Tag Archives: Debunk

Elton John Boycotts US Over Gay Rights?!

Did Elton John just boycott the US over gay rights, while forgetting about his own past?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : Elton John Boycotts US Over Gay Rights!

People are sharing an OutKick article, claiming that Elton John has just boycotted the US over gay rights, while forgetting about his past! Here is an excerpt from that OutKick article:

Elton John Boycotts U.S. Over Gay Rights, Forgets Own Past

John’s road retirement may not last, but he’s certain he won’t play as much as a residency in the States moving forward. Why? He cites the new, “disgraceful” hate aimed at the LGBTQ+ community coursing through America’s veins.

Recommended : Did Elton John Ban US Over Anti-Grooming Laws?!

 

Truth : Elton John Did Not Boycott US Over Gay Rights!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created about the LGBTQIA community, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Elton John Does Not Want Another US Residency

Let me just start by pointing out that Elton John never said that he will no longer perform in the United States, after his farewell tour ends.

In his interview with Radio Times, what Elton John said was that he still plans to continue performing after his three-year Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour ends. He was interested in a residency – playing at a single venue, but not in the United States of America.

I said when I announced the farewell tour that maybe I would do a residency like Kate Bush did at Hammersmith [in 2014]. But not in America. I will not do it in America.

But that’s in the long term. I don’t want to think about the stage – I’ve been on it since I was 17.

In other words, Elton John does not intend to go back for a third Las Vegas residency. As his husband and manager, David Furnish explained:

Will Elton return as a live performer? I hope so! It’s in his blood…

I know for a fact he will not be touring in any capacity. What you’re going to see is the possibility of a special one-off or a small residency in one venue for a limited period of time.

I don’t think it will be Las Vegas. Elton feels he’s done the best he can in Las Vegas. He mounted two hugely successful residencies there.

When you’re an artist and something’s in your blood, you don’t want to shut the door completely.

Fact #2 : Elton John Dislikes Violence + Discrimination In America

Elton John has been outspoken about what he dislikes about America – violence and discriminatory laws. However, he did not say he was boycotting the US.

It is peculiar that the OutKick article should suggest that Elton John was “clearly conflating laws meant to protect children from life-altering surgery“, when Elton himself was explicit about what he disliked about that particular discriminatory Florida law.

It’s all going pear-shaped in America. There’s violence, [discriminatory] laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful. There’s a law now that, if you visit a doctor in Florida, they can refuse to treat you if you’re gay, which I find just unbelievable.

We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. It’s like a virus that the LGBTQ+ movement is suffering.

It seems clear to me that Elton was very clear about what he disliked about that particular Florida law!

Recommended : Did Beyonce Flash Her Fans At Paris Concert?!

Fact #3 : HB 1557 Is Don’t Say Gay Bill

The OutKick article then refers to House Bill 1557 (HB 1557 : Parental Rights in Education), which regulates public schools in Florida.

This is the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits public schools from discussing or teaching students about sexual orientation or gender identity, from kindergarten up to grade three.

Presumably, Florida lawmakers believe that teaching children about gender identity and sexual orientation is how children are groomed into accepting sexual abuse. As Christina Pushaw – the press secretary of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, explained:

The bill that liberals inaccurately call “Don’t Say Gay” would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill.

If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children.

Fact #4 : Elton John Referred To SB 1580, Not HB 1557

Elton John never mentioned any Florida law concerning children, education, or public schools in his interview with Radio Times.

He only referred to a completely different Florida law – SB 1580 : Protections of Medical Conscience Bill, which allows healthcare providers and insurers to deny patient care based on religious, moral or ethical beliefs.

This SB 1580 law has absolutely nothing to do with children or their education, which is covered by the completely different HB 1557 law (see above).

So why did OutKick bring up HB 1557 (the so-called Don’t Say Gay Bill), which Elton John never mentioned in his interview? Misunderstanding? Misdirection? Misinterpretation? Misinformation?

Recommended : Was Madonna Revived From Death By Narcan Injection?!

Fact #5 : Elton John Rarely Performs In Anti-LGBT Countries

While Elton John has been outspoken about gay rights, he has not stopped performing in countries with laws that can be used to harass or persecute gay people. But they have been extremely rare in number – United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Russia.

What OutKick may not realise is that those countries do not matter financially to Elton John, who performs in many more concerts in LGBT-friendly countries, and can easily forego those countries. It seems more likely that Elton John only performed in those countries because he was allowed to.

Think on that – those anti-LGBT countries allowed Elton John – an openly gay performer – to sing and perform for his fans. That is not evidence of his hypocrisy. That shows the power of his music.

Fact #6 : Concerts Are Different From Residencies

Finally, I should point out that performing at one-off concerts in countries with restrictive, anti-LGBT laws is quite different from actually staying in those countries.

It’s one thing to try and change minds by performing in those countries for a show or two, it’s quite another thing to live in such countries.

So it isn’t hypocrisy if Elton John has no qualms performing in countries with restrictive, anti-LGBT laws, but chooses not to live for months or years in the US because he dislikes its violence and laws.

It’s no different from how staunchly conservative anti-LGBT activists have no problem holidaying in countries with progressive pro-LGBT laws.

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | CelebrityTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Did Elton John Ban US Over Anti-Grooming Laws?!

Did Elton John stop performing in the United States due to its anti-grooming laws?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : Elton John Bans US Over Anti-Grooming Laws!

People are sharing an Epoch Times article, as evidence that Elton John singled out anti-grooming laws as the reason why he will no longer perform in the United States.

Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis : Elton John Singles Out Anti-Grooming Laws as Why He’s Done Performing in the US. Lol. Bye.

Laurence Fox : Elton John Singles Out Anti-Grooming Laws as Why He’s Done Performing in the US.

If he walks like a groomer, talks like a groomer, adopts two boys and parades them around with husband and lover-s in tow, he is a… #TinyGroomer

Recommended : Did These Famous People Mock God And Die?!

 

Truth : Elton John Did Not Ban US Over Anti-Grooming Laws!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created about the LGBTQIA community, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Elton John Does Not Want Another US Residency

Let me just start by pointing out that Elton John never said that he will no longer perform in the United States, after his farewell tour ends.

In his interview with Radio Times, what Elton John said was that he still plans to continue performing after his three-year Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour ends. He was interested in a residency – playing at a single venue, but not in the United States of America.

I said when I announced the farewell tour that maybe I would do a residency like Kate Bush did at Hammersmith [in 2014]. But not in America. I will not do it in America.

But that’s in the long term. I don’t want to think about the stage – I’ve been on it since I was 17.

In other words, Elton John does not intend to go back for a third Las Vegas residency. As his husband and manager, David Furnish explained:

Will Elton return as a live performer? I hope so! It’s in his blood…

I know for a fact he will not be touring in any capacity. What you’re going to see is the possibility of a special one-off or a small residency in one venue for a limited period of time.

I don’t think it will be Las Vegas. Elton feels he’s done the best he can in Las Vegas. He mounted two hugely successful residencies there.

When you’re an artist and something’s in your blood, you don’t want to shut the door completely.

Fact #2 : Elton John Dislikes Violence + Discrimination In America

Elton John has been outspoken about what he dislikes about America – violence and discriminatory laws. However, he has never been against any anti-grooming law, as claimed.

It is odd that the Epoch Times article cut off part of Elton John’s quote, where the 76 year-old singer pointed out the discriminatory law in Florida where a doctor can refuse to treat a gay patient.

Here was what Elton John said in full, with the part that was cut out in the Epoch Times article in bold:

It’s all going pear-shaped in America. There’s violence, [discriminatory] laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful. There’s a law now that, if you visit a doctor in Florida, they can refuse to treat you if you’re gay, which I find just unbelievable.

We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. It’s like a virus that the LGBTQ+ movement is suffering.

It’s amazing how the narrative changes when such a large part of what Elton John said was cut out. Perhaps that was precisely why it was cut out…

Recommended : Did Beyonce Flash Her Fans At Paris Concert?!

Fact #3 : HB 1557 Is The Anti-Grooming Bill

The Epoch Times article then talks about House Bill 1557 (HB 1557 : Parental Rights in Education), which regulates public schools in Florida.

This is the so-called “Anti-Grooming Bill“, which prohibits public schools from discussing or teaching students about sexual orientation or gender identity, from kindergarten up to grade three.

Presumably, Florida lawmakers believe that teaching children about gender identity and sexual orientation is how children are groomed into accepting sexual abuse. As Christina Pushaw – the press secretary of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, explained:

The bill that liberals inaccurately call “Don’t Say Gay” would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill.

If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children.

Fact #4 : Elton John Referred To SB 1580, Not HB 1557

Elton John never mentioned any Florida law concerning children, education, or public schools in his interview with Radio Times.

He only referred to a completely different Florida law – SB 1580 : Protections of Medical Conscience Bill, which allows healthcare providers and insurers to deny patient care based on religious, moral or ethical beliefs.

This SB 1580 law has absolutely nothing to do with children or their education, which is covered by the completely different HB 1557 law (see above).

So why did The Epoch Times bring up HB 1557 (the so-called Anti-Grooming Bill), which Elton John never mentioned in his interview? Misunderstanding? Misdirection? Misinterpretation? Misinformation?

But if Elton John did not bring up HB 1557, then how can anyone claim that he singled out “anti-grooming laws” as the reason why he will no longer perform in the US?

Fact #5 : Elton John Wanted To Spend More Time With His Family

Even more oddly, The Epoch Times article ended by pointing out that Elton John does not want to do a residency in the United States because he wanted to spend more time with his husband and children in Britain!

This completely contradicts the same article’s earlier claim that Elton John is refusing to perform in the US because of its “anti-grooming laws”! It is as if the article was written by two different people, or an AI chatbot!

In any case, the last sentence in The Epoch Time article completely refutes the premise of its title and earlier claim:

According to representatives for John, his reason for that is the same one behind his decision to stop touring—that he wants to spend more time with his husband and children in Britain.

If you are into soccer, this is what is known as an “own goal”…

Recommended : Did Lady Gaga Just Lose 300K Fans Over Pfizer Ad?!

Fact #6 : This Is Just Epoch Times Misinformation

The Epoch Times, which is affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement, is notorious for pushing out conspiracy theories and misinformation. Here are just some of their “work” that I fact checked:

Fact #7 : The Epoch Times Appears To Be Promoting It

Interestingly, the Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters at the end of some of these links suggest that The Epoch Times may be promoting the article through certain partners. For example:

Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis
utm_source = partner
utm_campaign = DrLoupis

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | CelebrityTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Did Asian Lady Shoot American Bully At Gas Station?!

Did an Asian lady shoot dead an American bully who assaulted her at a gas station?!

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : Asian Lady Shot American Bully At Gas Station?!

People are sharing a video showing a man approaching a lady, and opening her car door before hitting her. She drives off a short distance, causing the man to drop two items on the floor. The man catches up with the car again, and opens the door, for the lady to shoot him several times.

Pro-CCP netizens and the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) are sharing this video as evidence of racist Americans targeting Chinese people:

‘Wow… the Chinese in America are no longer taking trash from these American rogues. Good on her!!! l read every Asian American is buying arms to protect himself/herself from these racist gangsters and bullies.

Gun rights supporters are also sharing it as an example of how guns save lives:

Patrick Parsons : Thug attacks woman at a gas station. She shoots him. #SlugsForThugs RT if you believe GUNS SAVE LIVES!

