[FoxNews] The State Department’s foreign disinformation center, accused by conservatives of censoring U.S. citizens, shut its doors due to lack of funding this week.
Elon Musk had deemed the Global Engagement Center (GEC), established in 2016, the "worst offender in U.S. government censorship & media manipulation," and its funding was stripped as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon’s yearly policy bill.
"The Global Engagement Center will terminate by operation of law [by the end of the day] on December 23, 2024," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. "The Department of State has consulted with Congress regarding next steps."
Lawmakers had originally included funding for the GEC in its continuing resolution (CR), or bill to fund the government beyond a Friday deadline. But conservatives balked at that iteration of the funding bill, and it was rewritten without money for the GEC and other funding riders.
The agency had a budget of around $61 million and 120 people on staff. They'll burrow in somewhere else unless they're shown the door
At a time when adversaries like Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Russia sow disinformation throughout the world, Republicans saw little value in the agency’s work, arguing that much of its disinformation analysis is already offered by the private sector.
The GEC, according to news houndMatt Taibbi, "funded a secret list of subcontractors and helped pioneer an insidious — and idiotic — new form of blacklisting" during the pandemic.
Taibbi wrote last year when exposing the Twitter Files that the GEC "flagged accounts as ’Russian personas and proxies’ based on criteria like, ’Describing the Coronavirus as an engineered bioweapon,’ blaming ’research conducted at the Wuhan institute,’ and ’attributing the appearance of the virus to the CIA.’"
"State also flagged accounts that retweeted news that Twitter banned the popular U.S. website ZeroHedge, claiming that it 'led to another flurry of disinformation narratives.'" ZeroHedge had made reports speculating that the virus had a lab origin.
The GEC is part of the State Department but also partners with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Special Operations Command and the Department of Homeland Security. The GEC also funds the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab).
DFRLab Director Graham Brookie previously denied the claim that they use tax money to track Americans, saying its GEC grants have "an exclusively international focus."
A 2024 report from the Republican-led House Small Business Committee criticized the GEC for awarding grants to organizations whose work includes tracking domestic as well as foreign misinformation and rating the credibility of U.S.-based publishers, according to the Washington Post.
The lawsuit was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, The Daily Wire and The Federalist, who sued the State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm... and other government officials earlier this month for "engaging in a conspiracy to censor, deplatform and demonetize American media outlets disfavored by the federal government."
The lawsuit stated that the GEC was used as a tool for the defendants to carry out its censorship.
"Congress authorized the creation of the Global Engagement Center expressly to counter foreign propaganda and misinformation," the Texas Attorney General’s Office said in a blurb. "Instead, the agency weaponized this authority to violate the First Amendment and suppress Americans’ constitutionally-protected speech.
The complaint describes the State Department’s project as "one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation.’"
The lawsuit argued that The Daily Wire, The Federalist and other conservative news organizations were branded "unreliable" or "risky" by the agency, "starving them of advertising revenue and reducing the circulation of their reporting and speech — all as a direct result of [the State Department’s] unlawful censorship scheme."
Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... America First Legal, headed up by Stephen Miller, President-elect Trump’s pick for deputy chief of staff for policy, revealed that the GEC had used taxpayer dollars to create a video game called "Cat Park" to "Inoculate Youth Against Disinformation" abroad.
The game "inoculates players... by showing how sensational headlines, memes, and manipulated media can be used to advance conspiracy theories and incite real-world violence," according to a memo obtained by America First Legal.
Mike Benz, executive director at the Foundation for Freedom Online, said the game was "anti-populist" and pushed certain political beliefs instead of protecting Americans from foreign disinformation, according to the Tennessee Star.
#2
Our money is still going toward censoring us. There is so much grant money flowing out of the federal government that the recipients can just melt and reform like a Pakistani terrorist group.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/27/2024 11:10 Comments ||
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#3
Tomorrow:
Strange magnetic fire breaks out in former GEC archives.
[FoxNews] New York legislation was inspired by state and federal superfund laws.
Today New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Climate Change Superfund Act, which will charge oil and gas firms an estimated $75 billion over the next 25 years. The controversial measure, sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, is modeled on federal and state superfund laws, which charge firms accused of pollution.
While environmental groups heralded the legislation, business groups argued that it will increase the cost of doing business in the state and that consumers will ultimately bear the brunt in terms of higher energy prices.
"The Climate Change Superfund Act is now law," said Senator Krueger. "Too often over the last decade, courts have dismissed lawsuits against the oil and gas industry by saying that the issue of climate culpability should be decided by legislatures. Well, the Legislature of the State of New York – the 10th largest economy in the world – has accepted the invitation, and I hope we have made ourselves very clear: the planet’s largest climate polluters bear a unique responsibility for creating the climate crisis, and they must pay their fair share to help regular New Yorkers deal with the consequences."
