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So, I inadvertently overheard a couple of coworkers commiserating with each other about trans people and “what’s society coming to?” and then one of them said the CEO of Tim Horton’s had been arrested for possession of child pornography.
The other also commented on the man’s name being Jewish.
Thirty seconds of Googling the name reveals that (a) the guy in question isn’t the CEO of Tim’s but of a parent company that acquired the chain a year or so back, and (b) the newspaper that ran the story has since claimed it was “satire.”
Yeah.
The paper uses the not-very-satirical-sounding name “Vancouver Times” but describes itself as writing “satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.” Goggling them turns up a description on https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/vancouver-times/ that rates them "questionable" and also mentions one of their past fake stories in which they state Paul Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi's husband) was arrested for child porn possession.
Apparently the anti-vaxxers are all currently mad at Tim Horton’s for requiring proof of vaccination from kids that attend the summer camp they sponsor, so I’m guessing that’s the motivation for this “news story.”
Anyway now I want to show those guys the article debunking the slander, but I’m not sure how to bring it up as I doubt they were aware I could hear them in the first place and I don’t interact with them that much; also it’s possible they’ll say the debunking article is fake, as it’s from what looks to be a somewhat left-leaning publisher.
ETA-- I can't get into the "Vancouver Times" site, which would be the smoking gun, on my work computer. Googling them does show that since they started up last December, they've spread viral claims that the CEO of Disney was arrested for human trafficking, and that Justin Bieber's recent bout of facial paralysyis was caused by the Covid vaccine. All under the name of "satire," of course.
Update (July 22) -- I got into work and told co-worker it had been debunked, directing him to Snopes who've now posted about it. He thanked me, and we agreed that misinformation is a problem. So, at least the truth is getting its pants on.
The other also commented on the man’s name being Jewish.
Thirty seconds of Googling the name reveals that (a) the guy in question isn’t the CEO of Tim’s but of a parent company that acquired the chain a year or so back, and (b) the newspaper that ran the story has since claimed it was “satire.”
Yeah.
The paper uses the not-very-satirical-sounding name “Vancouver Times” but describes itself as writing “satirical stories about issues that affect conservatives.” Goggling them turns up a description on https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/vancouver-times/ that rates them "questionable" and also mentions one of their past fake stories in which they state Paul Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi's husband) was arrested for child porn possession.
Apparently the anti-vaxxers are all currently mad at Tim Horton’s for requiring proof of vaccination from kids that attend the summer camp they sponsor, so I’m guessing that’s the motivation for this “news story.”
Anyway now I want to show those guys the article debunking the slander, but I’m not sure how to bring it up as I doubt they were aware I could hear them in the first place and I don’t interact with them that much; also it’s possible they’ll say the debunking article is fake, as it’s from what looks to be a somewhat left-leaning publisher.
ETA-- I can't get into the "Vancouver Times" site, which would be the smoking gun, on my work computer. Googling them does show that since they started up last December, they've spread viral claims that the CEO of Disney was arrested for human trafficking, and that Justin Bieber's recent bout of facial paralysyis was caused by the Covid vaccine. All under the name of "satire," of course.
Update (July 22) -- I got into work and told co-worker it had been debunked, directing him to Snopes who've now posted about it. He thanked me, and we agreed that misinformation is a problem. So, at least the truth is getting its pants on.