Ironically, Stew Peters believes it was a white person fighting back against black people!

Stew Peters : Whites are fighting back!

Recommended : Why Did The West Vote Against UN Anti-Racism Bill?!

 

Truth : No Asian Lady Shot That Man At The Gas Station!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp, and social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : This Is An Old Video

First, let me start by pointing out that this incident did not occur in 2023. The video was actually recorded on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at the Exxon gas station near Honeygo Boulevard and White Marsh Mall in Baltimore, Maryland.

Fact #2 : This Was Not A Drug Deal Gone Bad

Some websites and people are claiming that the lady was a drug dealer who tried to sell drugs (weed / marijuana) to the man’s kids at the gas station, which was why the man confronted her.

That’s not true. The shooter was not attempting to sell drugs to anyone at the gas station.

Fact #3 : That Was Not A Lady

Now, this may surprise you, but that Asian lady in the video isn’t actually a lady. It was a man with long hair tied in a ponytail.

Some websites and people falsely claimed that it was the woman’s boyfriend in the car who fired the gun. That’s not true either. There was only one person in the car.

There is also no indication the shooter was Asian, or that racism had anything to do with the incident.

Recommended : Did Woman Smash Bottles Of Alcohol In Lawless US?!

Fact #4 : The “Lady” Cut Queue In The Store

A witness to the shooting, Daijuan Jett, was 10 feet away when the shooting occurred. He explained that the incident started in the gas station store, while he was queuing up to buy a drink.

The shooter (A), who is actually a man (and not a white / Asian lady), cut in front of people queuing up, causing another man (B) to speak up and ask him to get to the back of the line.

He was trying to cut in front of everyone in the line, and the victim, which was shot at—he was telling the guy that was cutting in front of everyone to get behind everyone.

Jett said that A stepped out of the line after being confronted and returned to his car. B followed him to his car, to give A a piece of his mind. That was when things went sideways.

He opened the driver’s door and let the man know…the guy that was in the car, the suspect, he grabbed a gun and just fired about five or six shots.

Fact #5 : The Victim Was Shot Twice

The victim was shot twice in his upper body, and taken to the hospital. It is unknown how he fared after the shooting.

He also appeared to be the driver of the red car seen across the shooter’s car. His car was removed from the gas station at around 10:50 PM later that night.

Recommended : Did Texas Mall Killer Target Only Chinese People?!

Fact #6 : This Video Is Being Abused By Different Parties

This video is, unfortunately, being abused by different parties to drive narratives that are contrary to what actually happened.

Pro-CCP netizens and the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) are using the video to promote the idea that Americans are racist and violent, while gun rights supporters are promoting it as evidence that guns save lives.

As you have seen – the truth is they were all lying / misrepresenting the video. Here are other examples you may have seen on WhatsApp or social media platforms recently:

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE this article, and SUPPORT our work!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | Photo + Video | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Bob Saget Died From Head Trauma, Not Vaccine!

It is official – Bob Saget died from blunt head trauma, and not his COVID-19 vaccine booster dose!

Here is what you need to know…

 

Antivaxxers Claim Bob Saget Died From Vaccine Booster Dose!

Right after Bob Saget was reported to have died in his Orlando, Florida hotel room, antivaxxers immediately claimed that he died from his COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

Bob Saget died from vaccine complications in his hotel room, on the first night of his fully vaccinated comedy tour.

He just received his COVID booster a few weeks ago.

Another victim of the jab.

To make those claims more credible, they often include a link to an article about Bob Saget’s death.

 

Bob Saget Died From Head Trauma, Not Vaccine!

I had earlier written a fact check article explaining why it was simply NOT POSSIBLE for Bob Saget to have died from the COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

Well, it’s official – Bob Saget died from a blunt head trauma, not his COVID-19 vaccine dose!

On 10 February 2022, his family issued a statement announcing that (with my emphasis in bold) :

The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma. They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep. No drugs or alcohol were involved.

As we continue to mourn together, we ask everyone to remember the love and laughter that Bob brought to this world, and the lessons he taught us all: to be kind to everyone, to let the people you love know you love them, and to face difficult times with hugs and laughter.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office conducted an autopsy of his body a month ago, and issued this statement (my emphasis in bold) :

An autopsy was performed on Robert Lane Saget, a 65-year-old male. Mr. Saget was found unresponsive in his hotel room, on January 10, 2022. All testing and further studies have now been completed.

In consideration of the circumstances surrounding the death and after examination of the body, toxicology analysis, histology, and a respiratory pathogen panel, it is my opinion that the death of Mr. Saget, was the result of blunt head trauma. His injuries were most likely incurred from an unwitnessed fall. A toxicology analysis did not reveal any illicit drugs or toxins. The manner of death is accident.

Our condolences go out to Mr. Saget’s loved ones during this difficult time.

Now that Bob Saget’s autopsy report has been finalised and confirmed, there can be no doubt – he died from a blunt head trauma, not his COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

In other words, he died after hitting the back of his head in an unwitnessed fall. That blunt head trauma could have caused significant brain bleeding that he may not have been aware of.

The autopsy report also revealed other details of the injury, and Bob Saget’s health at the time of death :

  • there was an abrasion on his scalp
  • there was a fracture at the base of his skull
  • there were fractures around his eye sockets
  • there were bleeding in the space between his brain and skull
  • there were bruises to his brain
  • he had Clonazepam (a tranquilliser taken for seizure and anxiety) as well as Trazodone (an anti-depressant) in his system.
  • he had an enlarged heart, which was 95% blocked on one side, and
  • he tested positive for COVID-19, but there was no inflammation in his respiratory system

On March 15, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando released an incident report, which stated that :

  • There were fractures around Bob Saget’s eye sockets, and bleeding around this brain.
  • The injury was caused by Bob Saget hitting “something hard, covered by something soft”, such as a carpeted floor.
  • The impact causing those fractures “would have stunned Mr. Saget”, and he would have experienced dizziness.
  • If there was people present, they would have noticed his “confusion, [lack of] balance and/or slurred speech”.
  • There were also no signs of blood on the hotel bed’s sheets or bedspread.
  • The countertops, tables and nightstands were ruled out, but the floor and bed headboard were lightly padded and are thus the “possible mechanisms of injury”.

A toxicology report showed that Bob Saget did not have any illicit drugs or toxins in his body when he died.

Sadly, his death has been further abused by antivaxxers to drive the fear of COVID-19 vaccines. He now joins Betty White as yet another celebrity whose death was falsely and maliciously attributed to the booster dose.

Will these antivaxxers apologise? Correct themselves? Nope. They will just move on to the next celebrity death.

Now that you know the truth, please SHARE this out, and get VACCINATED against COVID-19!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Celebrities | Fact Check | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Did Bob Saget Die From COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose?

Did beloved actor and comic Bob Saget die from his COVID-19 vaccine booster dose?

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Updated @ 2022-07-17 : Added details of his death incident report.
Updated @ 2022-03-25 : Added details of his Long COVID symptoms.
Updated @ 2022-02-12 : Added more details of Bob Saget’s autopsy report.
Updated @ 2022-02-11 : Added Bob Saget’s autopsy report
Originally posted @ 2022-01-11

 

Claim : Bob Saget Died From COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose!

Antivaxxers are claiming that beloved actor and comic Bob Saget died from his COVID-19 vaccine booster dose!

Bob Saget died from vaccine complications in his hotel room, on the first night of his fully vaccinated comedy tour.

He just received his COVID booster a few weeks ago.

Another victim of the jab.

To make those claims more credible, they often include a link to an article about Bob Saget’s death.

 

Truth : Bob Saget Did NOT Die From COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by antivaxxers to scare people from protecting themselves with the COVID-19 vaccines.

The truth is – like Betty WhiteBob Saget did NOT die from the COVID-19 booster dose, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : No Evidence Bob Saget Died From COVID-19 Vaccine

While antivaxxers are claiming that Bob Saget died from the COVID-19 vaccine, they offer absolutely NO EVIDENCE for their claim.

The articles they shared as “evidence” do not mention that Saget died from the COVID-19 vaccine, only that he was found dead in his Orlando hotel room on 9 January 2022.

They only added those article links to mislead you into thinking that they are evidence that he died from the COVID-19 vaccine.

After all, most people don’t bother to click on the links to actually read the articles. That’s the same reason some people believe that Betty White died from the COVID-19 booster dose

Read more : Did Betty White Die From COVID-19 Booster Dose?

Fact #2 : Bob Saget Was Infected With COVID-19

Bob Saget was once infected with COVID-19, and he spoke about how bad it was on a podcast – A Corporate Time with Tom & Dan, just 4 days before his death.

It is not good, it does not feel good. I don’t know if I had Delta or … I might have had a combo.

Maybe at one point they [Delta and Omicron] were working together.

It should be noted that Saget only spoke about the pain of his COVID-19 infection, and never complained about vaccine side effects.

In fact, he joked about the vaccine and called for people to get vaccinated:

I get vaccinated five to six times a day and I feel great!!

Please people, I don’t wanna preach, but please get your visine today. Sorry, auto-correct— I meant vaccine… Help save eyes…Sorry, damn this auto-correct!  I meant save lives.

According to his autopsy report, Saget was COVID-19 positive at the time of his death. However, that may not mean he had an active infection, as a PCR test can detect COVID-19 weeks after an infection.

Fact #3 : Bob Saget Had His Booster Dose A Month Earlier

Bob Saget was fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, and mentioned in his December 13, 2021 podcast, that he got his booster dose a day or two earlier :

I try not to preach you know about — I got my booster shot, I’m 65, so I got it yesterday — day before — and I was hurting… I’ve been telling people I got it in my ass.

If he suffered any adverse effects from the booster dose, they not only would have happened earlier, they would have prevented him from going on a tour.

Yet, Saget not only kicked off his standup comedy tour, he also went on the podcast with Tom & Dan just 4 days before his death.

Saget also tweeted about how great he felt, right after his Jacksonville show and just hours before his death…

Fact #4 : Bob Saget Died From Blunt Head Trauma

All deaths in Orange County (where Orlando is located) are investigated by the homicide unit, and so, an autopsy was performed on his body.

Bob Saget’s official cause of death has been revealed by his family and the Orange County government on 10 February 2022.

His family issued a statement announcing that (with my emphasis in bold) :

The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma. They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep. No drugs or alcohol were involved.

As we continue to mourn together, we ask everyone to remember the love and laughter that Bob brought to this world, and the lessons he taught us all: to be kind to everyone, to let the people you love know you love them, and to face difficult times with hugs and laughter.

Joshua Stephany MD, the Chief Medical Examiner for the Orange and Osceola Counties issued this statement (my emphasis in bold) :

An autopsy was performed on Robert Lane Saget, a 65-year-old male. Mr. Saget was found unresponsive in his hotel room, on January 10, 2022. All testing and further studies have now been completed.

In consideration of the circumstances surrounding the death and after examination of the body, toxicology analysis, histology, and a respiratory pathogen panel, it is my opinion that the death of Mr. Saget, was the result of blunt head trauma. His injuries were most likely incurred from an unwitnessed fall. A toxicology analysis did not reveal any illicit drugs or toxins. The manner of death is accident.

Our condolences go out to Mr. Saget’s loved ones during this difficult time.