However, critics have deemed the bill impractical and contend that it will be subject to protracted legal challenges.
"What would you have them do? Not sell fuel in New York State," said Ken Pokalsky, vice president of the New York State Business Council.
A group of business and industry leaders also lambasted the measure: "This legislation is bad public policy that raises significant implementation questions and constitutional concerns. Moreover, its $75 billion price tag will result in unintended consequences and increased costs for households and businesses."
However, Gov. Hochul heralded the legislation as a victory for the state's citizens, stating that the funds will be used for climate mitigation efforts.
"This bill would allow the state to recoup $75 billion from major polluters…For too long New Yorkers have borne the costs of the climate crisis, which is impacting every part of the state."
The bill will result in significant assessments for both domestic and foreign energy producers, with Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia likely facing the largest charge at $640 million a year, while state-owned Mexican firm Pemex will be looking at a $193 million annual charge.
Russia's Lukoil will likely face charges of around $100 million per year.
The assessments are based on estimated yearly CO2 emissions, measured in millions of tons of greenhouse gases.
In total, 38 firms deemed carbon polluters will be on the hook, including American oil giants Exxon and Chevron, the UK's Shell and BP, and Brazil's Petrobras.
Critics of the legislation have also noted the potential difficulty in collecting the stipulated assessments from foreign firms.
The bill is also concerning consumer advocacy groups in light of its implementation in conjunction with other new measures which stand to greatly affect commuters and consumers:
"We also note this measure would come on the heels of the reinstatement of congestion pricing in New York City, and in advance of the Environmental Department’s pending `cap and invest’ rule, which combined will also impose billions of dollars in new assessments on fossil fuel usage, impacting a wide range of consumers," stated bill opponents.
#2
NY's theory, and it might be correct, is that the energy companies will have to raise their prices worldwide to pay the NY taxes; thus NY will, in effect, get subsidized by all energy consumers worldwide.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/27/2024 12:47 Comments ||
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#3
A suggestion? Don't supply gas, coal, or other energy to NY and NYC. A cold winter ahead. Shut it down.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2024 13:24 Comments ||
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#4
This will go to court and get shut down, or drawn out for 50 years. This is nothing but the bitch posturing, pandering, and wasting tax dollars.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/27/2024 14:11 Comments ||
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#5
That'll teach 'em to notice my NYC subway comment!
[FoxNews] Hunter Biden recently received a pardon from his father dating back to 2014
President Biden is seen in newly uncovered photos meeting with Hunter Biden’s Chinese business associates in China while he served as vice president, bringing further scrutiny to his claim he "never" discussed business with his son. FJB lied?? The deuce you say!
The photos, obtained by conservative-leaning America First Legal through litigation against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), appear to show then-Vice President Biden introducing his son to Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Vice President Li Yuanchao. Other photos show Joe Biden posing with Hunter’s business associates from BHR Partners, including Jonathan Li and Ming Xue.
"These images shed light on the connections between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter and his Chinese business associates, and Chinese government officials including President Xi Jinping," America First Legal said in a press release this week. "Lawyers and representatives for President Biden and President Obama delayed NARA’s release of these photographs, as they did with other records, until after Election Day."
"These photos corroborate the House Oversight Committee’s investigative findings that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to meet with Jonathan Li and other BHR executives during the 2013 China trip, where ‘Mr. Li sought— and received — access to Vice President Biden’s political power, including, for example, preferential access to then-U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus … a condition of Hunter Biden and his associates participating in the BHR deal,’" America First Legal wrote.
America First Legal also wrote that, according to the committee's investigation, "the Biden Family benefited from their business dealings with BHR."
Hunter Biden was asked earlier this year by the House Oversight Committee about his meetings while traveling to Asia with his father.
"When we returned from an event to the hotel, there was a rope line, and Jonathan Li was in the lobby of the hotel where I was going to meet him for coffee," Hunter Biden said at the time. "In that line, I introduced my dad to Jonathan Li and a friend of his, and they shook hands and I believe probably took a photograph. And then my father went up to his room, and I went to have coffee with Jonathan Li."
Hunter Biden added that he didn't tell his father "anything" about who Li was.
Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any role in his son's businesses.
#1
That isn't a photo of getting caught sneaking onto somebody else's private jet for an off the record chat, that is the official meet and greet photographs of a formal occasion.
Which means the photos were not released, but suppressed.
[FoxNews] An internal memo reportedly shows Newsom's office is considering different ways to help undocumented immigrants.
