defenseeconomygovernmentPoliticsshutdown

Democrats block Defense spending bill as shutdown tensions rise

Senate Democrats voted Thursday to block the annual, full-year Defense appropriations bill, despite the measure passing out of committee with strong bipartisan support earlier this year. The vote is the latest sign of deteriorating bipartisan relations on Capitol Hill as the government shutdown drags into a third week. The Senate voted 50-44 against proceeding to the bill…

disinformationinternational relationslawmediaPolitics

BEST OF THE WEB: Pekka-philia: disgraced porn profiteer turned pro-Ukraine ‘disinfo expert’ could face legal action

Faux disinformation expert Pekka Kallioniemi gained notoriety by smearing critics of the Ukraine proxy war. Since being unmasked for peddling pornographic representations of minors, Kallioniemi has been caught promoting fraudulent KGB documents to slander a journalist as a Russian spy. In October 2024, mainstream Canadian defense journalist David Pugliese suffered “the political equivalent of a drive-by shooting,” according to a local publication called The Walrus. Citing alleged KGB documents, a prominent lawmaker accused Pugliese of being a longstanding Soviet/Russian spy during a parliamentary hearing on “disinformation.” Those files turned out to be blatant forgeries, but parliamentary privilege insulated the accuser from a defamation suit. However, the same protections do not apply to a self-proclaimed “disinformation expert” named Pekka Kallioniemi, who simultaneously promoted the fraudulent material.