The autopsy report also revealed other details of the injury, and Bob Saget’s health at the time of death :

  • there was an abrasion on his scalp
  • there was a fracture at the base of his skull
  • there were fractures around his eye sockets
  • there was bleeding in the space between his brain and skull
  • there were bruises to his brain
  • he had Clonazepam (a tranquilliser taken for seizure and anxiety) as well as Trazodone (an anti-depressant) in his system
  • he had an enlarged heart, which was 95% blocked on one side, and
  • he tested positive for COVID-19, but there was no inflammation in his respiratory system

Joshua Stephany MD

On March 15, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando released an incident report, which stated that :

  • There were fractures around Bob Saget’s eye sockets, and bleeding around this brain.
  • The injury was caused by Bob Saget hitting “something hard, covered by something soft”, such as a carpeted floor.
  • The impact causing those fractures “would have stunned Mr. Saget”, and he would have experienced dizziness.
  • If there was people present, they would have noticed his “confusion, [lack of] balance and/or slurred speech”.
  • There were also no signs of blood on the hotel bed’s sheets or bedspread.
  • The countertops, tables and nightstands were ruled out, but the floor and bed headboard were lightly padded and are thus the “possible mechanisms of injury”.

A toxicology report showed that Bob Saget did not have any illicit drugs or toxins in his body when he died.

Fact #5 : He May Have Been Suffering From Long COVID

On 24 March 2022, it was revealed that Rosalie Cocci – the lead producer of Saget’s show at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall – told Orange County police that Saget was having a hard time recovering from Long COVID-19.

I did hear him say, ‘I don’t feel good but I’m ready to do the show. This is what I do this for.’ He kinda seemed like he was talking himself up.

He stated himself that… it was taking his body a long time to get over [COVID]. He said that his hearing had been off and that was the case that night. He was asking the sound guys to turn everything up.

He said he had been sick the night before, he said he had a sore throat, that he was happy he had lozenges for the stage.

Despite that, Cocci told the police that Saget “seemed okay” and he was able to complete his set without any issues :

He wasn’t sweating, he didn’t miss a beat, nothing slurred. He seemed okay. He really did and it was very surprising the next day… He came out very energetic, and in the half-an-hour, I saw him, he was very much entertaining the crowd.

 

Bob Saget Won’t Be Last Celebrity To Be Abused By Antivaxxers

Now that Bob Saget’s autopsy report has been finalised and confirmed, there can be no doubt that he died from a blunt head trauma, not his COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

He died after hitting the back of his head in an unwitnessed fall – the blunt head trauma causing significant brain bleeding that he may not have been aware of.

Sadly, his death has been further abused by antivaxxers to drive the fear of COVID-19 vaccines. He now joins Betty White as yet another celebrity whose death was falsely and maliciously attributed to the booster dose.

Will these antivaxxers apologise? Correct themselves? Nope. They will just move on to the next celebrity death.

Please SHARE this fact check with your family and friends, and help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS!

And please protect yourself and your family by vaccinating against COVID-19!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Celebrities | Fact Check | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Can Flower of the Holy Spirit Transform To Dove?!

An orchid called the Flower of the Holy Spirit appears to change from a saint to a flying dove, when it blooms!

Learn more about this spectacular and divine miracle, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Flower of the Holy Spirit : From Saint To Dove!

People are sharing these photos of the Flower of the Holy Spirit, together with this helpful explanation :

This is one of the orchid species named Flower of the Holy Spirit. It starts blooming during Pentecostal period once a year.

Before bloom, it looks like praying saints, when the flower blooms, it looks like a flying dove. How amazing is God’s Creation!

 

Flower of the Holy Spirit : It Would Be A Miracle Indeed!

It would be a miracle if either of the two pictures above are the Flower of the Holy Spirit. The sad fact is that this is yet another divinely-inspired fake story.

The only factual thing about the whole post is that they are both orchids. Everything else was made up.

Fact #1 : Neither Are The Flower of the Holy Spirit

There is an orchid called The Flower of the Holy SpiritPeristeria elata.

Also known as the Holy Ghost orchid, dove orchid, or flor del Espiritu Santo in Spanish, this is what it looks like!

Fact #2 : The Orchid On The Left Is Green-Yellow Catasetum

The orchid that looks like praying saints? That’s Catasetum viridiflavum, commonly known as the Green-Yellow Catasetum.

We hate to burst your divine bubble again, but generally their “arms” do not fold inwards. It’s hard to find photos that show these “saints” praying…

You have to look for the rare examples with drooping petals, and take the photos at a specific angle to make it look like a praying saint.

Fact #3 : The Orchid On The Right Is White Egret Flower

The orchid that looks like a flying dove is Pecteilis radiata, commonly known as the White Egret Flower, the fringed orchid or sagisō – the official flower of the Setagaya ward of Tokyo.

Not only is an egret a type of heron, not a dove… bird-like lip of this orchid droops downwards.

You need to frame the shot from underneath the orchid, at a certain angle, in order to obtain a photo that “appears” to show a flying dove.

Fact #4 : They Do Not Bloom During Pentecost

As far as we can tell, orchids do not observe the Pentecost – which is generally around mid-May to mid-June.

  • Catasetum viridiflavum (the “praying saints”) blooms sometime between end June to end September.
  • Pecteilis radiata (the “flying dove”) blooms sometime between early December and February.

Neither of the orchids in the picture actually bloom during Pentecost…

Fact #5 : It Would Be A True Miracle If It Happens

It would be a textbook case of a true miracle if Catasetum viridiflavum blooms into Pecteilis radiata during the Pentecost, or any other time for the matter.

But it is impossible for one orchid species to change into a different orchid species, just like how it is impossible for a Chihuahua to transform into a Doberman.

We will be sure to update you if this miracle ever happens. But for now, this is just … divine inspiration?

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | Science | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Are These Shanghai Disneyland Robot Dancers Real?!

Did China create these amazing robot dancers at the Shanghai Disneyland, beating even the Japanese?

Watch the viral clip for yourself, and find out what the FACTS really are!

 

Claim : China Created Classic Robot Dancers At Shanghai Disneyland!

Here is the video that countless people have been sharing on social media and even on YouTube. It is often paired with a short explanation in (broken) English.

This classic dance is only created in China and broadcast in Shanghai Disneyland. They are not female dance artists, but all robots made in China.

The performance time is only about 5 minutes, but the ticket queue time takes 4 hours. The ticket price is 499 yuan.

It has surpassed Japan in complexity, and its perfect facial expressions. Send this video to everyone to watch. Let us enjoy together…

 

Truth : They Are NOT Robot Dancers At Shanghai Disneyland!

The agility and grace of these dancers are amazing, but they are NOT robot dancers created by China for Shanghai Disneyland!

The less gullible would point out that it is something you would only expect from professional human dancers, and they would be right.

Fact #1 : That Is A Video Of A CBDF Competition

That was actually a video clip from one of the many competitions organised and broadcast by the CBDF (Chinese Ballroom Dance Federation).

Although we cannot ascertain who the dancers are, you can see the CBDF logo in the background, at 4:03 and 4:38.

No robot made today can match their agility and grace.

Fact #2 : 499 Yuan Was The Entry Price To Shanghai Disneyland

The fake story claimed that the ticket to watch this performance costs 499 Yuan – about US$73 / £55 / RM303. That would be ridiculously exorbitant for a single show.

In truth, that was the cost of an entry ticket to the Shanghai Disneyland when it first opened in February 2016.

Since 6 June 2018, it has been priced at 399 Yuan (off-peak), 575 Yuan (peak) and 665 Yuan (peak holiday).

Fact #3 : Disneyland Does Not Charge Extra To Watch Certain Shows

Anyone who has been to Disneyland knows that the entry fee is pricey. That’s because it covers all rides and shows inside Disneyland.

You only need to pay for food and drinks, and arcade games. Or if you opt to purchase Disney Fastpasses (Fastpass, FastPass+, MaxPass) to bypass long queues at popular rides or shows.

Otherwise, all rides and shows are free to enjoy once you enter Disneyland.

Fact #4 : That Is Not The Only Fake Video Of Chinese Robot Dancers

That is not the only fake video of Chinese robot dancers.

This one circulated earlier, claiming to be of a female robot dancer that handily beats all Japanese made-robots.

In that example, they took the video clip from the 2018 World Dance Sport Federation Championship in Lithuania…

Recommended : Did China Create This Amazing Female Dancing Robot?

 

Who Would Create Fake Stories About Robot Dancers?

With China’s aggressive foreign stance in recent years, it is not uncommon to see such fake stories being created and shared.

Some believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas.

Others believe the many fake stories are being created to drown out the negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea.

Whatever the reasons may be, it is our duty as global citizens to stop the proliferation of such fake stories.

Please share this fact check with your friends, so they know the truth!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | Photo + VideoTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Thank you!

Fact Check : MCO For 6 States In Malaysia Next Week?!

Are six states in Malaysia coming under MCO / PKP next week due to the massive Omicron surge?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : MCO For 6 States In Malaysia Next Week!

On 9 February 2022, two viral infographics went out on WhatsApp and Facebook, claiming that Malaysia recorded almost 20,000 new cases and will implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) for 6 states.

The first viral infographic was allegedly posted by the CoronaVirus Malaysia Facebook group, claiming that Malaysia recorded 19,944 new cases on 9 February 2022.

The second viral infographic was allegedly posted by the I Love Malaysian Food group, claiming that Kedah, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Terengganu and Perlis will come under MCO restrictions from 15 February until 1 March 2022.

 

Truth : Malaysia Will Not Implement MCO Again

The truth is – both viral infographics are FAKE NEWS, and here are the reasons why…

On 9 February 2022, Malaysia only recorded 17,134 new cases, not 19,944 cases.

There has been no announcement by the government that six states would come under MCO.

In fact, the Malaysia COVID-19 Minister Quartet announced on the same day, that the government will NOT implement MCO on a large scale.

If there is a spike of cases in a certain area, they will implement the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) for that particular area instead.

It is also illogical to target those six states, since other states have higher mortality, hospitalisation and new case rates.

Please help us fight fake news. SHARE this fact check with your friends!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | HealthTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Fact Check : Video Of Prof. Jacob Giris On COVID-19 Vaccine

Did Professor Jacob Giris admit on video that the COVID-19 vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease?

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Video : Prof. Jacob Giris Says COVID-19 Vaccine Cannot Prevent Severe COVID-19!

Antivaxxers have been sharing a video of Professor Jacob Giris (whom they wrongly call Yaakov Jerris) speaking on Israel’s Channel 13 news.

They claim that the video is proof that Professor Giris admitted that the COVID-19 vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease.

Here is an example of the kind of comments accompanying the viral video :

In Israel, 80% of severe COVID cases are fully vaccinated,” Ichilov Hospital director, Professor Yaakov Jerris told Channel 13 news TV, “Vaccine has no significance when it comes to severe illness“.

 

Truth : Prof. Jacob Giris Was Quoted Out Of Context

The video is genuine, but what Professor Jacob Giris said in the Channel 13 news interview was taken out of context.

Whether that was intentional or not, I do not know. But I do know now that it was WRONGLY / FALSELY reported as evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine does not work.

The Channel 13 news segment was in Hebrew, which I did not understand. So I roped in a native Hebrew speaker to check it out for me, and this was the opinion :

The translation and explanation in the articles you sent were taken out of context.

He was saying that for critically ill people with existing health conditions, the vaccine is less relevant. In his hospital, most COVID-19 patients are much older and come in with co-morbidities.

He was not against the vaccine, he was just saying that it was less relevant for this particular group of patients.