Squirm, Governor, squirm!
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reportedly considering a plan to help illegal immigrants and their families threatened by president-elect Trump's mass deportation plan.
A draft of the plan obtained by POLITICO, titled "Immigrant Support Network Concept," proposes the creation of an Immigrant Support Network comprised of regional hubs to "connect at-risk individuals, their families, and communities with community systems — such as legal services, schools, labor unions, local governments, etc."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump's representatives. Newsom's office told Fox News Digital that the draft was prepared by the California Department of Social Services and has not yet been reviewed in Sacramento.
"This document is an internal and deliberative draft document meant for internal discussions as part of a number of possible considerations given the incoming federal administration’s public remarks," Scott Murray, the Deputy Director, Public Affairs and Outreach Programs for the Department of Social Services, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "It is not a final proposal."
Especially now that the world has noticed.
The draft is part of an effort by California leaders to prepare for a second Trump administration. After Trump was elected, Newsom called a special legislative session and talked of a $25 million "Trump-proof" legal defense fund.
In addition, state lawmakers were lobbying for additional funds.
Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener proposed legislation seeking $60 million, including funds to create an immigrant detention representation and coordination program, Politico reported.
Under the draft, the state Social Services Department would give state funds to eligible nonprofits and take on administrative duties for the hubs.
The draft does not indicate how much funding the plan requires. However, it said the funds would go toward "community outreach, partnership, legal services staffing positions, and approved administrative costs associated with hub operations," the Politico report said.
California currently faces a $68 billion budget deficit, according to the state's Legislative Analyst's Office. However, in November, the LAO said the state budget was roughly balanced.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the state Finance Department said November revenues came in $1 billion below the month's forecast.
"But it's not a lump of coal (it's a timing issue w/cash receipts)," H.D. Palmer, the principal spokesman on fiscal and financial issues for the Newsom Administration, posted on X. "Year to date, still nearly $4.3 billion above projections - and $7.5 billion up since April."
#3
Perhaps Newsom ought to spend more time trying to balance the CA budget by declaring emergencies and shaking Biden down for cash. Why does FEMA need more money? Where did the first money go? CA? Trafficking illegals?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/27/2024 11:14 Comments ||
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#4
Becaus, if illegals are deported, who will occupy all that affordable housing that Newsom is building? And who will vote for him?
Posted by: Large B. Hayes6878 ||
12/27/2024 13:06 Comments ||
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[NYPOST] The lefty attorney general of Oregon has rolled out a new program to help illegal migrants colonists in the sanctuary state thwart ICE ahead of President-elect Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... 's promised mass deportations.
Ellen Rosenblum's recent new guide, titled the ''Sanctuary Promise Community Toolkit,'' offers advice to illegal immigrants colonists on what to say and do if ICE or other immigration authorities show up.
For the question, ''How do I prepare myself and my family for encounters with ICE?'' the answer includes legal guidance from the American Civil Liberties Union: ''do not open the door, ask to see a warrant signed by a judge, tell them you do not consent to them being at your home and tell them please leave.''
In answer to the question, ''Is there a place I can call to report ICE or other federal immigration authorities active right now in my community?'' the Oregon Department of Justice lists contact information for local nonprofits that work to warn migrants colonists about federal operations.
There are also multiple sections on how to report anyone who is suspected of violating Oregon's sanctuary law and working with federal immigration authorities.
One section advises locals that they can sue any state or local agency that they suspect of violating sanctuary law.
However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... the "Sanctuary Promise" guide admits that state laws can only do so much: "The outcome of a state investigation or a private civil suit does not change a deportation order, or any other decision/action by the federal courts or federal immigration authority to prosecute or remove a person from the United States."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11142 views]
Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
#1
Be nice if they removed Ellen and her minions to get started.
Posted by: Oregon Dave ||
12/27/2024 2:13 Comments ||
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#2
The US Code just happens to have a US LAW against that, and there will be a NEW DOJ/FBI in town in 24 days.
Conspiracy to Circumvent US LAW "The general conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371, creates an offense "[i]f two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose"
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/27/2024 11:15 Comments ||
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#5
The way Oregon and California should go about this is with a "Mansions for Refugees" program. For example, the official residence of the governor of Oregon has over 10,000 square feet of living space. Surely the Gov wouldn't mind sharing one of her bathrooms with a family of 6. Rangers Lead The Way!
Posted by: Matt ||
12/27/2024 11:50 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The State Department’s foreign disinformation center, accused by conservatives of censoring U.S. citizens, shut its doors due to lack of funding this week. 
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
[FoxNews] An internal memo reportedly shows Newsom's office is considering different ways to help undocumented immigrants.
...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down...
