted mentioned that “vaccine-induced myocarditis … and increase in sudden deaths” are “overrepresented in young males“. That kind of proves Kirsch wrong – Hawkins was 50 years old when he died. The risk of vaccine-induced myocarditis for his age group is practically non-existent.
Age Group
Vaccine Myocarditis
Male Rate
(per million doses)
Classic Myocarditis
Male Baseline
(per million doses)
12-17
32.4
2.0
18-24
30.7
1.8
25-29
12.2
1.9
30-39
6.9
1.9
40-49
3.5
1.9
50-64
1.9
1.9
Claim : Their stage manager Andy Pollard died suddenly as well. Fact : That’s true, but Kirsch does not tell us why that is pertinent information. Bob Saget also died suddenly. Is that equally relevant to Hawkins’ death? Or is he suggesting some kind of Foo Fighters curse?
Claim : [Vaccine-induced myocarditis] fits all the facts like a glove Opinion : Those must be really weird gloves for aliens with 8 fingers, because Kirsch offered ZERO EVIDENCE that vaccine-induced myocarditis was the cause of Hawkins’ death.
Claim : Hawkins was boosted 30 days before he died, giving his heart plenty of time to double in size Fact : Hawkins already said he had a “big” heart a year ago… MONTHS before he received that [alleged] booster dose in February 2022.
Claim : Hawkins was observed shortly before his death and appeared not under the influence of drugs. Fact : Kirsch hilariously used this photo of Hawkins with band members Pat Smear and Samantha Sidley taken TWO DAYS prior to his death as proof. How does the photo prove that Hawkins did not partake in any drugs two days LATER? Let me help him with this analogy – if I post a picture of myself eating a salad today, it does not mean I won’t be eating a steak tomorrow.
Taylor Hawkins (back) on a plane with band member Pat Smear (left) and Samantha Sidley (right) on Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Steve, thank you for helping to invent the optical mouse, but please stop creating and sharing misinformation.
Why not join me in fighting fake news instead? Let your legacy be the unerring pursuit of the truth.
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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 Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, die from COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Taylor Hawkins Died From Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis!
Just three days after Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, was found dead in his hotel room in Colombia, The COVID Blog claimed that he died from vaccine-induced myocarditis.
They wrote a long rambling post about him, so let me share the relevant part with you. It’s long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts.
Witnesses said Mr. Hawkins called the front desk complaining of chest pains right before he passed away. An ambulance arrived, but could not revive him. That means his heart stopped beating.
The narrative now is that a urine toxicology test found 10 substances, including benzodiazepines, opioids, THC (weed) and anti-depressants. Note that the latter was likely a prescription, and THC stays in urine for weeks and even months. Now the most recent narrative is that Mr. Hawkins died of “cardiovascular collapse” after binging on heroin and other drugs.
Vaxx zealots are angrily attacking critical thinkers on social media for talking about the obvious. Myocarditis, aka heart inflammation, is the second-most common adverse reaction to the injections after blood clots covered on this blog. Further, we’ve covered numerous cases of vaccinated people dying suddenly and unexpectedly of heart attacks and cardiac arrest. Of course the top symptom of a heart attack is chest pain, which Mr. Hawkins complained of right before he passed.
We’ve seen many people on social media claim that myocarditis does not enlarge the heart. But the Myocarditis Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated solely to saving people from this ailment, says right on its website:
“In simple terms, myocarditis is a disease that causes inflammation of the heart muscle. This inflammation enlarges and weakens the heart, creates scar tissue and forces it to work harder to circulate blood and oxygen throughout the body.”
“Myocarditis is the 3rd leading cause of Sudden Death in children and young adults.”
That all said, mainstream media want us all to believe that a 50-year-old man with two kids and a wife of 17 years, who made clear he learned his lesson in 2001, and had lived a solid family life with perhaps occasional drug use here and there, just decided on a spontaneous heroin/benzo/cocaine bender right before a show, called for help, then died of an overdose.
Unfortunately for vaxx zealots and their mainstream media, the Occam’s Razor, critical thinking cause of death is post-injection myocarditis that enlarged and stopped his heart. The deniers are also forwarding the narrative “you don’t know addiction.” What we do know is the difference between someone who wants to die and wants to live. It, again, stands to reason that Mr. Hawkins was in the latter group.