 

Let me emphasise this – Professor Giris was telling Channel 13 that the COVID-19 vaccine had “no significance” because most of his patients were elderly, and coming in sick from another disease, with co-morbidities.

Those factors are why they developed severe COVID-19 disease, not the fact that they were fully-vaccinated.

This actually matches what he stated just days earlier (27 February 2022) on the official hospital Facebook page.

  • most patients are coming into his hospital for other conditions, and incidentally found to have COVID-19
  • the mortality rate is very low
  • COVID-19 is often not the cause of death for his patients
  • the public should not panic

He posted in Hebrew, which does not translate well using machine translation, so I had to correct some of the grammar to make it readable :

Hi, this is Prof. Jacob Giris, the Director of Internal Medicine Department and COVID-19. My team and I have been on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 since the second wave.

I read the news about the mortality reports, hospital wards that are full of patients and expert alerts to postpone the cancellation of isolation for children and I would like to give you a snapshot of the situation in my department here in Ichilov.

This wave is different from the previous waves. The patients that arrive are coming in because of other diseases and not because of the Omicron variant. The rate of turnover in the ward is like that of a movie – every day ten patients are admitted and discharged on average.

Most of them come to get treatment for some other disease. The mortality rate is very low, and even when it happens, the Omicron variant is not the cause of death.

In fact, I remember much more turbulent times, where we suffered especially violent outcomes like 4 waves ago. This wave, what’s different for me is that I treat a wider variety of internal diseases and we are all suffering from isolation.

I felt compelled to give you the real picture of the situation in the field, give the public confidence and prevent unnecessary fear. We should not only strengthen internal medicine measures during difficult times, or when there is an epidemic, but as part of a national plan.

Until then, have fun with the children who need to see the spectacular sights of snow and breathe the fresh air outside in our beautiful country. Have a peaceful, white weekend.

The truth is – antivaxxers are intentionally quoting the video out of context, to falsely suggest that the vaccines do not work.

COVID-19 vaccines have been proven, over and over again, to greatly reduce hospitalisation and death.

For more details, you can read my exhaustive fact check of the false claims about what Professor Jacob Giris told Channel 13.

Read more : Prof Yaakov Jerris Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID?

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE THIS fact check with your friends!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Health | Fact CheckTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Prof Yaakov Jerris Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID?

Did Professor Yaakov Jerris from Ichilov Hospital just admit that the vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : Prof Yaakov Jerris Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID!

Antivax and conspiracy websites are claiming that Ichilov Hospital director, Professor Yaakov Jerris admitted that the vaccine cannot prevent severe illness from COVID-19.

Are Israeli hospitals really overburdened with COVID patients who haven’t been vaccinated? The situation, according to Prof. Yaakov Jerris, director of Ichilov Hospital’s coronavirus ward, is radically different. According to the professor, COVID vaccines cannot protect us from severe illness as we are being told.

“Right now, most of our severe cases are vaccinated,” Jerris told Channel 13 News. “They had at least three injections. Between seventy and eighty percent of the serious cases are vaccinated. So, the vaccine has no significance regarding severe illness, which is why just twenty to twenty-five percent of our patients are unvaccinated.”

Jerris also highlighted some of the ambiguity in case reporting. He addressed ministers at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, “Defining a serious patient is problematic. For example, a patient with a chronic lung disease always had a low level of oxygen, but now he has a positive coronavirus test result which technically makes him a ‘serious coronavirus patient,’ but that’s not accurate. The patient is only in a difficult condition because he has a serious underlying illness.”

 

Prof Yaakov Jerris Did Not Say Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID!

This appears to be a “variant” of the earlier misinformation being shared on anti-vaccination and conspiracy website.

Just like the earlier version, this is FAKE NEWS created by antivaxxers, who likely based it on a bad translation (which could be intentional).

Here are the facts of this case…

Fact #1 : Hospital Is Called Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

There is no longer an Ichilov Hospital. That is the former and colloquial name for the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

The original Ichilov Hospital was established in 1961, and renamed as the Sourasky Medical Center in June 1973.

That hospital was then combined with two other municipal hospitals in 1980, and renamed as the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Fact #2 : He Is Professor Jacob Giris, Not Yaakov Jerris

There is no Professor Yaakov Jerris listed amongst the staff of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. That name was likely a translation mistake by someone using Google Translate / Bing Translate.

His actual name is Professor Jacob Giris (יעקב ג’ריס), and he is the director of their Internal Medicine department.

Fact #3 : His Words Were Taken Out Of Context

I managed to obtain a video of Professor Giris speaking on Channel 13, which I will share below.

It was in Hebrew, which I don’t understand. So I had a native Hebrew speaker check it out for me, and this was the opinion :

The translation and explanation in the articles you sent were taken out of context.

He was saying that for critically ill people with existing health conditions, the vaccine is less relevant. In his hospital, most COVID-19 patients are much older and come in with co-morbidities.

He was not against the vaccine, he was just saying that it was less relevant for this particular group of patients.

Fact #4 : He Said Earlier That Most COVID-19 Patients Now Don’t Die

About a week earlier, Professor Giris posted this statement in Hebrew on 27 January 2022, where he stated that :

  • most patients are coming into his hospital for other conditions, and incidentally found to have COVID-19
  • the mortality rate is very low
  • COVID-19 is often not the cause of death for his patients
  • the public should not panic

Here is the English translation, which I attempted to clean up and make more understandable :

Hi, this is Prof. Jacob Giris, the Director of Internal Medicine Department and COVID-19. My team and I have been on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 since the second wave.

I read the news about the mortality reports, hospital wards that are full of patients and expert alerts to postpone the cancellation of isolation for children and I would like to give you a snapshot of the situation in my department here in Ichilov.

This wave is different from the previous waves. The patients that arrive are coming in because of other diseases and not because of the Omicron variant. The rate of turnover in the ward is like that of a movie – every day ten patients are admitted and discharged on average.

Fact #5 : It Was Likely A Bad Translation

The viral news report called him Professor Yaakov Jerris, and the quotes attributed to him are grammatically odd.

After using Google Translate and Bing Translate to translate his Hebrew post (see Fact #3), I realised that the viral news report was most likely mistranslated from Hebrew.

With that in mind, and based on what he said a week earlier, this was my interpretation of what he said :

  • He believes that the reporting of severe cases is wrongly labelling serious COVID-19 patients, when they have a different serious condition and only happen to have COVID-19.
  • Between 70% and 80% of his severe cases are vaccinated with at least three shots.
  • Vaccination status has no significance, because these patients are seriously sick from their admitting condition

This would match what he said a week earlier, about many patients coming into his department with other diseases, and incidentally discovered to have COVID-19.

And this was confirmed by the Hebrew translator who watched the video. See Fact #3.

Fact #6 : He Never Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID-19

A bad translation is one thing, but this new fake news “variant” claims that Professor Giris admitted that the vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease.

That’s not what he said. He is quoted to have said, “the vaccine has no significance regarding severe illness“.

You don’t have to be a linguist to know that there is a big difference between “no significance regarding severe illness”, and not being able to prevent severe illness.

And in the video, he actually said that the vaccine had no significance, because the patients that came in were already severely sick with other diseases. See Fact #3.

Fact #7 : Misleading To Use Percentage

It is misleading to report that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases are of vaccinated people, without the necessary context. After all…

  • In a country with zero vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of unvaccinated people.
  • In a country with 100% vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of vaccinated people.

In addition, the vaccinated-unvaccinated ratio for severe COVID-19 is highly dependent on age, co-morbidities, and whether the patients came in for other medical problems.

Senior citizens with co-morbidities, and coming in for other medical problems, are far more likely to develop severe COVID-19, than young adults without co-morbidities.

Without context – data – it is impossible to know the true situation. But that is perhaps why anti-vaccination and conspiracy websites are reporting the claim without context.

Fact #8 : This Is Base Rate Fallacy At Work

As explained above, we should expect more cases of vaccinated people getting severe COVID-19 than unvaccinated people, simply because there are far more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people.

This concept is sometimes difficult to grasp, which is why it’s being abused by antivaxxers to trick you into thinking that vaccinated people are more likely to get severe COVID-19. That’s nonsense.

This is the Base Rate Fallacy at work, which Marc Rumilly demonstrates in this visualisation.

At first glance (left), it may appear that more vaccinated people are getting hospitalised than unvaccinated people.

But if you “zoom out” and look at the population as a whole (right), the risk profile is completely different. It is obvious now that unvaccinated people are far more likely to be hospitalised than vaccinated people.

Fact #9 : Unvaccinated People Have 6X Higher Risk Of Severe COVID-19

Marc took actual data from the Israel Ministry of Health, to demonstrate how the Base Rate Fallacy masks the fact that unvaccinated people in Israel are 6X more likely to get severe COVID-19 than vaccinated people.

Fact #10 : Vaccines Greatly Reduced Infections + Deaths

Many studies have already proven, time and time again, the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

Let’s take a look at one example – the October 2021 study in Israel which looked at the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing new infections and deaths of people over 70 years old.

New Cases dropped by 20X after vaccination

Deaths dropped by 6X after vaccination

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE THIS fact check with your friends!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Health | Fact CheckTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Are Most Severe COVID-19 Cases In Israel Fully Vaccinated?

Did Professor Yaakov Jerris just admit that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases in Israel are fully-vaccinated?

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : Most Severe COVID-19 Cases In Israel Fully Vaccinated!

Antivax and conspiracy websites are claiming that Professor Yaakov Jerris, an Ichilov Hospital director, admitted that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases in Israel are fully-vaccinated.

Are Israeli hospitals really overloaded with unvaccinated COVID patients? According to Prof. Yaakov Jerris, director of Ichilov Hospital’s coronavirus ward, the situation is completely opposite.

“Right now, most of our severe cases are vaccinated,” Jerris told Channel 13 News. “They had at least three injections. Between seventy and eighty percent of the serious cases are vaccinated. So, the vaccine has no significance regarding severe illness, which is why just twenty to twenty-five percent of our patients are unvaccinated.”

Jerris also revealed some of the confusion in reporting cases. Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, he told ministers, “Defining a serious patient is problematic. For example, a patient with a chronic lung disease always had a low level of oxygen, but now he has a positive coronavirus test result which technically makes him a ‘serious coronavirus patient,’ but that’s not accurate. The patient is only in a difficult condition because he has a serious underlying illness.”

 

Truth : Fully Vaccinated In Israel Not At Most Risk Of Severe COVID-19!

I can now confirm that this is FAKE NEWS created by antivaxxers, who likely based it on a bad translation (which could be intentional).

Here are the facts of this case…

Fact #1 : Hospital Is Called Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

There is no longer an Ichilov Hospital. That is the former and colloquial name for the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

The original Ichilov Hospital was established in 1961, and renamed as the Sourasky Medical Center in June 1973.

That hospital was then combined with two other municipal hospitals in 1980, and renamed as the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Fact #2 : He Is Professor Jacob Giris, Not Yaakov Jerris

The Ichilov Hospital director mentioned in the news report was extremely hard to track down, because he was wrongly named.

There is no Yaakov Jerris or Yaakov Jeris listed amongst the staff of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. That name is most likely a translation mistake by someone using Google Translate / Bing Translate.

However, I managed to track him down as Professor Jacob Giris (יעקב ג’ריס), the director of their Internal Medicine department.

Fact #3 : His Words Were Taken Out Of Context

I managed to obtain a video of Professor Giris speaking on Channel 13, which I will share below.

