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CIA, US Special Forces Presence Now “Far More Extensive” In Ukraine

US special operations forces are on the ground in Ukraine as part of a broad covert operation that includes CIA personnel, The Intercept reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US intelligence and military officials.

The report said that the US withdrew its CIA and special operations assets from Ukraine shortly before Russia’s invasion, although one US official said the CIA “never completely left.”

The CIA initially predicted that Kyiv would fall quickly to Russia, but after it became clear that wouldn’t happen, the Biden administration sent its covert assets back into Ukraine.

The report said that US clandestine operations inside Ukraine “are now far more extensive than they were early in the war, when US intelligence officials were fearful that Russia would steamroll over the Ukrainian army.”

Several current and former intelligence officials said that there “is a much larger presence of both CIA and US special operations personnel and resources in Ukraine than there were at the time of the Russian invasion in February.”

Back in June, The New York Times reported that there was a CIA presence in Ukraine, but it made no mention of US special operations forces. The Times report did say that several US allies have special operations troops in Ukraine, including Britain, France, Canada, and Lithuania.

The Intercept report said the covert operations inside Ukraine are being conducted under a covert presidential finding that indicates President Biden has quietly notified Congress of a “broad program of clandestine operations inside the country.”

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New PayPal Policy Lets Company Pull $2,500 From Users’ Accounts If They Promote ‘Misinformation’

A new policy update from PayPal will permit the firm to sanction users who advance purported “misinformation” or present risks to user “wellbeing.”

The financial services company, which has repeatedly deplatformed organizations and individual commentators for their political views, will expand its “existing list of prohibited activities” on November 3. Among the changes are prohibitions on “the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials” that “promote misinformation” or “present a risk to user safety or wellbeing.” Users are also barred from “the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory.”

The company’s current acceptable use policy does not mention such activities. The Daily Wire reached out to PayPal for definitions of the added terms, although no response was received in time for publication.

Deliberations will be made at the “sole discretion” of PayPal and may subject the user to “damages” — including the removal of $2,500 “debited directly from your PayPal account.” The company’s user agreement contains a provision in which account holders acknowledge that the figure is “presently a reasonable minimum estimate of PayPal’s actual damages” due to the administrative cost of tracking violations and damage to the company’s reputation.

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Democrats are operating a series of 51 ‘fake news’ websites pushing left-wing stories in toss-up states in a bid to turn the midterms in their favor, shocking investigation finds

A liberal political media operation being run out of Washington, D.C., and Florida is pushing left-wing stories in 51 different fake news outlets in order to influence the outcome of the November midterm elections, it is claimed. 

The allegations came in a shocking new investigation from Axios that was published on Thursday. 

The report alleges that in the past 12 months, multiple new ‘news’ website have appeared across the country, all run by a company named Local Report Inc. 

They do report a wide variety of stories – but sprinkled throughout are news items pushing Democrat lawmakers and policies.  

Online records show that the Local Report was founded in Tallahassee, Fla. 

Content is provided for the sites from writers who are employed by another left-wing group, the American Independent. The Independent was founded by David Brock, known for other liberal endeavors such as Fox News watchdog, Media Matters for America. 

Other employees at the American Independent include Matt Fuehrmeyer, who previously worked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and for disgraced Sen. Al Franken, according to his LinkedIn page.

Franken’s son is also employed by the organization, as is former Sen. Harry Reid’s son, the Daily Caller reported.

Prior to working as the executive editor of the American Independent, Jessica McCreight was part of President Barack Obama’s communications team, according to her LinkedIn page. 

When asked about the connection between the American Independent and the Local Report, McCreight told Axios that the pair had a ‘co-publishing agreement,’ adding that their content is ‘open source’ and they were a ‘partner’ of Local Report’s.

She also said: ‘It’s been widely reported that where local news outlets shut down, dis- and misinformation grows.

‘To combat this challenge, the American Independent has expanded to bring readers local, fact-based news and information on topics and issues that impact their communities,’ McCreight continued.

The Axios report says that the outlets are all based in states that are generally considered swing states in the November elections including Wisconsin, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado and Arizona. 

Among the titles that are packed with content from American Independent staff are the Milwaukee Metro Times, the Tri-City Record, the Bucks County Standard, the Mecklenburg Herald and the Northern Clark County Herald.

