Fact Over Fallacy: Before You Share

Fact Over Fallacy: Before You Share Fact-Checking and information sharing page dedicated to debunking and explaining popular posts.

A fact-checking page dedicated to investigating, researching, and debunking popular internet posts and public statements.

- Brian Niccol was hired in 2024 and his pay for that year was $95.8 million, which heavily included what amount to sign...
03/12/2026

- Brian Niccol was hired in 2024 and his pay for that year was $95.8 million, which heavily included what amount to sign-on bonuses. This pay, split among all ~500k employees, would total $3.68 per week per employee, or around $0.18/hr for part time employees.

- Brian Niccol doesn’t make $95.8m every year. That was a one time bonus. His pay for fiscal year 2025 was $31m. This pay, split among all employees, would amount to $1.19 per week or $0.05/hr for part time workers.

- $15k a year is not the average pay of a Starbucks employee. It is the absolute low end pay of a first year part time Starbucks employee. Average Starbucks salary is closer to $25k a year, with part time included.

- Private jets can only be written off for exactly what they are used for, when it comes to business use. This is highly regulated by the IRS, contrary to public belief. A plane cannot be used once a year for business meetings and have its full cost and expenses written off.

- Starbucks does not have a dress code beyond closed-toe shoes being required and clothing not being allowed to have holes or graphics. This is not some strict, expensive, uniform code.

Simple math time:By Robert Reichs own post the assault on Iran has cost about 9.4 billion and where as spending is alway...
03/10/2026

Simple math time:
By Robert Reichs own post the assault on Iran has cost about 9.4 billion and where as spending is always an issue let’s look at what he’s suggesting by posting this:

9.4 billion divided by 340 million people means he suggesting that we can fund snap, universal healthcare, and solve homelessness all on $28 dollars per person. It could easily go up 100 times and still not be able to solve anything. Heck even snap costing around 100 billion means we could spend 10.6 times as much on military and still only be matching snap spending.

It’s disingenuous and only serves to gain engagement from people agree with him and can’t or won’t do the math.

01/02/2026

Fallacies:
- Whataboutism: “But what about billionaires!”
- Red Herring: Inventing an issue out of something unrelated (billionaires) to distract from the original issue (lack of welfare constraints).
- Apples to Oranges: Comparing two unlike things, such as welfare recipients spending other people’s money to rich people spending their own money.

Fox News is/has posted about the Epstein files, including but not limited to:- https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/eps...
12/21/2025

Fox News is/has posted about the Epstein files, including but not limited to:

- https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/epstein-file-release-features-photos-mick-jagger-michael-jackson-diana-ross-more-stars
- https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/epstein-files-release-department-of-justice
- https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/jeffrey-epstein-files-december-20
- https://www.foxnews.com/politics/woman-who-filed-complaint-against-epstein-clintons-fbi-vindicated-after-doj-release-files
- https://www.foxnews.com/video/6386789634112

“Imagine this totally made up scenario which ignores a half dozen fundamental laws of value and economics… In this imagi...
12/16/2025

“Imagine this totally made up scenario which ignores a half dozen fundamental laws of value and economics… In this imaginary world, something I don’t like is bad. Thank you, this was my TedTalk.”

This meme makes some incredibly fundamental mistakes— purposely— in order to villainize a non-villainous situation.

1) Money isn’t hours, and hours aren’t money. Some people make money hourly, but everyone’s time is valued at substantially different amounts or rates. Doing an hour of work can produce zero value to anyone. Doing an hour of skilled, niche, work could provide more value than the sum total of an average individuals lifetime value contribution.

2) Everyone’s value is not identical. “An hour is worth someone else’s hour.” A fallacy which assumes unlike things are alike, such as Apples to Oranges. The value of an hour of work for a nuclear engineer is vastly different than an hour of work for a garbage man; To make an extreme comparison.

3) “Imagine a billionaire trying to justify how he did 10,000 years of work.” Who’s years of work? A disabled shelf stocker? A brain surgeon? A school teacher? Ironically, the billionaire doesn’t need to justify himself as, within a free market, wealth is earned. Companies only gain money and grow large by providing in-demand goods and services. People willingly traded 10,000 years of work to someone else for something they valued as such.

This is one of the more frustrating types of claims that goes around; One with entirely falsified numbers used to push a...
12/09/2025

This is one of the more frustrating types of claims that goes around; One with entirely falsified numbers used to push a political position. The facts are not on the side of the poster here.

The national average price of a Big Mac in 1980 was actually around $1.35, as per Statista, The Big Mac Index, and an Axios study all linked below. The Big Mac Index did not begin until 1986, but when it did the price was already $1.60. Over three times what the poster claims it was less than six years prior.

The national average price of a Big Mac today is ~$5.69, from the same sources. The meme picture does mention 2022, which seems to be when the meme originated and was trying to use up to date numbers, however the price of a Big Mac in 2022 was around $5.15.

So ultimately the chart should read:
- Minimum Wage: 3.10 / 7.25
- Big Mac: 1.36 / 5.15
- Big Mac/hr: 2.28 / 1.41
A difference of 1.62x, not 6.8x like was claimed.

Additionally, the reason 1980 was specifically used here seems to be as it was right after a minimum wage hike, meaning the difference in purchasing power would be at its most extreme. A disingenuous approach to statistics.

