Donald Trump on Obamacare
Claim:  Donald Trump issued a pithy criticism of Obamacare. INCORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2012] I recently read an article on facebook attributed to Donald Trump about Obamacare. Here it is: Let me get this straight...We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose  chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress who didn't read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a Dumbo President who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government who has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that is broke!!!!  Origins:  In the wake of a June 2012 Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of health care reform legislation commonly known as Obamacare, the above-quoted criticism of that legislation began circulating online, commonly attributed to business magnate Donald Trump. This item saw renewed circulation in mid-2015, when Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. However, this criticism didn't originate with any public statement made by Donald Trump: it's an anonymous bit of political humor that has been posted and reposted many times in blogs and social media since at least as far back as March 2010. posted reposted A number of sources (such as Fox News and CNSNews.com) have erroneously attributed credit for this quip to Dr. Barbara Bellar, an Illinois State Senate candidate who used it in a speech she delivered at a Chicago Women for Romney rally in August 2012.  However, as noted above, this bit had already been repeatedly posted to online sites for more than two years before Dr. Bellar incorporated it into her 2012 speech (and she has acknowledged that she was not its originator): Fox News CNSNews.com acknowledged So let me get this straight. This is a long sentence. We are going to be gifted with a health care plan that we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't, which reportedly covers 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman doesn't understand it, passed by Congress, that didn't read it, but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and financed by a country that is broke. So what the blank could possibly go wrong?     Last updated:  8 July 2015
Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In June 2020, as professional sports in the U.S. worked on strategies to return to work amidst the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, an image was circulated on social media that supposedly showed the NFL's new COVID-19 series helmets:   This is not the official design of the NFL's helmets for the 2020 season. This is a piece of fan art showing what the helmets could look like if the sport returns during the pandemic.  This image did not originate with any of the NFL's official channels, nor was it shared by Nike, the company that is providing the uniforms for the NFL this year. This image originated on the Stadium Facebook page, where it was shared with the caption: "NFL players might sport #COVID19 helmets this fall ... What do you think? ?" The keyword in the previous sentence, of course, is might, but even that implies too strong of a connection between this image and the NFL.  The above-displayed image was created by manipulating a real picture released in 2012 of Nike's latest NFL uniform designs:   While the COVID-19 series NFL helmet shown above is an unofficial concept design, the NFL is reportedly working on new helmet face guards to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.  The Mercury News reported: reported With an eye toward getting back on the field during a pandemic, the NFL is working on a helmet face guard that might provide the same sort of protection as a surgical mask. Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, who heads up the leagues competition committee, said the issue was raised during a conference call about a month ago. A lot of players have played with a clear shield to protect their eyes, McKay said Tuesday during a video conference call with Atlanta media. This would be extended even further. Thom Mayer, who is medical director of the NFL Players Association, said league engineers and sports equipment company Oakley are testing prototypes of a modified face mask that might contain surgical or N95 material. As of this writing, the NFL has not released any images showing what these COVID-19 helmets could look like.  Bousky, Patrick.  "Nike Unveils New Chicago Bears Uniforms, Monsters of the Midway Look Stays." 
  Bleacher Report.  3 April 2012. Mercury News.  "COVID-19 Has NFL Considering Helmet Face Guards That Work Like Surgical Masks."
  20 May 2020. For years, Austin taxpayers have indirectly helped fund schools elsewhere in accord with the states more than 20-year-old system for equalizing aid among school districts, some of which have vast differences in taxable property wealth. Kirk Watson, the Democratic state senator from Travis County, attached an ear-catching figure to those costs during a November 2016Texas Tribune panel discussionabout hot issues in the 2017 legislative session. In Austin, Texas, Watson said, the average homeowner is paying about $1,300 to $1,400 just for recapture, as in funds shifted to less property-rich districts elsewhere. And so thats going to the state to fund state obligations. We have got to look at how were doing our school finance system so that we can do right by the people in this state and have a fair and equitable system. We asked Watsons office how he arrived at his figure for how much average Austin homeowners are paying to schools elsewhere. By email, Kate Alexander said Watson relied on September 2016 testimony by the Austin school districts chief financial officer. According to Nicole Conley'sprepared remarksfor a Sept. 28, 2016, appearance at a joint hearing of the Texas House committees on appropriations and public education, Conley described the Austin school district as the states largest single payer of recapture. Our payment alone comprises 13 percent of all state collections, Conleys testimony says. During the next five yearsbetween fiscal years 2016 and 2020Austin ISD is projected to pay almost $2.6 billion in recapture payments to the state. By 2019, more than half of every tax dollar collected in Austin will go to the state. Later inher testimony: Conley said: So to put it in perspective, we could lower our tax rate by 35 cents if we werent sending $406 million to the state under the recapture system. For the average homeowner in Austin, that would amount to about $1,400 in lower taxes. Thats fairly substantial; thats pretty significant tax relief. That would certainly make Austin more affordable for some of our taxpayers. To our inquiry, district spokesman Jacob Barrett told us Conley reached her savings figure for the average homeowner starting from the districts 2016-17 budget indicating it expects to pay $406 million in recapture to the state in accord with the school funding system. That payment amounts to 38 percent of the districts $1.061 billion in budgeted property taxes, Barrett noted. Barrett said the district got to the average homeowners share of the budgeted recapture payment starting from its average taxable value of a home in the district of $328,844 (as of June 2016) on which such an owner expected to pay $3,548 in school maintenance and operations property taxes at the M&O tax rate of $1.079 per $100 valuation. Finally, Barrett said, multiplying the 38 percent by that $3,548 delivers the portion of taxes on an average-value residence that goes to recapture of $1,355. Barrett also emailed us a December 2012district documentshowing that by amount, the Austin district's 2015 recapture payment was followed by what was paid by the Highland Park (Dallas); Eanes; Cotulla; and Karnes City districts, respectively. Also, the document says, the Austin districts annual recapture payment is projected to exceed $630 million in 2019 when more than half of every school property tax dollar collected locally will be recaptured by the state. Next, we asked non-district experts--Joe Wisnoski, a former Texas Education Agency official; Tom Canby of the Texas Association of School Business Officials; and Christy Rome, who advocates for districts required to make recapture payments--to evaluate how the Austin district determined the average Austin homeowner will pay $1,355 in school property taxes toward the districts 2016-17 recapture total. Solid, each expert said. By email, Wisnoski cautioned though: The average doesnt really describe much about the distribution of payment amounts, so you dont really know how many taxpayers are clustered close to that amount, and how many are really far away (high or low) compared to the average. Finally, we looked into how much a district resident with the median value home might be paying toward its recapture total. For that, we ran the median value of homes in the Austin district as of Aug. 8, 2016--$261,487--through the districts equation. Result: The median-value homeowner will be expected to pay $2,821 in M&O school taxes, of which $1,078 would be her or his share of the districts recapture payment. Barrett, the district spokesman, didnt question our math. He noted, though, that Watson referred to the average homeowner. Its fair, Barrett said by email, to use the variable that we do. Our ruling Watson said the average Austin homeowner pays about $1,300 to $1,400 just for recapture, as in funds ultimately spent in other districts. By the Austin districts analysis, the owners of a home at the districts average taxable value for 2016-17 stands to pay $1,355 in school property taxes toward the districts more than $400 million recapture payment for the year. We rate this claim True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/f5103bc2-4b1f-4b8e-9d32-d1795f788004 Did he or didnt he? Only the ghost of Strom Thurmond knows for sure. Mystery surrounds whether, back in 1984, the former senator from South Carolina knowingly deprived Puerto Rico of bankruptcy protections that every U.S. state enjoys. Its crunch time for Puerto Rico. The island territory needs to pay bondholders $422 million on May 1. It doesnt have the cash, it cant use bankruptcy to reschedule its payments, and Congress seems unlikely to craft a solution in time to avoid a massive default. During hisApril 24, 2016,HBO showLast Week Tonight, comedian and social critic John Oliver described the devils brew of legal oddities and fiscal recklessness by Puerto Rican officials that brought the island territory of the United States to the financial brink. If you are massively in debt and you cant declare bankruptcy, you are stuck, Oliver said. And this happened because of a tiny amendment to a law in 1984, and the crazy thing is, no one can say why it was written. The tiny amendment Oliver mentioned was stuck in the most boring location one could ever imagine  in the definitions section ofHR 5174, a bill geared mainly to fixing the bankruptcy court system. Buried in a long list of changes was the meaning of state. 