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Plaza parking in Healdsburg could cost you

ICE wanted information on suspect two weeks prior to alleged killing

Ukiah murder case splits Mendocino town

Former Rep. Lynn Woolsey among 7 nominated to new county panel on pension reform

Judge says surprise classroom visit caused reasonable fear

Highway 101 traffic snarled by overturned trailer near Cotati

PAUL PAYNE

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | August 21, 2017, 9:05PM

| Updated 4 hours ago.

UKIAH Peter and Susan Keegan were the toast of Ukiah.

He was a Harvard-educated doctor with a thriving family practice. She was a popular college English teacher and community theater actor.

Through most of their 32-year marriage, they were rock stars of the towns west side literati, with him expressing early public support for medical marijuana and her fighting to stamp out tobacco use among children.

It ended suddenly in 2010 when Peter Keegan dialed 911 from their Whitmore Lane house to report hed found his wife dead in the bathroom.

At first, investigators concluded shed died from a fall after loading up on alcohol and pain killers.

But after learning the couple had been in throes of a bitter divorce and reviewing forensic evidence, prosecutors reopened the case. Last week nearly seven years after Susan Keegan died a grand jury handed down a murder indictment to the only other person at home at the time: Peter Keegan.

Ever since, the town of 16,000 people has buzzed. Some insist the doctor, estimated to have served half the population at one time or another, is innocent. Others claim hes guilty, citing a hair-trigger temper.

Everybodys talking about it, said James Little, as he clipped a customers hair at Executive Barbershop on West Perkins Street, the county courthouse looming in the distance through a plate glass window. The town is so small everybody knows everybody.

At Schats Bakery next door, a popular eatery also in the shadow of the courthouse, customers ruminated over coffee and toast.

Anybodys capable of anything, said Phillip Castro, a Ukiah chef.

A jury trial promises to be a public spectacle the likes of which have not been seen for many years in the seat of Mendocino County.

Prosecuting the case is Tim Stoen, a longtime deputy district attorney and author, best known for his connection to Jim Jones Peoples Temple during the 1970s. His 6-year-old son Jonathan was among the 918 people who died in Guyana in 1978 in a mass suicide ordered by Jones in which they drank poisoned Kool-Aid.

Stoen is expected to argue detectives bungled the initial investigation and the coroner mistakenly ruled the death an accident. Hell introduce autopsy photos showing two wounds on Susan Keegans head consistent with bludgeoning as well as bruises on her forearms suggesting she tried to defend herself.

A Santa Rosa forensic pathologist, Jay Chapman, credited with developing the three-drug protocol for lethal injection, is expected to testify for the prosecution.

This was, in fact, an assault and a murder and not an accident, said Mike Geniella, a spokesman for District Attorney David Eyster.

Stoen will face off against another North Coast legal luminary, Santa Rosa attorney Chris Andrian. A criminal lawyer for more than 40 years, Andrian successfully defended Petaluma Dr. Louis Pelfini against charges he smothered his own wife, Janet, in 1999. A judge dismissed the case after video emerged showing the prosecutor had coached a testifying forensic pathologist.

Like Keegan, Pelfini was indicted by a grand jury instead of a through the preliminary hearing process in which both sides are allowed to cross-examine witnesses.

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The fact that Eyster chose that route to try Keegan suggests the evidence against him is weak, Andrian said.

Theres an old saying that you can indict a ham sandwich, said Andrian, who is expected to seek another dismissal. My experience tells me if you waited seven years and you go to the grand jury, youre just trying to appease somebody. Youre trying to get it off your plate.

But prosecutors counter the 19 grand jurors offered an impartial review after hearing testimony from Keegan, Chapman and others. It took so long to get there because of lapses in the original probe. Now, Keegan, free on a $300,000 bond, will return to court Oct. 20 to enter a not-guilty plea. The 65-year-old physician did not return a call Thursday seeking comment. He is battling cancer, Andrian said.

A trial date has not been set.

The Keegans, both East Coast transplants, arrived in California in the 1970s by motorcycle. They lived in San Francisco before settling in Ukiah where they raised two sons.

Peter Keegan graduated from the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine in 1979 and is a licensed family practitioner and surgeon. Most recently, he was a part-time doctor with the Round Valley Indian Health Clinic in Covelo.

Susan Keegan was born in New York City. She attended Radcliffe College and went to Sonoma State University, where she earned a masters degree in English literature.

