NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week | News | postregister.com

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File-In a file photo on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, with Chief Justice John Roberts sworn in, and Jill Biden (Jill Biden) Holding the Bible at the 59th Presidential Inauguration in Washington. On Friday, January 29, 2021, the Associated Press reported a false report circulating on the Internet, stating that Biden had taken the oath of "Masonry/Illuminati" at the inauguration. This is the "Duy-Hem Bible", an English translation of the Latin Bible, which has been used by the Biden family since the 1890s. Robert Miller, a professor of Bible studies at the Catholic University of America, said: "Even the Freemasonry is hardly more important than these Bibles.... The same is true for the Illuminati, as long as the Pope repeatedly condemns , And it certainly has no connection with the Catholic Bible." 

An overview of some of the most popular but completely unreal stories and visual effects of this week. Although they have been widely shared on social media, none of these are legal. The Associated Press checked them. This is a fact:

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False statement against the Bible used in the inauguration of President Biden

At the inauguration ceremony last week, President Joe Biden swore to read a "Masonic / Illuminati" Bible.

After Biden's inauguration, false social media posts proliferated, announcing that he had been sworn in. Some social media users mistakenly believe that the Bible a few inches thick is a family heirloom of the Biden family, is "masonic" or is related to the conspiracy of the Illuminati. Conspiracy theorists believe that a supposedly secret society wants to rule the world. Since the organization was founded more than 300 years ago, Freemasonry is a fraternal organization and has been the subject of conspiracy theories. Some founding fathers are even part of this group. "Are anyone else aware of this? Or?? The Freemason/Illuminati Bible that Biden swore yesterday..." wrote a Facebook user and a photo of Biden's hands on the Bible. There are 19,000 shares of false positions. But in fact, Biden has read the "Douai-Hems Bible", which is the English translation of the Latin Bible. The Bible has been in the Biden family since the 1890s. According to the Associated Press, he used the same Bible when he was sworn in as Vice President twice and Senator of Delaware seven times. Robert Miller, a professor of Bible studies at the Catholic University of America, told the Associated Press in an email: “Freemasonry will not obscure these Bibles at all.” “The same is true for'Illuminati', as long as the Pope Condemned again and again, and definitely has no connection with the Catholic Bible." Pastor Brent A. Straun, professor of Old Testament and Law at Duke University, told The Associated Press in an email that the Bible has no "conspiracy." . He explained that the Douai-Hams Bible is a translation of Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. He said: "Douai-Hems is just an English translation of the Latin Bible, which is very popular in Catholic piety and worship."

—Associated Press writer Arijeta Lajka in New York provided this report.

No, Biden did not instruct ICE to release all detained immigrants

A new order from the Biden administration instructs immigration and customs enforcement officers to immediately release all detained immigrants.

The Biden administration did not order all immigrants to be released from the ICE detention facility. The false statement is based on an email sent by a local ICE officer in Houston to the agent, which has been leaked to Fox News and does not involve context. The email begins with "I'm just a messenger..." and instructs the agent in the office to "stop all evacuation." One line read: "Release all of these immediately. There are no longer any sponsors available." The email signature shows that the email author is an assistant assistant at the ICE headquarters in Houston. Social media users and conservative websites cited leaked emails to spread false claims that various immigration reforms under the Biden administration included the immediate mass release of detained immigrants. "Joe Biden ordered ICE agents to release all illegal foreigners in custody," read the title of an article widely shared on Facebook. Biden’s Department of Homeland Security did issue a memorandum on January 20, which identified enforcement priorities and suspended the deportation of certain non-citizens who had been eventually removed from their posts. However, the order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Texas on Tuesday, but it did not include an order to release all immigrants. ICE shared a statement with the Associated Press on Tuesday, confirming that the agency has not been ordered to release everyone. The statement said: “The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to make detention decisions on a case-by-case basis in accordance with US law and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies.” “During routine operations, individuals can be released based on the circumstances and circumstances of the case. In addition, a review of the e-mail thread of the Houston ICE office revealed that the e-mail in question was withdrawn a day later, only applicable to a certain number of detainees, and was issued under a federal court order-not the Biden administration. Instructions. The state of Texas filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas for the injunction to expel the Biden government, and these emails are open to the public. The email thread modified the email address and name, and the message thread shows that after the first email was sent late on Thursday morning, it was retracted by an email on Friday afternoon that said "Retract now This instruction". The second email is signed "FOD", which is likely to be a reference to the head of the headquarters office of the highest position headquartered in the Houston office. Another email in the chain clarified that the original email was not instructing agents to release all immigrants, but instructing those “high-risk detainees” with health problems that must be evaluated based on ongoing federal lawsuits To be released. In this legal case, a federal judge in California has previously ordered ICE to review the detainees one by one and determine those at high risk of serious illness or death due to COVID-19, and prioritize their release. Elizabeth Jordan, a lawyer at the Civil Rights Education and Law Enforcement Center, said: "ICE is indeed obliged to conduct a positive review of risk factors for anyone in custody." The lawsuit represents immigrant detainees.