It was in Hebrew, which I don’t understand. So I had a native Hebrew speaker check it out for me, and this was the opinion :

The translation and explanation in the articles you sent were taken out of context.

He is saying that for critically ill people with existing health conditions, the vaccine is less relevant. In his hospital, most COVID-19 patients are much older and come in with co-morbidities.

He is not against the vaccine, he was just saying that it was less relevant for this particular group of patients.

Fact #4 : He Said Earlier That Most COVID-19 Patients Now Don’t Die

About a week earlier, Professor Giris posted this statement in Hebrew on 27 January 2022, where he stated that :

  • most patients are coming into his hospital for other conditions, and incidentally found to have COVID-19
  • the mortality rate is very low
  • COVID-19 is often not the cause of death for his patients
  • the public should not panic

What he said earlier matches what he said in his Channel 13 news interview.

Here is the English translation, which I attempted to clean up and make more understandable :

Hi, this is Prof. Jacob Giris, the Director of Internal Medicine Department and COVID-19. My team and I have been on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 since the second wave.

I read the news about the mortality reports, hospital wards that are full of patients and expert alerts to postpone the cancellation of isolation for children and I would like to give you a snapshot of the situation in my department here in Ichilov.

This wave is different from the previous waves. The patients that arrive are coming in because of other diseases and not because of the Omicron variant. The rate of turnover in the ward is like that of a movie – every day ten patients are admitted and discharged on average.

Fact #5 : It Was Likely A Bad Translation

The viral “news report” called Professor Giris “Yaakov Jerris” or “Yaakov Jeris“, and the quotes attributed to him were peculiar grammatically.

After using Google Translate and Bing Translate to translate his Hebrew post (see Fact #4), I realised that the viral news report was most likely mistranslated from Hebrew.

With that in mind, and based on what he said a week earlier, this was my interpretation of what he said :

  • He believes that the reporting of severe cases is wrongly labelling serious COVID-19 patients, when they have a different serious condition and only happen to have COVID-19.
  • Between 70% and 80% of his severe cases were vaccinated with at least three shots.
  • Vaccination status has no significance, because these patients are seriously sick from their admitting condition

This would match what he said a week earlier, about many patients coming into his department with other diseases, and incidentally discovered to have COVID-19.

And this was confirmed by the Hebrew translator who watched the video. See Fact #3.

Fact #6 : Misleading To Use Percentage

It is misleading to report that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases are of vaccinated people, without the necessary context. After all…

  • in a country with zero vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of unvaccinated people.
  • in a country with 100% vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of vaccinated people.

In addition, the vaccinated-unvaccinated ratio for severe COVID-19 is highly dependent on age, co-morbidities, and whether the patients came in for other medical problems.

Senior citizens with co-morbidities, and coming in for other medical problems, are far more likely to develop severe COVID-19, than young adults without co-morbidities.

Without context – data – it is impossible to know the true situation. But that is perhaps why anti-vaccination and conspiracy websites are reporting the claim without context.

Fact #7 : This Is Base Rate Fallacy At Work

As explained above, we should expect more cases of vaccinated people getting severe COVID-19 than unvaccinated people, simply because there are far more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people.

This concept is sometimes difficult to grasp, which is why it’s being abused by antivaxxers to trick you into thinking that vaccinated people are more likely to get severe COVID-19. That’s nonsense.

This is the Base Rate Fallacy at work, which Marc Rumilly demonstrates in this visualisation.

At first glance (left), it may appear that more vaccinated people are getting hospitalised than unvaccinated people.

But if you “zoom out” and look at the population as a whole (right), the risk profile is completely different. It is obvious now that unvaccinated people are far more likely to be hospitalised than vaccinated people.

Fact #8 : Unvaccinated People Have 6X Higher Risk Of Severe COVID-19

Marc took actual data from the Israel Ministry of Health, to demonstrate how the Base Rate Fallacy masks the fact that unvaccinated people in Israel are 6X more likely to get severe COVID-19 than vaccinated people.

Fact #9 : Vaccines Greatly Reduced Infections + Deaths

Many studies have proven, time and time again, the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

Let’s take a look at one example – the October 2021 study in Israel which looked at the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing new infections and deaths of people over 70 years old.

New Cases dropped by 20X after vaccination

Deaths dropped by 6X after vaccination

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE THIS fact check with your friends!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Health | Fact CheckTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Did German Experts Say Salt Water Gargle Kills COVID-19?

Did German scientists and experts confirm that a warm salt water gargle kills COVID-19?

Take a look at the viral advice, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : German Experts Say Salt Water Gargle Kills COVID-19!

People are sharing this advice by German scientists who claim that their studies show that a warm salt water gargle like Abmonak kills COVID-19!

They have allegedly also advised the German government that if people gargle with this Abmonak solution several times a day, COVID-19 can be eliminated in Germany within a week!

It’s a long post, so just skip to the next section for the facts…

The end of the Corona virus with this German prevention.

German scientists announced, after a series of studies, that the Corona virus not only reproduces in the lungs like the SARS virus in 2002, but also spreads widely in the throat during the first week of infection.

 

Truth : German Experts Did NOT Say Salt Water Gargle Kills COVID-19

The truth is – German scientists and experts did NOT say that a salt water gargle like Abmonak can kill COVID-19.

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Abmonak Does Not Exist

Abmonak appears to be a made-up name. There is no such gargle solution called Abmonak, in Germany or anywhere else in the world.

Fact #2 : German Health Authorities Do NOT Use Salt Water Gargle

Just to be clear – German health authorities do NOT use salt water gargle to prevent COVID-19.

Neither do German scientists and experts advocate the use of salt water gargle against COVID-19.

Fact #3 : Gargling Cannot Prevent COVID-19

Gargling cannot prevent COVID-19, because the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted through three principle ways :

  • inhalation of respiratory droplets and aerosol particles,
  • deposition of respiratory droplets and aerosol particles on exposed mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, or eye, and
  • touching mucous membranes of the mouth, nose or eye, with contaminated hands

Gargling cannot prevent infection when you breathe in the coronavirus, or if infectious droplets fall onto your eyes.

Neither can gargling prevent infection when you accidentally touch your mouth, nose or eye with contaminated hands.

Fact #4 : COVID-19 Does Not Germinate In Your Throat

The fake news suggests that COVID-19 germinates for a week in your throat. That’s utter nonsense.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus will not “chill out” and multiply in your throat for a week, before heading to your lungs. So trying to gargle it away is NOT going to work.

Fact #5 : Semi-Hot Gargle Can Be Dangerous

You should also be careful about gargling with semi-hot salt water, as it could scald your throat if it’s too hot.

The high temperature will not help prevent COVID-19 in any case, as it is only temporary. Your throat will return to normal temperature within seconds.

Fact #6 : Salt Water Does Not Reduce Viral Load

An October 2021 study by Tiong et. al in Malaysia actually looked at the effectiveness of salt water gargle in directly destroying SARS-CoV-2.

The study found that salt water “did not show any reduction in viral load“, compared to commercial mouthwashes.

Gargle Log10 Reduction In Viral Titres
Clean Condition Dirty Condition
Colgate Plax 5.0 5.0
Bactidol 5.0 5.0
Oradex 4.0 4.0
Thymol Mouthwash 0.5 0.5
Salt Water 0.0 0.0

Fact #7 : Gargle Reduces Transmission, Not Prevent Infection

Gargling does not help prevent infection, but it can help reduce transmission by infected persons who may be asymptomatic.

Gargling with povidone-iodine has been proven to reduce saliva viral load, which helps prevent COVID-19 positive individuals from infecting dental professionals.

Hence, Malaysia Ministry of Health (KKM) guidelines recommend the use of mouthwash containing 1.0–1.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.2–1.0% povidone iodine prior to dental examination and treatments.

In short, gargling with solutions like povidone-iodine is meant to protect dentists from being infected by their patients. It does not prevent you from being infected.

Fact #8 : Salt Water Is Slightly Alkaline

Salt water has an average pH of around 8.1, which means it is slightly alkaline.

Gargling with salt water can temporarily make your throat and oral cavity slightly alkaline, but this only lasts until you swallow some saliva or drink water.

Try gargling with salt water and see how long you can maintain (live with) the salty taste. Didn’t take long for you to swallow, did it?

That’s why it is practically useless to gargle with salt water (or anything else), if you want to create a truly alkaline environment in your throat.

Fact #9 : Making Throat Alkaline Is Pointless

Turning your throat alkaline is also pointless because the SARS-CoV-2 virus generally does not infect you through the throat.

It mainly infects you through your nose, mouth and eyes. See Fact #2. So focusing on the throat is like watering the garden plants while your house is on fire…

Fact #10 : COVID-19 Is Not Caused By Coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Virus 4

This fake news is based on a misunderstanding of a 1991 research paper called “Alteration of the pH Dependence of Coronavirus-Induced Cell Fusion: Effect of Mutations in the Spike Glycoprotein”.

The paper was talking about a completely different coronavirus – MHV4 (Coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Type 4), which is completely different from SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

In fact, the paper also pointed out that the wild-type MHV4 virus has no problem infecting cells at neutral pH. The scientists had to create variants that were specifically dependent on acidic pH to fuse host cells.

In other words, the fake news creators misrepresented what the paper said, to mislead you about the effect of alkaline pH on the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Don’t waste your time gargling. Protect yourself by getting vaccinated against COVID-19!

And please SHARE this fact check with your family and friends!

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Health | Fact CheckTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Is There A Communist Revolution Monument In Penang?

Pictures of a Chinese Communist Revolution Monument in Penang have gone viral, with calls from netizens to TEAR IT DOWN!

Find out what’s going on, and what the facts really are!

 

Claim : DAP Created A Communist Monument In Penang!

Pictures of a Chinese Communist Revolution Monument in Penang are being shared on Facebook and social media, with messages like this (translated into English) :

DAP created a Communist monument in Penang after they took power.

Communist monument on Flag Hill in Penang.

What are you waiting for? When are you going to tear it down?

Do You Know?

In Penang, there is a World War II memorial called the Revolution Memorial.

But it’s full of Chinese letters and the figures are all dressed as Communists.

There is absolutely no information in English or Bahasa Melayu, much less Tamil.

When people say it’s racist, [you get] angry

This monument was built as soon as DAP took over Penang from Gerakan.

Here is a selection of comments that were posted with that misleading picture, showing how it instigates hate and racial tensions :

Roboh kan semuanya,, pulau Pinang ialah tanah Melayu,,jgn lupa tu,, DAP memang haprak

Demolish it all. Penang is Malay soil. Don’t forget that. DAP is useless.

Say no to komunis DAP

Puak2 pengkhianat DAP..musoh melayu..musoh islam..

DAP are traitors, enemies of the Malays, enemies of Islam.

Robohkan Tugu peringatan pembunuh anak anak peribumi Melayu. kenapa di iarkan sebegitu rupa di mana anguta dan bekas angguta keselamatan kita boleh biarkan sebegitu rupa…Letupkan !

Destroy the memorial of the killers of Malay natives. Why is it being left like that? How can our security forces let this be? Blow it up!

 

Communist Revolution Monument In Penang : The Truth

The short version is this – the monument in the pictures exists, but it is neither a Communist monument, nor was it created or built by DAP.

All of the claims about it in the incendiary posts above are FALSE.

We would like to warn everyone to be careful of political fake news being shared to incite hatred and racial tensions.