She held a number of jobs in the Ukiah area over the years, including reporter, business manager for the Ukiah Players Theater, and an English and business teacher at Mendocino College. She also was community services director of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society. She wrote fiction, sang with a local quartet and acted with the local theater group.

At the time of her death, Keegan, 55, was separated from but remained living with her husband. She was looking forward to starting a new life on her own, said her friend, Mary Pierce, who met with Keegan at her Santa Rosa home the night before she was found dead early on Nov.11, 2010.

Keegan was upbeat and talking excitedly about being cast in a production of Hamlet, although she revealed her relationship had become emotionally abusive. Some say Peter Keegan lashed out when he learned he would be splitting his assets with her.

Still, she left that night in good spirits, Pierce said.

I never believed Susan went home and overdosed, she said. It was completely out of character for her. She was not a drinker. She was not in any way suicidal.

The death initially was called undetermined, but in August 2012, law enforcement officials declared a continuing investigation had determined it was a homicide.

Susan Keegan died from inhaling vomit, the result of blunt force trauma to the head, according to Mendocino County sheriffs officials. She had hydrocodone and high levels of alcohol in her body, but they did not cause her death, according to the autopsy. Sheriffs officials said they had a person of interest in mind but no official suspect was named. And Peter Keegan refused steadfastly to cooperate, Geniella said.

Finally, late last month, a grand jury was assembled and prosecutor Stoen presented his case against Keegan behind closed doors. After about a week of testimony, the panel deliberated four or five hours before finding there was probable cause to indict Keegan for second-degree murder, which is a killing without premeditation.He faces a life sentence if convicted.

Keegan, who remarried, is supported by at least one of the couples two sons and numerous friends and former patients. Simon Keegan wrote on his fathers Facebook page Aug. 12 that we, the family, stand steadfast by our fathers side.

A lot of people were saddened by my mothers death, he wrote. Unfortunately, many of those people are misguided in their attempt to have justice.

But Susan Keegans sister, author Karen Feiden of New York, believes prosecutors are pursuing the right suspect. She has helped maintain the website, justice4susan.com.

We waited a very long time for this and were grateful to see it move forward, Feiden said.

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In Ukiah, murder is the talk of the town - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

August 21, 2017 5:49 PM By Jon Delano

Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

GREEN TREE (KDKA) In 2014 and again in 2016, Republican Congressman Tim Murphy ran unopposed for reelection.

Democrats vow that wont happen again in 2018.

I am a teacher, and I am running for Congress, declared former Allegheny County councilman Mike Crossey of Mt. Lebanon.

Before a cheering group of supporters at the Aiken Elementary School in Green Tree, Crossey announced his candidacy for Congress, and he took on Murphy directly.

Tim Murphy has voted against our students needs. Tim Murphy has voted against our seniors needs. Tim Murphy has voted against womens health issues. Tim Murphy votes against working families.

The 18th congressional district stretches across four counties Allegheny, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland.

Crossey signaled that Murphys vote for the House Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act is likely to be a big issue.

I believe in an America where quality health care is accessible to all, where health care decisions are made by doctors and patients, not insurance companies, and certainly not politicians, declared Crossey.

And the former statewide president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association took a swipe at the Republican congressman for not holding town hall meetings.

As your congressman, I will demonstrate leadership that listens, do regular town hall meetings, with offices in all four counties, he said. I will be accessible to all constituents. You will never have to ask, Wheres Mike?

Thats a reference to lawn signs that have cropped up in the 18th District, asking, Wheres Tim Murphy?

Crossey says Murphy started off as a moderate Republican but now votes with Speaker Paul Ryan.

Tim over the years has just started representing Paul Ryan. He has a 97 percent voting record with the Republican Party, and I believe as a member of Congress you need to represent everybody, Crossey told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Monday.

The Murphy campaign noted Crossey made his announcement in the 14th district, not the 18th, and said it would be happy to send him a map of the district.

Crossey says he knew that but chose a school just across the district line attended by his grandkids.

Crossey is not the only Democrat running to take on Murphy.

At least three other Democrats are considering a run.

Murphy wont be easy to beat.

Even though Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 18th district, President Trump carried the district in 2016.

Democrats will choose their nominee in nine months.

Jon Delano is a familiar face on KDKA-TV, having been the station's political analyst since 1994. In September 2001 Jon joined KDKA full time as the Money & Politics Editor and this regions only political analyst who covers national and local...

