Tag: Fact Checking

U.S. Helps Pro-Ukraine Media Run a Fog Machine of War + Supporting Front Orgs

Ms. Cat

U.S. Helps Pro-Ukraine Media Run a Fog Machine of War

As Congress debates major new funding to support the Ukrainian war effort, U.S. taxpayer dollars are already flowing to outlets such as the New Voice of Ukraine, VoxUkraine, Detector Media, the Institute of Mass Information, the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine and many others. Some of this money has come from the $44.1 billion in civilian-needs foreign aid committed to Ukraine. While the funding is officially billed as an ambitious program to develop high-quality independent news programs; counter malign Russian influence; and modernize Ukraine’s archaic media laws, the new sites in many cases have promoted aggressive messages that stray from traditional journalistic practices to promote the Ukrainian government’s official positions and delegitimize its critics.

Related (front organizations):

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Biden Admin Awards Over $4 Million In Grants To Programs That Target “Misinformation” + Notes

Ms. Cat

Biden Admin Awards Over $4 Million In Grants To Programs That Target “Misinformation”

The State Department has awarded the following five grants since September 1:

An $18,000 grant to the Albanian-based non-governmental organization (NGO) the Institute for Democracy, Media, and Culture* to ensure a “whole-of-society response to cyber incidents and misinformation.” The associated program began on September 1, 2023.

A $14,500 grant to Paraguay’s American Cultural Center [Centro Cultural Paraguayo Americano] that will be used to implement workshops that “seek to combat misinformation and promote responsible digital citizenship.” The associated program began on September 1, 2023.

A $15,000 grant to the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Udayana University to “raise digital literacy among selected amcors communities, journalists, and social media influencers to combat misinformation, pre-2024 general election.” The associated program is due to start on October 1, 2023.

A $50,000 grant to New York University to complete the implementation of a speaker series that supports “countering misinformation.” The associated program is due to start on October 1, 2023.

A $50,000 grant to the non-profit Digital Rights Nepal*** “to create a sustainable network of youth to promote digital rights, safer internet use and a collective resilience towards misinformation and disinformation.” The associated program is due to start on October 2, 2023.

***Digital rights are the new Internet Freedom (think Arab Spring).

Skeptical Notes:

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Florida’s DeSantis puts billboards in Illinois to recruit officers

Ms. Cat

Florida is putting billboards in Illinois’ “Greater Chicago area” to recruit law enforcement officers from the state, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday.

Florida’s DeSantis puts billboards in Illinois to recruit officers

Related:

No, new Illinois law will not let people in US illegally become cops, deputies

The law says noncitizens applying for those jobs must be legally allowed to possess guns. People living in the U.S. illegally don’t qualify because federal law bars them from owning guns, according to experts and lawmakers.

…

People living in the country illegally may not legally obtain firearms, a federal appeals court ruled in 2012, and both experts and lawmakers say that makes them ineligible for law enforcement positions.

“Anyone who is saying that an illegal alien can become a police officer or sheriff’s deputy is either, one, misinformed, or two, giving you a baldfaced lie,” said state Rep. John Cabello, a Republican co-sponsor of the law and a Rockford police officer.

Illinois will allow some non-citizens to be police. But only those authorized to work and own a gun