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Did US Military Sentence Stephane Bancel To Death?!

Did the US military just convict Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, and sentenced him to death?!

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

Claim : US Military Sentenced Stephane Bancel To Death!

On 15 November 2022, Michael Baxter (real name : Michael Tuffin) wrote an article claiming that a US military tribunal just convicted Moderna CEO, Stéphane Bancel, and sentenced him to death!

It is long and rambling, so please feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

The U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and Office of Military Commissions had difficulty finding three impartial panelists to hear evidence against Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, for every interviewee knew someone whose life the vaccine had shattered—or killed. Following a weeklong search, JAG picked the three—two male Marine Corps officers and a female Navy captain—who expressed the least ill will toward Bancel. Nonetheless, they found Bancel guilty of murder five minutes after Vice Adm. Darse E. Crandall rested JAG’s case and implored the panel to deliver upon Bancel a punishment commensurate to the damage his vaccines had caused the world.

Vice Adm. Crandall said a Navy nurse had drawn Bancel’s blood shortly after he arrived at Guantanamo Bay. The blood was introduced onto a card containing fusion proteins that detect Covid-19 antibodies.

He called to the witness stand Captain Richard G. Zeber, Director, U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, who stated his name, rank, and credentials for the record. Captain Zeber holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and a Doctor of Optometry degree. His personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation, Navy Achievement, and Good Conduct medals.

Vice Adm. Crandall excused the witness, then asserted to the panel that Bancel, as Moderna’s CEO, must have had full knowledge of the clot shot’s deleterious effects but concealed that data to maximize profits. Moderna’s Covid shot made Bancel a multi-billionaire.

“I sincerely hope you won’t get to spend it,” Vice Adm. Crandall told Bancel.

The panel gave its verdict and held Bancel responsible for the deaths and injuries, suggesting he be hanged by the neck until dead as restitution for his crimes against humanity.

Upon hearing the panel’s decision, a furious Bancel came out of his seat and began shaking his cuffed wrists in the air. “How can you do this? I am a businessman. I have two children—”

“—Let’s hope you didn’t vaccinate them,” Vice Adm. Crandall interjected. “This commission stands adjourned.”

Bancel is scheduled to hang on November 18, at GITMO.

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Truth : US Military Did NOT Sentence Stephane Bancel To Death!

The truth is – this is just another FAKE STORY created by Real Raw News, just to generate page views and money.

Everything that Real Raw News posts must be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Fact #1 : Real Raw News Is A Fake News Website

Real Raw News is a FAKE NEWS website that capitalises on making shocking but fake stories to generate page views and money.

To protect himself from legal repercussions, the owner and writer, Michael Baxter (real name – Michael Tuffin), claims that his articles are “humour, parody, and satire“.

This disclaimer, which is not clearly mentioned in his articles, lets him keep creating fake news that will go viral, and generate him money.

His articles have been regularly debunked as fake news, so you should NEVER share anything from his website. Here are some of his fake stories that I personally debunked earlier:

Fact #2 : No Legitimate Report Of Stephane Bancel’s Arrest

Only Real Raw News has published his fantastical account of US special forces arresting Stéphane Bancel outside a DC restaurant. That’s because Michael Baxter / Tiffin made it up.

Naturally, there is no news from any legitimate news outlet, or the US military, about Stephane Bancel’s arrest and sentencing.

How likely is it for a one-man operation like Real Raw News to have a scoop on this “story”?

A March 2018 screenshot of Michael Tuffin, who goes by the pseudonym Michael Baxter

Fact #3 : Moderna Is A Public-Listed Company

Moderna is a public-listed company, and is traded on the Nasdaq as MRNA. Its shareholders would have to be informed if their company CEO was really arrested, and sentenced to death.

It is NOT POSSIBLE to keep quiet and pretend it didn’t happen. It’s not even legal to cover up such an event from the shareholders.

Fact #4 : Stéphane Bancel + Moderna Issued A Press Statement

On Thursday, November 16, 2022 – one day after Real Raw News published that fake story, Moderna announced positive results for its two bivalent vaccines targeting the Omicron variant of COVID-19 – mRNA-1273.214, and mRNA-1273.222.

Instead of being incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, as Michael Baxter/Tiffin claimed, Stephane Bancel announced from Cambridge, Massachusetts that:

We are pleased to see that both of our bivalent booster vaccine candidates offer superior protection against Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variants compared to our original booster, which is encouraging given COVID-19 remains a leading cause of hospitalisation and death globally. In addition, the superior response against Omicron persisted for at least three months after the mRNA-1273.214 booster.

Only Michael Baxter / Tiffin can persist with such a stupid lie, and only his idiotic fans will continue to believe his fake stories.

Fact #5 : Only Enemy Combatants Are Detained At Gitmo

It is ludicrous for Real Raw News to claim that a US military tribunal in Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay) convicted Stephane Bancel, and sentenced him to death.

The Guantanamo Bay prison is only used to detain high-value enemy combatants. Stephane Bancel is not an enemy combatant by any military or legal definition, and would never be detained there.

If Stephane Bancel really committed a crime in the United States, he would have been brought to trial in an American court.

Fact #6 : US Military Tribunals Are Only For Foreign Combatants

It is also stupid for Real Raw News to claim that Bancel was trialed and convicted as an enemy combatant in a military tribunal, when he is a French civilian.

Military tribunals in the United States can only be conducted for members of enemy forces during wartime. The United States is not at war with France.

Needless to say – Stephane Bancel is also not in the French military, so even if he was arrested, there is no way he would be tried in a military tribunal.

Fact #7 : Death Sentences Take Years To Execute

It is also hilarious that Real Raw News readers actually believe the bullshit that someone sentenced to death would be executed just days later.

That may be possible in a country like North Korea, but certainly not in the United States

Death row inmates in the United States wait an average of 178 months – about 15 years after their sentencing, before they are executed.

In fact, none of the six Gitmo inmates charged with capital crime in the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and the attack on USS Cole in 2000, have actually been trialled to date, never mind convicted and sentenced to death.

Fact #8 : Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Under FDA Regulatory Oversight

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was confirmed to be safe and effective, after it successfully concluded its clinical trials with an efficacy of 94.5% against symptomatic COVID-19 infection, in a large study involving over 30,000 participants.

The VRBPAC committee vetted and discussed the study findings on 17 December 2020, and recommended that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine receive its Emergency Use Authorisation, which the FDA granted on 18 December 2020.

Like ALL other vaccines, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was under FDA regulatory oversight. If Moderna lied about their results, the FDA would not have continued to re-issue or amend its EUA and full approval time and time again.

Information	Date
Letter of Authorization (Reissued)	October 12, 2022
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	December 9, 2021
Letter of Authorization (Reissued)	November 19, 2021
Memorandum to the File	October 20, 2021
Decision Memorandum	October 20, 2021
Advisory Committee Meeting Information	October 14, 2021
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	August 30, 2021
Decision Memorandum	August 12, 2021
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	June 25, 2021
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	April 1, 2021
FDA Decision Memorandum	December 18, 2020
Advisory Committee Meeting Information	December 17, 2020

Everything that Real Raw News posts should be regarded as FAKE NEWS.

Now that you know the facts, please SHARE THIS FACT CHECK out!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel Arrested For Murder?!

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Was Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel just arrested by US Special Forces, and charged with multiple counts of vaccine-related murder?!

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

Claim : Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel Arrested For Murder!

On 7 November 2022, Michael Baxter (real name : Michael Tuffin) wrote an article claiming that the CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, was just arrested by US Special Forces and charged with multiple counts of murder related to its COVID-19 vaccine.

It is long and rambling, so please feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

U.S. Special Forces on October 30 arrested Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel on charges of murder as the pharmaceutical mogul and eugenicist exited a posh restaurant on the outskirts of D.C., where he had planned a business dinner with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky—but she never showed up. Sources in General David H. Berger’s office told Real Raw News that White Hats had been monitoring the detestable duo’s phone calls for months; Bancel and Walensky had spoken often, at least weekly, with Bancel asking her to board a flight to Paris, his home city, to discuss in person the “many lucrative benefits” of merging Covid-19 and Influenza vaccinations into a single inoculation.

But a fearful Walensky, who spoke in tremulous whispers, expressed trepidations about leaving the Beltway. She told Bancel on an Oct 17 call that she “felt safe” in D.C. and that “Covid deniers” were plotting her downfall. She admitted to him that she hadn’t even visited the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters in months, for fear of being “illegally apprehended” or killed. She agreed, though, that further discussion on the hybrid vaccine ought to be in person to mitigate risk of someone eavesdropping on phone calls or digital transmissions. Donald J. Trump, she said, had spies everywhere.

After much back and forth, Bancel on October 25 agreed to fly from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He would arrive in the U.S. aboard Air France flight AFR26 at approximately 7:00 pm, on October 29, he said to Walensky, adding that he would spend the night at a hotel before meeting her at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Mclean, Virginia, the following evening. His last message to Walensky before boarding the flight: “I know, Rochelle, you are also talking to [Pfizer CEO] Bourla. It would be in both our interests to reach a deal of exclusivity.”

Unbeknownst to Bancel, U.S. Special Forces had eyes on him the moment he deplaned. According to sources, Marine Corps General David H. Berger and 5^th Special Forces Group Commander Col. Brent Linemen considered grabbing Bancel at the hotel and picking up Walensky at the restaurant the next evening. They ultimately rejected that idea, believing that Walensky might get tipped off to Bancel’s sudden disappearance. “It’s better to kill two birds with one stone,” Gen. Berger reportedly said.

Special Forces dressed in civvies and driving civilian vehicles tailed Bancel and his chauffer from the airport to the Watermark Hotel in Tysons, Virginia, where he used fake credentials to check in under an assumed name–Émile Blaise. His chauffer, later identified as Ralph Adleman, an employee of Virginia Limousine Service of Richmond, stayed at the same hotel in a different suite, paid for by Bancel.

Neither Bancel nor Adleman left their rooms until 6:30 pm the next day. They then drove a stretch limousine from the hotel to the restaurant, a 15-minute drive. Adleman stayed with the limo in the parking lot as Bancel entered the restaurant and was seated at a corner table—but his guest of honor, Rochelle Walensky, was not present. Meanwhile, Special Forces across the street watched Bancel with binoculars and listened to him with parabolic microphones as he ate a plate of Hors D’oeuvres and imbibed a few cocktails. Bancel mumbled under his breath, “Where are you? Why aren’t you here?” and tried to reach someone, ostensibly Walensky, on his cellphone.

Thirty minutes later Bancel paid his tab and left the restaurant, hustling across the parking lot to the limo. Special Forces shadowed the limousine as it peeled out of the parking lot and began speeding toward an unknown location. It got less than a mile when Special Forces cut it off, blockading it between their own SUVs. It took less than two minutes for Special Forces to pull Bancel from the limo and place him under arrest, while the chauffer was set free with a dire warning to not discuss under any circumstances what had just happened. Special Forces took Bancel to a processing center for interrogation, sources told RRN.

“We don’t know why Walensky didn’t show. We wanted both. But for now, we’ll take Bancel. We can’t charge him with treason because he’s not a U.S. citizen. But we can charge him on many counts of murder based on the number of people his vaccine has killed. Maybe Walensky caught wind of our operation—we don’t know. We’ll get her eventually, just like we got Fauci. They can run but they can’t hide forever. Bancel is now detained as an enemy combatant, and he will face a military tribunal,” our source said.

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Truth : Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel Was NOT Arrested!

The truth is – this is just another FAKE STORY created by Real Raw News, just to generate page views and money.

Everything that Real Raw News posts must be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Fact #1 : Real Raw News Is A Fake News Website

Real Raw News is a FAKE NEWS website that capitalises on making shocking but fake stories to generate page views and money.

To protect himself from legal repercussions, the owner and writer, Michael Baxter (real name – Michael Tuffin), claims that his articles are “humour, parody, and satire“.

This disclaimer, which is not clearly mentioned in his articles, lets him keep creating fake news that will go viral, and generate him money.

His articles have been regularly debunked as fake news, so you should NEVER share anything from his website. Here are some of his fake stories that I personally debunked earlier:

Fact #2 : No Legitimate Report Of Stephane Bancel’s Arrest

Only Real Raw News has published this fantastical account of US special forces arresting Stéphane Bancel outside a DC restaurant.

There is no remotely similar report from any legitimate news outlet, nor an official statement by the government.

How likely is it for a one-man operation like Real Raw News to have a scoop on this “story”?

A March 2018 screenshot of Michael Tuffin, who goes by the pseudonym Michael Baxter

Fact #3 : Moderna Is A Public-Listed Company

Moderna is a public-listed company, and is traded on the Nasdaq as MRNA. Its shareholders would have to be informed if their company CEO was really arrested.

It is NOT POSSIBLE to keep quiet and pretend it didn’t happen. It’s not even legal to cover up such an event from the shareholders.

Fact #4 : Stéphane Bancel + Moderna Issued A Press Statement

On Tuesday, November 1, 2022, Moderna issued an updated 2022 COVID-19 vaccine sales forecast. In that statement, its CEO Stéphane Bancel said:.

Along with production delays, Moderna’s third quarter was marred with manufacturing complexities due to shifting from 10-dose vials to 5-dose vials and the roll out of new bivalent vaccines that target both the original coronavirus and Omicron variants. We are working through a lot of those issues as we speak.

That would not be possible if Stéphane Bancel was really arrested by US Special Forces less than 2 days earlier!

Fact #5 : US Military Cannot Arrest Civilians Within The United States

It is ludicrous for Real Raw News to claim that US special forces arrested Stephane Bancel.

The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385) prohibits “the wilful use of any part of the Army or Air Force to execute the law unless expressly authorised by the Constitution or an act of Congress“.

If the US government wanted to arrest Stephane Bancel, they would have sent the police with a warrant… not US special forces.

Fact #6 : France Has Extradition Treaty With The United States

France and the United States have an extradition treaty since 1996.

That means that the United States can order the arrest of Stephane Bancel even if he is residing in Paris. There is no need to wait for him to return to the United States.

Fact #7 : Stéphane Bancel Lives In Boston, Not Paris

It is also ludicrous for Real Raw News to claim that US Special Forces had to wait for Stephane Bancel to fly from Paris into US territory to arrest him, because he actually lives in the city of Boston, Massachusetts!

If the US government wanted to arrest Stephane Bancel, they can do it at any time. It’s not like no one knows where he lives in Boston.

On 30 September 2021, a group of scientists, doctors and public health advocates actually protested in front of his home on Chestnut Street in Beacon Hill.

They brought a 12-foot-tall structure of artificial human bones, and called for Moderna to share its vaccine knowledge with the US government and other countries.

Fact #8 : US Military Tribunals Are Only For Foreign Combatants

It is also stupid for Real Raw News to claim that Bancel would be charged as an enemy combatant in a military tribunal, when he is a French civilian.

Military tribunals in the United States can only be conducted for members of enemy forces during wartime. The United States is not at war with France.