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Democrat Mike Crossey Announces Congressional Run Against Tim Murphy - CBS Pittsburgh / KDKA

Aug. 21, 2017, 6:13 p.m.

An attempt to oust Chad Mayes as Assembly Republican leader fell short Monday, but another vote is scheduled for next week.

Mayes(R-Yucca Valley) has been facing calls for his ouster after he worked with Democrats to extend California's cap-and-trade program, the state'skey initiative for fighting climate change.

The 25-member Assembly Republican caucus met for two hours Monday, three days after state party officials called on Mayesto step down or be replaced.

But opponents could muster only 10 votes against him three short of the threshold.

The next meetingwill be held Aug. 29.

"The caucus made a decision, and the decision was we are all going to get together next Tuesday and were going to vote," said Mayes, who does not plan to step down.

Before the vote, Mayes told reporters that he viewed the leadership struggle as an important juncture for California Republicans.He said his party, which has suffered from declining power in Sacramento and dwindling voter registration, needs to adapt.

You can either convert folks to believe in the things you believe in, or you can go out and begin to reflect Californians," he said."The party hasnt done a good job of converting folks. In fact, weve done a good job of repelling individuals. And we havent done a good job of reflecting Californians.

But his plans have been resisted by conservative critics.

Local Republicans and my constituents are speaking loud and clear that theyd like to see a change in leadership, and I also believe that a new direction is the best course of action for our party," Assemblyman Randy Voepel(R-Santee) said.

See original here:
Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes is still in charge after caucus meeting but another vote is on the way - Los Angeles Times

A call by the student Republican Club at San Diego State University for the Muslim Student Association to denounce the Barcelona terrorist attack triggered a strong backlash including at least one physical threat, according to the GOP student leader.

The Muslim Student Association called it a distasteful letter and thanked people for supporting the group after it was posted.

In the Aug. 17 letter, posted on the organizations Facebook page the day an ISIS terrorist attack in Barcelona left 15 dead, College Republicans of SDSU President Brandon Jones offered condolences to those affected by the attack and wrote that such acts must be disavowed by Muslim leaders on our campus and in our community.

The letter then quoted the Muslim Student Associations mission statement of being dedicated to creating a sense of community and inclusive environment for all students on campus.

Unfortunately, until radical Islamic terrorism is disavowed by the Muslim Student Organization at SDSU, we can not move forward in creating an inclusive environment for all students on campus, Jones wrote.

The letter concluded by asking the president of the organization and its executive officers to publicly condemn the act or resign.

Members of the Muslim Student Association could not be reached, but the organization did refer to the letter on its Facebook page.

The Muslim Student Association of SDSU would like to thank all the individuals and organizations who have expressed their support for us in the past few days, read a message posted Sunday. We have received numerous amounts of positive messages and comments regarding the distasteful letter that was sent to us. Your kind words and willingness to stand against injustice has showed our members and Muslim students from other universities around the country that we are not alone.

The post was followed by a lengthy back and forth among comments, including from Breitbart contributor Ariana Rowlands, who repeatedly asked for the Muslim Student Association to respond to Jones request to condemn the attack. Others wrote that the group should not have to respond.

It blew up like nothing Ive ever seen before, Jones said.

The College Republicans Facebook page showed the original post had more than 230,000 views and 500 responses, mostly against the letter.

It's hard to tell whether you're just trolling Muslim students because you think this type of bullying is fun & edgy, or whether you seriously believe your fellow Muslim students might be supporters of terrorism, one person wrote. The former possibility puts you beneath contempt, while the latter highlights how embarrassingly ignorant you are, so I'm not sure which you'd prefer.

Jones said the letter was written following a telephone board meeting with other College Republican board members, who endorsed it. He put his own phone number on the letter, and said he received one threatening text.

It said, I hope you rot in hell, Jones said. Were coming for you this week, you vile piece of a human being. Watch your back every step you take. SDSU campus will be the war zone against you and inhumane rats.

An anonymous e-mail to the organization also asked Jones to resign from his position and when convenient, kill yourself, he said.

Despite the controversy, Jones said he does not regret posting the letter, which he saw as a reasonable request.

In our opinion, its real simple, he said. There was an act of violence, much like the one that happened in Charlottesville, and we were making a simple request in calling them to join us in condemning it.