Truth : Taylor Hawkins Did NOT Die From Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis!
It’s becoming a tradition for anti-vaccination activists to immediately blame all celebrity deaths on the COVID-19 vaccine.
And The COVID Blog (TCB) has peddling COVID-19 fake news and misinformation for a long, long time. So it’s no surprise that they would jump on the bandwagon.
Here are the reasons why TCB is not only wrong, they are intentionally abusing Taylor Hawkins’ death to push their anti-vaccine beliefs.
Fact #1 : No Evidence Hawkins Had Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis
First, let me start by simply pointing out that The COVID Blog has ZERO EVIDENCE that Hawkins had vaccine-induced myocarditis.
They did not perform the autopsy on Hawkins, or run any laboratory test on his blood or urine samples. They did not even base their opinions on publicly-released information.
They concocted that claim out of thin air, without even an ounce of evidence.
Fact #2 : Colombian Authorities Released Urine Toxicology Report
After Hawkins died, the Colombian authorities took his body for an autopsy, and a urine test found 10 different kinds of drugs in his system.
The Colombia Attorney General’s Office issued this statement on the initial autopsy findings :
Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office can confirm the following after the initial autopsy on the body of Taylor Hawkins.
That in the toxicology test on Taylor Hawkins’ urine 10 types of substances were preliminarily found, including marijuana, tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opioids.
The National Institute of Forensic Medicine is continuing its medical studies to be able to completely clarify the facts that led to Taylor Hawkins death.
Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office will continue with the investigation and reveal the results obtained as part of this investigation as appropriate.
Members of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) remove the lifeless body of the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins, at the Casa Medina hotel, in Bogota, Colomia
Fact #3 : Urine Toxicology Does Not Take Weeks To Complete
TCB claimed that the Hawkins toxicology report cannot possibly be genuine because it typically takes 4-6 weeks to complete, and shared a link to WebMD as evidence.
That’s misleading, because the WebMD article was talking about how long it takes for a complete forensic toxicology report. The 4-6 week time is required because :
the investigation may reveal additional drugs being taken, thus requiring new tests, and/or
the initial results may require additional testing to confirm, and/or
there may be a backlog of cases at one or more laboratories.
It’s also misleading because the Colombian authorities only released the urine toxicology report, not the complete forensic toxicology report.
They basically tested his urine sample for common drugs – a test that is quick to perform. In fact, most laboratories can complete the tests within a few hours.
Fact #4 : Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis Is Rare
TCB misleads you into thinking that vaccine-induced myocarditis is common, by saying that it is “the second-most common adverse reaction” … “covered on this blog“.
In other words, vaccine-induced myocarditis is not the second-most common side effect of the vaccines, it is merely the second-most common adverse reaction they like to write about!
The truth is studies like SAFECOVAC have shown that vaccine-induced myocarditis is extremely rare – less than 1 in a million doses!
In fact, you are hundreds of times more likely to get myocarditis from COVID-19 than from three doses of any COVID-19 vaccine!
Vaccine-induced myocarditis is not only rare, most cases resolve quickly, compared to non-vaccine myocarditis.
As Dr. Matthew Elias, M.D., a cardiologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) explained :
In classic myocarditis, there are a wide range of presentations, from very mild symptoms to extremely serious, or even fatal, cases.
Overall, this does not seem to be happening in post-vaccine myocarditis. In the patients seen at CHOP and at other hospitals, symptoms are generally mild and self-resolving, and heart function is less affected, if affected at all.
Vaccine-induced myocarditis is an acute condition that occurs within a few days of receiving an mRNA-based vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna.
Individuals who develop vaccine-induced myocarditis will experience symptoms like :
chest pain
shortness of breath
heart palpitations
If Hawkins was suffering from vaccine-induced myocarditis, he would not have been able to fly around to play with the Foo Fighters at various concerts around the world :
Feb 26-27 : Innings Festival 2022, Tempe, Arizona, United States
Mar 4 : Foo Fights / Amyl and the Sniffers / The Meanies, Geelong, Australia
Mar 18 : Lollapalooza Chile, Santiago, Chile
Mar 20 : Lollapalooza Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Taylor Hawkins (back) on a plane with band member Pat Smear (left) and Samantha Sidley (right) on Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Fact #8 : Cardiomegaly Takes Time To Develop
The initial autopsy report stated that his heart weighed “at least 600 grams” – twice the average for a man his age.