Needless to say – Stephane Bancel is also not in the French military, so even if he was arrested, there is no way he would be tried in a military tribunal.

Fact #9 : Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Under FDA Regulatory Oversight

Information	Date
Letter of Authorization (Reissued)	October 12, 2022
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	December 9, 2021
Letter of Authorization (Reissued)	November 19, 2021
Memorandum to the File	October 20, 2021
Decision Memorandum	October 20, 2021
Advisory Committee Meeting Information	October 14, 2021
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	August 30, 2021
Decision Memorandum	August 12, 2021
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	June 25, 2021
Letter Granting EUA Amendment	April 1, 2021
FDA Decision Memorandum	December 18, 2020
Advisory Committee Meeting Information	December 17, 2020

Everything that Real Raw News posts should be regarded as FAKE NEWS.

Now that you know the facts, please SHARE THIS FACT CHECK out!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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WhatsApp Back Online After Going Down Globally!

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WhatsApp went down globally for about 2 hours in yet another major outage! Here is what you need to know…

WhatsApp Down Globally In Another Major Outage!

WhatsApp went down globally for about 2 hours, in yet another major outage!

At around 3 AM Eastern Time / 3 PM Malaysia Time, WhatsApp users started getting disconnected from the messaging service, leaving them with a perpetual “Connecting” message.

Those using WhatsApp Web or Desktop were struck with the dreaded “Make sure your computer has an active Internet connection” error message.

Meta spokesperson Joshua Breckman acknowledged the problem, saying:

We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, this time, only WhatsApp is affected. Other Meta services, like Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, are still working fine.

Meta also managed to get it back online for most users in 2 hours, during which, people were “forced” to try out alternative messaging services like Telegram, Viber, Line and yes, even WeChat!

We know people had trouble sending messages on WhatsApp today. We have fixed the issue and apologise for any inconvenience.

Almost A Year To Last Major WhatsApp Outage!

This new global outage comes almost on the first anniversary of last year’s major outage which took out not only WhatsApp, but other Meta services like Facebook, Messenger, Oculus and Instagram!

That outage, which lasted about six hours, was caused by configuration changes they made to their backbone routers. Not because 13 year-old hacker Sun Jisu hacked them.

It is now believed that the changes were made to Facebook’s Border Gateway Protocol, a mechanism that exchanges routing information to help figure out the fastest route for any request.

Apparently, the changes “withdrew” Facebook services from the DNS system, making it impossible for anyone to connect to them.

Even worse, Facebook ran their own systems through the same servers, so everything from engineering tool, messaging services and even security systems that controlled the key fob locks were no longer accessible.

So their engineering team had to rush to their data centres to manually reset the servers there.

Needless to say, this will be a big wake-up call for their engineering teams, and in the words of Russell Peters – “Somebody’s gonna get a hurt real bad!”

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Starlink Donation : What A Brilliant Way To Make $$$!

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Elon Musk just stumbled on a great way for SpaceX to make more money – add a Starlink donation option!

Starlink Donation : Way Out For Elon Musk + Brilliant Way To Make $$$

Right after being forced to withdraw his demand for more Starlink funding, Elon Musk just found a fortuitous escape hatch for that PR debacle, and a new and brilliant way to make more money!

Chipper CEO Ham Serunjogi tweeted a day earlier that he would be happy to donate money to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.

Just installed Starlink and quite impressed with initial speeds & ease of setup. Most excited about its potential to bring internet access to remote & rural areas that lack infrastructure. @elonmusk I’d be glad to commit $$ to donate Starlink to schools & hospitals in Uganda. pic.twitter.com/zsab7ESBUd

— Ham Serunjogi (@HSerunjogi) October 16, 2022

Musk jumped on it and asked if anyone else would be interested to donate Starlink to places in need.

Are there others that want to donate Starlinks to places in need?

Without waiting for a poll or positive response from his legion of fans, the SpaceX CEO announced 6 minutes later that SpaceX will add a donate option for Starlink.

Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink

It took Elon Musk only 6 minutes to realise the genius of the idea. A Starlink donation option would kill two birds with one stone.

Not only would it absolve him of the need to (partially) donate to Ukraine or Iran, or impoverished communities, SpaceX gets to financially benefit from those donations, AND reap the PR benefits on top of that!

That’s a pay nothing, and get all three FREE deal right there! What is there not to like?

Elon Musk + SpaceX Do Not Need A Starlink Donation Option!

Call me a cynic, but this is nothing more than a ploy to enrich SpaceX by squeezing the common people to donate Starlink.

Of course, we don’t yet know how the Starlink donation option will work – it was just a declaration of intent. But neither Elon Musk nor SpaceX actually need to add a Starlink donation option.

SpaceX received and continue to receive tens of millions of dollars in donations to provide Starlink to Ukraine, and we know that because their letter of demand leaked inconvenient details – some 85% of Starlink terminals were donated by third party entities like:

USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
US : almost 1,700 terminals

In other words – there are already institutions donating vast amounts of money to fund Starlink for such “places in need”. Elon Musk himself can fund a lot of CSR projects with his wealth of over $200 BILLION, even if he ends up buying Twitter.

Elon Musk didn’t become a multi-billionaire by donating his money; and despite signing the Giving Pledge in 2012, he has done very little of it.

What is clear though is that neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk need us common folks trying to make ends meet, to donate Starlink.

Why Is Ham Serunjogi Even Asking For A Starlink Donation Option?

I don’t even understand why Ham Serunjogi is publicly asking Elon Musk if there’s a way to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.

As far as I can tell – SpaceX hasn’t even applied for regulatory approval for Starlink in Uganda. So donating to Uganda is a non-starter, the question moot. Pointless.

But if Ham Serunjogi or any other rich technopreneur wants to help connect “places in need” under Starlink coverage, they can simply order and pay for Starlink. As the Nike motto says – Just do it!

Unless the purpose is to get some nice PR without actually doing anything, or heavens forbid – to give Elon Musk a way to switch the topic away from SpaceX’s less than heroic donations to Ukraine.

Here I lay to rest my cynicism, in hopes that I’m wrong, and Ham Serunjogi and other rich people will do their bit to bring Internet connectivity to people who don’t yet have access.

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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.

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Elon Musk : China Says No To Starlink!

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Elon Musk just revealed that the Chinese government directly told him they do not want Starlink operational in China!

Elon Musk : China Says No To Starlink!

In an interview with Financial Times, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that he was directly contacted by representatives of the Chinese government over Starlink.

He was told, in no uncertain terms, that Beijing disapproved of his rollout of Starlink in Ukraine, and demanded that he won’t sell Starlink in China.

Beijing has made it clear that it disapproves of his recent rollout of Starlink […] in Ukraine… [and] demanded assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.

It is odd that Beijing would make a personal demand to Elon Musk, as it has the regulatory authority to determine if SpaceX is allowed to market and sell Starlink in China.

What the Chinese government is probably trying to do is get Musk to “turn off” Starlink in Chinese territory, like how he blocked Starlink in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Musk did not say whether he would obey Beijing’s request to never export Starlink to China. However, it is doubtful he would defy such a personal “request” by the Chinese government.

After all, Tesla has a major factory in China that produces hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles. Even if China does not shut down Gigafactory Shanghai to protect local workers and suppliers, it can cut off supply of critical EV components to Tesla’s other Gigafactories around the world.

The Starlink Services Map does not show any plan by SpaceX to roll out the satellite Internet service in China. In Asia, Starlink just started operations in Japan, and is “pending regulatory approval” in Taiwan, Vietnam and Mongolia.

Why CCP Fears Elon Musk Will Activate Starlink In China

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government has been keenly monitoring Elon Musk and the effect Starlink has on bypassing censorship.

Since February 2022, SpaceX shipped over 25,000 Starlink dishes to Ukraine, providing its military forces with secure satellite communications that has been game-changing. It not only kept Ukraine online, it allowed the Ukrainian military to launch drones to monitor and attack Russian forces.

Then in September 2022, Elon Musk activated Starlink in Iran to help its citizens bypass Internet restrictions and censorship during the government crackdown on protests over the death of Mahsa Amini.

China is understandably very concerned about how Starlink could allow its citizens to bypass its much vaunted Great Firewall to access the Internet, unfiltered.

Chinese military scientists have even called for their government to develop a “hard kill” weapon to destroy Starlink satellites.

Thus it is very unlikely that CCP government will ever approve the marketing and sale of Starlink in China. In fact, they are likely to demand that Starlink be blocked in Chinese territory.

The CCP government certainly does not want Chinese citizens to be able to bypass its Great Firewall by smuggling in Starlink dishes.

And the only way to do that is to pressure Elon Musk into blocking Starlink in China.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Is Jho Low Missing From Interpol Red Notice List?!

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Is fugitive financier Jho Low missing from the INTERPOL Red Notice list?!

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

Claim : Jho Low Is Not On INTERPOL Red Notice List!

On 6 October 2022, The Edge Markets posted an article with the title – Jho Low Not On Interpol Red Notice List.

The article went viral because it suggested that the Malaysian government either did not issue the INTERPOL Red Notice, or that the government is not interested in finding Jho Low.

Here is part of the article by The Edge Markets:

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): The name of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) is not listed on the Interpol Red Notice page, contrary to a statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

A check on the Interpol website in both his family name and country did not yield any results.

When “Malaysia” was searched, there are four names that showed up: Koh Ing Kueh, Umar Sirul Azhar, Tan Lok Seng and Loo Soon Aik.

On Tuesday (Oct 4), Hamzah when replying to a question by Kepong Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng said that Malaysia will not offer rewards for information leading to Jho Low,

Lim queried if the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) had contacted American journalists Tom Wright and his colleague Bradley Hope, following their claims that Jho Low and his family were spotted in China and Hong Kong in 2018 and 2019.

In his reply to Lim, Hamzah said in the Dewan Rakyat that PDRM was of the view that the Red Notice issued by Interpol was a better avenue than offering rewards as elements of cooperation and definitive information were involved.

He added that this required the 195 member states of Interpol to channel any information to Malaysian authorities to facilitate any extradition process.

Following Hamzah’s response, Wright claimed that no one in the Malaysian Government is trying to find Jho Low.

No Evidence Jho Low Is Not On Interpol Red Notice List

Now, there is no way to know if the Malaysian government is not interested in finding Jho Low, but The Edge Markets appear to have misunderstood the Interpol Red Notice list.

Here is what The Edge Markets and everyone else needs to know about the INTERPOL Red Notice list…

Fact #1 : Red Notice Is Not An International Arrest Warrant

First, let us establish some simple facts about the INTERPOL Red Notice.

The INTERPOL Red Notice is NOT an international arrest warrant, as many might think. It is simply an international wanted persons notice.

The Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies across the world to “locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action“.

Hence, the INTERPOL Red Notice only contains two types of information :

Information to identify the wanted person, such as their name, date of birth, nationality, hair and eye colour, photographs and fingerprints if available.
Information related to the crime they are wanted for, which can typically be murder, rape, child abuse or armed robbery.

It is important to note that law enforcement authorities in other countries are not compelled to take action on any Red Notice.

It is up to each member country to decide what legal value it gives a Red Notice, and how its law enforcement officers should act on each Red Notice.

Fact #2 : Most INTERPOL Red Notices Are Not Public

INTERPOL operates a public Red Notice list, which currently shows only four names for Malaysia, as The Edge Markets correctly notes.

If you look for people wanted by Malaysia, the public Red Notice list will show 26 individuals, most of whom are foreigners.

What most people (including The Edge Markets) may not realise though is that the vast majority of INTERPOL Red Notices are not public.

As of October 6, 2022, there are approximately 69,270 Red Notices, of which only 7,132 are available for public viewing.

In other words, only about 10% of all INTERPOL Red Notices can be viewed on the public Red Notice list.

The fact that there are only four names from Malaysia does not mean that Jho Low does not currently have an INTERPOL Red Notice.

As INTERPOL points out – the vast majority of Red Notices are restricted to law enforcement use only.

Fact #3 : INTERPOL Makes Red Notices Public For Certain Reasons

INTERPOL only makes some Red Notices public if :

the public’s help is needed to locate an individual, or
they pose a threat to public safety

While Jho Low is certainly considered by many to be a criminal of stupendous proportions (pun intended), his crimes were not a threat to life or public safety.

Hence, if Jho Low has an INTERPOL Red Notice, it will not be listed in the public list.

Fact #4 : INTERPOL Does Not Approve All Red Notice Requests

Whenever law enforcement agencies request for a Red Notice, INTERPOL does not immediately issue it.

The request is first checked by a specialised task force to ensure that the Red Notice request complies with INTERPOL rules.

Even if a Red Notice is approved and issued, the task force may re-examine the case, when and if it receives new and relevant information.

Fact #5 : PDRM Says Jho Low Red Notice Issued In 2018

On December 12, 2021, Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani stated that the INTERPOL Red Notice for Jho Low was issued on June 11, 2018.

However, this does not mean that Jho Low still has an INTERPOL Red Notice in 2022, as the requesting country may rescind the request, or new information may compel INTERPOL to drop the Red Notice.

Fact #6 : Jho Low Can Check For His Own INTERPOL Red Notice

Ironically, the only person outside of law enforcement authorities to know if Jho Low has a current INTERPOL Red Notice is Jho Low himself.

Individuals can apply to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) to check if a Red Notice has been issued against them.

For privacy reasons, other people may not apply to check if Jho Low has a current INTERPOL Red Notice.

Fact #7 : Jho Low Can Challenge His INTERPOL Red Notice

If Jho Low discovers that he has a current INTERPOL Red Notice, he can actually apply to the CCF to dismiss it, by submitting :

a description of a newly discovered and relevant fact(s), within six months of its discovery; and
the reasons for which such new fact(s) could have led the Requests Chamber to a different conclusion if known at the time at which the request was being processed.

The CCF will decide on correction / deletion requests within 9 months after becoming admissible, and the INTERPOL General Secretariat will have one month to comment on that decision.

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Are Robbers Pretending To Be Home Affairs Officers?!

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Is there a gang of robbers pretending to be Home Affairs officers from the government?!

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

Claim : Robbers Are Pretending To Be Home Affairs Officers!

People are sharing messages warning of a gang of robbers pretending to be Home Affairs officers, together with a picture purportedly of one of these robbers.

Here are two versions of the viral warnings being shared on WhatsApp and Facebook :

High Security Alert:

Beware, one group is going from house to house pretending to be a Home Affairs Officer. They have the documents and the letterhead of the department of the home ministry and claim they have to confirm that everyone has a valid identity card for the upcoming census.

They are looting houses. Note that there is no such initiative from the government. Send this to your neighborhood group chat. They are everywhere, and they look presentable. Please alert your family and friends.

A person comes to your home and says I want to take your photo / thumbprint under some schemes. They have a laptop, a biometric machine and a list of all the names. They are showing a list and asking for all this information. It has been pointed out that all this is bogus. Don’t give them any information.