The investigation said the websites come equipped with a certain amount of aggregated local news and sports reporting, accompanied by political commentary and biased news. 

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The GOP’s Biggest Narcs Are Predictably Furious About Biden’s Weed Pardons

GOP officials’ takes on President Joe Biden’s surprise weed announcement Thursday ranged from moral outrage to begrudging praise to complete and utter silence. 

Biden, a longtime opponent of legalizing weed, which he called a “gateway drug” as recently as 2019, announced Thursday—after nearly two years of pressure from cannabis and criminal justice reform advocates—that he would pardon all federal simple cannabis-possession convictions. 

Biden also called on governors to pardon simple possession offenses at the state level and said he’d directed Cabinet officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, to begin reviewing cannabis’ Schedule 1 status under federal law, which puts it on the same level as heroin. 

“I’m calling on governors to pardon simple state marijuana possession offenses,” Biden said Thursday. “Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely for possessing marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason either.”

But despite the fact that 19 states and Washington, D.C., have already legalized recreational use of the drug, some Republicans criticized Biden’s announcement. 

“In the midst of a crime wave and on the brink of a recession, Joe Biden is giving blanket pardons to drug offenders—many of whom pled down from more serious charges,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who has repeatedly said he thinks the U.S. has an “under-incarceration problem” despite the fact that the U.S. imprisons more people per capita than any nation on Earth.   

The cannabis advocacy group NORML responded on Twitter: “LOL look at this loser.”

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No Treats, Only Tricks: Republicans Try to Ruin Halloween With Fake Rainbow Fentanyl Threat

A group of Republican senators has released a video warning parents that Mexican drug cartels have begun targeting children by disguising fentanyl as candy, despite actual experts claiming its bogus.

The public service announcement, a portion of which was aired on Fox News Friday morning, said that “by working together and being on high alert this Halloween, we can help put an end to the drug traffickers that are driving addiction.” 

Halloween this year falls exactly 8 days before the November midterms, and what better way is there to drive home your tough-on-crime, war on drugs-electoral messaging than to convince parents that the cartels are in the house down the block and are handing out synthetic opioids to your kid? 

“Rainbow fentanyl comes in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes, including pills powder and blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk,” said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy. “Even just handling these pills or powders…can kill a person,” added Senator Steve Daines (R-Mon.), alluding to the myth that touching fentanyl can cause an overdose. 

Nebraska Senator Deb Fisher warned that “according to the DEA, these pills are a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults.”

However, experts, who at this point are exasperated at the “poisoned Halloween candy” myth’s yearly resurgence, are again reiterating that drug dealers are not handing out narcotics to children en masse. In fact, the use of colors is typically a way for producers to distinguish their products from other manufacturers and to make them identifiable to existing consumers, not a way to market them to children. Mariah Francis, a Resource Associate with the National Harm Reduction Coalition, criticized the GOP lawmakers misrepresentation of the ways drugs circulate in communities. “Drug markets are based off profit gain and profit margins,” explained Francis. Drug dealers “are not making money giving free fentanyl tablets […] to small children.”

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US Media’s Intellectual No-Fly-Zone on US Culpability in Nord Stream Attack

Multiple explosions last week off the coast of Poland damaged both the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, shutting down one and preventing the other from going online. The pipelines, intended to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, are critical infrastructure for Europe’s energy markets.

The explosions triggered a lopsided “whodunnit” in US media, with commentators almost universally fingering Russia as the culprit, despite the lack of a plausible motive. Official US opposition to the pipeline has been well-established over the years, giving Washington ample motive to destroy the pipelines, but most newsrooms uniformly suppressed this history, and attacked those who raised it.

After the explosions, much of the press dutifully parroted the Western official line. The Washington Post (9/27/22) quickly produced an account: “European Leaders Blame Russian ‘Sabotage’ After Nord Stream Explosions,” citing nothing but EU officials who claimed that while they had no evidence of Russian involvement, “only Russia had the motivation, the submersible equipment and the capability.”

Much of the media cast their suspicions towards Russia, including Bloomberg (9/27/22), Vox (9/29/22), Associated Press (9/30/22) and much of cable news. With few exceptions, speculation on US involvement has seemingly been deemed an intellectual no-fly-zone.

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