Jones was referring to a clash in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month between members of White nationalist and counter-protesters. A counter-protester was killed in the unrest.

Jones said the College Republicans issued a statement condemning the violence and actions of white nationalists at the rally immediately after the incident.

There are nearly 9,200 homeless people in San Diego County. Between 2016 and 2017, downtown San Diego experienced the single largest increase in homeless individuals in the region.

There are nearly 9,200 homeless people in San Diego County. Between 2016 and 2017, downtown San Diego experienced the single largest increase in homeless individuals in the region.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939

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SDSU Republican letter to Muslims gets harsh backlash - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo / Pavel Golovkin)

Virtually all of the debates over the intelligence communitys conclusion that Russia waged a multifaceted campaign to influence the 2016 election look at the issue through a prism of US domestic politics or the bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia. Thats understandable, given what a shocking outcome the election produced. But it also sidesteps the troubling reality that the Kremlins attempts to influence other countries electoral processes have been a problem across Europe for over a decade, and that our intelligence agencies werent alone in sounding the alarm. And thats a serious problem for those who are dismissive of the evidence of Russian intervention. Russias effort in our election may have been its most dramaticand arguably its most fruitfulbut evidence suggests it was hardly an isolated event.

The US intelligence communitys conclusions about how Russia intervened in our elections fits a pattern that European analysts say dates back to 2007, when Vladimir Putin told the Munich Security Conference that American dominance in a unipolar world was pernicious, and that NATOs expansion represents a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust. The Kremlin saw a pressing need to confront a series of anti-Russian color revolutions in the former Soviet states during the early 2000s. Sebastian Rotella reported for ProPublica that Russian leaders believed the United States was using soft power means, such as the media and diplomacy, to cause trouble in Russias domain. The Russians decided to fight fire with fire, as they saw it. USA Today international-affairs correspondent Oren Dorell reported that Russian sabotage of Western computer systems started that same year. It was also in 2007 that Russians began experimenting with information warfare in Estonia, followed soon after by attempts at disruption in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Finland, Bosnia and Macedonia, according to The Washington Posts Dana Priest and Michael Birnbaum.

Priest and Birnbaum reported that Russia has not hidden its liking for information warfare. The chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, wrote in 2013 that informational conflict is a key part of war. Actual military strength is only the final tool of a much subtler war-fighting strategy, he said. Earlier this year, Russias Ministry of Defense announced that it had established a new cyberwarfare unit.

Classified documents from Macedonias intelligence agency that were leaked to The Guardian showed that Russian spies and diplomats have been involved in a nearly decade-long effort to spread propaganda and provoke discord in Macedonia. That was just one part of Russian effort to step up its influence all across the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The Kremlins goal is to stop them from joining NATO and to pry them away from western influence, reports The Guardian.

British officials say they believe that in 2015, Russia interfered directly in UK elections with a series of attempted cyber hacks and clandestine online activity, according to The Independent. German intelligence officials say that large amounts of data were seized during a May 2015 cyber attack on the Bundestagwhich has previously been blamed on APT28, a Russian hacking group, according to Reuters. In July, Germanys interior secretary, Thomas de Maiziere, and Hans-Georg Maassen, the countrys spy chief, warned that Russia will start publishing compromising material on German MPsin order to destabilise elections in September, according to Andrew Rettman at EUobserver.

In May, NSA Director Michael Rogers testified under oath before Congress that American officials had found evidence of Russian involvement in the recent French elections, which they shared with their intelligence officers in Paris. We had talked to our French counterparts, he said, and gave them a heads-up: Look, were watching the Russians, were seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure.

The list of countries targeted by Russia goes on. Earlier this year, Dutch Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk announced that all votes cast in the March election in the Netherlands would be hand-counted because of software problems and fears of Russian hacking, according to Politicos European edition. The Norwegian Police Security Service informed that countrys Labour Party that it had been hacked, and Norwegian media reported that the group behind the cyber-attack was the same one that breached the DNCs computers last year. Russia is believed to have been involved in similar attacks throughout what it views as its sphere of influence.