'State' includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, except for the purpose of defining who may be a debtor under chapter 9 of this title; That was it. With those two dozen words, the bankruptcy protections that applied to every state, and until 1984, to Puerto Rico, too, were wiped away. We tried to find out for ourselves why that amendment got attached, Oliver said. We knew Strom Thurmond had proposed it. So we asked an archivist at the library where his papers are kept to go through the relevant papers, and they came up with nothing. Oliver quipped about that lack of a paper trail, saying it might be the best scenario for Thurmond given his reputation for fervent racism. Oliver enlivened his diatribe over Puerto Rico's dilemma witha rapperformed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the son of Puerto Rican parents and the creator and star of the Broadway hitHamilton.Miranda mentioned Thurmond, too: Somewhere down the line Strom Thurmond's ghost busted a cap at a chance at Chapter 9. Which brings us to the focus of this fact-check: Did Thurmond propose the cunning words that ultimately caught Puerto Rico in a debtors vice? Thurmonds role Ina 2015 ruling, the judges of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals provided some very helpful background. In March 1984, the House passed its version of a bankruptcy bill. That version did not have the Puerto Rico exemption. Then on May 21, 1984, the judges wrote that Thurmond introduced the package of changes that included the text at the center of this controversy. On the day that he introduced the amendment, Senator Thurmond addressed the Senate to explain several of its numerous stipulations, yet said little about the newly added Puerto Rico exemption, the judges wrote. In fact, we went through theCongressional Recordfor that day (thank you, Internet Archive). Thurmond said less than little. He said nothing. The record shows that after Thurmonds amendment, the exemption became part of the final legislation. While this seems to point the finger at Thurmond, theres more to this story. Aside from introducing the overall amendment, Thurmond might not have had much to do with the text. It had been introduced four years before, and not in the Senate, but in the House. Congress earlier run at changing the law Experts question whether Thurmond actually understood the significance of the amendment. To see why, we have to go back to 1978. That year, Congress gave the bankruptcy law a complete overhaul. As often happens with major legislation, various gaps and ambiguities emerged and, in 1979, the Senate passed a bill to tidy up the loose ends. Among the dross, the Senate defined states to include Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and any territory or possession of the United States. That legislation moved over to the House, and here the trail becomes murky. Bankruptcy law professor Stephen Lubben at Seton Hall University traced thetwists and turns in a 2014 article. In July 1980, the House Judiciary Committee returned with an amendment to the Senate bill that struck the entire Senate text and replaced it with theJudiciary Committees desired text, including a new definition of state,  Lubben wrote. The House version, under Democratic control, had the Chapter 9 bankruptcy exclusion for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. That bill never passed, but in April 1981, Lubben found that the exclusion language resurfaced in the Senate. This exclusion was never discussed by Congress, at least publicly, and the language apparently simply materialized as a result of the House Judiciary Committees extensive revision of the 1979 Senate technical corrections bill, Lubben wrote. Lubben told us that the text in Thurmonds 1984 amendment was essentially the same language that was kicking around since 1980. Its not even clear that the parties even understood what was going on, Lubben said. The only thing we can say for certain is the change happened without a whole lot of thought behind it. Another factor makes it hard to find Thurmonds fingerprints on the text that beleaguers Puerto Rico today. The change was never offered as a stand-alone item. It was always bundled with a number of other small changes. Law professor John Pottow at the University of Michigan told us, Strom Thurmond might have introduced that, but its an overstatement to say he played a big role. A final mystery  if youve followed the trail this far, you will notice that in 1984, the House version of the bill didnt have the Puerto Rico exclusion. The logical question is, why was it dropped when the House was the first to add it in 1980? We wish we knew. Our ruling Oliver said we know that Thurmond proposed the text that stripped Puerto Rico of the right to let municipalities and public utilities declare bankruptcy. There is no question that Thurmond introduced the amendment with that change. So technically, he did propose it.But theres no evidence that he came up with the idea, and experts question that he understood the significance of the change that would follow. The statement is accurate but requires some additional information. We rate this claim Mostly True. https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/260b6aad-f921-45fc-9937-1d82d35f7874 This fact-check previously contained erroneous references about the timing of Strom Thurmond's Senate career and Lin-Manuel Miranda's birthplace. In April 2017, a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon offer (purportedly good for $75 off any purchase) began circulating on Facebook under the guise of a Mother's Day promotion:   The "coupon" displays a domain name not part of the chain's legitimate web site, and the link takes Facebook users to a fraudulent web site posing as part of Bed Bath & Beyond, and instructs them to follow a simple set of instructions:Bed Bath & Beyond warned customers about the circulating phony discount in responses on their Facebook page:  page   This scam is almost exactly the same as earlier schemes targeting Home Depot, Costco, Amazon, and Kroger shoppers. Although the scams exhibited minor variations, they all feature three main identifiers. Home Depot Costco Amazon Kroger All require Facebook users to forward the phony coupon on to their Facebook friends, increasing the number of potential victims. They also instruct targets to complete out a simple survey and promise an outsized reward for a minor effort, a seemingly harmless task that often mines sensitive information such as e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and credit card details. Finally, the completion of the "survey" never results in the receipt of a coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond (or any other known brand appropriated by scammers). Often, the ruse results in a subscription for difficult-to-cancel Reward Offers, or simply the disclosure of personal details to social media grifters. In a best-case scenario such efforts are a simple but effective like-farming scam, which can lead to embarrassment if the "liked" page is converted into an unpalatable one with risqu or rude content. scam The Better Business Bureau gave these three tips to identify these particular scams on Facebook: Facebook Dont believe what you see. Its easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure theres a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for a reward thats too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin says recent Democratic governors have pushed Virginia into economic decline and people are moving out. Over the last few years, more Virginians are moving away from Virginia than are moving to Virginia from the other 49 states, he said during aMay 21 interviewon WRVA radio in Richmond. Youngkin holds two Democrats responsible: Current Gov. Ralph Northam and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who led the state from 2014-2018 and is Youngkins opponent this year. Virginia is the only state that bars governors from serving successive terms. We fact-checked Youngkins talking-point claim that more people are leaving Virginia than coming in and found it to be correct, although the reasons for the outward migration go far beyond any governors control. The numbers The Internal Revenue Service publishes annual statistics on the number of households that moved and filed federal tax returns from a different state than the one in which they lived the previous year. Demographers and economists use these figures to track the net migration of families in the U.S. from year to year. Thedatashow that from 1991 through 2012, Virginia always had more households