The U.S. Arsenal: Missiles, Nukes, And Tweets With Five Likes

September 20, 2022

Maybe Hire A Marketing Team?

In response to a report released by independent internet researchers, the Pentagon has ordered an audit of all the U.S. military’s clandestine information warfare operations. The move comes after the White House and other Washington, D.C. agencies have voiced concerns about the military’s psychological online campaigns. According to a report, Twitter and Facebook have taken down over 150 fake personas and pages over the past three years, with some linked to the U.S. military. Many profiles were pretending to be average people speaking Arabic or Farsi, making claims that ranged from deceased Afghan refugees being returned from Iran with missing organs to anti-Russia narratives and information about Covid-19 originating from China.

Unfortunately for the Pentagon, Facebook and Twitter easily caught the military’s phony accounts, going so far as to contact the Department of Defense to warn it about the takedowns. According to one official, Facebook’s director for global threat disruption told the Pentagon, “We know what DOD is doing. It violates our policies. We will enforce our policies” and so “DOD should knock it off.”

An even worse look than being found out by Facebook? Most of the military’s super secret social media campaigns had zero social media clout. The “vast majority of posts and tweets” found in the report received “no more than a handful of likes or retweets,” and just 19% of the Pentagon’s propaganda puppets had more than 1,000 followers.

Going forward, the Pentagon acknowledges the importance of online sentiment, but wants to have more control over what the military is pushing onto the web. “Our adversaries are absolutely operating in the information domain,” said one official. “There are some who think we shouldn’t do anything clandestine in that space. Ceding an entire domain to an adversary would be unwise. But we need stronger policy guardrails.” Maybe those policies will include increased defense spending to buy more Twitter followers. (WaPo, $)

Some Good News

Wellington Board of Trustees takes action against book bans in the town’s public library (The Coloradoan)
Judge Vacates Murder Conviction of Adnan Syed of ‘Serial’ (NYT, $)

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The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend (Unofficially)

In a statement Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden declared that the superpower would come to the aid of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. The move comes as part of a yearlong alteration of U.S.-Taiwan policy that has raised tensions between D.C. and Beijing.
In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday, Biden was asked whether the U.S. would come to the aid of its unofficial ally if China invaded Taiwan. He answered, “Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.” His willingness to defend this territory disputed by a rival superpower differs from the U.S.’s more hands-off approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In order to preserve relationships with China, the U.S. has officially recognized Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China (including Taiwan) since 1979, keeping unofficial relations with Taiwan an open secret. In response to Biden’s statement, China’s foreign ministry says it has lodged “stern representations” with the U.S. (NBC, Reuters)

Ain’t No Rest For The Hurricane-Weary

Hurricane Fiona, predicted to become the season’s first major hurricane by Wednesday, landed Monday morning in the Dominican Republic after wreaking havoc in U.S. territory Puerto Rico a day earlier. According to some Puerto Ricans who experienced Hurricane Maria in 2017, Fiona might be worse than her older sister. Hurricane Maria caused long-lasting infrastructural damage to the island, with U.S. aid to its territory proving inconsistent and disorganized. Puerto Rico still faces issues with unreliable electricity to this day.
Fiona brought torrential rains to Puerto Rico, causing mudslides and catastrophic flooding. One area on the southern side of the island saw over two feet of rain in 24 hours. With more rain on the way, the National Hurricane Center predicts that Puerto Rico will see 12 to 30 inches of rain by the end of the week.
“A lot of people — more than (during) Maria — lost their houses now … lost everything in their houses because of the flooding,” one Puerto Rican business owner told CNN. “Maria was tough winds. But this one, with all the rain, it just destroyed everything in the house.” By midday Monday, roughly 1,000 people had been saved from flooding by emergency crews. More help from the U.S. is expected to arrive on the island whenever the weather permits. (CNN)

Additional World News

“The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.” – Queen Elizabeth II

Rerun Or Retire?

President Biden gave a wide-ranging interview on Sunday for “60 Minutes,” during which he brought up some doubts about if he’ll run again in 2024. “Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen,” he said.
Biden’s age has long been the subject of scrutiny among Republicans and Democrats alike, and he said that he’s a “great respecter of fate,” thus his reluctance to say for sure that he’ll run again. Rumors say he’ll discuss it with his family over the holidays and make a decision by early next year.
Biden also took the opportunity to declare, “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lotta work on it. … But the pandemic is over.” He observed, “If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.” It’s worth noting that major governing medical agencies have not yet made quite the same declaration. (CNN, CBS)

The Big, Slow-Moving Apple

A city known for aggressive drivers and bumper-to-bumper traffic is going to get even more traffic and even angrier drivers this week. New York City will face major disruptions, including road closures, delays, and frozen zones as diplomats from around the globe gather for the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Police are stationed along roadways and patrolling waterways. Traffic delays will mostly impact New York City’s east side around the headquarters building, but will also affect bus and subway schedules. “There will be hundreds of motorcades moving around the city, sometimes simultaneously,” said NYPD department chief Kenneth Corey, along with “security checkpoints.” (CBS)

Additional USA News

How’d You Say You Grew These Vegetables Again?

California residents looking for a new way to dispose of their corporeal bodies once they leave our mortal coil are in luck. On top of the tried-and-true corpse disposal methods of traditional burial and cremation, human composting will now be an option on the mortician’s table come 2027.
Assembly Bill 351, introduced by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, was signed into law Sunday by Governor Gavin Newsom. The bill creates a state regulatory process for natural organic reduction, a process where human remains are allowed to naturally decompose over the course of about a month. Bodies are placed in a steel vessel and buried in wood chips, alfalfa, and other biodegradable materials, where they turn into rich, fertile soil after 30-45 days.
Supporters of human composting consider it an eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial or cremation. Cremation is very energy-intensive and produces carbon dioxide emissions, while traditional burial involves non-biodegradable coffins on top of embalming procedures that utilize chemicals. Companies that offer human composting services say that every person who is not cremated or buried saves the environment from one metric ton of carbon emissions.
Interestingly, the California Catholic Conference voiced its opposition to the bill, stating that human composting “reduces the human body to simply a disposable commodity,” and that “The practice of respectfully burying the bodies or the honoring the ashes of the deceased comports with the virtually universal norm of reverence and care towards the deceased.” (LAT, $)

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