Fact #1 : That Is The Penang Overseas Chinese Anti-War Memorial

The monument in the picture is the Penang Overseas Chinese Anti-War Memorial Park, also known as the Air Itam War Memorial Park.

It is NOT a Chinese Communist Revolution Monument.

There are two key monuments at this memorial park :

  • a bronze-coloured army supply truck being pushed by three men – memorialising the Nanyang transport volunteers from Malaya, who helped deliver supplies to China when they were blocked by the Japanese.
  • a 45-foot tall white obelisk that commemorates the Marco Polo Incident, that kicked off the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945.

The ashes of some 800 incomplete skeletons of Penang Chinese residents who died under Japanese occupation, and the Nanyang transport volunteers who died, are also buried under the obelisk.

The truck also has a number plate with the date 1939 on it. Communist China didn’t exist in 1939, so claims that this is a Communist monument is… idiotic.

Fact #2 : It Was Built In 1946 And Opened In 1951

Construction on the Penang Overseas Chinese Anti-War Memorial Park started in 1946, and it was officially opened in 1951.

DAP was only formed on 11 October 1965, so the claim that it was built when DAP gained power in Penang is false.

Because the People’s Republic of China was only established in 1949, the claim that this is a communist revolution monument is idiotic.

It is also extremely stupid to claim that the figures were dressed as Chinese Communists, because Communist China didn’t exist when the monument was being built!

Fact #3 : It Was Privately Funded

The original Penang Overseas Chinese Anti-War Memorial Park was funded entirely by the Penang China Relief Fund, a Penang-based private fundraising organisation.

It was officially opened at 11 AM on 11 November 1951 by Penang Chinese tycoon and philanthropist, Lim Lean Teng, who was the supervisory chairman of the organisation.

After the Penang China Relief Fund was dissolved in 1952, the Kong Min School was entrusted to maintain the memorial with an annual budget of $5,000, and an annual memorial service.

Fact #4 : It Was Upgraded For Its 60th Anniversary

The Board of Trustees of the Kong Min School decided to repair and upgrade the memorial to coincide with its 60th anniversary.

The RM 400,000 project also added a 60 foot-long wall relief showing Malayan transport volunteers on the Burma-China road, and a peace column with flying doves.

On top of private donations by various organisations and individuals, the Penang state government also chipped in.

When it was opened at precisely 11:11 AM on 11 November 2016 by Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, politicians from both sides of the political divide attended the launch.

Therefore, the claim that no one knew about it, or that it was only something DAP would do, is categorically FALSE.

Photo Credit : The Sun Daily

Fact #5 : There Is Information In FOUR Languages

The memorial park has information in four languages – English, Bahasa Melayu, Chinese and Japanese.

Here is the information panel in English and Bahasa Melayu, proving that the claim there is no information in both languages are FALSE.

 

Help Support My Work!

If you would like to support my work, you can do so via bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card.

Name : Adrian Wong

Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)

Thank you in advanced! ❤️

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact CheckHome

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

USS Al Gore Global Warming Research Vessel Frozen In Ice?

Did the USS Al Gore Global Warming Research Vessel get frozen in ice?

Take a look at the pictures, and find out what the facts really are!

 

USS Al Gore Global Warming Research Vessel Frozen In Ice?

People keep sharing pictures of the USS Al Gore Global Warming Research Vessel frozen in ice, some as a joke, some as evidence that global warming does not actually exist.

You will find these being shared on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Reddit, and even some websites.

Note : We intentionally placed the FALSE overlay to prevent them from being further abused.

Because these have been debunked previously on our sister website, someone started sharing a new picture instead. This time, of a much larger ship.

 

USS Al Gore : The Facts

As you can surmise by now, those pictures are NOT of the USS Al Gore Global Warming Research Vessel.

Climate change is real, and sharing pictures of frozen boats is not going to change the fact that the world is getting warmer.

Here are the reasons why these are all FAKE PICTURES being shared by climate change deniers.

Fact #1 : There Is No USS Al Gore

The USS Al Gore does not exist. The USS (United States Ship) designation is reserved for active commissioned ships of the US Navy. There has never been a ship named for former US Vice-President Al Gore.

Well, a FICTIONAL submersible aircraft carrier – the CVJ-01 USS Al Gore – was named after him, but I don’t suppose that counts… because it’s a SUBMARINE! 😀

Fact #2 : Al Gore Has A Houseboat Called Bio-Solar One

Al Gore has a 100-foot houseboat that is powered by bio-diesel and solar panels, called Bio-Solar One. It was launched sometime in September 2008.

Here, you can see it at the Hurricane Marina in Silver Point, Tennessee. Completely different design and size, and NEVER FROZEN in ice.

Photo Credit : The Tennessean

Fact #3 : The Frozen Boat Was In Switzerland

The original fake picture of USS Al Gore was of a boat moored off Versoix, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

It was hit by an ice storm in 2005 – the freezing rain froze into a thick glaze of ice that covered not only this boat, but also vehicles, buildings and the streets.

This photo of the same boat was taken by a different photographer, Santiago Puig Viladomiu.

The date stamp is clear – this was taken on 28 January 2005 – more than 3.5 years before Al Gore’s Bio-Solar One houseboat was even launched.

Fact #4 : The Frozen Ship Was In Russia

The newer fake photo of USS Al Gore was really taken on 19 January 2006, of the ship GEORG OTS at the port of Saint Petersburg in Russia.

GEORG OTS (IMO 7625835) is a passenger Roll-On, Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) cargo ship built in 1980, and has ceased service since 2013, last seen heading to Zhoushan, China.

Here you can see the original picture used in the fake USS Al Gore photo, and the GEORG OTS during warmer times.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Checks | ScienceHome

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Did Nurse Faint After Getting Pfizer mRNA Vaccine?

Did a nurse really faint after getting the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine? A viral video seems to show just that!

Find out what happened, and what the facts really are!

 

Did This Nurse Faint After Getting COVID-19 Vaccine?

A viral video is being shared on social media and YouTube, showing a nurse faint after getting injected with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The video is usually accompanied by comments or warnings like these :

17 minutes after receiving the shot GATES VACCINE, NURSE PASSES OUT on LIVE TV

3 cameramen, witnesses were live, but stopped filming

Watch this nurse pass out after receiving the COVID vaccine. It’s so safe though, right? This will become a mass genocide if people continue to follow these rabid dictators.

This is an experimental vaccine that has not received official approval from government regulators. The Pfizer vaccine has only received EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) and the trials are still ongoing. So that makes this an experimental vaccine in my book and the public appears to be the guinea pigs.

Yes, this nurse – Tiffany Dover, a nurse manager – did indeed faint after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

It actually happened during the NewsChannel 9 ABC livestream of the vaccinations at the Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Antivaxxers and Google University doctors immediately pounced on the video as “evidence” that the Pfizer vaccine is dangerous. Is that true?

 

Why Did This Nurse Faint After Getting Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine?

So now that we establish that this nurse did indeed faint after getting the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, we should not stop there.

We should establish the other facts, including whether the vaccine is safe. Let’s address that…

Fact #1 : She Recovered Within Minutes

According to NewsChannel 9 ABC, whose crew was recording the whole event, Tiffany Dover quickly recovered, and within minutes, was able to get up and speak with them again.

While there were also claims that she died subsequently, those are complete lies. She did NOT die.

Fact #2 : NewsChannel 9 ABC Did Not Stop Filming

While there are claims that NewsChannel 9 ABC stopped filming when Dover fainted, that isn’t true. The video actually shows that the camera continued filming, just not of her.

In the news report, her fainting scene was shown in its entirety. But once she was down and being attended to by doctors at the scene, they cut away.

That doesn’t mean they had anything to hide. But there’s nothing newsworthy about showing a nurse passed out. Put yourself in her shoes – would you want the world to see you passed out?

Recommended : Did Study Show Pfizer Vaccine Altering Liver DNA In 6 Hours?!

Fact #3 : She Faints When She Feels Pain

Dover herself explained that she has a condition where she often faints when she feels pain, so this wasn’t a surprise to her that it happened.

The videos that are being shared online were intentionally cut to show only the moments when she fainted. The full video explains that, which is why it was edited before being shared.

Fact #4 : Vasovagal Syncope Can Cause Such Fainting

People with vasovagal syncope will faint when exposed to certain triggers like pain, emotional stress, fear of needles or even just the sight of blood.

So it is not surprising if some people faint after getting an injection, whether it’s of a COVID-19 vaccine or a placebo.

Credit : Verywell / Brooke Pelczynski

Fact #5 : The Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Is NOT Experimental

Despite what Google University doctors may say, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is no longer an experimental vaccine.

After delivering an efficacy rate of 95% (p<0.0001) in its Phase 3 trials, the Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine received its Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the US FDA.

Once it receives that EUA, it is no longer considered an experimental vaccine, even though it has yet to receive a full US FDA licence.

Fact #6 : Not All EUAs Are The Same

While it is true that the EUA is a shortcut, it is necessary in an urgent public health crisis like this COVID-19 pandemic.

A typical US FDA approval requires two separate, well-controlled studies to prove that a drug / vaccine / tool is safe and substantially efficacious – typically taking 5-10 years (if not longer). During that time, millions of people would have died from COVID-19.

Its EUA may be withdrawn if further data suggests that it doesn’t work. For example, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine received EUAs for use with COVID-19 even though NEITHER were tested for their efficacy against SARS-CoV-2.

But in June 15, 2020, their EUAs for use in COVID-19 were revoked after studies showed that they were completely useless against SARS-CoV-2, even killing people.

Recommended : Full FDA Approval vs EUA for Vaccines : What’s Different?

 

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.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | HealthTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo confident US created COVID-19?

Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo allegedly said that he is confident that the US created the COVID-19 coronavirus, which is not a natural virus based on his research.

Find out what he said, and if it’s true that the US created the COVID-19 coronavirus!

Updated @ 2020-11-28 : Added the Chinese variant of the story, including other updates.

Originally posted @ 2020-04-27

 

Claim : Tasuku Honjo Confident US Created COVID-19!

This is the article that has been going viral on social media since April 2020.

SHOCKING⤵️
令人震惊 日本的生理学和醫學教授本庶佑(Tasuku Honjo)博士証明新冠狀病毒來自美国

Japan’s professor of Physiology & Medicine, Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo, created a sensation in front of the media today by saying that the corona virus is not natural. If it is natural, it wouldn’t have adversely affected entire world like this, as per nature.
日本的生理学和醫學教授本庶佑(Tasuku Honjo)博士 (註一)今天在媒体面前製造了轟動,他说冠狀病毒不是天然的。如果這是自然的,根據性質, 它不會對整個世界造成這樣的負面影響。

Temperature is different in different countries. if it is natural, it would’ve adversely affected only those countries having same temperature as China. Instead, It is spreading in a country like Switzerland, in the same way it is spreading in the desert areas.
不同的國家有不同溫度。如果它是自然的,它只會對那些與中國溫度相同的國家產生不利影響。相反,它正在瑞士這樣的國家傳播,就像它在沙漠地區傳播一樣。

On 25 April 2020, Mir Monaz Haque, the Editor-In-Chief of Asia Today, posted this variant on his Facebook page (now deleted) without comment, lending further credence to the story :

SHOCKING⤵️

Japan’s professor of Physiology or Medicine, Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo, created a sensation in front of the media today by saying that the corona virus is not natural.