coming in than going out. That changed in 2013, when there was a net loss of 4,270 households. Virginia had fewer filing households in each of the next five years - an average annual loss of 5,600 families. In 2018, the last year for which figures are available, Virginia lost a net of 4,707 households. This doesnt mean theres been a massive flow out of Virginia. To give some perspective, about4 millionVirginia households annually file federal taxes. The net losses to other states in 2018 came to less than one-eighth of 1% of households. The U.S. Census Bureau also tracks net migration. Itestimatesthat Virginia lost a net 11,994 people through domestic migration during the 12-month period that ended July 1, 2019. The reasons Jobs were the main reason people left Virginia for other states at the start of the last decade. That switched to the rising cost of living at the end of the decade, according to economic and demographic studies. Virginia is home to large military bases, and a fleet of defense and government contractors and federal workers that drive the states economic engine in Northern Virginia. The region was hurt by sequestration programs beginning in 2013 that automatically cut defense and domestic spending when Congress could not agree on a budget. The result was that many Virginians whose paychecks were dependent on federal spending, particularly for defense, left the state to find new jobs, according to a2016 reportby Old Dominion University. More recently, the migration has been mainly triggered by people escaping the high cost of living in Northern Virginia, according to Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. They are largely young professionals seeking to buy first homes and raise families. Many are heading South to growing regions in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Texas. Lombard also said that Virginia is losing retirees, mostly to Southern states. Youngkin blames the migration losses on McAuliffe and Northam.He prefaced his claim by saying he is frustrated with what the Democratic leadership had done to Virginia over eight years. But Lombard said the governors have had little control over the economic trends that have caused losses. Think of the cost of housing; the state has little control of that, he said. If you could point to anything that could have been done on the state level over the years, maybe it could have focused on making more of Virginia (economically) competitive outside Northern Virginia, Lombard said. Our ruling Youngkin said, Over the last few years, more Virginians are moving away from Virginia than are moving to Virginia from the other 49 states. IRS data backs him up. But Youngkin wraps the data in a questionable political context. He blames the last two Democratic governors for the net migration loss when research shows most of the drop has been caused by problems largely beyond any governor's control: federal budget cuts and high prices for buying a home in Northern Virginia. Youngkins statement is accurate but needs clarification. So, we rate it Mostly True. On 19 June 2015, a controversial doctor named Jeffrey Bradstreet was found dead in a river by a local fisherman from what the local sheriff's office later determined was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest. Bradstreet was an outspoken proponent of the discredited theory that vaccines cause autism, as well as a practitioner of and an evangelist  for a fringe remedy derived from human blood known as GcMAF (illegally advertised as a cure for everything from cancer to autism). practitioner evangelist  GcMAF His death came just days after his Georgia clinic was raided by the federal agents looking for GcMAF or other unlicensed medical treatments. On the day he was found, a Swiss clinic associated with a company that Bradstreet had frequently promoted and which used GcMAF, was raided after five patients died (though it is not clear if those five patients died from GcMAF or some other cause). raided associated His family, not convinced in the official conclusion that his death was a suicide, hired a private investigator to look for indications of foul play, which provided fodder for internet conspiracy theorists -- many suggested he had been murdered by someone working for the pharmaceutical, medical, and regulatory establishments. hired Erin Elizabeth, the founder of Health Nut News, has taken this sentiment and run with it, arguing that Bradstreets death was not only suspicious, but far from an isolated incident. Her post on Bradstreet provided a gateway into what would become the central focus of her work over the next year and a half -- unraveling the mystery around what she claims are the suspicious deaths of over 60 doctors of holistic medicine. Her post claims Her efforts have caught the attention of countless other conspiracy-minded web sites, including Natural News and Alex Jones InfoWars. Aspects of the narrative are allegedly being developed into a movie, and on 30 April 2017, Elizabeth was featured on an episode of Investigation Discovery Channels Scene of the Crime, with Tony Harris that focused on Bradstreet's death. Natural News InfoWars allegedly on an episode Elizabeth first wrote about Bradstreets death on 23 June 2015, in a post implying (but not demonstrating) there was more to the story than met the eye, and citing Bradstreet's family and friends' doubt over the official cause of death as proof. Building off of the success of that article, Elizabeth has expanded what she calls her unintentional series to include over 50 posts on Health Nut News. wrote Frequent breaking headlines and Elizabeths repeatedly stated fears for the safety of partner, Joseph Mercola, a prominent holistic doctor with an extensive web site, have added a sense of urgency. Her posts, often devoid of details that provide any tangible link between events, almost invariably tie the deaths if not directly, then by not-at-all-subtle innuendo, to the conspiracy narrative created in the Bradstreet story. stated This-bait-and-switch started right away. For example, in her report on the case of chiropractor Bruce Hedendal on 1 July 2015, who was found dead in his car, reportedly of natural causes, she implies (but never expands on) a link to Bradstreet: Bruce Hedendal The second doctor is Dr. Bruce Hedendal, DC, PhD of Boca Roton, Fl. who died suddenly on Fathers Day, leaving behind a beautiful family. Sources tell me that he was found dead in his car; there had been no accident and it wasnt running. He had exercised earlier at an event, but we dont want to speculate as the authorities have yet to rule on his cause of death. [...] Both Dr Hedendal and Dr. Bradstreet had dealt with run ins with the feds in the past. In fact, Dr. Bradstreets office was just raided by the FDA days before he died. In this post, we critically and systematically examine each person that Elizabeth has included in her series to see if suggestions of linked causes or outright conspiracy hold up. In doing so, we demonstrate that Elizabeths series fails to a) coherently articulate the conspiracy, b) consistently utilize the same list of victims, or c) demonstrate any connection between the victims whatsoever. What Is the Conspiracy? Elizabeth, who repeatedly stresses that she has no proof of a connection between any of these cases, generally suggests that there have been a large and underreported number of holistic doctors whose deaths were suspicious or unexplained. In its early iterations in the summer of 2015, the claims suggested a local Florida connection (Bradstreet had moved from Florida to Georgia), as she wrote in the 21 July 2015 post: post Yet another doctor was just found murdered inside his home here on the East Coast of Florida. This makes six doctors to be found dead in the last month, from this region of the country alone. Four out of the six were found dead here in Florida. As the series progressed, however, the geographic and chronologic window widened, with later reports coming from numerous states across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the Caribbean island of Grenada, and the United Kingdom. Chronologically, the series has expanded retroactively to include incidents that predate Bradstreets death, going back as early as the summer of 2014. incidents summer of 2014 Other aspects of the story that have been broadened with its telling and retelling are the defining characteristics of the alleged victims of the conspiracy. In some cases, the doctors that Elizabeth includes have no connection to holistic medicine whatsoever (despite her headlines), and in other cases the link to holistic medicine is extremely tenuous and based on observations such as liked Facebook pages, veganism, or an openness to preventive medicine.  