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Fake news January 29, 2019

ABC News suspends Brian Ross over ‘serious error’ in Michael Flynn story

ABC News has suspended Brian Ross over his faulty report about former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The network had reported that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump directed Flynn to "make contact with the Russians." It later clarified that Trump had given the instruction when he was president-elect, not a candidate. The original report shook US markets … [Read more…]

by · · Military

After Trump attack on media, ex-CIA director asks if he ‘wasted’ career

After President Donald Trump accused CNN International of being a "major source of (Fake) news" abroad, an exasperated former CIA and NSA director asked rhetorically if he had wasted much of his life in defense of the U.S. "If this is who we are or who we are becoming, I have wasted 40 years of my life," Gen. Michael Hayden, ret., wrote on Twitter in response to Trump's … [Read more…]

by · · Foreign Policy

I was a target of Russian propaganda long before the 2016 election

I've been sitting on this one for years now because I did not want to be a vehicle for Russian propaganda.  You often hear about how you have to be careful what you eat; be careful what you put in your body.  Eating fatty foods, using drugs, drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes can all be bad for your health.  When it comes to propaganda, disinformation and influence, the … [Read more…]

by · · Featured

Drew Murray, ‘The Chive,’ and why people hate the media

At the moment, the American media is enjoying an unprecedented level of unpopularity with terms such as fake news, liberal agenda, and biased media thrown around almost reflexively.  Of course, none of this is new and the media has long been in need of some internal soul-searching.  It's sad that this did not even begin to happen until after the election of President Trump.  … [Read more…]

by · · Featured

The fake news at the heart of the far right’s ‘Jewish Conspiracy’

When he wasn’t writing romance novels under the alias Sir John Retcliffe, Hermann Goedsche worked for the Prussian secret police as an agent provocateur. His duties? Peeking into envelopes at a Silesian post office — where he served as a mail clerk — and forging letters to set up the crown’s political adversaries. Though his mail fraud was designed to send pro-democracy … [Read more…]

by · · World

Russian official decries ‘Nazi remnants’ in NATO over video of Baltic guerrillas

In a testy Twitter exchange this week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia is currently dealing with “Nazi remnants” in Europe after NATO created an official video glorifying the actions of anti-Soviet partisans in the Baltics. https://twitter.com/DRogozin/status/885511564878635008 The video in question is a NATO mini-documentary highlighting a … [Read more…]

by · · Foreign Policy

Op-Ed: The free press and our national security

With the birth of our nation just days away, I wanted to write about something I believe is absolutely sacred to the soul of this country, the fourth estate. In the last several months, this estate has come under heavy, almost constant fire from not just government officials, namely the President, but from some very powerful people who hold the reins behind those who govern … [Read more…]

by · · Featured

Russian fake news smears fallen Canadian soldiers

Russia's full throttle disinformation campaign against the West continues in earnest.  Considering the dearth of Russian fake news, I've decided to highlight some selected stories each week to help make readers aware of: 1) fake news 2) what Russia wants us to believe and 3) take a look at both internally as well as externally directed propaganda.  Novorossia has all the … [Read more…]

by · · Foreign Policy

In new sanctions list, Ukraine targets Russian social-media sites

MOSCOW — Ukraine on Tuesday put in place new sanctions seeking to block Russian media and online networks from operating in the country, including VKontakte, the nation’s most popular social network. The decision, signed by President Petro Poroshenko, was announced in an updated sanctions list, which included the Russian search giant Yandex, social media sites like … [Read more…]

by · · World

MOAB vs Little Boy: Biggest punch in smallest package

(for Desiree Huitt) That’s right ladies and gentleman… which would you rather have: this six-inch stack of money on my left, or this 12-INCH stack of money on my right??? “Oh, me… me I’ll take the taller stack of money, the 12-inch stack, me!” Wise choice, my friend with an almost zero red blood cell (RBC) count. For your demonstration of depth less that the kiddie's … [Read more…]

by · · Expert Analysis

The growing trend of asinine headlines in today’s news

I am sitting in front of my laptop, fueled up on caffeine and Jason Isbell, while patiently waiting for inspiration to strike me, or for divine providence to inspire me to write something meaningful and deep. Finding this technique frustratingly slow, I instead turn to today’s news headlines, across a variety of sources, and I am instantly struck by how ridiculous some of them … [Read more…]

by · · Featured

The Fourth Estate: Public enemy number one?

Presidential administrations and the media have had an adversarial relationship from the beginning. Our first president, who now is almost universally revered, had his own struggles with America’s “Fourth Estate.” During his first term, this quintessential American icon suffered repeated attacks by the press. By the end of his second term, these attacks evolved into personal … [Read more…]

by · · World