 

Tasuku Honjo confident US created COVID-19? Complete Bullshit

This story is such complete bullshit and appears to be a bastardised version of the original hoax which blamed China.

  • Professor Tasuku Honjo issued a statement refuting those claims.
  • Professor Tasuku Honjo does not work on viruses, and has never said that the virus is artificial.
  • Genomic analysis have proven that SARS-CoV-2 is a natural virus that is very closely-related to bat coronaviruses.
  • Multiple strains in the USA would prove that it is not the origin of COVID-19 virus.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic started in Wuhan, China… not Maryland, USA

 

Tasuku Honjo Confident USA Created COVID-19 : The Facts

For those who are thinking to themselves, “How do you know it’s fake? You were NOT there!“, here are the reasons why we know for sure…

Fact #1 : Viruses Can Spread In Cold + Warm Climates

While certain viruses spread easier in warmer climates, other viruses spread better in colder climates.

The susceptibility of a virus to humidity and temperature depends on whether it has a lipid bilayer envelope or not.

The COVID-19 coronavirus is enveloped, and is thus more likely to spread better in cold, dry climates. But that doesn’t mean it cannot spread well in warm, humid climates.

Fact #2 : SARS-CoV-2 Is Natural, And Related To Bat Coronaviruses

Genomic analysis have proven that the COVID-19 is natural, for these reasons :

  • an artificial virus would have to be created from existing viruses and their genetic data
  • the SARS-CoV-2 virus has components that have never been seen before
  • it is very similar to existing bat coronaviruses.

Fact #3 : Professor Honjo Does Not Work On Viruses

Tasuku Honjo is a professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine. He has only worked on immunology, not virology.

His 2018 Nobel Prize, in particular, was for his work on stimulating the immune system to attack tumour cells in cancer.

Fact #4 : Tasuku Honjo Issued A Statement Refuting The Claim

Professor Honjo issued this statement through one of his PhD students :

Prof. Honjo never gave any such statement. Each and every sentence of this post is completely false and has no connection with truth.

Prof. Honjo never worked in Wuhan laboratory. He never called there. He did not work on virus origin and functions and other related issues.

All the contents are just concocted and nothing else.

Fact #5 : Tasuku Honjo Said COVID-19 Originated In China

In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review on 10 April 2020, Professor Tasuku Honjo said that COVID-19 originated in China, but also that it will be the first country to recover from it.

However, he never said that it was manufactured or created by China. Originating in a country, is quite different from creating it.

Fact #6 : Multiple Strains Denote A Later Time Line

Viruses mutate and create new strains over time. A novel virus like COVID-19 would start with a single strain and evolve into multiple strains as it spreads globally and mutate over time.

Hence, the very fact that there are five strains in the United States would actually refute it as the source of SARS-CoV-2 – the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In fact, by analysing the genomic changes of these strains, scientists have pretty much concluded that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.

Fact #7 : Earliest COVID-19 Death In US Was In February 2020

The CDC did not wrongly diagnose COVID-19 deaths in the US from July to December 2019.

The earliest death from COVID-19 in the US was revised on 22 April 2020, with the diagnosis of three COVID-19 deaths in Santa Clara, California :

  • a 57 year-old woman on 6 February 2020
  • a 69 year-old man on 17 February 2020
  • a 70 year-old man on 6 March 2020

Fact #8 : Fort Detrick Was Closed Because Of Sterilisation Plant Failure

The CDC temporarily shut down the US Army lab at Fort Detrick on 2 August 2019, after finding “biosafety lapses” there.

Conspiracy theorists pounced on that as “evidence” that COVID-19 may have leaked from Fort Detrick, but a quick check would reveal that :

  • the shutdown was ordered because the lab was no longer able to decontaminate wastewater from its highest security labs.
  • the lab’s steam sterilisation plant was damaged in a flood in May 2018, and they had been using a chemical decontamination method instead.
  • no disease-causing materials were found outside authorised areas
  • if SARS-CoV-2 leaked from Fort Detrick, Maryland would have been the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, not Wuhan.

Fact #9 : SARS-CoV-2 Is Just ONE Of Many Coronaviruses

Conspiracy theorists keep saying that coronavirus deaths were reported long before SARS-CoV-2 appeared in Wuhan.

But the fact of the matter is – SARS-CoV-2 is merely one of many coronaviruses in the world, including SARS and MERS!

The earliest cases of COVID-19 have so far been traced back to Wuhan, China.

 

Why Would Someone Create This Fake Story?

With China’s aggressive foreign policy moves in recent years, it is not uncommon to see fake pro-China, anti-America stories being created and shared.

Many believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas, and to drown out negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea..

This COVID-19 was made in the US is also part of the narrative China has been trying to push, after US President Donald Trump blamed them for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whatever the reasons may be, it is our duty as global citizens to stop the proliferation of such fake stories.

Please share this fact check with your friends, so they know the truth!

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Checks | ScienceHome

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Fact Check : Chinese Student Attacked By Canadian Cops!

A video showing Canadian cops taking down a Chinese student is going viral, with people claiming that it’s another racist attack by the police.

Let’s take a look at the video, and see what the facts really are!

Updated on 2020-06-26 : Added details from, and link to, the official Toronto Police press release.

Originally posted on 2020-06-24

 

Chinese Student Attacked By Canadian Cops : Another George Floyd?

A video showing a Chinese man suddenly being surrounded and tackled by Canadian police officers is going viral on social media, with such messages :

Canada.. Brutal taking down of a 21-tear old Chinese student who is not even resisting by several oversized policemen.. Share

👆This is in Canada how a group of oversized police treated a 21yr student for no reason just anti Chinese. True or fake

The video (screenshots below) appears to show a Chinese man just walking down the street, and suddenly he stops with several police officers pointing guns and a Taser at him.

He drops down to his knee, and gets Tasered by the police officer in the foreground, before being tackled and held down by three police officers, with another five police officers around him.

So what really happened? Is it true that this Chinese student was racially profiled and attacked by Canadian cops, like what happened to George Floyd in the United States?

 

Chinese Student Attacked By Canadian Cops : The Facts!

The TLDR summary of this viral claims of racist profiling and attack by the Canadian police against a Chinese student is BULLSHIT.

The man was rightfully reported by BLM protestors for brandishing a large knife at the rally, and arrested by the police. And here are the facts, and evidence…

Fact #1 : The Incident Happened In Toronto, Canada

The incident happened on 6 June 2020, at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Toronto.

Fact #2 : The Man Was Identified As Boyu Shi

The man in the video was identified as 21 year-old Toronto resident, Boyu Shi. There is no indication he is a student.

Fact #3 : Boyu Shi Was Seen Holding A Machete

A protestor noticed Boyu Shi holding a large knife while observing the protest near Yonge Street and Grosvenor Street at around 2:32 PM.

The individual reported him to the Toronto police, and when they approached him, he fled on foot. After a short chase, the police cornered him and that was when the video began.

Fact #4 : Boyu Shi Had THREE Knives On Him

After the police arrested him, they found that he had three knives on him.

When we analysed the video, we spotted at least one knife, with a possible second knife. It appeared that Boyu Shi was trying to get rid of the knives when he was surrounded.

A plainclothes officer can be seen kicking away one of the knives in the video.

Fact #5 : Boyu Shi Was Arrested And Charged In Court

The Toronto police charged Boyu Shi with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon / being dangerous to public peace, and carrying a concealed weapon.

He made his first appearance in court on Sunday, 7 June 2020.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Cybersecurity | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


Fact Check : Science Supports Pig As Haram With Proofs?

We fact-check an article by Mvslimfeed, claiming that science supports Islam’s declaration of pig as haram with proofs.

This is not a critique of any religion or dietary preference, but the TRUTH about pigs and pork.

 

Science Supports Pig As Haram With Proofs? : A TLDR Summary

Here is a quick summary of Mvslimfeed’s false claims about the pig and its meat, pork :

  • Eating pork infects you with tapeworm : FALSE
  • Pigs eat garbage and human shit : FALSE
  • Factory-farmed pigs are overdosed on antibiotics : MISLEADING
  • Pork infects 100,00 Americans a year with Yersinia enterocolitica : MISLEADING
  • Cooking won’t kill pig parasites : FALSE
  • Pork has twice the fat of beef : MISLEADING
  • Pork eaters have hundreds of diseases : FALSE
  • Pigs spread influenza to humans : MISLEADING
  • Pigs are toxic because they don’t perspire : FALSE
  • Pigs cannot be killed with poison : FALSE

 

 

Science Supports Pig As Haram With Proofs? A Detailed Debunking!

Here is our detailed examination of Mvslimfeed’s false claims about pigs and pork, and the real FACTS.

Claim #1 : Eating Pork Infects You With Tapeworm

Eating pork can cause over 70 different types of latent diseases as their body contains many toxins and deadly parasitic worms like tapeworm, roundworm, pinworm, hookworm, etc. These worms and diseases easily pass into human body and causes severe illness.

These worms can enter the human body through the mouth, anus, nose, or skin, with most species attaching themselves to the intestinal tract, damaging body. The most dangerous of these worms are tapeworms.

These tapeworms when enter brain cause memory loss, If it enters the heart it can cause heart attack, in the eye it can cause blindness, and in the liver it can cause liver damage. It can damage almost all the organs of the body.

Our Verdict : FALSE

Pork, like other kinds of animal meats, may harbour zoonotic diseases. That is why it is important to properly handle and cook them.

Parasitic worms like tapeworm, roundworm, pinworm, hookworm, etc. also exist in other animals that are halal for Muslims to consume – chicken, cows, buffalo, fish and so on.

Unless you consume raw meat (from any animal) infested with parasitic worms or their cysts / eggs, there is no danger. In fact, only certain parasitic worms can effectively infect a human.

The pig tapeworm (Taenia solium) can infect humans through undercooked pork, but generally does not cause any symptoms beyond abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea or constipation.

Taenia solium worms do not invade the brain, heart, eyes or liver. So claims that they can cause memory loss, heart attack, blindness or liver damage are categorically FALSE.

On the other hand, if one eats food contaminated with human or pig faeces containing tapeworm eggs, that can cause neurocysticercosis, leading to seizures or epilepsy.

We should point out that cattle have a similar tapeworm that can infect humans too – Taenia saginata.

Like pig tapeworms, the beef tapeworm infects humans through raw or undercooked meat, causing similar symptoms – abdominal pains, diarrhoea or constipation, etc.

If you wish to avoid parasitic worms – don’t just avoid pork. AVOID ALL MEAT.

Claim #2 : Pigs Eat Garbage And Human Shit

A pig is a filthy animal as it eats from garbage and human excreta. It will eat anything from urine, dirt, its own feces, decaying animal’s flesh, maggots or decaying vegetables. Eating so much of filth naturally makes them unfit for human consumption. They even eat the cancerous growths off other pigs or animals.

Some people may object that farm grown pigs aren’t dirty or filthy to which the response is that they are kept in a combined place where they live together and eat filth which a farmer fail to know.

Our Verdict : FALSE

Pigs are opportunistic omnivores. That means they will eat almost everything they’re fed.

In farms, that may range from corn- and soy-based animal feed to processed food waste. That’s no different from what cattle and poultry are fed.

Do pigs eat insects? Yes, in the wild, pigs will feed on insects, as well as small mammals. However, they mostly eat plants.

Do pigs feed on their own faeces, urine, decaying animal flesh or cancer growths on other pigs or animals? No. Those are just LIES.