Elizabeth herself does not offer any suggestions or explications for motive, but strongly suggests the link lies within their alternative approach to medicine, as she does in her most recent recap of the series: recap Some of the biggest skeptics, those who rolled their eyes at the first few deaths, are now wondering if there isnt a connection. There have been theories, from GcMAF to CBD oil, but I dont think all doctors used both of these treatments. Im not convinced either is the smoking gun, but might hold part of the answer. There are several unsolved murders here (and some alleged suicides, most still under investigation), and I sincerely hope they get to the bottom of this as again, we knew several of these amazing doctors personally. The dubious (and unsubstantiated) shared connections of GcMAF and CBD oil -- a non-psychoactive component of cannabis used primarily for pain management -- among these doctors is about as close to a motive as you will find on Health Nut News. Still, it has been enough fodder for others to attach their own pet theories tosome conspiracy peddlers focus on GcMAF despite the fact that almost none of the other doctors were involved in it, while others tie the conspiracy more generally to the heavy-handed interference of the federal government. peddlers Who Are the Victims? Elizabeth claims that well over 60 victims, who are mostly holistic doctors have died suspiciously. She has not published a definitive list, but when she recaps the growing list of departed doctors, she posts a photo montage of the alleged victims faces. Without a clear tally from Elizabeth, we took it upon ourselves to generate a list of the doctors whose deaths she has said were suspicious. The task proved complex because many of her reports come with the caveat that they are not part of the official series but are nonetheless included in her photo montage. Elizabeth told us via email that this inconsistency stems from advice she got from a reporter: After talking to a seasoned reporter in NY, I decided he was correct I couldn't pick and choose who to put into this series so I included all of them and usually wrote about right after their deaths were announced. Our list includes 61 doctors (provided for your own fact-checking pleasure on this Google spreadsheet) and is derived from Elizabeths posts, reverse image searches of the collage of victims faces, and discussions with Elizabeth herself. 56 of the doctors on our list come from her collage (which includes two duplicate faces). Elizabeth sent us links to an additional five posts about deaths that she has not yet included in the photo montage. Google spreadsheet   As we will show below, of these now 61 doctors, all but five can easily be excluded from any conspiracy attacking alternative medical practice. The remaining five cases, while perhaps not without some intrigue, are far from sufficient proof of of any large scale conspiracy against alternative health practitioners. Elizabeth Herself Has Already Excluded 14 of the 61 Cases As Elizabeths conspiracy claims have expanded, she has taken to posting about deaths that even she admits are not part of her list of dead holistic doctors. Yet, she includes these doctors in her photo montage and has posted about questions surrounding their deaths on Health Nut News. questions These fourteen doctors include five chiropractors who died in car accidents (Chris Coffman, David Knotts, Thomas Eynon, William Snow and Janelle A. Bottorff) introduced with this caveat: five chiropractors  this caveat Im not including these officially in my holistic series of doctors who have been found dead or murdered, but have had more than one of their patients write me saying that they would like me to do a story on them. Elizabeth also wrote a post about four doctors (none of whom practiced any form of alternative medicine) killed in accidents (Christopher Spradley, Robert Grossman, Anthony Keene and Dick Versendaal) that come with this caveat: this caveat I dont think these four in accidents were probably foul play. I just included them as a few asked me to. These doctors werent holistic (that I know of- I havent researched) I guess the lesson is that wearing a helmet, even when simply riding a bicycle, doesnt necessarily protect you. It also shows how quickly our lives can be taken away from us or those around us so treasure every moment with your loved ones. Another six posts about individual doctors deaths come with disclaimers or updates admitting that their deaths were not mysterious. Despite that admission, Elizabeth continues to include their faces on her dead doctor collage. These doctors, only three of whom practiced alternative medicine, are Jamie Zimmerman, Nabil El Sanadi, Lorraine Hurley, Kenneth Rich, and Alan Clarke. Jamie Zimmerman Nabil El Sanadi Lorraine Hurley Kenneth Rich Alan Clarke Seven of the Remaining 47 Cases Can Also Be Excluded as Accidents We found another seven cases that are clear and incontrovertible accidents -- though Elizabeth has not admitted as much. This includes John Louis Lombardozzi, a chiropractor killed in a motorcycle accident  (listed as suspicious because he was an experienced rider); Wade Shipman, an osteopath who died in a bike accident; John A. Harsch, a holistic doctor killed in a car accident; Thomas Bruff, an occupational medicine doctor who died in a plane crash; Mark Buller, a bioterrorism expert who died after being struck by a car; and surgeon Anita Kurmann, who was killed in a bike accident. Finally, Linnea Veinotte, a researcher who had a teaching post at St. Georges University in Grenada, was killed in a hit-and-run for which the perpetrator later turned himself in. motorcycle accident  because osteopath plane crash struck by a car killed in a bike accident researcher turned himself in Fourteen of the Remaining 40 Cases Are Murders Unrelated to a Medical Conspiracy Fourteen of the doctors in Elizabeths series were murdered. Although each case is disturbing, in all but one the likely perpetrator has been identified -- and in the remaining case, the victim was a retiree who clearly posed no threat to the medical establishment. One of the cases Elizabeth most often refers to in hers series is that of Teresa Sievers. Dr. Sievers was involved in holistic medicine and her murder was complex and mysterious enough to be featured on the CBS program 48 hours. However, the investigation ultimately ended in the arrest of her husband on the suspicion that he paid a man to kill her for a life insurance payout. The case is still working its way through the courts. Teresa Sievers featured Another notable case involved the brutal and premeditated killing of a Southern California doctor who combined conventional and holistic medicine, Weidong "Henry" Han. Dr. Han, along with his wife and five year old daughter, were killed by a former business partner for financial gain, as reported by the Associated Press: Weidong "Henry" Han reported A California man was charged Tuesday with murder in the slaughter of the family of a Chinese herbalist, including his 5-year-old daughter, in a crime authorities say might have been caused by a business dispute. Pierre Haobsh, 26, of Oceanside was charged with murder with special circumstances that he used a handgun, killed for financial gain and committed multiple killings. Santa Barbara County prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty. [...] A loaded gun and property belonging to one of the victims was found inside the car where Haobsh was arrested, Sheriff Bob Brown said last week. As horrific as this event was, the likely perpetrator in this case was known to the victim, making it unlikely to be part of a larger conspiracy. The same can be said about these deaths included in the Health Nut News series: murdered who believed her husband neighbor former employee ex-employee murder-suicide over complaints Three more doctors were murdered in three random acts of violence that, despite involving assailants unknown to the victims, involved either a perpetrator who is now in custody, or a victim not plausibly related to any medical or regulatory conspiracy: turned himself robbery gone wrong unknown assailant Ten of the Remaining 26 Cases Involve People With No Tie to Holistic Medicine  In many instances, Elizabeth includes individuals in her series who have no documentable tie to holistic medicine. Among the most tenuous connections to holistic medicine is the case of Cheryl Deboar, who was employed in a non-research role at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and had a degree in chemistry. employed Also notable is the inclusion of Jeffrey Whiteside, a pulmonary/critical care doctor who, despite a complex and potentially mismanaged investigation that ultimately concluded that his death was a suicide, did not practice or have ties to any form of alternative medicine. Elizabeth uses the problems in the investigation to generate suspicion but fails to make any link to a larger narrative about the threat she thinks alternative medical practitioners are facing. potentially mismanaged a suicide generate suspicion Other tenuous connections included in this category: connection clinical cancer researcher connection chief of anesthesiology no proffered tie connection junior doctor strike excessive sweating integrative medicine two weeks connects clear suicide 11 of the Remaining 16 Cases Cannot Plausibly Be Considered Suspicious  In ten of the remaining cases, the cause of death is known and generally accepted. This includes the death of Alfredo "Dr. Sebi" Bowman, an alternative health guru and traditional healer who died in an Honduran jail where he was being held on money laundering charges. Bowman was an important figure in the alternative health world, but conditions in Honduran prisons are notoriously harsh, crowded, and unsanitary, making it unsurprising that an 82 year-old with pneumonia did not survive his detention there. died in an Honduran jail notoriously Similarly, 56 year-old anesthesiologist and libertarian presidential candidate Mark Feldman, who was anti-vaccine, died in a motel where he was found by an unidentified woman. Authorities determined that his death was caused by a heart attack. heart attack In other cases, Elizabeth barely makes an attempt to draw the deaths of these individuals into a larger narrative, as with chiropractor Armon Burt  the victim of a heart attack whose inclusion in the series stems from Elizabeths barely-articulated hunches that minor details surrounding his death are strange: details Dr. Armon Bert, who was reported missing by his family, was found in his car in the parking lot of a Kirkwood Lowes store (St Louis suburb), the apparent victim of a heart attack (how do they clock his death at exactly 10:04 AM if they found him in the car?). The remaining cases here are those in which Elizabeth challenges the reader to prove a negative  that there is not evidence