Everyone should be alert and BE AWARE‼️

Security Alert from Police: Be warned, there is a group going to homes and pretending to be officials from home affairs.

They have documents with the letterhead Department of Home Affairs and claim to be confirming that everyone has a valid ID for the upcoming elections.

They are robbing homes. Take note there is no initiative like that from the government.

Send this on your neighbourhood group chat. They are everywhere and they look presentable.

Makluman Keselamatan dari pihak Polis:

Berhati-hatilah, ada sekumpulan penyangak pergi ke rumah dan berpura-pura menjadi pegawai dari urusan rumah.

Mereka mempunyai dokumen dengan surat dari kementerian dalam negeri dan mengaku mengesahkan bahawa setiap orang mempunyai kad pengenalan yang sah untuk pilihan raya akan datang.

Mereka sebenarnya ingin merompak rumah. Perhatikan bahawa tidak ada inisiatif seperti itu dari pemerintah.

Hantar ini pada group whatsapp kejiranan anda. Mereka berada di mana-mana dan kelihatan kemas rapi seperti seorang pegawai.

安全警告：警察局警告說，有一群人逐家逐戶拍門，假裝是「Department of Home Affairs] [內政部]官員。他們持有[內政部】信箋的文件，並聲稱要確認每個人都有一個有效的身份證件，為即將舉行的選舉預備。他們其實是入屋打劫。注意，政府沒有没有這個行動。請轉發到您的鄰居，朋友群聊。這班人無處不在，看起來好大方得體。請小心。

Show less

Truth : Robbers Are NOT Pretending To Be Home Affairs Officers!

This is just FAKE NEWS created from real news, and here are the reasons why….

Fact #1 : Warning Originated In South Africa

The original warning about fake Home Affairs officers originated in South Africa, many years ago.

The South African Department of Home Affairs issued this media statement in October 2017 and April 2019 :

MEDIA STATEMENT ON ELECTIONS SCAM

Home Affairs wishes to warn members of the community of a group of individuals visiting homes and pretending to be officials from the Department.

They carry with them documents with letterheads purportedly from Home Affairs and claim to be confirming the validity of IDs for the upcoming elections. These individuals are criminals who rob households once they gain entry. There is no such initiative from the Department.

Home affairs officials are clearly identifiable by name tags. We will announce household visits through official
government channels

This warning was only issued in South Africa. No government agency from other countries issued similar warnings.

Fact #2 : Warning Transformed Into Fake News

The genuine warning by the South African Department of Home Affairs spread globally, and became fake news in other countries.

Many countries do not have a Department of Home Affairs. Neither do they have government officials going around verifying citizens’ identification cards ahead of any elections.

Even worse – some people took the initiative to modify the warning, and even added pictures of genuine government officials to make the warning look genuine.

Government agencies in many countries – United States, United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Malaysia – have labelled this warning as fake news.

Fact #3 : Malaysian Immigration Officer Was Victimised

In July 2021, a Malaysian immigration officer bore the brunt of netizen outrage when he was falsely identified as a fake Home Affairs officer – his picture was shared on social media and WhatsApp together with the warning.

The Malaysia Immigration Department and the Royal Malaysia Police announced on 13 July 2021, that the man in the photo was a genuine Immigration officer.

According to Ampang District Police Chief, ACP Mohamad Farouk Ishak, the Immigration officer was conducting an official investigation into an individual staying at a house in Pandan Indah, Ampang.

The Immigration officer introduced himself and inform the residents of the purpose of his visit. The 60 year-old Malaysian homeowner who hosted the Immigration officer during his inspection also lodged a police report over the matter.

From the picture, you can clearly see that the officer was wearing a t-shirt with the Immigration Department HQ logo, and carried an Immigration Malaysia badge as well.

Fact #4 : Fake Story Circulating Again With New Photo

In September 2022, the same fake warning went viral again on WhatsApp, this time with a new photo of two Malaysian officers who appeared to have served some kind of official paper to a homeowner.

While I cannot yet trace the provenance of this photo, or the context behind it, these officers are definitely not attempting to gain entry to the person’s home by falsely identifying themselves as Home Affairs officers.

Again, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has repeatedly announced that this story of robbers posing as Home Affairs officers is fake news.

Fact #5 : No Actual Robbery Cases Were Reported

Even though the South African Department of Home Affairs issued the warning twice, it is unknown if there are really robbers pretending to be their officers to gain entry into homes.

Ironically, acting Director-General Thulani Mavuso claimed that the South African Department of Home Affairs never actually received any complaint about such crimes :

Home Affairs has not received any complaint of this nature from members of the public. People who are aware of such an activity, depending on it veracity, are advised to report it to the police.

We reiterate our message that Home Affairs officials do not and will not come to your homes to validate IDs.

It sounds like the South African Department of Home Affairs were proactively warning people about the possibility, not reporting on actual cases.

Fact #6 : Safer For Robbers To Rob Empty Houses

Robbers generally prefer NOT to rob homes while their occupants are still inside. Not only could the occupants fight back, they would become witnesses to the crime and help the police identify them!

It would be much safer to gain entry into a house after its occupants have left.

Fact #7 : There Are Other Ways To Gain Entry

Robbers who prefer to gain entry through this method do not need to pretend to be Home Affairs officers.

They can pretend to be other government officials, like a police officer or an immigration officer. They can also pretend to be utility workers, the mailman or a deliveryman.

There is no particular advantage in pretending to be a Home Affairs officer.

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Did Elon Musk Call For More Oil + Gas Production?!

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Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk just call for more oil and gas, instead of renewable energy?!

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

Claim : Elon Musk Is Calling For More Oil + Gas Production!

The worldwide media has gone ga-ga over Elon Musk calling for oil and gas producers to increase supply at an energy conference in Norway.

This comes after the Tesla CEO asked oil producers to drill for more oil earlier this year, in March.

So the implication is that Musk is reversing his stance on renewable energy. At least, that’s what the headlines suggest:

Wall Street Journal : Elon Musk Says World Needs More Oil and Gas

Wall Street Journal : Elon Musk: Go Nukes and More Oil, Please

CNBC : Elon Musk says world still needs oil and gas

TechSpot : Elon Musk says the world needs more oil, gas and babies

The Times of Israel : Elon Musk, who has fathered 10, says world needs more babies and oil exploration

TheStreet : Elon Musk Calls for More Oil and Gas Drilling to Avert Human Disaster

Elon Musk Is Calling For More Oil + Gas… For Now

The press is correct in saying that Elon Musk just called for increased production of oil and gas. However, many of the news reports did not include the full quote.

The full quote is important, because it makes it clear that Musk was not reversing his stance, but merely stating the obvious – it takes time to migrate to renewable energy.

The world is in an energy crisis right now, thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine; and it is impossible for renewables to make up for the deficit caused by sanctions on Russian oil and gas.

The full quote of what Elon Musk said at that energy conference in Norway makes that very clear:

I want to thank the leaders and the people of Norway for their long-standing support. I do think we actually need more oil and gas for civilization to function. But simultaneously moving fast to a sustainable energy economy.

He obviously still believes that renewable energy is the future, but that the world will need more oil and gas in the short term due to the invasion of Ukraine.

This is consistent with what he said earlier this year, in March 2022, when he first called for increased oil and gas production:

Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil and gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures.

Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil and gas exports.

Honestly, this is all pretty much common sense. You don’t need to be Elon Musk to understand the urgent need for more oil and gas to replace sanctioned Russian gas and oil.

Elon Musk Not Only Called For More Oil + Gas, But Nuclear Power Too

Some of the press went with the nuclear angle, which is also true. Elon Musk did call for more nuclear power, but only in the context of maintaining existing plants that are well-designed.

While nuclear plants are far less polluting. than oil- and gas-fired power plants, they produce nuclear waste that pose long-term storage and security risks.

If you have a well-designed nuclear plant, you should not shut it down — especially right now.

As you can tell – he did not call for more nuclear plants to be built. Just that the world should retain existing plants that are well-designed and working well.

It does not make sense to shut them down in the middle of a massive energy crisis. You really don’t have to be Elon Musk to know that too…

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Meta Accuses PDRM Of Running Political Troll Farm!

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Meta accused the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) of running a troll farm to corrupt or manipulate public discourse!

Here is what you need to know!

Meta Accuses PDRM Of Running Political Troll Farm!

On 4 August 2022, Meta issued the Adversarial Threat Report for the Second Quarter of 2022. In that report, they directly named the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) as being responsible for a troll farm designed to “corrupt or manipulate public discourse“.

Here were the key findings that the Meta team revealed about the individuals behind the PDRM troll farm :

They were active on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram.
They posted memes in Malay, in support of the current government coalition
They posted claims of corruption amongst the current government coalition’s critics
They created Facebook Pages that posed as independent news entities, and promoted police while criticising the opposition.
Their posting activity were greatest during weekdays, taking breaks for lunch.
Their fake accounts were under-developed, and some of them used stolen profile photos.

The troll farm was initially suspected to have originated in China by researchers at Clemson University in South Caroline. But when the Meta team investigated it, they found links to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM).

The Meta team also revealed that the PDRM troll farm spent about $6,000 (~RM26,750) in Facebook and Instagram ads, paid for primarily in Malaysian Ringgit.

They also shared how successful the PDRM troll farm was in garnering followers on Facebook and Instagram :

Facebook Pages : About 427,000 accounts
Facebook Groups : About 4,000 accounts
Instagram Accounts : About 15,000 accounts

As a result of their investigation, Meta removed 595 Facebook accounts, 180 Pages, 11 Groups and 72 Instagram accounts that were linked to this PDRM troll farm, for violating their police against “coordinated inauthentic behavior“.

What Is Inauthentic Behavior?

Inauthentic behaviour (IB) as an effort to mislead people or Facebook about about the popularity of content, the purpose of a community (i.e. Groups, Pages, Events) or the identity of the people behind it. It is primarily centered around amplifying and increasing the distribution of content, and is often (but not exclusively) financially motivated.

IB operators typically focus on quantity rather than the quality of engagement. For example, they may use large numbers of low-sophistication fake accounts to mass-post or like their content — be it commercial, social or political. They often use tactics similar to other large-scale online activities, like spam.

This behavior pattern distinguishes IB from Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) where operators invest in mimicking human social activity as closely as possible.

PDRM Denies Meta Accusations Of Running Political Troll Farm!

On 6 August 2022, PDRM issued a short notice (with my English translation) stating that it takes Meta’s allegations seriously, denies them, and is currently gathering information about those allegations.

Penafian PDRM Atas Dakwaan Syarikat Meta Platforms Incorporated

Police Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) memandang serius laporan pihak syarikat Meta Platforms Incorporated yang mendakwa terdapat akaun-akaun palsu di media sosial yang “mempunyai hubungan dengan PDRM”.

PDRM menafikan dakwaan tersebut dan sedang mengampul maklumat lanjut mengenainya.

PDRM Denies Allegations By Meta Platforms Incorporated

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is taking seriously the report by Meta Platforms Incorporated which claimed that there are fake social media account “with ties to PDRM”.

PDRM denies these allegations and is gathering more information about it.

PDRM Troll Farm : Is That Even Legal?!

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) enforces the laws of the country, including the Internet. In fact, they have a Cyber & Multimedia Criminal Investigation Unit under the Commercial Crime Investigation Department.

The PDRM works together with the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) to tackle cybersecurity threats, and these would include malicious influence campaigns.

All the more reason why it is both perplexing and troubling that Malaysia’s national police force has been linked to a troll farm designed to promote the current government coalition, while denigrating the opposition.

These are specifically the cybercrimes that NACSA should be looking out for, and the PDRM should be assisting them in arresting anyone in Malaysia who participated in such activities.

The PDRM will no doubt be under tremendous pressure to explain / refute Meta’s allegations.

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Maybank MAE + M2U Apps Running Again After Going Down!

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Maybank just announced that their MAE and M2U mobile banking apps are now up and running, after going down for several hours!

Here is what you need to know…

Maybank MAE + M2U Mobile Apps Down!

On the morning of 25 July 2022, the MAE and M2U mobile apps went down, which Maybank confirmed.

As it so happened, both apps failed on the 25th of the month, which is when Malaysian civil servants and many other employees receive their pay.

That led to a lot of complaints, as people could not transfer the funds using the apps.

Fortunately, the Maybank website itself was operational, so users were advised to access the Maybank2U website using their web browser instead.

#MBBAlert Dear valued customers,

Kindly be informed that you may perform your banking services on Maybank2u web. We are currently experiencing intermittent slowness on our MAE and M2U MY apps.

Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused and we are working to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and continuous support.

Maybank did not reveal what was the reason both their M2U mobile banking app, and their MAE ewallet failed.

They finally resolved it several hours later, just before 2:30 PM.

#MBBAlert Dear valued customers,

Kindly be informed that all our services are back to normal and you may perform your banking transactions across our platforms.

Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused today. We thank you for your continued patience and support.

This isn’t the first time Maybank users had trouble with their banking services. On 17 January 2022, all of Maybank’s online and banking services went down!

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Bob Saget Died From Head Trauma, Not Vaccine!

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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!

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

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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 White, Bob 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…

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.

Loving beyond words being on tour —And doing an all new show of standup and music. Hope to see you out there. More dates being added continually as we go further into 2022… For tickets, go to: https://t.co/nqJyTi0Dbk pic.twitter.com/ECSOpGt1K0

— bob saget (@bobsaget) December 9, 2021

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

Loved tonight’s show @PV_ConcertHall in Jacksonville. Appreciative audience. Thanks again to @RealTimWilkins for opening. I had no idea I did a 2 hr set tonight. I’m happily addicted again to this shit. Check https://t.co/nqJyTiiezU for my dates in 2022. pic.twitter.com/pEgFuXxLd3

— bob saget (@bobsaget) January 9, 2022

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) :

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

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.

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!

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Canada Internet Outage Due To Software Update, Not China!

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The country-wide mobile and Internet outage in Canada was due to a software update, not hacking by China!

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

Claim : China Responsible For Mobile + Internet Outage In Canada!

Within hours of news breaking that Canada suffered a massive Internet outage, Vancouver Times posted a story claiming that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) identified China as the responsible party.

Vancouver Times also claimed that the RCMP will issue arrest warrants for the hackers responsible, who are connected to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Chinese state hackers are responsible for a massive internet outage that paralyzed large parts of Canada, according to the RCMP. The federal police agency is in the process of issuing arrest warrants for several people they believe are connected to the People’s Liberation Army.

The RCMP will be holding a press conference in the next few days to announce the arrest warrants, according to sources. Canadian intelligence agencies are reportedly receiving guidance from the CIA and the FBI.

On Friday a widespread network outage from Rogers left many Canadians without mobile and internet service. The outages caused significant problems for police, courthouses, passport offices and other facilities.

The outage also disrupted services across retailers, courthouses, airlines, train networks, credit card processors and police forces, pushing many to delay business transactions. Many people were seen at Starbucks, trying to use their internet service.