—Associated Press writer Jude Joffe-Block in Phoenix provided this report.

WHO does not say that COVID-19 testing has led to overstated cases

The World Health Organization admits that the PCR test used to diagnose COVID-19 has produced a large number of false positives, exaggerating the number of COVID-19 cases.

The WHO press release was distorted online as a misrepresentation, indicating that its polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19 caused large-scale false positives. Since the beginning of the pandemic, some social media users have been falsely suggesting that false positive test results are the real reason behind the millions of reported COVID-19 cases. The latest post distort the information notice of the World Health Organization. In posts widely shared on Facebook and Twitter, social media users claimed that the WHO admitted that PCR tests were causing false positives. Kelly Wroblewski, director of infectious diseases at the Public Health Laboratory Association, said people confuse infectiousness with what they think is a false positive. The PCR test can determine whether someone is at the beginning or the end of the virus. She said: "​​The PCR test cannot find what is not there, the virus is there." Compared with the rapid antigen test that identifies the protein from the antigen, the PCR test is usually a more sensitive test. The WHO issued an information notice to laboratory technicians on December 14, clarifying the instructions for analyzing the PCR test for COVID-19. The WHO subsequently updated the press release and issued it on January 20. The January press release went viral, claiming that it revealed the failure of the WHO. "Wait. Because the PCR detection threshold is too high, are there too many false positives?" said a Facebook post. "Man, I haven't heard of it anywhere-except for about 5 million visits by famous doctors, the media has conveniently silenced them in the past 10 months." However, the WHO has no such recognition. The agency did not see a large number of false positives. The so-called "large" false positives mentioned in the post are actually far fewer. The WHO told the Associated Press that it has received 10 reports on PCR testing related issues for SARS-CoV-2. The WHO said: "These reports are for misdiagnosis, including false positive and false negative results." "After thorough investigation, WHO confirmed that the test is not always used correctly in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer." The press release emphasized The importance of understanding patient details, the number of test cycles performed when analyzing the provided samples, and the patient's clinical history. The PCR test works by cyclically analyzing the viral load. Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said that the higher a patient’s viral load, the easier it is for PCR to be positive. More testing cycles are needed to detect infections with lower viral loads, such as at the beginning or end of infection.

---The Associated Press New York writer Beatrice Dupuy (Beatrice Dupuy) wrote this report.

The National Guard did not receive an offer to stay at the Trump Hotel in Washington

Donald Trump invited members of the National Guard to stay at the Trump Hotel in Washington so they don't have to sleep in the cold parking lot.

A spokesperson for the National Guard told the Associated Press that they had not received an offer to stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, the former Presidential Hotel. After the National Guard came to Washington to ensure the inauguration of President Joe Biden, they were temporarily sent to the parking lot to rest. On January 21, photos of guard members camping on the garage floor sparked widespread outrage and misinformation on the Internet. "President Trump said he will open his entire Trump hotel in Washington, DC to the National Guard troops in Washington, DC. President Biden and the Democrats kicked them to the side of the road and they were sent without food. , There is only one unheated Capitol parking lot, toilets for thousands of people. God bless President Trump!!!” Read a popular Facebook post. Another Facebook post said: “Most media will not tell you that Trump provided accommodation in the National Guard House that still remains in Washington, D.C., rather than sleeping on the cold floor of the garage.” But the guards said the troops have With a hotel room, Trump has never made such a proposal. The bureau’s media relations officer, Major Matt Murphy, told the Associated Press in an email: "The National Guard has not received any offers." When contacted by the Associated Press, the Trump International Hotel in Washington The spokesperson declined to comment. Captain Chelsea Johnson, a spokesman for the Washington, DC National Guard, said that all troops participating in the mission have hotel rooms that can be returned at the end of the shift. Some photos circulating on the Internet seem to show some troops inside the Trump Hotel, although these photos were first released before claiming that Trump provided them with his restaurant. Johnson said: "In order to perform this task, we will not station any National Guard at the Trump Hotel." "The National Guard can take shifts to rest between positions of their choice." In a briefing on Monday, Major General William J. Walker said that the guards who took pictures in the garage on January 21 are resting. Walker said: "No one sleeps there. No one sleeps there." In the same briefing, he said: "You stand up for 12 hours and want to rest." The Associated Press reported that the National Guard said that initially The army was withdrawn from the rotunda of the Capitol and other places, and rested in the garage at the request of the Capitol Police. According to the Associated Press, the National Guard and Capitol Police issued a joint statement on January 22, stating that they coordinated the establishment of "appropriate spaces" in the Capitol to avoid being on duty.