that it wasnt suspicious  without providing any tangible evidence that there is cause to doubt the official cause of death: obituary clearly states died of a heart attack learned about found dead took his life Finally, Rod Floyd, a professor at Palmer College of Chiropractic, whose suicide Elizabeth casts doubt on by saying that she heard things but is unable to elaborate on them as even [she] doesnt know all the details. There is no verifiable evidence of foul play in his death. unable Five Cases Involving Holistic Doctors Remain After eliminating the above 55 doctors from the official unintended series, we are left with only five cases involving individuals who practiced some form of alternative medicine and whose death could arguably (though this is a stretch) look suspicious. This includes the death of Jeffrey Bradstreet (discussed earlier), the incident that spawned this whole series in the first place. Elizabeth includes another indisputably prominent figure in the alternative medicine scene, Mitchell Gaynor, in her series. As with Bradstreet, Gaynors death was ruled a suicide, which Elizabeth questions for spurious reasons. She argues that Gaynor, who supplemented his traditional treatment with natural remedies, wouldnt have committed suicide because he had recently beat the flu and survived a car accident: argues Im confused because his close friend and patient (also a doctor) told me that they were told he had walked away from a car accident, but then days later he was found in the woods at his country home in Upstate New York. Im also confused because posts on his personal Facebook page (which you might only be able to see if you are friends with him or have mutual friends) had colleagues saying that they were so sorry he missed the conference he was supposed to attend last weekend because allegedly he said he had the intestinal flu. So, lets say the information we were given was true. Lets say he survived a car accident (we dont know the details yet) and walked away from it, then he gets the intestinal flu (apparently survives that too) and then kills himself (allegedly in the woods at his country home, according to a patient and friend)? We are unsure what these details have to do with his state of mind, but it should be noted that surviving both the flu and a car accident are not necessarily indicators of mental health. The other notable figure is Nick Gonzalez, an oncologist who practiced controversial and unproven alternative cancer treatments. Gonzalez died at age 67 of cardiac-related issues. His death sparked its own conspiracy theories and memes, as he once joked that pharmaceutical companies might target him for his work, as Vitality Magazine reported: reported The keynote speaker at this years Whole Life Expo is Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez of New York, one of a small number of doctors whose success in treating cancer exceeds that of mainstream oncology by a wide margin. His work thereby puts the lie to pharmaceutical propaganda that fuels a cancer industry bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars while fooling millions of desperate and bewildered patients. Ive been told drug companies know about my work but hope I get hit by a bus, Dr. Gonzalez observes wryly. The two remaining cases included here involve people who had connections to holistic medicine, but were far from national figures in the movement and could barely be considered primary targets for a hit job: found in his car disputed his patients These five cases, and perhaps even some suicides mentioned above, form a kind of Rorschach Test  if you are looking for evidence of a plot against alternative medical practitioners, you will likely be drawn to them. However, recognizing that nearly every story included in Elizabeths unintended series is demonstrably unrelated to each other means that any conspiracy made must be crafted from the deaths of three prominent doctors -- plus two doctors who, despite having experience with alternative medicine, were not national figures or a plausible threat to any medical establishment. A Collection of Unrelated Tragedies  As we reported in the earliest debunking of this conspiracy theory, between 6,500 and 8,200 doctors can be expected to die each year in the United States alone. These five deaths over the span of a year and a half, from a statistical standpoint, are not abnormal. Further, outside of vaguely defined philosophical beliefs, there is absolutely no connection between any of them. reported In fact, amongst the whole series, the only true defining similarity between all the cases described on Health Nut News is that Elizabeth promises to keep people updated on their developments if they join her email list. Because the claim of over 60 dead doctors cannot be demonstrated even by Elizabeth herself, and because nearly all of the cases she uses can be easily excluded from a larger conspiracy, we rate the claim as false. There is no conspiracy afoot. Instead, there are simply 61 individual tragedies that have been inelegantly strung together by an alternative health website whose not-so-subtle innuendo has subsequently echoed through the darkest and most paranoid corners of the internet -- and which has begun to leak into mainstream media outlets as well. Carpender, Heather.  "Body Located in Rocky Broad River in Chimney Rock Identified."
  WHNS-TV [Greenville, SC]..  23 Jun 2015. Cave, Rachel.  "Grenada Man Accused in Death of Linnea Veinotte May Not Go to Trial Until 2017."
  CBC News.  4 August 2016. Czebiniak, Madasyn.  "Doctor, 64, Found Dead in Her Home in Sharon."
  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  13 August 2015. Debbie, Samantha.  "Doctors Murdered After Discovering Cancer Enzymes in Vaccines."
  Natural News.  19 September 2016. Gills, Wendy, and Sarah-Joyce Battersy.  "Murder Charge Upgraded to First-Degree in Ryerson Prof Stabbing."
  The Star.  7 January 2016. Grant, Megan.  "Jin Qing Huang Found Fit to Stand Trial on Murder Charge in Death of Tiejun Huang."
  CBC News.  26 August 2016. Helling, Steve.  "Georgia Woman on Vacation in Grenada Killed on Beach by Sword-Wielding Man."
  People.  26 January 2016. Smith, Jim.  "Man Wanted in Vicious Plymouth Murder of Quincy College Professor."
  WBZ-TV [Boston].  7 May 2015. Sparks, John.  "Arrest Made in Death of Dr. Ronald Schwartz of Jupiter."
  WPTV [Palm Beach, FL].  5 January 2016. Parker, Micaela.  "Hearing Reveals Details in Case of Woman Charged with Killing Boss."
  [Utica] Observer-Dispatch.  28 September 2016. Miller, Michael, E.  "The Mysterious Death of a Doctor Who Peddled Autism Cures to Thousands."
  The Washington Post.  26 July 2015. Moriarty, Erin.  "Eleven Hundred Miles to Murder."
  CBS News.  18 February 2017. Mott, Kristen.  "Beachwood Doctor Died from Natural Causes."
  Cleveland Jewish News.  19 August 2016. Neely, Chanda.  "Cleveland Clinic Doc Who Sought Libertarian Party Presidential Bid Found Dead in Brook Park Motel."
  Cleveland.com.  23 June 2016. Pologod.  "Dr. Sebi Dies in Police Custody in Honduras."
  The Source.  8 August 2016. Salinger, Tobias.  "Georgia Boxer 'Terrible Thomas' Charged in Death of His Wife Weeks After Allegedly Assaulting Her: Reports."
  [New York] Daily News.  21 July 2015 Sarich, Christina.  "Another Alternative Health Doctor Killed, Found in Makeshift Grave."
  InfoWars.  28 December 2015. Sott, Geraldine.  "Doctor Who Was Found Dead in Old Buckenham Had Taken Drugs Which Could Be in Levels Considered Lethal."
  Eastern Daily Press.  9 February 2017. Walsh, Paul.  "Autopsy: Alcohol a Factor in Fatal Fall of HCMC Doctor Found Along I-94."
  [Minneapolis] Star Tribune.  7 January 2016. Texas Chiropractic Association.  "Longview Chiropractor Dies in Wreck; Children Injured."
  1 June 2014 Erie Times-News.  "Dr. John Louis Lombardozzi."
  1 June 2016 KOTV [Tulsa].  "Prominent Tulsa Physician Kills Himself."
  30 October 2015 KENS-TV [San Antonio].  "DPS: Body Found in Kendall Co. Identified as Missing Boerne Doctor."
  6 April 2016. KABC-TV.  "Is Dr. Sievers' Homicide Tied to Other Doctors' Deaths?"
  6 July 2015. stopthethyroidmadness.com.  "Lyme Sucks!! In Loving Memory of Paige Adams, FNP, B-C."
  2 February 2016. The News and Observer.  "Life Stories: Raleighs Baron Holt Known as a Faithful Healer."
  12 July 2016 BBC News.  "Junior Doctors' Row: The Dispute Explained"
  6 April 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Famous Autism Researcher and Doctor, Jeff Bradstreet, MD, Died of Alleged Self Inflicted Gunshot Wound to Chest and Found in a River."
  Health Nut News.  23 June 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "3rd Alternative, Prominent Doctor From Florida Found Dead in 2 Weeks."
  Health Nut News.  1 July 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "2 More Doctors Go Missing, After 3 Found Dead in 2 Weeks"
  Health Nut News.  5 July 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Breaking: 4th Doctor (DO) Found Dead, Gunshot Wound to Head."
  Health Nut News.  14 July 2015. Elizabeth, Erin.  "5th Holistic Doctor (age 33) Died in Florida Making 5 Dead and 5 More Missing."
  Health Nut News.  14 July 2015. Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic and Fit Dentist, 41, Found Dead of Massive Heart Attack While Jogging."
  Health Nut News.  21 July 2015. Elizabeth, Erin.  "5 Chiropractors Die in Accidents in Recent Months, 3 Single Car."
  Health Nut News.  1 August 2015. Elizabeth, Erin.  "Fit Vegan Cardiologist Dies in Freak Accident, Florida MD Dies While Jogging Saturday & More,"
  Health Nut News.  3 August 2015. Elizabeth, Erin.  "10th Doctor (Osteopath) Found Slain in Her Home."
  Health Nut News.  14 August Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic MD Nick Gonzalez, Who Died Suddenly, Said Hed Heard Big Pharma Hoped Hed Get Hit by a Bus."