The mainstream media and big tech want to hide the truth. Beat them at their own game by sharing this article!

Truth : Canada Internet Outage Due To Software Update, Not China!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by Vancouver Times to generate page views and money from gullible people.

Fact #1 : Vancouver Times Is A Fake News Website

Vancouver Times is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.

To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news, sometimes masked as “satire”.

To give themselves a veneer of deniability, they label themselves as a “satire website” in their About Us section.

Vancouver Times is the most trusted source for satire on the West Coast. We write satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.

Here are some of their fake news that we debunked :

Fact #2 : Outage Only Affected Rogers Communications

On Friday, July 8, 2022, Canada was hit by a massive mobile and Internet outage that hit businesses, banks, and even police emergency lines.

However, it only affected Rogers Communications, and did not affect rivals like BCE, Telus and Shaw Communications.

The outage was extensive because Rogers is Canada’s leading telecommunications provider, with about 11.3 million wireless subscribers, and 2.25 million retail Internet subscribers.

Fact #3 : RCMP Did Not Blame China For Mobile + Internet Outage

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not blame China for Rogers Communications’ mobile and Internet outage.

This was made up by Vancouver Times to trigger right-wing conspiracy theorists, to go viral and draw more page views.

Fact #4 : Rogers Did Not Blame China For Mobile + Internet Outage

Rogers Communications themselves did not blame China for their mobile and Internet outage.

Fact #5 : Canada Confirmed Outage Was Not A Cyberattack

While the reason behind the outage was still unknown, a spokesperson for Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed to CTV News that “the outage was not due to a cyberattack“.

Fact #6 : Rogers Confirmed Outage Due To Maintenance Update

On 11 July 2022, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri apologised for the country-wide outage of its services.

He also said that the failure was due to “a maintenance update in our core network“. The maintenance work “caused some of our routers to malfunction early Friday morning“.

Fact #7 : Prior Rogers Outage Also Due To Software Update

This wasn’t the first time Rogers Communications’ network failed so drastically.

Just 15 months earlier – Rogers and its subsidiary, Fido, experienced a nationwide cellular service outage in April 2021.

That outage was ultimately traced to “a recent Ericsson software update” that “affected a piece of equipment in the central part” of their network, leading to “intermittent congestion impacting many customers across Canada“.

Fact #8 : It Would Have Been Considered An Act Of War

China attacking Canada’s mobile and Internet network would have been considered an act of war, if it was proven.

The Canadian government would at least have issued a strong statement, if not cut diplomatic ties with China and/or enact sanctions against the Chinese government.

Fact #9 : No One Else Reported This Story

China attacking Canada’s mobile and Internet infrastructure would have been major international news, reported across the globe.

Yet not only did no mainstream media cover this incredible story, it hasn’t even been reported in the usual conspiracy theory websites!

That’s because it was a fake story created by one publication – Vancouver Times, in their attempt to go viral again for more page views and ad money.

Fact #10 : There Is No Such Thing As A Publication Ban

Vancouver Times likes to use the “media blackout” claim, to explain why you can’t find any reputable media outlet reporting on China attacking Canada’s mobile and Internet infrastructure.

That’s utter and complete bullshit. No one – not a judge, not even the Canadian government – can control the worldwide media, or prevent anyone from writing about such an incredible story.

You can also be sure that even if the mainstream media in the Canada refused to run the story, it would have been reported by foreign media outlets, websites and blogs.

Yet, not a single foreign media outlet or online website published their account of this incredible story? That’s because IT NEVER HAPPENED…

Fact #11 : Mainstream Media + Big Tech Would Have Loved The Hype

Vancouver Times is gaslighting you about how mainstream media and Big Tech want to hide the “truth” about China attacking Canada’s infrastructure.

They would all loved such shocking news, because it would have driven tons of traffic and engagement to their websites / platforms.

In fact, that was precisely why Vancouver Times created the fake story – to drive traffic, for the ad money.

Everything that Vancouver Times publishes should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Please help us fight fake news websites like Vancouver Times – SHARE this fact check out, and SUPPORT our work!

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Shanghai Police Data On 1 Billion Chinese Citizens Leaked!

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A hacker is selling data on a billion Chinese citizens, that he stole from the Shanghai national police database!

Find out what’s going on, and what this data breach entails!

Shanghai Police Data On 1 Billion Chinese Citizens Leaked!

A hacker who called himself “ChinaDan” posted in the Breach Forums that he hacked into the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database and stole more than 23 terabytes of data.

He is offering to sell data on 1 billion Chinese citizens, including their name, address, birthplace, national ID number and mobile numbers, for 10 bitcoins – which is currently worth about US$204,285 / €200,227.

In 2022, the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database was leaked. This database contains many TB of data and information on billions of Chinese citizen.

Databases contain information on 1 billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including: name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.

He also posted a sample of 750,000 data entries from the three main indexes of the database, for potential buyers to evaluate.

Shanghai Police Database Left Unsecured For 14 Months!

ChinaDan claimed that the SHGA database was left unsecured on an Alibaba Cloud server. This was confirmed by several cybersecurity experts who had earlier stumbled upon the same database.

Even worse, the database was apparently left unsecured for at least 14 months! Vinny Troia – the founder of dark web intelligence first, Shadowbyte, said that he first discovered the SHGA database “around January” 2021.

Troia even downloaded one of the main indexes of the SHGA database, which contained information on nearly 970 million Chinese citizens (at that time).

And best of all – they made the data available to anybody who registers for an account!

The site that I found it on is public, anybody (could) access it, all you have to do is register for an account. Since it was opened in April 2021, any number of people could have downloaded the data.

Either they forgot about it, or they intentionally left it open because it’s easier for them to access. I don’t know why they would. It sounds very careless.

This Was Second Hack Of Shanghai National Police Database!

Bob Diachenko – a Ukrainian cybersecurity researcher – discovered the database independently in April, and noticed that the databased was attacked in mid-June by a hacker who copied the data, destroyed the copy on the server and left a ransom note demanding 10 bitcoins for its recovery.

By July 1, the ransom note disappeared, but only 7 gigabytes of data was available on the server, instead of the earlier 23 TB.

It is unknown if this data ransom “hack” was performed by ChinaDan, or a different hacker.

Diachenko said that the unsecured and exposed database continued to be used after that, until it was shut down over the weekend, after news of the data leak broke.

Maybe there was some junior developer who noticed it and tried to remove the notes before senior management noticed them.

This is shocking because it suggests that the database administrators were already aware of a prior breach, but did nothing to secure the database, or shore up cybersecurity measures.

Most Of China Affected By Shanghai Police Data Leak!

The Shanghai National Police data leak is currently the largest leak of public information ever.

It does not just cover people who live in, or have been in Shanghai. The database actually has information on over 70% of its 1.4 billion population in almost all counties in China.

The data contained information about almost all the counties in China, and I have even discovered data related to a remote county in Tibet, where there are only a few thousand residents.
– Yi Fu-Xian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

This massive data leak acutely demonstrates the risk of government collection of data. China notably collects a tremendous amount of data on its citizens, including digital and biological data through facial recognition, iris scanners, social media tracking and phone trackers.

Once such data is leaked, it is forever exposed, putting people at risk of scams, identity theft, or even extortion.

China Censors Coverage Of Shanghai Police Data Leak

The Chinese government and the Shanghai Police have both refused to comment on the massive data leak.

Instead, they started blocking related words on Weibo, like “Shanghai data leak”, “data leak”, “Shanghai national security database breach”, “1 billion citizens’ record leak”.

Censors have also scrubbed news on this data breach from WeChat, with one popular WeChat user telling his 27,000 followers that he had been summoned to be questioned by the police.

China’s major English-language media like CGTN, Global Times, Xinhua, etc. have also not published any story on the Shanghai police data leak, despite public interest and its wide-ranging consequences for China.

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Fact Check : The Argentinian Egg Boycott Story

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Find out if the viral Argentinian egg boycott really happened, reducing the price of eggs to a quarter of its original price!

Claim : Argentinian People Reduced Egg Prices Through Boycott!

The story of the Argentinian egg boycott has gone viral, as an example of how the common people can force businesses to reduce their exorbitant prices.

There are a few examples of this story circulating on WhatsApp and social media, but here is one example.

Note : The story is rather long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

Egg Carton

This is a true story, not a fiction. It happened in Argentina.

An Argentine citizen went to buy an egg carton. When he asked the seller about the price, he found that the price was above the usual price. After he asked the seller about the reason, the seller said, “The distributed companies have raised the price!”

Quietly, the citizen returned the egg carton back to its place, saying, “There is no need for eggs. I can live without eating eggs.” Also, all citizens did this without campaigns or strikes, but it was a people’s culture! People who did not accept blackmail by companies .. In your opinion, how were the results? !!!

The companies insisted on stubbornness, saying that these protests would end in a few days, and people would return to buy eggs as usual. However, the people were more stubborn; they boycotted eggs, and companies began to lose twice, the first in accumulated egg cartons, and the second in feeding chickens that did not stop eating and producing eggs. As a result, the losses accumulated and multiplied!

The owners of poultry companies gathered and decided to return the price of eggs to the previous price even though the boycott continued, and the companies almost declared bankruptcy, so they were only to meet again and decided the following:

– To offer an official apology to the Argentine people in all media.
– To Reduce the price of eggs to a quarter of its previous value.

The lesson:
As a people, we can reduce or increase the price of any commodity without campaigns or strikes. We only need a little bit of will, culture, and determination.

Show less

Truth : There Never Was An Argentinian Egg Boycott!

Despite claiming that this is a true story, this is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : There Never Was Any Egg Boycott In Argentina!

First, I should point out that there was never any egg boycott in Argentina that caused egg companies to cut prices to a quarter of its previous price.

Neither did any egg company apologise to the Argentinian people. Look it up yourself. It never happened. The story was completely fabricated.

Fact #2 : This Story Has Been Circulating Since 2015

This fake story has been circulating since at least August 2015, when it was posted on an Arabic website with the title of Union – the story of the Argentine people.

Since then, it has been repeatedly shared on social media – Facebook, Twitter, as well as on WhatsApp.

Fact #3 : Argentina Hit By High Inflation Since 2002

Argentina has been suffering from high inflation since 2022, which got worse from 2014 onwards – going from 10.5% to 58% in April 2022!

Whatever boycotts the Argentinian people may have organised would not have mattered.

Fact #4 : An Egg Boycott Would Never Work

The whole premise of an egg boycott is also ridiculous. Egg prices increase due to escalating costs, as well as supply and demand changes.

If poultry farmers do not make enough money from eggs, they will simply reduce their egg-producing flock, and focus on producing chicken meat instead. When that happens, supply is reduced and prices go up, not down.

A complete consumer boycott of eggs would not collapse the market, because eggs are widely used in the bakery and confectionery trades.

Eggs also have important biotechnology, and other industrial uses. For example, it is used to produce many vaccines, like the annual flu vaccine.

Eggs can also be turned into powdered egg, or even exported. In fact, about $4 billion worth of eggs were exported worldwide in 2020.

Hypothetically, if the Argentinians really boycotted eggs completely, it would result in a short-term reduction in price due to increased supply in the market. However, some chicken farms will collapse, reducing supply and causing prices to spike when consumers start buying eggs again.

Fact #5 : Egg Margins Are Very Thin

According to Poultry World, egg producers in the US generate a margin of just 11.2 cents per dozen eggs at the farm level. That’s less than 1 cent per egg!

So how would it be possible for any egg distributer to sell eggs at a quarter of the original price? It does not even make common sense, never mind financial sense!

I hope you found this fact check useful. Please help to share it out, so people won’t get fooled by this stupid story again.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Maxis Network Down : Full Restoration Soon!

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The Maxis mobile network has been down for several hours in the Klang Valley, but they say that the network will be fully restored soon!

Here is what you need to know…

Maxis Network Down : No Calls, No Internet

On Friday, June 30, 2022, Maxis experienced a significant network failure in the Klang Valley, with many people unable to make calls, or connect to the Internet using mobile data.

Maxis issued a press statement this morning, stating that they are working on restoring their network.

We are aware that our customers have been experiencing service disruptions. Rest assured that our team is working hard to identify and resolve the matter as soon as possible. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience, and apologise for the inconvenience during this time.

There was a complete loss of signal, with some people being reverted to EDGE, instead of 4G LTE.

People from various areas of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, like Damansara Perdana, Ara Damansara, Puchong, Cheras, Ampang, Mutiara Damansara and Bandar Utama reported this problem.

Maxis Network Down : Full Restoration Soon!

At about 1:45 PM, Maxis announced that their network is being restored gradually, and they expect full restoration soon.

We would like to update our customers who were experiencing network disruptions earlier, that services are being restored gradually, and expect full restoration soon. We would like to once again thank our customers for their understanding and patience.

Just in case your connectivity isn’t restored automatically, you can try reset your phone’s connectivity by turning the Airplane mode on, and then off.

This will disconnect your phone from the Maxis network and reset the connection, hopefully restoring your access to the network.

You may have to do this 2-3 times. When I did it the first time, they switched me to the EDGE network and while I could make calls – they didn’t seem to be connecting.

I could only connect to the 4G LTE network after reconnecting for the second time. So keep trying, and you should get connected again.

Let’s see if Maxis issues its affected users some kind of compensation for this network failure… 😉

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Are Western Media Covering Up Riots In US West Coast?!

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Are the Western media covering up massive riots with looting and vandalism on the US West Coast?!

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

Claim : Western Media Are Covering Up Riots In US West Coast!

People are sharing a video of a recent riot in America, claiming that Western media is actively concealing the news.

Allegedly, only the Chinese media and netizens are exposing the riots on the US West Coast by releasing such videos to show the world how decadent and lawless the United States really is.

The viral video is often shared with comments like these :

Protests, vandalism and looting rage across the west coast of US on 31/5 and 1/6/22 but not reported by CNN & BBC . Also not by Singapore’s CNA

Lawlessness in the country supposed to be icon of justice

这就是美国

This is America

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/US-West-Coast-Riots-Fact-Check-Small.mp4?_=1

Truth : Western Media Are Not Covering Up Riots In US West Coast!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens.

After investigating the viral video, here are the facts that I was able to ascertain…

Fact #1 : Video Was Recorded In Cleveland, Ohio

The viral video does not show riots in the US West Coast. I geolocated the precise location of this riot to East 4th Street (E 4th St.) in Cleveland, Ohio.

If you look closely at the video, you can spot these landmarks and their signboards :

Butcher and the Brewer (Old-World Cuts and Hand-Built Brews)
Windsor Apartments
Mabel’s BBQ
Society Lounge
Zocalo Tequileria
Flannery’s Pub
Buckeye Apartments

Those landmarks allowed me to precisely geolocate the entire video to that one street – East 4th Street in Cleveland, Ohio.

Fact #2 : Ohio Is A Midwestern State, Near The East Coast

Ohio is an American Midwestern state. But despite that classification, it is actually located next to the Eastern seaboard.

