This episode revisits No Agenda Episode 8, originally aired Saturday, December 15, 2007. Every claim is checked twice: against what was known in 2007, and against what we know now.

• Adam — Queen Mary 2 is "three times as big as the QE2, which was twice as big as the Titanic." Mixed: the chain multiplies the wrong way — QM2 (≈149,215 GT) is 2.1× QE2 (70,327 GT); QE2 1.5× Titanic (46,328 GRT); the "three times" belongs at the end (QM2 ≈3.2× Titanic).

• Adam — QM2 is too wide for the Panama Canal and routes around Cape Horn. Correct: her 135-ft beam exceeds the ~106-ft Panamax lock limit. Still true — larger locks opened in 2016, but QM2 still does not transit (air draft vs the Bridge of the Americas).

• Adam — The Automated Targeting System: traveller risk score, 40-year records, outside the Privacy Act, no access or redress. Mixed: substantially right — revealed November 2006; 40-year retention and no traveller access confirmed by AP. Older than "about a year" — late-1990s roots; the Privacy Act exemption was finalized February 3, 2010.

• Adam — Central banks acted jointly for the first time with an auction of "$10 billion in total"; Northern Rock bailed out with £25 billion. Mixed: mechanics right — five central banks coordinated on December 12, 2007, the first such move since after 9/11; the Term Auction Facility was designed to defeat borrowing stigma; swap lines ECB $20B / SNB $4B; Northern Rock borrowed ~£25B (£26.9B by December 31). But the December TAF auctions were $20B each — $40B total, 4× his figure.

• John — Blog headline: "Mitt Romney's VC firm to buy Clear Channel." Mixed: the buyers were Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners; the deal was announced November 16, 2006 ($18.7B; $26.7B with debt). Romney co-founded Bain (1984) but left operationally in early 1999. It closed July 2008; Clear Channel became iHeartMedia (bankruptcy 2018).

• John — Prediction: McCain is the dark horse who comes through the long race. Correct — a good read when most coverage had written him off: McCain won the 2008 Republican nomination.

• Adam — "The Ron Paul blimp is now flying." Correct: the 200-ft supporter-funded blimp launched December 10, 2007 from Elizabeth City, NC, and was airborne and covered by December 14.

• John — Prediction: Ron Paul will be derailed by "the powers that be" with dirt. Incorrect: no dirt ever surfaced; Paul faded on votes, won no primaries, and suspended his campaign in June 2008. Adam's on-air pushback ("There's no dirt on this guy") aged better.

• John — Ross Perot quit in 1992 over "black ops" threats to his family (John flags it himself: "probably bull"). Mixed: the sequence is scrambled — Perot withdrew July 16, 1992 saying he didn't want the House to decide; the doctored-photo plot claim came after he re-entered (October 1, 1992); the FBI found no evidence. Perot finished with 18.9% of the vote.

• Adam — UK pubs can now stay open 24 hours; the law changed "over a year ago." Correct: the Licensing Act 2003 took effect November 24, 2005 (England & Wales); Adam's own footnote: only ~1,121 premises took 24-hour licences, mostly supermarkets and shops.

• John — Apple rumour from an unnamed ex-insider: something thin, plus a pen-based Newton-patent tablet. Mixed: unverifiable as sourced; the "thin" half landed January 15, 2008 (MacBook Air, multi-touch, no pen); the iPad (2010) was finger-driven; Apple Pencil arrived in 2015.

Episode score: 11 claims checked — 4 correct · 6 mixed · 1 incorrect · 0 unverified. Series running total: 82 claims — 32 correct · 30 mixed · 15 incorrect · 7 unverified.

Sources: https://allthingscruise.com/qm2-vs-qe2-a-look-at-the-stats/ ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Targeting_System ; https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/20071212a.htm ; https://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/15/apple-announces-macbook-air/

Independent fact-check review for reporting and commentary purposes only; not affiliated with, or endorsed by, No Agenda, Adam Curry, or John C. Dvorak.