--Jude Joff Bullock and Arietta Raika

Bill Gates did not say that "3 billion people need to die"

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates hopes to eliminate at least 3 billion people around the world in a conspiracy involving vaccines, starting in Africa.

With the increasing popularity of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and other regions, a 2019 video falsely claimed that Gates wants to reduce the global population and is republishing it online this month. The Instagram and Twitter posts containing the video further confirmed Gates' claim that he wants to use mandatory vaccines as part of his plan to wipe out billions of people. The video shows the naturopathic physician Robert O. Young (Robert O. Young) using naturopathy in rehabilitation. He speaks in a panel of the International Natural Justice Court, an independent, UK-based organization with "​​Hearings" and "trials", its members advocate groundless. Conspiracy theories about 5G technology and the coronavirus. Young was convicted of practicing without a license and was ordered to provide 105 million U.S. dollars in compensation to a woman who said she advised her against traditional cancer treatment. She claimed that there is no evidence that Gates planned to kill billions of people starting in Africa. Young said: "In Bill Gates' words, at least three billion people need to die." "So we will start from Africa, we will start research in Africa, and we will eliminate most Africans because they are Sadly. They are worthless. They are not part of the world economy." Gates' review of the public statement found no content that matched these claims. Young’s statement seemed to misinterpret Gates’ comments in a 2010 TED speech when he said that vaccines and improved health care can help reduce the growth rate of the global population, thereby reducing carbon emissions. Gates said in the meeting: "Today's world has 6.8 billion people." "This number will reach about 9 billion. Now, if we do very well in new vaccines, medical care, and reproductive health services, we can take them Decrease by 10% or 15%." Gates is talking about reducing the population growth rate (not population) by 10% or 15%. In past interviews, Gates believes that improved vaccines and medical care can abnormally slow the population growth rate of poor countries because it reduces child mortality. Gates said that as more and more children reach adulthood, parents may choose to reduce the size of their family. Gates said in an interview in 2012: "It is amazing that as the children survive, parents will feel that they have enough children to support their old age, so they choose to reduce the number of children." Bill and The Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Court of Natural Justice did not respond to requests for comment.

—Associated Press writer Ali Swenson (Ali Swenson) of Semora, North Carolina wrote this report.

Biden's cancellation of Keystone XL pipeline is bad for Warren Buffet

Billionaire Warren Buffett donated $58 million to President Joe Biden's campaign, so Biden cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline to show his favor.

Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, neither contributed to Biden's presidential campaign nor recognized him. Buffett has previously expressed public support for the Keystone XL pipeline. On Biden's first day in office, he cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline construction permit, saying it was inconsistent with the government's "economic and climate requirements." It is planned to carry about 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to the Gulf Coast of Texas. The posts that have been shared more than 60,000 times on Facebook indicate that Biden stopped pipeline construction not for environmental reasons, but out of favor of Buffett. But the main point of the post is that billionaire investors are the main donors to Biden’s campaign, which is incorrect. "Warren Buffet owns the railroad that now carries all the oil. Warren Buffet donated $58 million to the Biden campaign. When Warren Buffet (the pipeline) is completed, it will damage​ Lost billions of dollars in transportation costs. Look at how politics works? This is not an environmental issue, it is a monetary issue..." the Facebook post wrote. In fact, there is no record that Buffett has donated money to Biden's 2020 presidential election. Buffett's assistant Debbie Bosanek confirmed to the Associated Press that he did not do so. Federal Election Commission records show that Buffett has no personal donations in 2020. In 2019, he donated $248,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which supports Democratic House candidates, and $5,800 to Democratic Arizona Senator Mark Kelly's campaign. In 2018, he donated $33,900 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $33,900 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, and $2,700 to the Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala and Rufus Gifford campaigns. Bosanek told the Associated Press that the 90-year-old billionaire did not make other donations through the Political Action Committee during the 2020 campaign cycle. Buffett did not run for the current president. Bosanek told the Associated Press in an email: "Mr. Buffett does not recognize Mr. Biden, but he and his wife voted for Mr. Biden." Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway ( Berkshire Hathaway does own the BNSF railway, a freight rail network that transports crude oil. Although analysts for many years believed that the Keystone XL pipeline would take over the business from BNSF, Buffett expressed his support for this project when he appeared on CNBC TV in 2014. "The competitors weren't big at the time," Buffett said at the time. "I think the Keystone pipeline is a good idea for the country." Bosanek told the Associated Press that Buffett has not recently raised any comments on the project that he can remember, nor has he taken a position on how the project will affect its business. Bosanek wrote: "Mr. Buffett has never seen any report from BNSF on whether Keystone Pipeline will increase or decrease railway revenue."

---Jude Geoff Bullock

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