It is most definitely not on the US West Coast, which comprises of the states of California, Oregon and Washington.

I have no idea why the wumao would lie about the riot happening on the US West Coast. Perhaps, it is the American region most familiar to Chinese netizens, since it is located next to the Pacific Ocean.

Fact #3 : Cleveland Riot Happened In 2020

The video does not depict a riot that happened on May 31 and June 1, 2022. It actually showed people rioting over the death of George Floyd on June 2, 2020 – two years ago.

Chinese netizens may not be aware, but people in the United States are allowed to participate in peaceful protests, like the 2020 protests against police brutality and racism, epitomised by George Floyd’s death.

But violent riots are against the law, and so 99 people were arrested in the 2020 Cleveland riots.

Fact #4 : There Are No Riots Happening On The US West Coast

Just in case Chinese netizens are “confused”, there are no riots happening on the US West Coast, at the end of May or early June 2022.

There are no acts of vandalism or looting raging across the US West Coast, which is precisely why there is ZERO COVERAGE of these riots.

No one is covering these riots because they did not happen. This is just Chinese disinformation using a legitimate video from two years ago.

Fact #5 : Western Media Covered The Cleveland Riots

Unlike in China, where the media is muzzled and “inappropriate news” are censored, Western media are under no such restrictions.

If there are riots in the United States right now, you can be sure they would be covering it. Bad news sells best, after all!

The truth is – the Western media covered the Cleveland riots extensively… when it happened in 2020! In fact, you can see a man who looks like a press photographer taking photos in the viral video.

Fact #6 : Video Is Part Of Wumao Disinformation

This isn’t the first real video being used in a wumao disinformation campaign, to drive the narrative that the United States is in a perpetual state of anarchy.

I have personally fact checked many videos and stories that were deliberately spread by the wumao as part of their disinformation campaign :

So why are the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens promoting such videos and stories?

More importantly – why is the Chinese government spending money on such disinformation campaigns?

While you ponder on those questions, watch out and be wary of similar videos and stories being spread in Chinese and pro-CCP groups.

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Did Sukma Athlete Stephanie Sim Die From Vaccine Stroke?!

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Did 19 year-old Sukma athlete Stephanie Sim die from a stroke caused by the COVID-19 vaccine?!

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

Claim : Stephanie Sim Died From Stroke Caused By COVID-19 Vaccine!

People are starting to claim that 19 year-old Sukma athlete Stephanie Sim Shu Ming died from a stroke caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many are also sharing her news in anti-vaccination groups and websites, as “another example” of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) from the vaccines.

BAAM 💥endnu en, må af ‘ukendte årsager’ og helt ‘pludseligt’ forlade os blot 19 år gammel 😌

BAAM 💥another one, must for ‘unknown reasons’ and completely ‘suddenly’ leave us just 19 years old 😌

The Sarawak shooting community is saddened by the loss of Sukma shooter Stephanie Sim Shu Ming who passed away on Tuesday evening. Stephanie, 19, suffered #SuddenAdultDeathSyndrome #SuddenDeath

Rip… sudden deaths among young people r becoming common since mid of last year

Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) ? #Vaccines

No Evidence Stephanie Sim Died From Stroke Caused By COVID Vaccine!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by anti-vaccination activists, and here are the reasons why… and the current facts that we know so far.

Fact #1 : Stephanie Sim Died From A Stroke

19 year-old Stephanie Sim Shu Ming suffered a stroke on Thursday, June 16, 2022, and went into a coma.

She was hospitalised at the Sarawak General Hospital, where she passed away on Sunday, June 19, 2022. She was buried at the Nirvana Memorial Park in Bau on Friday, June 24, 2022.

Sarawak State Youth, Sports and Entrepreneurship Minister Abdul Karim Hamzah confirmed that Stephanie’s cause of death was a stroke.

Stephanie Sim did not die from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), also known as Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

Fact #2 : There Are Thousands Of SADS Deaths Every Year

To be clear, Stephanie Sim died from a stroke, not Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).

But I would like to point out that SADS was first documented in 1977, and occurs at a rate of 0.12 to 0.21 per 100,000 people every single year.

In other words, approximately 9,000 to 16,000 people die from SADS every single year, before the COVID-19 vaccines were invented.

Despite what anti-vaccination activists may tell you – SADS is not a new vaccine-related syndrome.

Fact #3 : Stephanie Was Healthy + Well Earlier

There is no evidence that Stephanie was suffering from any vaccine adverse effects like myocarditis or VITT.

There would have been very noticeable symptoms like breathing difficulties, chest pain, bleeding tendencies, etc. and she wouldn’t be able to train properly.

Yet she trained with the Sarawak Sukma shooting squad just days ago – on Saturday, June 11, 2022.

Fact #4 : Her Vaccination Status Is Unknown

It is unknown if Stephanie Sim was vaccinated against COVID-19. She did not publicly mention her vaccination status, and neither did her family.

Despite the high adult vaccination rate of some 84%, COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory in Malaysia. A significant number of people in Malaysia remain unvaccinated.

While it is very likely she was vaccinated, we simply do not know if she received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Fact #5 : Vaccine Side Effects Appear Within Hours / Days

If Stephanie Sim was vaccinated against COVID-19, she would have received her vaccine doses last year – at least half a year ago.

She cannot possibly be suffering from a vaccine side effect, because they appear within hours or days, not months later.

Mild side effects like injection site pain, fever, muscle ache, headache, lethargy develop within minutes to hours of the vaccination.

Anaphylaxis develops within minutes, while other severe adverse reactions like myocarditis and VITT develop within days.

Fact #6 : Deaths / Injuries From COVID-19 Vaccines Can Be Proven

Despite anti-vaccination activists chalking up sudden, unknown deaths to the vaccine, death or injury from rare vaccine adverse effects like anaphylaxis, myocarditis and VITT can be proven.

Anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) from Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines happens within minutes. That’s why people are asked to wait for 15-30 minutes after getting the vaccine. People who get an anaphylactic shock will require an epinephrine shot to quickly relieve it.

Vaccine-induced myocarditis has distinct histopathology findings that are different from typical myocarditis, so a pathologist will be able to determine if the myocarditis was caused by the vaccines or otherwise.

Vaccine-induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT) is very specific to the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. It is also easily differentiated by its unique combination of blood clots in large veins of the brains, abdomen and lungs, together with low platelet counts leading to bleeding tendencies.

Fact #7 : COVID-19 Infections Cause Myocarditis + Blood Clots Too!

What anti-vaccination activists won’t tell you is that COVID-19 infections also cause myocarditis and blood clots in the cerebral vein too.

They also won’t tell you that the risk of developing cerebral vein blood clots is 170X higher with a COVID-19 infection, than it is with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Cerebral Vein Thrombosis Risk	Per Million People	Difference
Patient with COVID-19	207	+8,525%
AstraZeneca Vaccine	3.6	+50%
Normal Population	2.4	Baseline

They also won’t tell you that the risk of developing myocarditis is hundreds of times higher with a COVID-19 infection, than with three doses of any COVID-19 vaccine!

Myocarditis Risk	Per Million People	vs Sinovac	vs AstraZeneca	vs Pfizer
COVID-19 Infection	450	+300x	+214x	+167x
3x Pfizer	2.7	+1.8x	+1.3x	Baseline
3x AstraZeneca	2.1	+1.4x	Baseline	-0.2x
3x Sinovac	1.5	Baseline	-0.3x	-0.4x

Fact #8 : COVID-19 Vaccines Proven Safe + Effective

COVID-19 vaccines underwent massive clinical trials, and were only approved after they were proven to be safe and effective.

In addition, they were constantly monitored after they received their approvals, which picked up rare side effects after they were administered to billions of people.

Anti-vaccination activists have often claimed that those who received the vaccine would die. Yet, the opposite was true – the vaccines are not only safe, they are effective in protecting people from getting hospitalised or dying from COVID-19.

Fact #9 : Claims Of Celebrities Dying From COVID-19 Vaccine Proven False

This is yet another example of anti-vaccination activists abusing celebrity deaths / injuries to create and propagate FAKE NEWS about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

So far, claims of celebrity deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false at every instance.

Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next celebrity death…

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

Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Are MySejahtera 68808 SMS Messages A Scam?!

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Are MySejahtera messages sent through the 68808 SMS service really a scam?!

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

Claim : MySejahtera 68808 SMS Messages Are A Scam!

People are sharing this warning on social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, as well as in WhatsApp and Telegram groups :

MySejahtera 通过 68808 发送短信要求用户重置资料，请不要点击链接，这是钓鱼陷阱骗局。
请转发广传出去给大家警惕，谢谢。

MySejahtera sending sms through 68808 to ask users to reset, pls do not click link. It’s a scam.

MySejahtera 68808 SMS Messages Not Necessarily A Scam!

Many Malaysians are rightfully wary about clicking on links sent by SMS or WhatsApp.

There have been many scams involving fake SMS or WhatsApp messages, which we covered here in Tech ARP :

However, Malaysians are also too gullible, accepting all warnings on WhatsApp as genuine, without first verifying if they are even true.

Here are the reasons why the MySejahtera reset messages delivered by the 68808 SMS service are not necessarily a scam!

Fact #1 : 68808 Is Used By MySejahtera

Despite what people may tell you – 68808 is an official SMS service number used by MySejahtera.

In fact, MySejahtera uses three SMS service numbers to send you notifications (like your vaccination appointments), as well as your password renewal link :

68808
68088
63001

Fact #2 : 68808 Messages Are Generally Legitimate

Despite what is shared on social media, messages sent through 68808 are genuine. What you need to be wary of are SMS messages sent via other numbers.

Take a look at this example of fake news shared on social media, and some websites. It was touted as an example of fake MySejahtera messages sent by 68808.

The truth is “original” message was sent through 63839, which is not a legitimate MySejahtera SMS service. The “fake” message was sent through 68808, which is a legitimate MySejahtera SMS service.

In this misleading example, you can also see a prior SMS message on vehicle servicing in the 63839 channel. Official MySejahtera SMS channels (68808, 68088 and 63001) will only show messages from MySejahtera, not other services.

Note : The links in both messages appear to be genuine, linking to https://mysejahtera.malaysia.gov.my/.

Fact #3 : MySejahtera Sends Reset Links Via SMS

Despite what social media “experts” may tell you – MySejahtera will send password reset links through SMS, as a verification method.

If you are trying to reset your MySejahtera password (because you forgot it), you will be sent an SMS message with a link to https://mysejahtera.malaysia.gov.my/, as the example above shows.

Fact #4 : SMS Messages Can Be Spoofed

That said, SMS messages can be spoofed to appear to come from the three legitimate MySejahtera channels – 68808, 68088 and 63001.

So you should avoid clicking on MySejahtera password reset links, even from legitimate channels, unless you have specifically asked to reset the MySejahtera password.

Fact #5 : MySejahtera Team Clarified This In April

The MySejahtera team actually refuted these false claims in April 2022. Unfortunately, people still continue to share this fake news.

So please help us fight fake news – share this fact check with your family and friends!

How To Avoid MySejahtera (Or Other) SMS Scam!

So here is what I recommend when it comes to SMS messages, whether they were sent by MySejahtera, banks, etc. :

Always check to make sure they come from legitimate SMS channels. For MySejahtera, that’s 68808, 68088 and 63001.
If you are not sure about an SMS message from the authorities / banks / telcos, please do not hesitate to call them to verify the authenticity of that message.
Never click on a link to log into a website (like your bank). Always use your banking app, or log in manually using a Internet browser on your computer or phone.
Only click on a link in specific circumstances that do not require a login – for example : to verify your request to reset your MySejahtera password.
Do NOT click on any link to confirm that you are resetting a password, or confirm your new SIM card, unless you just requested to performed those actions.
Before you click on a link, always check the link goes to the official website (like https://mysejahtera.malaysia.gov.my/). Never click on a link that goes to suspicious websites.

I hope this article helps you differentiate between fake claims circulating on social media and WhatsApp groups, and proper cybersecurity measures we should take to prevent being scammed of our hard-earned money!

Please help to SHARE this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work! Thank you!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Danielle Hampson die in wedding day car crash?!

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Did Danielle Hampson die in a tragic car accident on her wedding day with X Factor star, Tom Mann?!

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

Updated @ 2023-06-22 : Added new details Tom Mann shared about Danielle Hampson
Originally posted @ 2022-07-08

Claim : Danielle Hampson Died In Car Crash On Wedding Day!

A number of rumour / fake news websites have been capitalising on Danielle Hampson’s tragic death on the day of her wedding to X Factor star, Tom Mann.

They are claiming that she died from a car accident, and many even created videos that purportedly show the CCTV footage of the car accident that killed her. Here are a few examples.

Bareillyinfo / BareillyCollege : How did Danielle Hampson die? Cause of death explained

After the news came out everyone is intrigued to know the cause of her death. A car accident took the life of Danielle Hampson (confirmed).

The SportsGrail : Danielle Hampson Fiancee Of Singer Tom Mann Cause Of Death, Obituary, Car Accident, Age, Bio, Kid, Instagram

Everyone is curious to know the circumstances behind her passing once the news broke that Danielle Hampson died in a motor vehicle collision.

TMZ.NG : Danielle Hampson: How She Die? Cause Of Her Death

Danielle Hampson was killed in an [sic] car accident (confirmed).

WePublishNews : Danielle Hampson Dancer Car Accident: Cause Of Death, Funeral

Daniella Hampson’s Car Accident on 18 June 2022, happened exactly on her wedding day. Danielle Hampson died in an accident, a source revealed.

Vimbuzz : Danielle Hampson Car Accident Photos And Videos

Daniella Hampson’s Car Accident on 18 June 2022, happened exactly on her wedding day. Danielle Hampson died in an accident, a source revealed.

UpToBrain : Danielle Hampson Car Accident Death CCTV Footage Video and Images Leaked on Twitter, YouTube

Show less

No Evidence Danielle Hampson Died In Car Crash!

This is just another example of FAKE NEWS created to generate page views and income through advertisements, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Danielle Hampson’s Cause Of Death Was Never Revealed!

No one has publicly revealed Danielle Hampson’s cause of death. Not her fiancee, Tom Mann. Not her colleagues. Not even her own family.

That does not mean people get to make up stories, and claim that she died from COVID-19 vaccines, or a car accident.

When her family or her fiancee reveal how she died, we will know. Until then, don’t waste your time on websites and blogs that create celebrity fake news just to get more traffic.

On the first anniversary of her death, Tom Mann posted an emotional tribute to Danielle Hampson. Even then – one year later, he continued to maintain his silence about how she died.

Fact #2 : Tom Mann Suggested New Details About Her Death

In his first anniversary tribute, Tom Mann suggested that he woke up next to her in bed that morning, and she was at a hospital when she died:

1 year ago, I put on my suit expecting to meet you at that town hall & tell you ‘I do’. I ended up wearing it in a hospital waiting room.

