US continues to go backward...
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Polds4OSU
Marshall
Russia Is Pumping Out Disinformation That Looks Like Legitimate News Reports and both Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr are sharing it
A group publishing pro-Russia propaganda online is impersonating legitimate news outlets in an attempt to disseminate disinformation, Politico reported, citing misinformation tracking organization NewsGuard.
The effort, known as Storm-1679, creates websites that mimic real news outlets and uses those sites to push fake news stories. They have published disinformation designed to look like stories from ABC News, the BBC, and Politico, among others. The group has also used artificial intelligence to proliferate fake videos, often hooked to major news events. To some degree, their efforts are working. People - including right-wing influencers - have fallen for them.
One such video, a fabricated E! News report, claimed this past February that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) paid movie stars to visit Ukraine after Russia's invasion in 2022. It was posted to social media with the caption: "USAID was using our tax dollars to send celebrities to UKRAINE to increase Zelensky's popularity around the world and, in particular, the U.S…. BURN USAID TO THE GROUND. We don't need it under any department."
Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk fell for the scam. Both reposted the video on X.
"The video is not authentic and did not originate from E! News," the outlet said in a statement to Reuters at the time.
"It typically tends to surge and launch a wave of fakes around a particular news event," Ivana Stradner, a researcher on Russia at the D.C. think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Politico.
NewsGuard is tracking 556 domains "that have promoted false claims about the Russian-Ukraine conflict." Some of those domains are official Russian state media sources, but others are not official Russian state propaganda. They are "anonymous websites, foundations, and research websites with uncertain funding - at least some of which may have undisclosed links to the Russian government."
Fake stories that these domains have perpetuated include that the U.S. has bioweapons labs in Eastern Europe, that Nazism is spreading in Ukraine politics and society, and that a civilian massacre in Bucha, Ukraine, was staged.
While the threat of disinformation and AI fakes increases, the Trump administration is phasing out efforts to combat it.
The State Department, under Sec. Marco Rubio, shut down the agency's office that battles against foreign disinformation. Rubio claimed - without evidence - that the office was "millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving." Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has also ousted federal workers who combatted disinformation related to U.S. elections.
Stradner told Politico these rollbacks are "a dream come true for Putin."
Polds4OSU
Marshall
Black Navy Veteran in Wheelchair Shot by White Man In Public in the Middle of the Day on a Crowded Street After Claiming ‘Stolen Valor’. The Shooter once drove a vehicle into a Trump Voter Registration Tent in 2020 in a political motivated attack calling it his "Duty"
A disturbing incident unfolded at Seattle’s waterfront on July 31 over an inflammatory accusation of stolen valor. Harold James Powell Sr. was a 68-year-old Black disabled Navy veteran and was well known in the area for playing music along the boardwalk.
However, he was shot in the chest by Gregory William Timm, a 32-year-old white man. The fight and confrontation stemmed when Timm accused Powell of “stolen valor.” This accusation then ended with tragic consequences.
KOMO news was the first among others to report. Based on the police documents and reports by KOMO news, Timm approached Powell and demanded proof of his military service. This confrontation was unprovoked. Timm then proceeded to even tear a military patch from the man’s wheelchair.
When Timm kept instigating the argument, Powell was led to believe that he was under threat. He then proceeded to retrieve his airsoft gun and a knife. However, in response, Timm pulled out a real .45 caliber Handgun. He then stepped back about 12 feet and fired once, directly into Powell’s chest.
Everyone was left horrified when Powell slumped into his chair. Timm on the other hand remained rooted to his position and raised his hands up in the air and shouted reassurance to the onlookers. He was then arrested by the law-enforcement officers.
Powell was taken to Harborview Medical Centre with serious injuries. But he was found stable and later on released.
Doctors were amazed that he survived even though the bullet cracked his ribs and narrowly missed all the vital organs.
Powell has already lost his mobility. He described that he was shocked when the shooting happened, and he believed that he was going to die.
“I just went to ‘I’m gonna die,’… It’s just all I thought.”
Powell is a well known and friendly member of the waterfront community. He is known to play music there regularly. Everyone was surprised by the vicious attack on an elderly well-loved local and questions over “stolen valor.”
His family has now launched a GoFundMe seeking assistance with his medical care. It will include therapy and adaptive equipment. The family has also released a statement and called this attack “a hate crime”.
They also emphasized his history of trauma and service.
Gregory Timm, on the other hand, has had a troubling history. He has known of violent acts with a misguided sense of duty.
In 2020, he drove a vehicle into a Trump voter registration tent in Florida. It was a politically-motivated act, and he later called it his “duty.”
He was initially charged with aggravated assault, which ultimately turned into criminal mischief.
Timm has been charged with first-degree assault in Powell’s case. It is a class A felony. He is being held on $750,000 bail.
Prosecutors have emphasized that since it was Timm who provoked the confrontation and he remained the aggressor, there is no way he can legitimately claim self-defense. His actions violated Washington’s laws that strip the right to self-defense from those who instigate violence.
The incident has highlighted the broader issues of systemic biases against Black Veterans. Powell’s survival is a miracle among other cases of assault that either go unreported or the victim is not lucky enough to survive.
Pursuit of justice by Powell’s family resonates deeply, especially now when communities insist on accountability for racially-charged violence.
As court proceedings move forward, many are watching closely. It’s not only about the verdict but also about the justice and respect that veterans deserve of their sacrifice and valor; and that should be offered to the vulnerable in a society.
America Is Fracturing Into Red and Blue Nations, Redistricting Fight Shows
Less than 20% of Americans live in a state where the minority party has a meaningful voice in governance
America’s identity as a unified nation is eroding, with Republican- and Democratic-led states dividing into separate spheres, each with its own policies governing the economic, social and political rules of life.
The bitter fight over redrawing U.S. House maps, triggered by President Trump’s effort to protect his party’s majority in the 2026 midterm elections, is the latest example of how the dominant party in many states is making extraordinary efforts to impose its will.
In 40 states, a single party controls the House, Senate and governor’s office—a so-called trifecta—or else has enough power to block vetoes from a governor of the other party. That leaves less than 20% of Americans living in a state where the minority party has a meaningful voice in governance.
The result has been a deepening of differences in red and blue America. Abortion is now banned or heavily restricted in about one-third of states, all of them controlled by Republicans, while abortion access is protected or allowed in every Democratic trifecta state. Every GOP trifecta state has passed bans or limits on gender-affirming care for minors.
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It is an “essential error” to think of America as a single nation, said Michael Podhorzer, the former political director of the AFL-CIO. Rather, the U.S. is a “binational republic”—two nations, one red and one blue, he said.
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State governments have often been called the “laboratories of democracy” for their ability to experiment with policy. In some ways, the partisan divide has turned them into laboratories of conformity.
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