  Health Nut News.  21 August 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "NY Times Announces 11th Holistic Doctors Death as Suicide?"
  Health Nut News.  18 September 2015. Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic New York MD Hit & Killed by Intoxicated Driver in Long Island"
  Health Nut News.  11 October 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Twelfth Holistic Doctor Found Dead, Alleged Suicide"
  Health Nut News.  11 October 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Thirteenth Holistic Doctor (MD, PhD) Dies  Allegedly Jumped from 20th floor."
  Health Nut News.  30 October 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "2 Doctors Walking Home, Both Found Dead, One Stabbed to Death in "Safe Neighborhood."
  Health Nut News.  19 December 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Canadian Doctor Killed, Body Found in Makeshift Grave"
  Health Nut News.  23 December 2015 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Florida Doctor & Broward Health Chief & President, Found Dead from Alleged Suicide"
  Health Nut News.  24 January 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic MD & Anesthetist Attacked on Beach by Man w/Sword."
  Health Nut News.  26 January 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Local Florida Holistic Doctor (& Our Friend) Found Dead, He Was Healthy & Hearty.
  Health Nut News.  26 January 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Dr Bradstreets Colleague (& My Friend/Neighbor) Found Dead in Florida."
  Health Nut News.  1 February 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Top Leading Cancer Scientist Found Dead in Tree in Fetish Body Suit."
  Health Nut News.  14 February 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Researcher at Famous Cancer Center Found in Woods Ruled Suicide, But No One Buying It."
  Health Nut News.  14 February 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "NBC: Marshall Investigator Has 100% Confirmation Doctors Death Was a Set-Up."
  Health Nut News.  27 February 2016. Elizabeth, Erin.  "34 Year Old Doctor/Cancer Researcher Found Dead in Field."
  Health Nut News.  19 March 2016. Elizabeth, Erin.  "ABC: Holistic Doctor & Family Killed in Horrific Triple Murder at Santa Barbara Estate."
  Health Nut News.  25 March 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Another Holistic Doctor Killed"
  Health Nut News.  7 April 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Another Doctor, 25 y/o, Mysteriously Found Dead in Body of Water  No Witnesses."
  Health Nut News.  2 May 2016. Elizabeth, Erin.  "Alternative & Holistic MD, John Hicks, Has Died"
  Health Nut News.  3 May 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic Doctor/Professor Found Stabbed to Death in Her Home."
  Health Nut News.  11 May 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic Doctor Found Dead After Missing for Weeks"
  Health Nut News.  13 May 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  Yet Another Doctor Found Dead in Plane Crash"
  Health Nut News.  18 May 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Prominent NY Holistic Doctor Found Dead of Alleged Suicide"
  Health Nut News.  11 June 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "NBC: NY Holistic Doctor Thought to Have Died Naturally Was Poisoned"
  Health Nut News.  14 February 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Murder Suicide: Gunman Kills Holistic Doctor, Then Himself"
  Health Nut News.  15 June 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Another Holistic Doctor (MD) Murdered at His Clinic, 2 Doctors in 2 Days"
  Health Nut News.  17 June 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "32 y/o Holistic Doctor Dies of Apparent Heart Attack at Her Home"
  Health Nut News.  23 June 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic Doctor Found Dead in Parking Lot Before Seminar"
  Health Nut News.  5 July 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Breaking: Renowned Holistic Doctor Found Stabbed to Death in Her Palo Alto Home."
  Health Nut News.  17 July 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "MD Found Murdered Inside Florida Home Today."
  Health Nut News.  21 July 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic Doctor and Inventor Killed in Accident"
  Health Nut News.  25 July 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "The Truth of Holistic Celebrity Dr Sebis Death."
  Health Nut News.  6 August 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic MD Killed in What Appears to Be a Tragic Accident (RIP)"
  Health Nut News.  5 October 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Holistic Doctor Death Series: Over 60 Dead in Just Over a Year"
  Health Nut News.  12 March 2016. Elizabeth, Erin.  "Breaking: Outspoken Holistic Doctor Allegedly Commits Suicide on Mothers Day"
  Health Nut News.  13 May 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Breaking: Another Holistic Florida MD Found Dead."
  Health Nut News.  24 November 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "ABC: Holistic Doctor Found Dead in His Natural Health Clinic, Police Investigate as Homicide."
  Health Nut News.  4 March 2017 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Another Holistic Doctor Shot in His Clinic, Dies Hours Later."
  Health Nut News.  17 March 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Famous MD Jumps Off George Washington Bridge to His Death in NYC."
  Health Nut News.  13 February 2016 Elizabeth, Erin.  "Doctor Killed on Riverview Drive Was Slu Professor, Expert on Bioterrorism."
  Health Nut News.  24 February 2016 YourCaring.  "Support for Kristina and Lucas in Loving Memory of Jyrki." Coral Springs Funeral Home.  "Obituary for Laura Elizabeth Skellchock." Christensen, Doreen.  "Never Let Them See You Sweat: 4 Ways to Plug Up That Damp Domain Under Arms."
  Sun Sentinel.  2 July 2012 Draaisma, Muriel.  "Chiropractor Slain in Burlington Had 'Biggest Smile in the Room."
  CBC News.  25 March 2015 Associated Press.  "Widower Accused of Killing Naturopathic Doctor After Wifes Cancer Death."
  10 March 2017 Annese, John.  "ABC News Doctor's Ex-husband Dies in Jump from George Washington Bridge."
  [New York] Daily News.  13 February 2017 Saint Louis University.  "Mark Buller, Ph.D.: 1949-2017."
  February 2017 Correction [26 March 2018]: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Jessica Colker as Jessica Corker. Jobs in manufacturing, especially in the auto industry, drew so much attention in recent political campaigns that one observer speculated every man, woman and child in Ohio must spend their days building cars.PolitiFact Ohio knew that was a joke, but the focus on factories increased our interest in comments by Gov. John Kasich when he addressed the 2012 meeting of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation on Nov. 29, 2012. The Ohio Capital Blog recorded the event.Agriculture, Kasich said,  is the strongest industry in Ohio and the bedrock of the state of Ohio.We've heard similar comments from others: Sen. Sherrod Brown (the state's No. 1 industry), the state Department of Agriculture (Ohio's No. 1 industry) and the Farm Bureau itself (Ohio's top industry).It's a bipartisan claim.But PolitiFact Ohio wondered what measure makes agriculture No. 1. Employment? Dollars generated? Taxes levied? Square footage?So we called Kasich's office and the state Agriculture Department and asked for sources.Both referred us to OHFOOD, for Ohio food, which is an annually updated economic model developed by Thomas L. Sporleder, the much-cited professor of agribusiness at The Ohio State University.The model, by its own description, is designed to capture the inter-dependencies and linkages among various sectors and industries composing the complex economy of Ohio and specifically to provide estimates of the economic importance of the food and agriculture-related cluster, along with the general manufacturing and service sectors, of the Ohio economy.Agriculture Department spokeswoman Erica Pitchford Hawkins said the analysis is the most comprehensive study available of Ohio agribusiness, and we could find nothing comparable.The most recent, from June 2012, uses data from 2010 gathered primarily federal and county level agencies, Sporleder said.In 2010, the study found, the total food and agricultural cluster contributed 11.7 percent, or $105 billion, of Ohio's total economic output of $898.7 billion. The cluster's share of the gross state product of $477.7 billion was $51 billion, or almost 11 percent.Ohio's gross state product improved by 1.3 percent from 2008 to 2010, the study said, while the portion attributed to the agrifood cluster increased about 30 percent.The agrifood cluster accounts for 14 percent of Ohio employment, or about 1 of 7 jobs. It gained 1 percent from 2008 to 2010, a period when total employment declined about 3 percent.There are some points worth noting:In the OHFOOD study, the financial, legal and real estate cluster