1 year ago, I had woken up beside you for the last time.

No answers to how or why, and no words to articulate any of these feelings. Nothing makes any sense & everything has changed. I don’t know why you couldn’t stay.

That suggests that Danielle Hampson likely did not die in a car crash, although that remains a possibility.

Fact #3 : CCTV Videos Of Danielle Hampson’s Car Crash Are Fake

A number of these websites created fake YouTube videos about Danielle Hampson’s car accident, claiming to be leaked CCTV footage.

None of them contain any CCTV footage. They only used edited screenshots from random car accidents as the video title screens to get you to click on the videos.

That’s because they are all monetising these fake videos on YouTube, which apparently have no problem with such fake videos. One website – UpToBrain – created at least four videos with screenshots from four different car accidents.

Take a look at just six of the many videos that claim to show Danielle Hampson’s car accident. So many different car accidents in different countries. Which is the real car crash that allegedly killed Danielle Hampson? NONE OF THEM!

To be clear – there is no CCTV footage of any car accident involving Danielle Hampson.

Fact #3 : None Of Them Offered Any Evidence

Even if we ignore the fact that Danielle Hampson’s family and fiancee never said publicly how she died, there is currently no evidence that she was killed in a car accident, or by COVID-19 vaccines.

None of those websites claiming that she died in a car accident offered anything remotely close to “evidence”. Only one – Vimbuzz (which creates a ton of celebrity nonsense articles) – dared to claim that “a source” told them.

Despite extensive coverage by mainstream media, including People, The Guardian and The Daily Mail, they all continue to point out that her cause of death remains unknown.

Even TMZ, which managed to get Betty White’s autopsy report, has not been able to find out how Danielle Hampson died.

Now, it is plausible that she may have died in a car accident, but she could have easily died from many other causes – from a ruptured aneurysm, or a stroke to a sudden cardiac arrest, which are arguably far more likely.

Until we know for certain – we cannot simply jump to conclusions… or fall for the fake news / fake videos created by people whose only motivation is to make money from your views and clicks.

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

And please STOP supporting these fake news websites!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Cloudflare Went Down, Knocking Many Websites Offline!

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Many websites were knocked offline today, after Cloudflare suffered a major outage and went down!

Here is what you need to know…

Cloudflare Went Down, Knocking Many Websites Offline!

At around 6:30 AM UTC, Cloudflare – the popular content delivery network (CDN) went down, knocking large parts of the Internet offline.

This is ironic, because many websites rely on Cloudflare to not only speed up page loading for their users, but also to mitigate or prevent downtimes from DDoS attacks and server failures.

Cloudflare declared it a critical P0 incident at around 6:34 AM, noting that “connectivity has been disrupted in broad regions“. Instead of loading, all affected websites would show a 500 Internal Server Error message.

Tech ARP was affected, and so were many popular websites and online services like Discord, Omegle, Medium, Feedly, Epic Games, etc.

Cloudflare Now Up, After Down For An Hour!

They finally identified the issue about 23 minutes later. The fix took another 23 minutes, but by 7 AM UTC, they restored connectivity.

After monitoring for about an hour, the Cloudflare team declared the P0 critical incident “resolved”0 at 8:06 AM UTC.

Cloudflare has not revealed what caused the outage, but right now, most people are just glad that they resolved in within an hour!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Fact Check : Did Gwen Casten Die Of COVID-19 Vaccine?!

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Did Gwen Casten – the 17 year-old daughter of US Representative Sean Casten, die from the COVID-19 vaccine?!

Take a look at the viral claim by tech millionaire Steve Kirsch, and find out what the facts really are!

Steve Kirsch : Gwen Casten Died Of COVID-19 Vaccine!

Tech millionaire Steve Kirsch is back with yet another COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy, after claiming that the vaccine caused Justin Bieber’s facial paralysis!

This time, he claims that Gwen Casten – the 17 year-old daughter of US Representative Sean Casten, died from the COVID-19 vaccine!

His article is extremely long-winded as usual, so let me just share with you part of his summary. But I recommend you just skip to the next section for the facts.

US Congressman Sean Casten’s 17-year-old daughter Gwen Casten died in her sleep on June 12, 2022.

Healthy young kids rarely died in their sleep before the COVID vaccine rolled out.

I don’t know of a single doctor who has even heard of this happening prior to the COVID vaccines rolling out. Now it is the “new normal.”

I’m 65 years old and I can’t recall ever reading about this in the news until the COVID vaccines rolled out. In the last year, I know of at least 6 deaths of young people who died in their sleep after being vaccinated.

Leaders like Rep. Casten simply look the other way to the possibility that he may have contributed to his daughter’s death by encouraging her to get vaccinated.

Will Sean Casten use this as an opportunity to learn more about how dangerous the vaccines are? Unfortunately, that’s very unlikely to happen.

I think he will convince himself that:

his daughter’s death was “unexplained,”
these unexplained deaths are ONLY happening to vaccinated kids is simply “bad luck”
these deaths, which only started happening after the COVID vaccines rolled out, are “unexplained”

and continue to be a cheerleader for the COVID vaccines. That’s the real tragedy here.

Show less

There Is No Evidence Gwen Casten Died Of COVID-19 Vaccine!

As usual, Steve Kirsch jumps to conclusion that the COVID-19 vaccine killed Gwen Casten, based on ZERO EVIDENCE.

Despite writing such a long article, he offered NO EVIDENCE that Gwen Casten died from the COVID-19 vaccine.

Did Gwen’s father say so? Nope! He said she died from a cardiac arrhythmia.
Did Gwen Casten’s autopsy report say so? Nope!
Did anyone reveal Gwen Casten’s cause of death? Nope!

Now, I will go through the key conjectures he made, and show you why they are literally… bullshit.

Claim : Healthy kids do not die in their sleep unexpectedly for no reason.
Verdict : False
Fact : Children who appear perfectly healthy can and do die for no known reason.
Fact : Such unexplained deaths in children are common enough that there is a term for it – Sudden Unexplained Death In Childhood (SUDC / SUDIC).
Fact : In 2018 alone, the US CDC reported that 392 children died suddenly without a clear cause of death in the United States.
Fact : Nearly all children with SUDC were sleeping before becoming unresponsive, and were in state of usual good health.
Fact : SUDC is most prevalent in toddlers (1-4 years old) and children in their late teens (15-19 years old).

Claim : The COVID vaccine is the most likely cause for any child who has been vaccinated with the COVID vaccine and later dies in their sleep.
Claim : Before COVID vaccines started rolling out, healthy kids dying in their sleep was never an issue.
Verdict : Both False
Fact : Gwen Casten’s cause of death is currently unknown. Unknown means it’s not yet known. It doesn’t mean she died from the vaccine.
Fact : The United States alone reported approximately 400 cases of SUDC every single year, before COVID-19 vaccines were invented or administered.
Fact : SUDC statistics for England and Wales from 2011 to 2020 showed NO INCREASE in SUDC cases, clearly demonstrating that COVID-19 vaccines did not increase the prevalence of SUDC.

Claim : Six young people died in their sleep right after vaccinations, so Gwen Casten must have died from vaccine.
Verdict : Unverified + Irrelevant
Fact : The examples Steve Kirsch provided are either anecdotal, or have not been proven to be caused by COVID-19 vaccines.
Fact : Death from vaccine side effects can be proven. Vaccine-induced myocarditis, for example, has distinct histopathology findings that are different from typical myocarditis.
Fact : Gwen Casten first received her COVID-19 vaccinations in May 2021, and likely received her second dose in June 2021, followed by her booster dose in November 2021. So she died 6-7 months after her last vaccination.
Fact : Vaccine side effects occur in the first 2-3 days. Even adverse effects like myocarditis and VITT occur within days of receiving the vaccine.

Claim : Mysterious deaths do not happen to the unvaccinated.
Claim : Mysterious deaths never happened before COVID vaccines were rolled out.
Verdict : Both False
Fact : Sudden unexplained death in children (SUDC) occurs at a rate of 0.7 per 100,000 every single year. In other words – over 50,000 children die every year for unknown reasons, in their sleep, even though they are in good health, long before COVID-19 vaccines were invented.

Claim : Mysterious deaths usually happen very shortly after the COVID shot.
Verdict : False
Fact : Gwen Casten died 6-7 months after her last vaccination, so by Steve Kirsch’s own definition, her death had nothing to do with COVID vaccines.
Fact : Mysterious deaths have occurred in children before and after COVID vaccination… and long before the COVID-19 vaccines were invented.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Paul Pelosi : Real vs. Fake Arrest Mugshot Compared!

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People have been sharing a mugshot of Paul Pelosi – US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband – who was arrested for DUI.

Take a look at the viral photo and find out what his real mugshot really looks like!

Claim : This Is The Paul Pelosi Arrest Mugshot

For many American conservatives, the story of Paul Pelosi getting arrested for DUI has not gotten enough media attention. So they have resorted to claiming that he was also arrested for possessing child porn and drugs, or that Nancy Pelosi was with the real culprit, and Paul was covering for her.

More recently, they shared a photo, claiming that it was of Paul Pelosi, with a blackened eye.

Paul Pelosi’s mug shot. Looks like he got a shinner…. #PaulPelosi #PaulPelosiMugShot #MugShots #NancyPelosi

Paul Pelosi’s mug shot. Don’t stop passing this around before it is banned…

The police refused to release it but his mugshot got leaked.

Paul Pelosi : Real vs. Fake Arrest Mugshot Compared!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS that American conservatives are creating to smear politicians across the aisle.

Fact #1 : That Mugshot Was Photo Edited

The Paul Pelosi mugshot that went viral was digitally altered from a photo taken at the Pre-Grammy Gala, taken by Kevork Djansezian on February 14, 2016.

Here is a comparison of the crop of that Pre-Grammy Gala photo (on the left), and the edited photo on the right.

You can see that many parts of the face are similar – ears, nose, mouth, left eye, both eyebrows, and even the wrinkles on his face.

The person who altered the photo made him look heavier, added hair from a different person, as well as a blackened right eye.

Fact #2 : His Real Mugshot Was Released

Perhaps as a response to the fake mugshot being shared online, Paul Pelosi’s real mugshot was released by the Napa County Department of corrections, with this statement :

Napa County Department of Corrections Releases Paul Pelosi Mugshot

(NAPA, California) — On the night of May 28, 2022, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) arrested Paul Pelosi (DOB 4/15/40) for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Driving with a .08% Blood Alcohol Content or Higher. He was booked into the Napa County Department of Corrections and subsequently cite released the following morning.

In Napa County, the decision to release or withhold mugshots or booking photos lies with the Napa County Department of Corrections, not the District Attorney’s Office. In the days after Mr. Pelosi’s arrest, Napa County followed the Department of Corrections’ policy regarding the release of booking photos and mugshots. Mr. Pelosi received the same treatment under that policy that all individuals released from County Jail receive.

No state law specifically requires the release of booking photos or mugshots, but policies regarding this topic can vary by jurisdiction. Napa County updated its policy to reflect current best practices and align with the policies of similar jurisdictions. As such, Napa County is now making available to the media and the public the booking photo of Mr. Pelosi taken at approximately 4:30 a.m. on May 29, 2022, at Napa County Department of Corrections.

This comparison shows you his real mugshot (on the left), and the fake mugshot (on the right).

As you can see, Paul Pelosi did not suffer any facial injuries from his crash.

Fact #3 : Paul Pelosi Was Arrested For DUI

Paul Pelosi was driving home from a dinner party at around 10:15 PM on Saturday night, when he attempted to cross a State Route 29 intersection at Walnut Lane in the Napa County.

His 2021 Porsche was hit by a 48 year-old Jeep driver, Jesus Lopez. Fortunately, neither men were hurt seriously, although both cars were written off in the crash.

After the accident, Paul was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.08%, and arrested on “suspicion of DUI”.

Fact #4 : He Faces Two Misdemeanour Charges

Paul Pelosi’s bail was set at $5,000 for two counts of misdemeanour :

driving under the influence
driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 or higher

He is scheduled to appear in court on August 3, 2022; although Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley said that she has not decided whether to bring charges.

This is standard protocol for any DUI case that is referred by a law enforcement agency in Napa County.

No decision has been made at this time. Any speculation to the contrary is incorrect.

When a filing decision is made by the Napa County District Attorney, the media and public will be notified.

Fact #5 : A Young Lady Was Not Involved

The claims that Paul Pelosi was with a (very) young lady are also false.

This was confirmed by the accident report, which only shows two drivers involved. There were no passengers in both cars.

Fact #6 : Nancy Pelosi Was Not Involved

To be clear, there were only two people involved in the accident – Paul Pelosi and Jesus Lopez.

Claim that US Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the real driver, but her husband covered for her are false. This was confirmed by her spokesperson, who stated :

The Speaker will not be commenting on this private matter which occurred while she was on the East Coast.

She could not be with her husband as she was in the East Coast to deliver a commencement address to the 2022 graduates and receive an honorary doctorate degree at Brown University in Rhode Island, on Monday, 30 May 2022.

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Did Justin Bieber Blame Pfizer Vaccine For His Paralysis?!

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Did Justin Bieber blame the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for the permanent paralysis of his face?!

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

Claim : Justin Bieber Blamed Pfizer Vaccine For His Paralysis!

Vancouver Times just posted a story claiming that Justin Bieber blamed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for the permanent paralysis of his face!

Justin Bieber now admits that he regrets taking the Covid-19 vaccine, saying that it left him with permanent paralysis in his face. Bieber made the confession to a close friend, who later leaked the information to the Daily Mail. Bieber reportedly plans on suing Pfizer for causing his paralysis, despite the fact the company is shielded from liability.

Bieber admitted that “the vaccine has ruined my life. I’m going to take these criminals to court and sue them. The CEO of Pfizer has a lot of skeletons in his closet, and now it’s payback time.”

Justin Bieber is a multi-millionaire with a massive platform. If he manages to stay alive, he may be able to blow the lid off the whole fake-pandemic-conspiracy. It has long been reported that Big Pharma and Hollywood are full of WEF and UN-aligned globalists that seek to form a one world government.

The mainstream media and big tech want to hide the truth. Beat them at their own game by sharing this article!

Truth : Justin Bieber Did NOT Blame Pfizer Vaccine For His Paralysis!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created to generate page views and money from gullible people.

Fact #1 : Vancouver Times Is A Fake News Website

Vancouver Times is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.

To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news, sometimes masked as “satire”.

To give themselves a veneer of deniability, they label themselves as a “satire website” in their About Us section.

Vancouver Times is the most trusted source for satire on the West Coast. We write satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.

We are not affiliated with the mainstream media (CBC, CTV etc.) in any way, and any similarities between our content and the work of the MSM is purely coincidental.

Fact #2 : They Relabel Fake Stories As Satire

The Satire section in Vancouver Times appears to be a place where their fake stories go to “die”.