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/

https://www.economist.com/interactive/big-mac-index

https://moneynotmoney.com/historical-price-of-big-mac-in-united-states/ (a visual construction of and link to the Axios study)

Occupy Democrats makes the claim that “every” social media company is now owned by “Republican” billionaires. Below is a...
12/08/2025

Occupy Democrats makes the claim that “every” social media company is now owned by “Republican” billionaires. Below is a basic summary of the outlets listed, their owners, their general bias, and a bias score where applicable from Allsides; A bias-tracking group with a good track record of honest reporting.

All of this is also after the fact that none of the owners listed are publicly registered Republicans.

Media Outlets Listed:

- The Atlantic
Owned by Laurene Powell Jobs (through Emerson Collective). The CEO is Nicholas Thompson. Laurene Powell Jobs has donated heavily to Democratic candidates (e.g. over $1.2 M since 2019). She leans left / progressive.
Rated “Left” by Allsides with a score of -4.69.

- The Washington Post
Owned by Jeff Bezos (via Nash Holdings). CEO/publisher is William Lewis. Bezos hasn’t published his personal vote publicly, but under his ownership the paper has been described as leaning center-left. In 2024 he blocked the paper’s planned endorsement of a Democratic candidate which suggests he prioritizes editorial “neutrality.”
Rated “Left-Leaning” by Allsides with a score of -1.63.

- L.A. Times
Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong (executive chairman/owner since 2018).
Soon-Shiong reportedly blocked the paper’s 2024 presidential endorsement (of a Democrat), indicating a shift away from a pro-Democrat editorial line.

- The Boston Globe
Owned by John W. Henry (publisher/owner since 2013). No public record of John Henry’s voting and publicly has not signalled strong partisan leanings in media coverage. Appears moderate / business oriented.

- Time (magazine)
Owned by Marc Benioff (and his wife).
Marc Benioff has described his goal as supporting “trustworthy information” and broadly aligned with progressive / liberal approaches to media.
Rated “Left-Leaning” by Allsides with a score of -2.30.

- CBS
Owned by Paramount Global (controlled by Shari Redstone / her family via National Amusements). As a large corporation, the ownership group does not have a public, unified voting record; the network broadly aims for mainstream/center-leaning coverage.
Rated “Left-Leaning” by Allsides with a score of -1.50

- X
Owned by Elon Musk (via X Holdings).
Musk’s political donations and statements have leaned libertarian/conservative on free speech issues; post-acquisition changes suggest a tilt toward more permissive moderation aligned with “free speech”.
Not rated by Allsides as it is not a self-publishing media outlet.

- Meta
Owned/controlled by Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg has historically avoided strong public partisan endorsement and tends to project more centrist or “open platform” positions. No prominent public voting record.
Unrated by Allsides as it is not a self-publishing media outlet.

- The Wall Street Journal
Published by Dow Jones & Company, a subsidiary of News Corp; Controlled by Lachlan Murdoch (after recent family realignment). The Journal is widely known for conservative-leaning editorial/opinion pages (pro–free markets, pro-business). Its straight news reporting is more centrist.
Rated “Center” with a score of 0.33 by Allsides.

- Fox Corporation / Fox News
Controlled by the Murdoch family and Lachlan Murdoch. Historically strongly conservative, pro-Republican. The Murdoch-run outlets are among the most influential conservative media.
Rated “Right” with a score of 3.27 by Allsides.

— Media Outlets Ignored —

This post, while making a mass sweeping claim about total and absolute control over “EVERY” major social media platform, they distinctly left out some notable large companies. Most notably:

- The New York Times
Controlled by the Ochs‑Sulzberger family via a dual-class share structure. NYT is rated is center-left or left-leaning by Allsides with a score of -2.20.

- CNN
Controlled by Warner Brothers Discovery and CEO Mark Tompson. CNN is eated left-leaning by Allsides with a score of -1.30.

Additional left-leaning or hard-left media outlets which exist and have social impact include: NPR, AP, Buzzfeed, Bloomberg, Huffpost, Politico, Slate.

Sources:
https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news (for general bias ratings)

https://www.wikipedia.org (for basic ownership information)

12/07/2025

“Trickle-down economics” is not an actual program, system, or school of thought. This is a term that was invented by opponents of supply-side economics to insult and distract from the actual science and system proposed by those looking to fix and support the economy. Supply-side economics is a suggested system about reducing supply-side costs and hurdles by reducing tax rates and oppressive regulations that increase costs for everyone.

12/07/2025

“Unrealized” and “Income” are mutually exclusive. Unrealized gains are non-liquid and not confirmed, as such they are not taxed. When an unrealized gain is liquidated into a usable state, it is at that point taxed. This is the act of “realizing” gains.

"133 Million registered voters, but 159 million voted"This meme has been circulating around the internet for a few years...
12/06/2025

"133 Million registered voters, but 159 million voted"

This meme has been circulating around the internet for a few years now as “proof” of election fraud in 2020. On this particular subject, it's just wrong. According to Statica (and another source, found at the bottom), the number of registered voters in 2020 was around 168.3 million, leaving almost 10 million vote margin.

Between 1996-2024 the closest to 133 million registered voters we've been is 137 million in 2010.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/273743/number-of-registered-voters-in-the-united-states/

https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/133-million-registered-voters-argument-for-2020-election-recirculates-idUSL1N3762CG/

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