is listed as a larger private sector of the state economy than the agrifood cluster. Kasich's office, though, pointed out that the grouping of financial services, legal services and real estate activities is particular to the study. That grouping is not used by such agencies as the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.Sporleder told us the cluster is grouped because its all service related, but its not a supply chain in the way food and agriculture is.That leaves food and agriculture the biggest sector of the state economy.If youre only talking about commodities, thats not the case, Sporleder said, meaning the cluster is more than just farming. If youre talking wheat to flour to bread, you get the sector build-up. Its an interdependent supply chain.More than just farming, the agrifood or agribusiness cluster also encompasses processing, wholesaling and retailing, and food services. As a group, it accounts for $3 billion of the gross state product in the OHFOOD mode.Kasich described agriculture as the strongest industry in Ohio. Data shows that the agrifood sector is the largest sector of the states economy.His statement is accurate. On the Truth-O-Meter, it rates True. On Jan. 9, 2023, we reviewed an Ulta Beauty email scam that claimed recipients had won a $500 gift card. This was a phishing scam, and it did not come from Ulta Beauty. The Ulta Beauty email scam claimed to come from "Ulta Department 74130" via an email address that ended with the domain name, climatekids.net. "Answer and win a brand new $500 Ulta Beauty gift card," the email read.  We scanned the link in the scam email with IPQualityScore.com's helpful malicious URL scanner, which readers can use for free. The scan found that the link was "very risky" and contained "suspicious activity." malicious URL scanner We visited the link in a safe way and noted that it began on cosmosis.org, then redirected to quinyspike.com. The browser then redirected once more to resonatorbang.com, where we were presented with the fake survey. The fake survey began, "Congratulations! You've been chosen to receive a brand new $500 Ulta Beauty Gift Card! To claim, simply answer a few quick questions regarding your experience with us.Attention: This survey offer expires today, January 9, 2023." After the fake survey, we were redirected for the final time togillydealdays.com, where we were asked to provide our personal information and a credit card number. The credit card number was supposedly needed to pay shipping costs for the $500 gift card. We strongly advise against providing any such details to websites that readers are unfamiliar with. Always safeguard your personal and financial data when browsing online. Remember that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. We checked the Whois domain information for the registration ofgillydealdays.com. According to the details we found, the website had been registered for the first time ever just four days before on Jan. 5. Brand new websites can often be a sign of a scam, and that's exactly what was happening here. "Malicious URL Scanner | Scan URLs for Malware | Malware URL Checker." IP Quality Score, https://www.ipqualityscore.com/threat-feeds/malicious-url-scanner. "Wayback Machine." Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/. "WHOIS Domain Lookup." GoDaddy, https://www.godaddy.com/whois. For most of us who watched the televised Joint Hearings Before the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition and the House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran (better known as the "Iran-Contra hearings," held by Congress to determine whether the Reagan administration had secretly and illegally sold arms to Iran in order to secure the release of American hostages, then used the profits from those sales to fund the contra rebels in Nicaragua) in 1987, the enduring image we came away with was a memory of an unapologetic and resolute Lt. Col. Oliver North delivering testimony in a Marine uniform. North, who was a central figure in the plan to secretly ship arms to Iran despite a U.S. trade and arms embargo, and who as a National Security Council aide directed efforts to raise private and foreign funds for the contras despite a Congressional prohibition on U.S. government agencies' providing military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, testified before Congress under a grant of limited immunity in July 1987. Although North had been granted limited immunity for his testimony, he was later convicted of criminal charges related to Iran-Contra activities (a conviction that was eventually overturned on the grounds that witnesses had been influenced by his immunized testimony). One of the charges against North was that he had received a $16,000 home security system paid for out of the proceeds of the Iran-Contra affair and had forged documents to cover his receipt of an illegal gratuity. North admitted that he knew the security system was a "gift" but maintained he never inquired about who had paid for it or how it was financed, and he was insistent that he needed the security system because the government had failed to provide adequate protection against international terrorists for him and his family. The terrorist North mentioned in his testimony was not Osama bin Laden, however. To the extent that bin Laden was known to the western world in 1987, it was not as a "terrorist" but as one of the U.S.-backed "freedom fighters" participating in the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden's hatred of the U.S. and conversion to "terrorist" status is not believed to have come about until the Gulf War of 1990-91, when he was outspokenly critical of Saudi Arabian dependence upon the U.S. military and denounced U.S. support of a "corrupt, materialist, and irreligious" Saudi monarchy. (The Saudi Arabian government stripped bin Laden of his citizenship in 1994 for his funding of militant fundamentalist Islamic groups.) occupation Oliver North did not testify about or mention the name Osama bin Laden during the Iran-Contra hearings. He claimed that threats against his life had been made by terrorist Abu Nidal, telling a congressional committee: testify Abu Nidal Abu Nidal is, as I am sure you on the Intelligence Committee know, the principal, foremost assassin in the world today. He is a brutal murderer. And I would like to just, if I may, just read to you a little bit about Mr. Abu Nidal ... "Abu Nidal, the radical Palestinian guerrilla leader, linked to last Friday's attacks in Rome and Vienna"  that was the so-called Christmas massacre in which 19 people died and 200 were wounded  "is the world's most wanted terrorist." That is the Christian Science Monitor. When you look at his whole career, Abu Nidal makes the infamous terrorist Carlos [the Jackal] look like a Boy Scout. Abu Nidal himself, quoted in Der Spiegel, "Between America and us, there exists a war to the death. In the coming months and years, Americans will be thinking about us." "For sheer viciousness, Abu Nidal has few rivals in the underworld of terrorism." Newseek. Our own State Department, and we have copies of these that we can make available for insertion in the record, but the State Department summary on Abu Nidal, not exactly an overstatement, notes that his followers, who number an estimated 500, have killed as many as 181 persons, and wounded more than 200, in two years. Abu Nidal does not deny these things. We also have an exhibit that we can provide for you that shows what Abu Nidal did in the Christmas Massacres. One of the people killed in the Christmas Massacre  and I do not wish to overdramatize this  but the Abu Nidal terrorists in Rome who blasted the 11-year-old American Natasha Simpson to her knees, deliberately zeroed in and fired an extra burst at her head just in case. I want you to know that I'd be more than willing ... to meet Abu Nidal on equal terms anywhere in the world. There's an even deal for him. OK? But I am not willing to have my wife and my four children meet Abu Nidal or his organization on his terms. To emphasize his point, North showed the committee a blow-up of a newspaper article detailing the atrocities of Abu Nidal and recalled that an 11-year-old girl named Natasha Simpson, the daughter of an Associated Press news editor, had been gunned down (along with four other Americans) during an attack by an Abu Nidal group on the El Al terminal at the Rome airport in December 1985. North also later claimed that an attempt on his life had been made five months before his congressional testimony at the instigation of Libyan leader Mohmmar Qadaffi: Mohmmar Qadaffi In February 1987, Muammar Ghadaffi ordered his thugs to carry out a threat made against me in 1986. Thankfully, the FBI intercepted the well-armed perpetrators on the way to our home, and my family and I were sequestered for a time on a military base. The orders from Tripoli were delivered to a terrorist cell in Virginia  at the offices of The People's Committee for Libyan Students. So no, Oliver North didn't warn us back in 1987 about Osama bin Laden's "potential threat to the security of the world" or suggest that bin Laden be hunted down by "an assassin team," nor was he given the brush-off by a clueless senator "who disagreed with this approach." Eventually, Col. North drafted his own response to this piece of misinformation: FROM THE DESK OF LTCOL OLIVER L. NORTH (USMC) RET.NOVEMBER 28, 2001OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS, I HAVE RECEIVED SEVERAL THOUSAND E-MAILS FROM EVERY STATE IN THE U.S. AND 13 FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN WHICH THE ORIGINATOR PURPORTS TO HAVE RECENTLY VIEWED A VIDEOTAPE OF MY SWORN TESTIMONY BEFORE A CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE IN 1987. A COPY OF ONE OF THOSE E-MAILS IS ATTACHED BELOW. AS YOU WILL NOTE, THE ORIGINATOR ATTRIBUTES TO ME CERTAIN STATEMENTS REGARDING USAMA BIN LADEN AND OTHER MATTERS THAT ARE SIMPLY INACCURATE. THOUGH I WOULD LIKE TO CLAIM THE GIFT OF PROPHESY, I DON'T HAVE IT. I DON'T KNOW WHO SAW WHAT VIDEO "AT UNC." (OR ANYWHERE ELSE) BUT, FOR THE RECORD, HERE'S WHAT I DO KNOW: 1. IT WAS THE COMMITTEE COUNSEL, JOHN NIELDS, NOT A SENATOR WHO WAS DOING THE QUESTIONING. 