It looks like their SOP is to post fake stories as genuine news, to trick people and go viral. They will then shift their fake stories to the Satire section after getting fact checked.

They first posted this fake story about Justin Bieber under their America section, only moving it to their Satire section after I fact checked it.

Here are some of the fake news that they created recently, that we debunked :

Fact #3 : Justin Bieber Did Not Blame Pfizer Or Vaccine

Justin Bieber himself explained on his verified Instagram account that his facial paralysis was caused by a viral infection, not the Pfizer vaccine :

I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis.

Vancouver Times falsely claimed that Justin told a friend who leaked it to Daily Mail, and added a link to trick you into believing it’s real.

The truth is – the Daily Mail article only detailed his Ramsay Hunt diagnosis, and did not claim he blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for it. In fact, the words “vaccine” of “Pfizer” do not even appear in the entire article!

Fact #4 : Justin Bieber Did Not Say His Paralysis Is Permanent

Vancouver Times falsely claimed that Justin Bieber said that his facial paralysis is permanent.

In fact, he told his fans that he will “get back to 100 per cent” by resting and doing facial exercises.

I will be using this time to rest and relax and get back to 100 percent so that I can do what I was born to do.

I am going to get better. I’m doing all of these facial exercises to get my face back to normal and it will go back to normal.

It’s just time, we don’t know how much time it will be, but it’s going to be okay.

That would obviously not be the case if his doctors told him that his facial paralysis is permanent.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome is treated by antiviral medication like acyclovir or famciclovir, as well as corticosteroids like methylprednisolone.

Generally, a high percentage of patients (70.4%) will recover completely with treatment, although some degree of facial paralysis and hearing loss may become permanent in some cases.

Fact #5 : Justin Bieber Did Not Say He Plans To Sue Pfizer

To be clear – Justin Bieber did not say that he plans to sue Pfizer for causing his condition. Vancouver Times made that up, to drive traffic to their website.

No one knows if Bieber was even vaccinated, never mind receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

Even if he was vaccinated, he could have received the Moderna vaccine or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – the other two COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United States.

What is clear though is that Justin Bieber never said he wants to sue Pfizer because their “vaccine ruined his life”.

Everything that Vancouver Times publishes should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Was Paul Pelosi Arrested For Child Porn + Cocaine?!

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Was Paul Pelosi – US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband – just arrested for child porn and crack cocaine?!

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

Updated @ 2022-06-10 : Added Napa County DA’s announcement on charges.
Originally posted @ 2022-05-30

Claim : Paul Pelosi Was Arrested For Child Porn + Cocaine!

Within hours of the news breaking that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was arrested in California, Vancouver Times posted a story that claimed he was found to also be in possession of child porn and crack cocaine!

They later updated their story to also claim that Nancy Pelosi would also face charges, and that she was tied to international sex trafficking rings.

Paul Pelosi is in serious trouble and could face many years in prison.

Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was re-arrested this weekend for possession of child pornography and crack cocaine. The MSM reported on the first arrest, but not the second arrest.

Sources indicate Pelosi paid off the prosecutor’s office to keep the second arrest “off-the-books.”

Paul Pelosi was first arrested late Saturday in Napa County north of San Francisco, according to a sheriff’s office online booking report.

He was caught driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 or higher, the report said.

Pelosi was originally released on bail, but was re-arrested after police found child pornography on his phone, as well as crack cocaine and pipes in his car. The child porn and drugs were not found during the initial search.

California Highway Patrol Officer and the FBI stated the investigation is ongoing and both Pelosi and his wife Nancy could be facing more charges. There has long been speculation the Pelosi’s are tied to international sex trafficking rings.

Pelosi’s arrest was first reported by TMZ.

Truth : Paul Pelosi Was Not Arrested For Child Porn Or Cocaine…

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created to generate page views and money from gullible people.

Fact #1 : Vancouver Times Is A Fake News Website

Vancouver Times is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.

To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news, sometimes masked as “satire”.

To give themselves a veneer of deniability, they label themselves as a “satire website” in their About Us section.

Vancouver Times is the most trusted source for satire on the West Coast. We write satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.

We are not affiliated with the mainstream media (CBC, CTV etc.) in any way, and any similarities between our content and the work of the MSM is purely coincidental.

Fact #2 : They Relabel Fake Stories As Satire

The Satire section in Vancouver Times appears to be a place where their fake stories go to “die”.

It looks like their SOP is to post fake stories as genuine news, to trick people and go viral. They will then shift their fake stories to the Satire section after getting fact checked.

They first posted this fake story about Paul Pelosi under their America section, only moving it to their Satire section after I fact checked it.

Here are some of the fake news that they created recently, that we debunked :

Fact #3 : Paul Pelosi Was Arrested For DUI

Paul Pelosi was driving home from a dinner party at around 10:15 PM on Saturday night, when his 2021 Porsche was hit by a 48 year-old Jeep driver on Walnut Lane in the Napa County while he was trying to cross a State Route 29 intersection.

After the accident, Paul was arrested on “suspicion of DUI”. He was not arrested for possession of child porn or crack cocaine.

Vancouver Times created that fake claim that the police found child pornography and crack cocaine to drive traffic to their website.

Fact #4 : He Was Granted Bail Within Hours

Paul Pelosi was granted bail within hours, which would not be possible if he was really found to possess child pornography and crack cocaine, as Vancouver Times falsely claimed.

According to Napa County records, this was what happened :

11:44 PM, May 28 : Paul Pelosi was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
4:13 AM, May 29 : Paul Pelosi was booked into jail
7:26 AM, May 29 : Paul Pelosi was released at 7:26 on bail

Fact #5 : He Faces Two Misdemeanour Charges

Paul Pelosi’s bail was set at $5,000 for two counts of misdemeanour :

driving under the influence
driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 or higher

As the police booking record shows, there was NO MENTION of child porn or crack cocaine – the possession of which are felonies, not misdemeanours.

Vancouver Times made up those claims, to drive traffic to their fake news article.

Fact #6 : Nancy Pelosi Was Not Involved

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not with her husband during the incident, it is nonsensical for Vancouver Times to claim that she could be facing charges herself.

This was confirmed by her spokesperson, who stated :

The Speaker will not be commenting on this private matter which occurred while she was on the East Coast.

Join me live @BrownUniversity as I deliver the Commencement Oration to 2022 graduates and receive an honorary doctorate degree. https://t.co/uBhdzJyOej

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 29, 2022

Fact #7 : Nancy Pelosi Was Not Tied To Sex Trafficking Rings

Nancy Pelosi was never tied to sex trafficking rings.

That is part of QAnon conspiracy theories about Democrat sex trafficking rings that have been repeatedly debunked.

Fact #8 : Napa County DA Reviewing DUI Charges

On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced that the Napa County DA’s Office was reviewing the DUI charges.

Haley also said that Paul Pelosi agreed to a court date for early August, although no decision has been made at this time (to charge him for DUI).

If it’s not obvious by now, Paul Pelosi was never arrested and will not be charged for possession of child porn or crack cocaine.

Everything that Vancouver Times publishes should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Please help us fight fake news websites like Vancouver Times – SHARE this fact check out!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Watch Out For SVCReady Malware In MS Word Documents!

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Please watch out for a new malware called SVCReady that is being embedded in Microsoft Word attachments!

Here is what you need to know about the new SVCReady malware!

Watch Out For SVCReady Malware In MS Word Documents!

The HP Threat Research just uncovered a new malware called SVCReady, which they first picked up on 22 April 2022 through HP Wolf Security telemetry.

SVCReady is being distributed in phishing emails with Microsoft Word attachments. On opening the infected Word document, an embedded Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) AutoOpen macro is used to run shellcode stored in the properties of the document.

Splitting the macro from the shellcode is a way to evade security software that would normally detect the malicious code.

Document properties containing shellcode, namely a series of nop instructions as represented by 0x90 values. Credit : HP

The SVCReady malware begins by downloading and loading its payload from the web, and connecting to its Command and Control (C2) server.

It then starts gathering and sending information to the C2 server like :

username
computer name
time zone
whether the computer is joined to a domain
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE|DESCRIPTION\System registry key
running processes
installed software

The SVCReady malware also connects to its C2 server every 5 minutes to report its status, send information, receive new instructions, or validate the domain.

Currently, the malware appears to only gather and send information. However, that will change as the malware persists in the system, and is capable of receiving both updates and instructions from the C2 server.

In fact, the HP team observed the SVCReady retrieve and load a Readline stealer payload on an infected computer. It’s a sign of things to come.

The HP team believes that the SVCReady malware is still in early development, with an influx of updates adding features like encrypted C2 communications, and detection evasion.

They also found evidence linking SVCReady to past malware documents by the TA551 (Shatak) group from 2019 and 2020.

SVCReady will eventually be used for more nefarious purposes once it is good and ready. Until then, the malware will stay hidden, lurking and waiting for its master’s commands.

How To Avoid SVCReady Malware In MS Word Documents?

The HP team discovered that the malware creates a new registry key, which could serve as a signature for security software to detect it : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{E6D34FFC-AD32-4d6a-934C-D387FA873A19}

But until security software are updated to detect SVCReady, the best way to avoid this malware is simple – do NOT open Word document attached to emails!

If you regularly receive Word documents in your emails, please VERIFY with the sender before opening them.

These phishing emails are designed to look legitimate. So be very careful about what you open!

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did US Biolabs In Ukraine Create COVID-19 Virus?!

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Did Russia just prove that US biolabs in Ukraine created the COVID-19 virus?!

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

Claim : US Biolabs In Ukraine Created COVID-19 Virus!

People are sharing this message on WhatsApp, claiming that Russia has proven that US biolabs in Ukraine created the COVID-19 virus!

It’s rather long, and we removed the links, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

America and Ukraine must pay for damages & life lost for the creation of Covid19 pandemic

Russia is presenting its case to the world on the U.S. Biolabs in Ukraine— along with China, Brazil, Mexico & India, calling for an immediate investigation. U.S. DS is in a panic state, denying it & does not want an investigation.

The DS U.S. doesn’t want an investigation. 3.2 BILLION people in China, India, Brazil, Mexico & Russia — nearly half of the world’s population are calling for an investigation into the U.S. for bioweapon facilities. UN, US, Nato will be found guilty of these crimes. BIG CHANGES are happening. These entities will be dissolved.

WHO is demanding DS Ukraine to destroy the bio lab evidence because they are also complicit. It’s ALL CONNECTED.

Russians Call for UN Security Council Meeting Over Pentagon-funded Ukraine Biolabs That Involved ‘Coronavirus’ Research
WHO warns Ukraine to destroy dangerous pathogens to prevent spills from bombed labs.
Documents Expose Barack Obama Ordered Construction Of Biolabs In Ukraine To Create Dangerous Pathogens.
US RAN GRUESOME BIOWEAPON RESEARCH IN OVER 25 COUNTRIES.
US BIOLABS IN UKRAINE CONFIRMED.
Hunter Biden Firm Rosemont Seneca Invested in Firm Tied to Ukrainian Biolabs.

CCS’s comments:
The world will definitely have to hold the American bastards totally n unreservedly responsible for their sinister n evil inhumane acts which they do to mankind.

The United Nation is formed and controlled by US for their sole n only purpose and not for the well being of the world. UN does not serve any purposes for the human race at all.

Show less

Truth : US Biolabs In Ukraine Did NOT Create COVID-19 Virus!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and promoted by pro-Russian and pro-CCP netizens, including the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).

It is really a hodgepodge of different false claims that try to shift the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic from China to the United States, while offering Russia a “legitimate reason” to invade Ukraine.

Fact #1 : UN Members Did Not Call For Investigation

On 11 March 2022, Russia accused the US and Ukraine of plotting to use migratory birds, bats and insects to spread pathogens across Europe.

The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, however, provided no actual evidence to back up those claims.

The fake news falsely claimed that China, Brazil, Mexico and India called for an immediate investigation. Only China called for “clarification” by the US and Ukraine, in an attempt to support Russia’s claims.

The UN High Representative for Disarmament, Izumi Nakamitsu, said that the United Nations was “not aware of any biological weapons programme” in Ukraine.

The UN Security Council certainly did not call for any investigation. In fact, many UN members publicly said that they are worried that it was a pretext for Russia to use its own biological / chemical weapons.

Fact #2 : US Does Not Have Biological Labs In Ukraine

Igor Kirillov, the Chief of the Russian Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Force, claimed that the US has 30 biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine.

The truth is – they are Ukrainian biological laboratories, some of which receive financial and other support from the US, the European Union and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This is not unique to Ukraine – biological labs in many countries receive similar support from the US, EU and the WHO.

Fact #3 : Biological Labs Are Essential To All Countries

Biological labs do not conduct biological warfare research, because that is banned in 183 countries under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

Instead, they are on the forefront of a country’s biosecurity defences, and are absolutely essential in developing tests and cures (including vaccines) for new and emerging diseases, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

In fact, both Russia and China have a number of biological labs, including the famous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is located right at the epicentre of the first COVID-19 outbreak.

It would be hypocritical (and intentionally?) misleading for both Russia and China to demonise biological labs. After all, they are ESSENTIAL to every country’s national security, including their own.

Fact #4 : Biological Threat Reduction Program Is Designed To Reduce Threats

Igor Kirillov’s “evidence” of US biological warfare program in Ukraine centred around the “Biological Threat Reduction” program.

Just in case the name isn’t descriptive enough, the Biological Threat Reduction Program is a US Department of Defense initiative to counter the threat of infectious diseases, whether they are deliberate, accidental or natural.

The program aims to counter biological threats in a partner country, at the source, before the threat can reach the homeland of impact U.S. Armed Forces or allies.

The program also prevents proliferation by cooperating with partner countries to eliminate their biological weapons, associated materials, and production facilities.

In other words, the bioweapon programme that Kirillov was ranting about is designed to identify and prevent or mitigate threats from biological weapons, as well as natural diseases.

I should also point out that whatever Kirillov mentioned was already publicly stated on the US Embassy in Ukraine’s website.

Fact #5 : US Biological Threat Reduction Program Started In Russia

The US Biological Threat Reduction Program actually started in Russia in 1998.

Russia was the program’s original partner country, and the Program spent the first ten years working with former Soviet Union partner countries.

The Russians are fully aware of what the US Biological Threat Reduction Program is all about, so their claims are outright, shameless lies.

This is even more egregious when they personally benefited from the Program for so many years, at the US government’s expense.

Fact #6 : WHO Warned Ukraine About Risk From Russian Bombing

All biological labs have to work with pathogens, which are by nature, dangerous. That is their purpose. A biological lab without pathogens would be like an airport without airplanes.

It is only logical for the WHO to remind Ukraine that they should destroy their samples of pathogens at their biological labs, after Russia invaded them.

Russian bombing could inadvertently or intentionally “free” those pathogens from their laboratory storage facilities, and disperse them into the nearby area.

Not only would that be dangerous for the nearby population, it could serve as a pretext for Russia to use its own biological or chemical weapons to “retaliate”.