Claim #3 : Factory-Farmed Pigs Are Overdosed On Antibiotics

It is estimated that 70 percent of factory-farmed pigs have pneumonia when they go to the slaughterhouse. When so many pigs stay together at a farm they are more prone to diseases and filth. They are given an overdose of anti-biotics and other vaccines to keep them disease free which in turn goes into human body.

Our Verdict : MISLEADING

In intensive farming, up to 30% of a herd may get infected (Taylor, D. J. (1995). Pig Diseases) with up to half the herd dying. So the claim of 70% of factory-farmed pigs getting pneumonia is likely to be fabricated.

It is true that antibiotics are used to prevent diseases in factory-farmed pigs. However, antibiotics are also used to prevent diseases in other factory-farmed animals like cattle, poultry and even fish.

So the statement, while partly true, is intentionally misleading.

We should point out that you can avoid antibiotics in your food by opting for meat harvested from free-range animals, whether they are pigs, chicken or cattle.

Claim #4 : Pork Infects 100,000 Americans A Year With Yersinia Enterocolitica

A 2013 Consumer Reports analysis of U.S. pork chops and ground pork samples found widespread (69 percent) presence of a bacteria called yersinia enterocolitica. This bacterium infects around 100,000 Americans a year, especially children, and can cause fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain in humans.

Our Verdict : MISLEADING

While the claim is accurately sourced from Consumer Reports, it is intentionally misleading.

Yersinia enterocolitica does not just affect pork, but other animal meats like beef and chicken. And it is prevented by adequately cooking the meat.

If we want to be intentionally misleading like Mvslimfeed, we would also point out that Consumer Reports also posted that ground beef and even romain lettuce contaminated with E. coli O1O3 or Salmonella have sickened and even killed people.

The fact of matter is – food safety is a concern whether you are eating pork, beef or vegetables. Stay safe by adequately cooking your food!

Next Page > Fake Scientific Claims About Pigs #5 to #10

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


Claim #5 : Cooking Won’t Kill Pig Parasites

Pigs carry several parasites into their body which doesn’t go off even after proper cooking. One of the biggest concerns with eating pork meat is trichinosis or trichinellosis.

This is an infection that humans get from eating undercooked or uncooked pork that contains the larvae of the trichinella worm. There is a common misconception that these worms die when cooked properly, again it’s a false notion. One in six people in the US and Canada has trichinosis from eating trichina worms (roundworms), which are found in pork.

These worms are found in the flesh of pig and the diseases caused by eating pork are incurable once it reaches beyond a certain stage.

The disease of trichinosis causes typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, meningitis, gall bladder trouble etc. The disease lodges itself in the brain, intestines, muscles and spinal cords.

Our Verdict : FALSE

Trichinella is a parasite that is prevalent in many mammals, not just pigs. Notably, it is a HUMAN parasite – you can be infected by Trichinella parasites even if you have never consumed pork in your entire life.

Trichinella infections in farmed pigs is actually rare. It is more commonly found in wild pigs, home-raised pigs, or free-range pigs because they are more likely to eat food contaminated with Trichinella.

Trichinella is also effectively eliminated by cooking pork properly – 63°C or higher for 3 minutes or longer. So the claim by Mvslimfeed is categorically FALSE.

Claim #6 : Pork Has Twice The Fat Of Beef

Pork contains fat. Almost more than twice as much as beef contains. It has very little muscle building material and contains excess of fat. This fat gets deposited in the vessels and can cause hypertension and heart attack. America is home to the most obese people in the world.

Our Verdict : MISLEADING

As any chef can tell you, the amount of fat in any animal meat is dependent on the cut. So it would be misleading to claim that pork has twice as much fat as beef.

For example, 100 grams of pork belly has 54 g of fat, yet 100 grams of pork tenderloin only has 3.5 g of fat, while 100 grams of beef tenderloin can contain as much as 25 g of fat.

We should point out that fat is prized in beef cuts, with the rib eye boasting up to 37.6 grams of fat. Connoisseurs pay top dollar for steaks that are well-marbled with fat.

Claim #7 : Pork Eaters Have Hundreds Of Diseases

Pork-eaters aren’t healthy at all rather they store only fat in their body which makes their body home to hundreds of diseases which we even can’t pronounce.

Our Verdict : FALSE

The human body stores excess calories that we consume as fat, irrespective of whether we obtained them by eating carbohydrates (bread, rice) or animal meats (pork, beef, chicken)… or beer.

And anyone who has hundreds of diseases in their body will likely be dead… except in the imagination of the Mvslimfeed writer.

Claim #8 : Pigs Spread Influenza To Humans

Influenza or flu is one of the most lethal illnesses that pigs share with humans. This illness is harboured in the lungs of pigs during summer and tends to effect pigs and humans in the cooler months.

Our Verdict : MISLEADING

Influenza is a very large family of viruses, infecting all kinds of mammals. They do not all transmit from animals to humans, although some do.

The 2009 swine flu pandemic was particularly severe, which was estimated to have killed about 284,000 people across the world.

Even so, it was not a very lethal disease, with a mortality rate of just 0.01-0.03%. It only killed so many people because it infected hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Recommended : H1N1 Pandemic : The Great American Cover-Up Debunked!

COVID-19, which has a bat origin, is far more lethal, with a mortality rate that is 100X higher – 1-2%. It has already killed over 471,000 people as of 22 June 2020.

The 2009 H1N1 swine flu also spread from human to human, and had nothing to do with whether you eat pork or not.

Claim #9 : Pigs Are Toxic Because They Don’t Perspire

One of the reasons why pork is haram in Islam is unlike other animals pigs don’t perspire. Since they don’t sweat all their toxic excretion is absorbed by their meat and these meats are consumed by humans. So, pal if you eat pork, you eat the toxic chemical excretion of pigs.

Our Verdict : FALSE

Pigs have sweat glands but they are not functional (eccrine) sweat glands. That means they are not used to regulate the pig’s body temperature.

Instead, they are apocrine glands that do not secrete sweat but an oily substance. They therefore function like scent glands.

Sweating in mammals is not the main way of excreting toxins. It is, by large, a way to regulate the body temperature. The same toxins excreted in sweat is disposed in far larger quantities in the urine and faeces.

What little minerals, lactate and urea that isn’t excreted in a pig’s (hypothetical) sweat is not absorbed by its flesh but excreted in its urine / faeces.

That is also why people who live in cold climates do not die from toxins building up in their bodies, just because they don’t sweat.

Claim #10 : Pigs Cannot Be Killed With Poison

Pig meats are also poisonous and they can’t be killed with normal poisons such as strychnine. Farmers often put  pigs at the nests of venomous snakes to eat them up while they won’t be affected by the sting of the snakes.

Our Verdict : FALSE

This is such a ridiculous lie. Strychnine is highly toxic to pigs.

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, the oral LD50 toxic dose is only 0.5-1 mg/kg for a pig. A cat, in comparison, has an oral LD50 dose of 2 mg/kg.

The book, Diseases of Swine, goes on to note that pigs poisoned by strychnine often die in less than 1 hour.

There is also no evidence of farmers using pigs to kill venomous snakes, and snakes are known to attack pigs…

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > First PageScience | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


Dexamethasone : Do NOT Self-Medicate Against COVID-19!

Now that dexamethasone has been found to be the first lifesaving drug against COVID-19, people are starting to self-medicate.

Find out how dexamethasone helps against COVID-19, and why you should NOT use dexamethasone to self-medicate against COVID-19!

 

Dexamethasone : What Is It?

Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid that was first produced in 1957, and approved for medical use in 1961.

Used to reduce inflammation in a wide number of conditions – from skin diseases and allergies to certain cancers – it is no longer patented, and is therefore, cheaply and widely available.

 

Dexamethasone : First COVID-19 Treatment To Save Lives

On 16 June 2020, Professor Peter Hornby reported that preliminary trial results of the Oxford University RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY) study showed that :

Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19This is an extremely welcome result.

The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients.

Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.

Here is a short summary of their initial insights from the study :

A total of 2104 patients were randomised to receive dexamethasone 6 mg once per day (either by mouth or by intravenous injection) for ten days and were compared with 4321 patients randomised to usual care alone.

Among the patients who received usual care alone, 28-day mortality was highest in those who required ventilation (41%), intermediate in those patients who required oxygen only (25%), and lowest among those who did not require any respiratory intervention (13%).

Dexamethasone reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patients (rate ratio 0.65 [95% confidence interval 0.48 to 0.88]; p=0.0003) and by one fifth in other patients receiving oxygen only (0.80 [0.67 to 0.96]; p=0.0021).

There was no benefit among those patients who did not require respiratory support (1.22 [0.86 to 1.75; p=0.14).

Based on these results, 1 death would be prevented by treatment of around 8 ventilated patients or around 25 patients requiring oxygen alone.

 

Dexamethasone : Do NOT Self-Medicate Against COVID-19!

Now, as important as these findings are, it is extremely important that we should NOT use dexamethasone to self-medicate against COVID-19. Here are the reasons why…

Reason #1 : These Are Preliminary Findings

We cannot stress this enough – these are preliminary findings from the Oxford University RECOVERY study. A full data analysis is underway, which should reveal more.

WHO will also coordinate a meta-analysis to understand how and when dexamethasone should be used to treat COVID-19, and update their clinical guidance later.

Reason #2 : Dexamethasone Only Helps Patients On Respiratory Support

The Oxford University RECOVERY press statement explicitly stated that dexamethasone only helped patients requiring respiratory support, reducing deaths for :

  • patients on ventilators : by one-third (33%)
  • patients receiving oxygen : by one-fifth (20%)

There was no benefit among those patients who did not require respiratory support.

If you have mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms – not requiring respiratory assistance – then dexamethasone cannot help improve your outcome.

Reason #3 : Dexamethasone Does Not Destroy SARS-CoV-2

Dexamethasone has no effect on the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19). It can neither destroy it, or stop it from replicating.

Rather, it appears to prevent or reduce damage from an immune system overreaction – called a cytokine storm – that can occur in severe COVID-19 cases.

Reason #4 : Dexamethasone Suppresses The Immune System

Dexamethasone is an immunosuppressant – about 30 times more potent than cortisol. It will suppress your body’s immune system, and make you more susceptible to infections.

So taking dexamethasone to prevent COVID-19 will make you more likely to get infected by SARS-CoV-2, or other microbes!

Reason #5 : Dexamethasone Has Dangerous Side Effects

Dexamethasone should not be taken unless it is necessary, because it has many dangerous side effects, like :

  • Eyes : Cataracts, glaucoma
  • Endocrine : Hyperglycemia, hirsutism, Cushing syndrome
  • Cardiovascular : Congestive heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias
  • Skin : Acne, striae, bruising, discolouration, thinning, impaired wound healing
  • Other : Weight gain, reduced fertility, fluid retention

You may recall how hydroxychloroquine, which US President Donald Trump touted as safe, killed people who took it to prevent COVID-19.

So please DO NOT self-medicate using dexamethasone to “prevent” or “cure” COVID-19. Dexamethasone cannot cure or prevent COVID-19!

 

COVID-19 : How To Keep Safe!

Here are a few simple steps to stay safe from COVID-19 :

Recommended : Soap vs Sanitiser : Which Works Better Against COVID-19?
Recommended : Surgical Mask : How To CORRECTLY Wear + Remove!
Recommended : COVID-19 Food Safety : Fruits, Vegetables, Takeouts

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Science | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!