This finding of cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) suggests that he had a longstanding heart condition like heart failure, or cardiomyopathy.
TCB claimed that was evidence of vaccine-induced myocarditis, because the Myocarditis Foundation says that myocarditis enlarges the heart.
It is true that myocarditis can enlarge the heart by weakening the heart muscle, but that process takes time – weeks, if not months, to develop.
Fact #9 : Hawkins Discovered Enlarged Heart In 2021
Interestingly, Hawkins himself may have discovered that he had an enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) in 2021.
On 15 June 2021, he did a Rolling Stone interview with Brian Hiatt, where he revealed that his doctor recently told him that he had a “big” heart.
I just found out from my doctor, got all my blood tests and my heart everything checked and he goes, “Dude, you’re in amazing shape. Your heart’s big, because you exercise a lot. It’s like a runner’s heart.”
Fact #10 : His Cardiomegaly May Be Due To Sleep Apnea
In the same Rolling Stone interview, Hawkins also revealed an interesting detail that many people missed – he was likely suffering from sleep apnea.
The only thing is, he said, “I think you have sleep apnea.” And my wife’s always saying you snore and you fucking make weird noises while you’re sleeping and stuff.
Untreated sleep apnea increases cardiovascular stress, which elevates blood pressure and forces the heart to work harder. This can result in an enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) over time.
Fact #11 : Hawkins Almost Died From Drug Overdose In 2001
Hawkins had a long history of drug use, and almost died from a heroin overdose in 2001. He recounted the incident in 2018 :
I was partying a lot. I wasn’t a junkie per se, but I was partying. There was a year where the partying just got a little too heavy.
Thank God on some level this guy gave me the wrong line with the wrong thing one night and I woke up going, ‘What the f**k happened?’ That was a real changing point for me.
Tragically, it appears that Hawkins overdosed again, but was not able to recover this time, due to his existing heart condition.
For certain, his COVID-19 vaccination played no role in his death.
Don’t risk your life, or your family’s lives, on the bad science and misinformation promoted by The COVID Blog.
Please help me fight fake news, and SHARE this fact check with your family and friends!
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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.
Please note that the new travel ban by Malaysia on 23 countries with high COVID-19 cases is FAKE NEWS!
Here is what you need to know!
Claim : Malaysia Travel Ban On 23 Countries!
On 7 January 2022, people started sharing a screenshot of a travel advisory by the Embassy of Malaysia in Berlin, Germany.
Please skip to the next section for the facts…
Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin
TRAVEL ADVISORY ENTRY RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN TRAVELERS TO MALAYSIA
Effective from 08 January 2022, the Government of Malaysia is imposing travel restrictions into Malaysia on foreign travellers who are travelling from countries that have recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases as listed below:
United States of America
The United Kingdom
Brazil
Bangladesh
India
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Pakistan
Peru
France
Colombia
Turkey
South Africa
Italy
Mexico
Germany
Spain
Iraq
Argentina
The Philippines
Chile
Indonesia
Iran
The entry restrictions include travellers who are citizens of/holders of long-term passes of the countries listed above who are residing in or travelling from those countries.
The latest decision is part of continuing efforts by the Government of Malaysia to contain the spread of COVID-19 and in view of the recent increase in the number of imported COVID-19 cases detected at international points of entry to Malaysia among travellers coming from the listed countries. The restriction is a temporary measure and will be reviewed regularly.
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS being created and circulated on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the facts…
Fact #1 : This Travel Advisory Was Forged
This travel advisory was forged from the original September 2020 travel advisory.
Back then, the government of Malaysia announced the temporary travel ban on those 23 countries, that would start on 7 September 2021.
The original travel advisory was edited, with the new date added to make it look like it’s new. But it was a very poor photo-editing job.
If you look carefully, the 08 January 2022, date is not only in bold , but of a different type of font and a much larger size.
Note : Here is the screenshot that went viral. I added a FAKE overlay to prevent further abuse.
Fact #2 : Embassy of Malaysia In Berlin Confirms It Is Fake
The Embassy of Berlin in Malaysia confirmed that the viral travel advisory is FAKE.