Fact #7 : COVID-19 Pandemic Originated In China

China has repeatedly tried to “tai-chi” (shift) the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic to other countries, like the United States, and more recently – Ukraine.

But the truth is – the COVID-19 virus originated in Wuhan, China. The first cases were reported there, not in the United States or in Ukraine.

If the SARS-CoV-2 virus was created in Fort Detrick or the Azovstal laboratory, the cities of Maryland or Mariupol would have been the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, not Wuhan.

Genomic analyses of COVID-19 variants also proved that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.

This does not mean China should be blamed for COVID-19. It only means that it is wrong for the Chinese to repeatedly blame other countries for the virus.

This FAKE NEWS is being shared by pro-Russia and pro-CCP netizens.

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Arnold Schwarzenegger Sleep In Front Of His Statue?!

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Was Arnold Schwarzenegger once forced to sleep in front of his own statue, after being rejected by a hotel?!

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

Claim : Arnold Schwarzenegger Had To Sleep In Front Of His Statue!

People are sharing a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger sleeping in front of his own statue, together with this life lesson :

Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a photo of himself sleeping on the street under his famous bronze statue, and sadly wrote “How times have changed*

The reason he wrote the phrase was not only because he was old, but because when he was governor of California he inaugurated a hotel with his statue. Hotel staff told Arnold, “at any moment you can come and have a room reserved for you.” When Arnold stepped down as governor and went to the hotel, the administration refused to give him a room arguing that he should pay for it since they were in great demand.

He brought a sleeping bag and stood underneath the statue and explained what he wanted to convey: “When I was in an important position, they always complimented me, and when I lost this position, they forgot about me and did not keep their promise. Do not trust your position or the amount of money you have, nor your power, nor your intelligence, it will not last. “

Trying to teach everyone that when you’re “Important” in the people’s eyes, everyone is your “Friend ” But once you don’t benefit their interests, you won’t matter.

* You are not always who you think you will always be, nothing lasts forever”

Truth : Arnold Schwarzenegger Did Not Sleep In Front Of His Statue!

This is yet another example of celebrity FAKE NEWS, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : The Picture Is Genuine

First, let me confirm that the picture is genuine.

In fact, Arnold Schwarzenegger posted it on his own Instagram account and Facebook page on 15 January, 2016.

Fact #2 : He Did Not Sleep In Front Of His Statue

To be clear – Arnold only posed for the shot. He did not actually sleep in front of his own statue.

Fact #3 : He Was Filming A Movie At That Time

Arnold took that picture while he was in Columbus filming the movie, Aftermath (known at that time as 478).

He allegedly requested that the movie be shot in Columbus, because of his long love for the city.

More to the point – he would have been provided with accommodation while he was filming. He wouldn’t have needed to “comp” a hotel room…

Fact #4 : Most Of The Quotes Were Made Up

Arnold’s picture was only accompanied by this comment – “How times have changed.“. Nothing else.

The other quotes about being rejected by a hotel for losing his important position were made up.

Fact #5 : The Picture Was Not Taken Outside Any Hotel

Arnold took the picture in front of the Greater Columbus Convention Centre in Ohio. Not in front of any hotel, as the fake story claimed.

The 8 foot-tall statue was first erected outside the Franklin County Veterans Memorial on March 2, 2012, and moved to the Greater Columbus Convention Centre on October 6, 2014.

At the 2014 rededication of his statue, then-Mayor Michael B. Coleman told Schwarzenegger, “We want to memorialize that forever in front of our convention center.”

Fact #6 : He Did Not Inaugurate Any Hotel With His Statue

Arnold Schwarzenegger did not inaugurate any new hotel with his own statue. Why on Earth would anyone do that? It doesn’t even make sense.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was honoured with that statue to commemorate his commitment to Columbus, Ohio, where the Arnold Sports Festival is held every year.

Fact #7 : Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Rich

It is hilarious that so many people actually believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger would be so hard up for a free hotel room.

He is wealthy, with a net worth estimated to be between $300 million to $400 million.

Fact #8 : He Stepped Down As Governor In 2011

Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California for two terms – from November 17, 2003 until January 3, 2011.

In other words, he stepped down as governor 14 months before his status was erected in 2012! The fake story’s chronology is complete nonsense.

Fact #9 : Fake Story Has Been Circulating Since January 2018

This fake story appears to be created around January 2018, when it first went viral.

Since then, it has periodically gone viral over the years on social media – Twitter and Facebook, as well as on WhatsApp.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Hundreds Of Athletes Die Of COVID-19 Vaccine Effects?!

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Did hundreds of athletes die of COVID-19 vaccine side effects, shortly after getting vaccinated?!

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

Claim : Hundreds Of Athletes Died Of COVID-19 Vaccine Effects!

For many months now, the Good Sciencing website has been claiming that hundreds of athletes have died of COVID-19 vaccine side effects.

They compiled a list of athletes who died, and created a chart to prove that their deaths must be caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.

It is definitely not normal for so many mainly young athletes to suffer from cardiac arrests or to die while playing their sport, but this year it is happening. Many of these heart issues and deaths come shortly after they got a COVID vaccine. While it is possible this can happen to people who did not get a COVID vaccine, the sheer numbers clearly point to the only obvious cause.

The so-called health professionals running the COVID vaccine programs around the world keep repeating that “the COVID vaccine is a normal vaccine and it is safe and effective.”

In response to their pronouncement, here is a non-exhaustive and continuously growing list of mainly young athletes who had major medical issues in 2021/2022 after receiving one or more COVID vaccines.

Initially, many of these were not reported. We know that many people were told not to tell anyone about their adverse reactions and the media was not reporting them.

They started happening and ramping up after the first COVID vaccinations. The mainstream media still are not reporting most, but sports news cannot ignore the fact that soccer players and other stars collapse in the middle of a game due to a sudden cardiac arrest. Many of those die – more than 50%.

Show less

Truth : Hundreds Of Athletes Did NOT Die Of COVID-19 Vaccine Effects!

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

The truth is – hundreds of athletes did not die from COVID-19 vaccine side effects, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Their Vaccination Status Are Unknown

Before anyone can come analyse this issue, one must first collect good data. The problem is Good Sciencing doesn’t have good data.

Specifically, they do NOT actually know if the athletes in their database were even vaccinated!

If they are not even sure those athletes were vaccinated, how can they be sure their injuries or deaths were due to the vaccine???

But instead of doing any actual research, they gave themselves a waiver by claiming that everyone from the clubs, sponsors and even the players are hiding that information.

Wow, what an easy way out! Everyone must be lying, therefore they must all be vaccinated! What bullshit.

Fact #2 : They Did Not Establish Causation

Good Sciencing believes that their chart shows a direct correlation between COVID-19 vaccinations (which began for most countries in early 2021) and the deaths of athletes.

The problem is – correlation does not imply causation. For example, if you get pregnant after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, does it mean that the vaccine made you pregnant? Of course, not.

Good Sciencing never offered proof that the deaths or injuries were caused by the vaccine. They only claimed that the athletes must have died or got injured by the vaccine, because they were so young and fit.

Fact #3 : Many Athletes Die Unexpectedly

Good Sciencing suggests that it is rather rate for young and fit athletes to die suddenly. That’s really nonsense.

Let’s take a look at the same Maron study they used as evidence. The chart from that study shows a progressive rise in sudden death reports of 6% per year, from 1980 to 2006.

Good Sciencing does not show you this chart, because it shows that sudden deaths in young and fit athletes more than quadrupled from 1980 to 2006!

This puts paid to their claim that such a rise in sudden death must be due to the COVID-19 vaccine, which obviously did not exist back then.

Fact #4 : They Compared US Athletes vs. World

Good Sciencing claimed that over 680 athletes died in 17 months, compared to 1866 athletes in 27 years (324 months) of the Maron study.

But what they don’t tell you is that they were comparing athlete sudden deaths WORLDWIDE against the Maron study, which only looked at athlete sudden deaths in the United States.

Do they realise how stupid that is? The population of the United States in 2006 was 298 million, whereas the worldwide population right now is 7.9 billion.

No, they are not stupid. They are just dishonest. They skewed their data 26.5X in their favour, by comparing US deaths from the past to worldwide deaths today.

Fact #5 : Athletes Were Under Lockdown

Good Sciencing also (intentionally?) forgot to point out that the Maron study showed that 82% of those sudden deaths occurred with physical exertion during competition or training.

This is an important point, because most athletes were not competing or playing in the early months of 2021, due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

Those COVID-19 restrictions started to taper off as vaccination numbers rose, and sports tournaments and games started up towards the latter half of 2021.

The resumption of strenuous sporting activities would explain the increase in athlete sudden deaths throughout 2021. After all, many young athletes suffer sudden cardiac arrests during strenuous activities.

That is certainly far more plausible than blaming the COVID-19 vaccine without even knowing if they were vaccinated in the first place!

Fact #6 : They Included Chronic Diseases

Good Sciencing intentionally skewed their data by including deaths from chronic diseases like cancer and chronic heart conditions.

Here is a selection of athletes whose deaths / conditions they are blaming on the COVID-19 vaccine, despite being of chronic conditions that would be started long before the vaccine was developed.

Danielle Kang : Golfer who was diagnosed with a tumour on her spine, which has not been determined to be malignant or benign.
Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa : Footballer who underwent a quadruple bypass heart surgery to clear blocked coronary arteries.
Justin Hardy : Basketball player who died from stomach cancer.
Bobby Hill : Australian football player who was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Lazar LaPenna : 10 year-old boy (who isn’t an athlete!) who suffered from epilepsy, and died after going into seizures.

Amazingly, they even included athletes who suffered from COVID-19 injuries! I’m surprised they didn’t include athletes who died from car accidents!

Fact #7 : They Included The Elderly Too!

While Good Sciencing claimed that it is not normal for “young athletes” to suffer from cardiac arrests or die while playing their sport, they didn’t hesitate to include the elderly to skew their data!

Here is a selection of “not so young” athletes they used in their data…

Peter Matera : 53 year-old former Australian footballer who had a cardiac arrest while chopping wood
Michele Bortignon : 51 year-old rally driver who had a cardiac arrest while driving.
Franco Del C Pendant : 58 year-old cyclist who had a cardiac arrest while cycling.
David Shaffer : 59 year-old football coach who collapsed from a heart condition while driving.
Unnamed 60 year-old cyclist (not even an athlete!) who died while cycling.
Another unnamed 65 year-old cyclist (not even an athlete) who died while cycling.

Fact #8 : They Included Suicides!

Astoundingly, Good Sciencing included people who died from suicide in their data!

Lauren Bernette : 20 year-old softball player
Sarah Shulze : 21 year-old track and cross-country runner
Jordan Michelle : 29 year-old rugby player
Olivia Podmore : 24 year-old cyclist
Cameron Burell : 27 year-old sprinter
Albert Linder : 25 year-old weightlifter

In one case, where the person committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot, this was their reason for adding him to their database of athletes killed by the vaccine :

Was he vaxxed and if so, did he know his career was over?

Fact #9 : Good Sciencing Is Known For Fake News

Good Sciencing is known for creating and disseminating fake news about COVID-19 vaccines.

Everything posted by Good Sciencing (also called Real Science) must be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Please help us fight fake news websites like Good Sciencing – SHARE this fact check out!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Was Amber Heard Just Arrested For Perjury, Cocaine + Meth?!

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Was Amber Heard just arrested for perjury, only for cops to find cocaine and crystal meth on her too?!

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

Claim : Amber Heard Was Just Arrested For Perjury, Cocaine + Meth!

After the Johnny Depp – Amber Heard defamation trial concluded, Vancouver Times posted a story that claimed Amber Heard was arrested for perjury and cocaine, only for the cops to find her with cocaine and crystal meth!

Amber Heard has been arrested by state police for multiple criminal offences including perjury and possession of cocaine. Heard is accused of making multiple false statements on the witness stand during her defamation trial. When police went to her residence to execute the arrest warrant, Heard was found to be in possession of a small amount of cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.

This comes after a jury ruled in favour of her ex-husband Johnny Depp, deciding he had been defamed by Heard, giving him USD$15-million in damages. This amount was later slashed by the judge to $10.35 million.

Lawyers previously warned that Amber Heard was is in “serious danger” of facing jail time over perjury charges after the Johnny Depp case. This recent arrest proves the lawyers were right.

Like many high-profile cases, Heard’s arrest has been subject to a publication ban, and it won’t be reported by the mainstream media.

The mainstream media and big tech want to hide the truth. Beat them at their own game by sharing this article!

Truth : Amber Heard Was Not Arrested For Perjury, Cocaine or Meth!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created to generate page views and money from gullible people.

Fact #1 : Vancouver Times Is A Fake News Website

Vancouver Times is a “content aggregator” (copy and paste) website that is known for creating fake news to generate more page views and money.

To look legitimate, they copy and paste news from legitimate news organisations. To drive traffic, they create fake news, sometimes masked as “satire”. This time, they didn’t even bother to park it under their “Satire” section.

To give themselves a veneer of deniability, they labelled themselves as a satire website in their About Us section, hidden at the very bottom of the page, after a long list of comments.

Vancouver Times is the most trusted source for satire on the West Coast. We write satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.

We are not affiliated with the mainstream media (CBC, CTV etc.) in any way, and any similarities between our content and the work of the MSM is purely coincidental.

Here are some of the fake news that they created recently, that we debunked :

Fact #2 : Amber Heard Was Not Arrested

Amber Heard was not arrested, not for perjury, not for cocaine, not for crystal meth.

She may be at risk of being charged for perjury, but that has not happened yet.

Vancouver Times created that fake claim to drive traffic to their website.

Fact #3 : There Is No Such Thing As A Publication Ban

If Amber Heard was arrested, it would have been worldwide news, even if it was just for perjury and not the possession of cocaine or meth.

Vancouver Times likes to use the “media blackout” claim, to explain why you can’t find any reputable media outlet reporting on this. Not even TMZ!

That’s utter and complete bullshit. No one – not a judge, not even the FBI – can control the worldwide media, or prevent anyone from writing about such a momentous arrest.

You can also be sure that even if the mainstream media refused to run the story, it would have been gleefully published by celebrity bloggers and websites.

Yet, not a single press / gonzo outlet published their account of this incredible story? That’s because IT NEVER HAPPENED…

Remember the fake story of how Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was arrested by the FBI for fraud? That was also fake…

Fact #4 : Mainstream Media + Big Tech Would Have Loved The Hype

Vancouver Times is gaslighting you about how mainstream media and Big Tech want to hide the “truth” about Amber Heard’s arrest.

They would all loved it if she really was arrested for perjury and possession of cocaine and meth. The news would have driven tons of traffic and engagement to their websites / platforms.

In fact, that was precisely why Vancouver Times created the fake story – to drive traffic, for the ad money.

Everything that Vancouver Times publishes should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Please help us fight fake news websites like Vancouver Times – SHARE this fact check 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)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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