2. THE SECURITY SYSTEM, INSTALLED AT MY HOME, JUST BEFORE I MADE A VERY SECRET TRIP TO TEHRAN, COST, ACCORDING TO THE COMMITTEE, $16K, NOT $60K. 3. THE TERRORIST WHO THREATENED TO KILL ME IN 1986, JUST BEFORE THAT SECRET TRIP TO TEHRAN, WAS NOT USAMA BIN LADEN, IT WAS ABU NIDAL (WHO WORKS FOR THE LIBYANS  NOT THE TALIBAN AND NOT IN AFGHANISTAN). 4. I NEVER SAID I WAS AFRAID OF ANYBODY. I DID SAY THAT I WOULD BE GLAD TO MEET ABU NIDAL ON EQUAL TERMS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD BUT THAT I WAS UNWILLING TO HAVE HIM OR HIS OPERATIVES MEET MY WIFE AND CHILDREN ON HIS TERMS. 5. I DID SAY THAT THE TERRORISTS INTERCEPTED BY THE FBI ON THE WAY TO MY HOUSE IN FEB. 87 TO KILL MY WIFE, CHILDREN AND ME WERE LIBYANS, DISPATCHED FROM THE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE FOR LIBYAN STUDENTS IN MCLEAN, VIRGINIA. 6. AND I DID SAY THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD MOVED MY FAMILY OUT OF OUR HOME TO A MILITARY BASE (CAMP LEJEUNE, NC) UNTIL THEY COULD DISPATCH MORE THAN 30 AGENTS TO PROTECT MY FAMILY FROM THOSE TERRORISTS (BECAUSE A LIBERAL FEDERAL JUDGE HAD ALLOWED THE LYBIAN ASSASSINS TO POST BOND AND THEY FLED). 7. AND, FYI: THOSE FEDERAL AGENTS REMAINED AT OUR HOME UNTIL I RETIRED FROM THE MARINES AND WAS NO LONGER A "GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL." BY THEN, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAD SPENT MORE THAN $2M PROTECTING THE NORTH FAMILY. THE TERRORISTS SENT TO KILL US WERE NEVER RE-APPREHENDED. SEMPER FIDELIS,OLIVER L. NORTH Variations:  One variant of this item concluded with the statement "The senator disagreed with this approach and that was all that was shown of the clip. If anyone is interested, the Senator turned out to be none other than ... Al Gore." Senator Al Gore of Tennessee was not a member of the United States Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition and therefore did not take part in the questioning of any witnesses before the Committee. Additional information:    Fisk, Robert.  "Anti-Soviet Warrior Puts His Army on the Road to Peace."
  The [London] Independent.  6 December 1993  (p. 10). Fritz, Sara and Karen Tumulty.  "North's Attempt at Cover-Up Is Told."
  Los Angeles Times.  24 June 1987  (p. A1). Ibrahim, Youssef.  "Saudi Stripped of Citizenship for Funding Fundamentalists."
  The [London] Guardian.  11 April 1994  (p. 8). North, Oliver.  "Tackling Terrorism."
  TownHall.com.  9 June 2000. Tackling Terrorism North, Oliver L.
 Under Fire: An American Story.  New York: HarperCollins, 1992  (pp. 341-344). Pincus, Walter.  "North Says He and His Superiors Lied About Contra Aid."
  The Washington Post.  9 July 1987  (p. A1). Claim:A total of 351 mass shootings took place in the U.S. during the first 334 days of 2015. [dot-mixture][/dot-mixture] Example: [Collected via Twitter, November2015]  Origins: On 2 December 2015, several publications reporting on a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, included a stat from the web site ShootingTracker.com about the number of mass shootings that had taken place in the U.S. so far in the calendar year 2015: several publications ShootingTracker.com The Post found that there had been 351 shootings in the 334 days of 2015. Wednesday's incident in California marks the 352nd mass shooting in the nation. For comparison, 2014 saw 336 mass shootings in the United States, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker, which the Post used in its report. Wednesday's shooting at the Inland Regional Center also comes just one day after the facility held its annual holiday party. The claim that there were 351 mass shootings in the first 334 days of 2015 hinges on the definition of mass shooting. While it might seem like a simple task to define "mass shooting," there really is no agreed upon definition. A 2013 congressional research service report defined a mass shooting as an incident involving four or more gun related deaths: report There is no broadly agreed-to, specific conceptualization of this issue, so this report uses its own definition for public mass shootings. These are incidents occurring in relatively public places, involving four or more deaths  not including the shooter(s)  and gunmen who select victims somewhat indiscriminately. The violence in these cases is not a means to an endthe gunmen do not pursue criminal profit or kill in the name of terrorist ideologies, for example. A 2014 study on mass shootings used the same criterion (four or more deaths), and the FBI employed the same standard in 2005 to define "mass murder." study standard ShootingTracker.com, however, is based upon a different definition of mass shooting, one that (in keeping with the literal meaning of "shooting") is based upon the total number of people shot (i.e., wounded or killed by gunfire) in a single incident rather than solely the number of victims killed: definition The old FBI definition of Mass Murder (not even the most recent one) is four or more people murdered in one event. It is only logical that a Mass Shooting is four or more people shot in one event. Here at the Mass Shooting Tracker, we count the number of people shot rather than the number people killed because, "shooting" means "people shot". Brock Weller, one of the people responsible for maintaining the crowdsourced web site ShootingTracker.com, elaborated on thereason to use four people shot instead of four people killed as the primary criterion for defining an event as a "mass shooting": ShootingTracker.com "The goal is to stop minimizing these acts of violence," Wellerexplains.The site's authors point to a 2012 shooting in which one person was killed and 18 people were wounded at a nightclub. Because only one person died, it was not considered a mass shooting. This June, 10 people were shot at a block party on a basketball court in Detroit; the next day, 11 were wounded when two people opened fire with a shotgun at a block party in West Philadelphia. Neither were widely referred to as mass shootings. "Arguing that 18 people shot during one event is not a mass shooting is absurd," the Tracker's founders write. Medical advancements have helped save lives that would have otherwise been lost, a fact Weller believes the gun lobby benefits from. "Those gunshot victims are still just as shot and will never be the same," hesays. ShootingTracker.com's definition of a mass shooting isn't "wrong" (as we noted previously, there is no universal criterion for what defines a mass shooting), but it may be misunderstood, as many people interpret the term "mass shooting" to mean an incident that results in multiple deaths. It should also be noted that GunViolenceArchive.org, another web site that tracks shootings across the United States, arrived at a slightly lower number of massshootings, 310, over the same time period. Mark Bryant, the executive director of GVA, explained that discrepancy comes from two factors: GVA relies ona dedicated staff of 14 researchers instead of crowd sourcing, and they employ a slightly different definition for mass shootings: GunViolenceArchive.org First, we do not rely on crowdsourcing which causes misreads and duplication. We have a staff of 14 researchers which go through 1500 media, police, coroner and aggregate sites every day. We put eyeballs on each incident to determine its qualifications, not just number. Second, we have a slightly different counting. We use the derived FBI definition of "Four or more shot and/or killed, not including the shooter at the same general time and location." From that we logically separate the victims from the perpetrator. Mass Shooting Tracker includes the perp as a victim when they are shot or killed. [Image Via GunViolenceArchive.org] GunViolenceArchive.org  Last updated: 4 December 2015 Originally published: 2December 2015