ANNOUNCEMENT
The Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin would like to warn the public that there has been a fake news being circulated regarding travel advisory by the Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin on entry restriction on foreign travelers [sic] to Malaysia.
We condemn the actions of those who maliciously spread fake news which can have an adverse effect and concern to the public. The public is advice [sic] to validate the source before circulating any news.
Thank you.
Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin
7 January 2022
Fact #3 : Malaysia Currently Has No Travel Ban
There is currently no travel ban in Malaysia.
In fact, Malaysia just ended a temporary travel ban of 8 countries, on 27 December 2021, due to the risk of Omicron variant.
There is currently only a list of 18 countries that are considered high-risk due to the Omicron variant.
Australia
The United States of America
The United Kingdom
Norway
France
Denmark
Canada
Nigeria
India
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Mozambique
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Malawi
Travellers from those 18 high-risk countries can still travel to Malaysia, but they must comply with the following additional restrictions :
Negative COVID-19 PCR test within 2 days before departure
COVID-19 PCR test on arrival in Malaysia
Wear a digital tracker on arrival in Malaysia
Mandatory quarantine of 7 days or 10 days, depending on vaccination status, either at home or at a quarantine centre, subject to approval.
Additional PCR test on Day 5 (for 7-day quarantine) or Day 8 (for 10-day quarantine).
Risk assessment on the last day of quarantine, which may be extended if you are symptomatic.
You will only be free from the quarantine on Day 8 or Day 11, if there is no quarantine extension and the Day 5 or Day 8 PCR test is negative.
Travellers from the United Kingdom have the additional requirement of conducting daily RTK-Ag tests during their quarantine, which must be reported in MySejahtera.
Now that you know the truth, please SHARE this fact check with your family and friends, so they won’t get fooled by it!
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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.
Warnings about a new phone hack called Argentina Is Doing It are circulating on social media.
Find out what the Argentina Is Doing It phone hack is all about, and if it’s really true!
Argentina Is Doing It : A Video Phone Hack?
Messages about this new phone hack, called Argentina Is Doing It, started circulating today on WhatsApp and Twitter :
Just a heads up….They are going to start circulating a video on WhatsApp that shows how the Covid19 curve is flattening in Argentina. The file is called “Argentina is doing it”, do not open it or see it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. Pass the information on to your family and friends.
Now they also said it on CNN
Hackers are going to start circulating a video on WhatsApp that shows how the Covid19 curve is flattening in Argentina. The file is called “Argentina is doing it”, do not open it or see it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. Pass the information on to your family and friends.
Now they also said it on CNN
There is a video circulating WhatsApp that shows how the Covid19 curve is flattening in Argentina. The file is called “Argentina is doing it”, do NOT open it or see it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. RT!!
Argentina Is Doing It Phone Hack : Complete Bullshit
As you may surmise from the HOAX overlay we placed on the screenshots, there is no such phone hack that uses a COVID-19 video called Argentina Is Doing It. Here are the reasons why…
Reason #1 : There Is No Such Video
There is no COVID-19 video called Argentina Is Doing It. It simply does not exist.
Reason #2 : Argentina Is Far From Flattening The Curve
And such a video on Argentina flattening the curve is unlikely to be created for some time to come, because Argentina is FAR from flattening the curve.
As this graph shows, the number of new cases are increasing weekly. On 16 July, over 3600 new cases were detected, bringing the total of COVID-19 cases to just under 115,000.
Reason #3 : The Story Is Illogical
Consider this for a second – how would anyone know what hackers are planning to do? Or what they are calling it?
If hackers actually created such a malware, they would have released it. Why wait?
Reason #4 : A Video Cannot Hack Your Phone Just Like That
While not completely impossible, it would be impossible for a video to hack phones that easily.
It is plausible for a video to be created to exploit a bug in a specific video player or operating system, just like how the Android wallpaper malware worked.
Such a malware would only be able to attack specific operating systems (Android or iOS), or a specific media player. It cannot just work on every phone – that only happens in movies.
Reason #5 : CNN Never Reported On Such A Video
While the hoax claims that CNN reported on this video, they did no such thing. There is no CNN report on a phone hack using a video called Argentina Is Doing It.
The most recent post on CNN about Argentina’s COVID-19 situation was a report on 26 June 2020, about the reimposition of the Buenos Aires lockdown, due to accelerated COVID-19 spread.
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