Some skeptics have seized on reports that French and German intelligence officials were unable to confirm that Russia was behind recent hacks in those countries. But officials in both countries treat Russian attacks as an active and ongoing threat to their democracies. And Mark Galeotti, head of the Centre for European Security at the Institute of International Relations Prague, says that while the intelligence agencies were not able to establish direct ties to Russia, his sources in the French and German intelligence remain confident that they were behind the hacks. In any cyber case its very difficult to be absolutely conclusive, because even if its coming out of a machine thats situated in Russia, it could have been controlled by someone in North Korea or China or Belgium for all we know, and youd really need a forensic examination of the machine where the attack originated. And while people expect the kind of standards of proof that one would expect in a court of lawproof beyond a reasonable doubtthere comes a time when you have to talk about the balance of probabilities. Intelligence agencies very rarely rely on single-point informationa single source. When intelligence agencies say, Were pretty confident its X, its because they have alternative sources, whether its signal intelligence or human intelligence, inclining them in the same direction.

In the case of the recent US election hacks, it wasnt US intelligence agencies that originally picked up the scent. According to The Guardians Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, and Nick Hopkins, it was the GCHQthe UKs version of the National Security Agencythat first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious interactions between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents. Then, as the Guardian piece outlines, Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trumps inner circle and Russians. That included intelligence officials from Germany, Estonia, Poland, Canada, and Australia. According to one source, French and Dutch spooks also passed on signals intelligence to their American counterparts.

Analysts say that the Kremlins motives are relatively straightforward. As its postCold War hard power declined, Vladimir Putins government has pursued its interests by stepping up its cyber-warfare and disinformation campaigns in order to divide, destabilize, and demoralize its geopolitical opponents.

According to Paul Goble, a former official with the State Department and the CIA who now teaches at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC, Putin doesnt believe in democracy, and he wants to send the message to other people that democracy is a system that outside forces can manipulate, and therefore cast doubt on its legitimacy. A related goal is to weaken the transnational political, economic, and military institutions that have been the basis of American foreign policy for a very long time. The weakening or destruction of NATO, the weakening or destruction of the EU, dividing Europe from the United Statesthis has been Russias goal since the creation of NATO.

Galeotti agrees, telling me that when Vladimir Putin looks at these international institutions, what he sees are institutions created by the West, to serve the Wests interests. When Putin talks about sovereignty, his notion is nobody gets to tell us what to do within our own borders. Galeotti doesnt think Putin has a grand agenda, so much as he wants to be able to opt out of the post-1945 world order. With an economy roughly the size of Spains, Russias no longer a superpower, but, says Galeotti, Putin is clearly committed to making Russia great again, and one way to assert Russian power is to get everyone else divided and weakened. If you cant make yourself stronger, at least you can try to make others weaker.

Natasha Kuhrt, a Russia specialist at Kings College, London, is herself skeptical of claims that the Kremlin is pulling the strings of certain groups in certain countries. While she does believe that Russia has tried to influence other countries elections, she says that the media have overstated the impact. But she says the Russians have been very adept at exploiting anxieties about European integrationthe general trend of questioning certain values, lets say, partly for economic reasons and partly for other reasons. As for our election, Kuhrt adds that there is a kind of anti-Western discourse within Russia that is used mainly for domestic purposes. With most Russians living standards flat or in decline, the regimes legitimacy to a large extent rests on that now. So its also about showing what idiots Americans are for electing a buffoon like Trump.

Russia and the United States have attempted, and in many cases succeeded, to influence other countries electoral processes for the past hundred years. But analysts say the scale and sophistication of Russian attacks have taken this practice to a new level. Todays lightning-fast communications and low barriers of entry into online publishing represent a departure from the kind of influence campaigns countries waged in the past. Back in January, Max Fisher argued in a New York Times piece that our media are highly susceptible to being duped by dark PR campaigns, noting that while [r]eporters have always relied on sources who provide critical information for self-interested reasons, in 2016 the source was often Russias military intelligence agency, the G.R.U.operating through shadowy fronts who worked to mask that factand its agenda was to undermine the American presidential election.

US investigators are currently looking into whether Trump supporters and far-right websites coordinated with Moscow over the release of fake news, including stories implicating Clinton in murder or pedophilia, or paid to boost those stories on Facebook, according to Julian Borger at The Guardian. A Pew study released last year found that six in 10 Americans get news from social media, mostly from Facebook.

Here at home, the growing evidence that Russias intervention in our elections was only the most recent, and successful, example of an international campaign that dates back George W. Bushs presidency is a serious problem for those who dismiss or discount the US intelligence communitys findings.

For some on the left, including a number of voices at The Nation, the real story involves one or more of the following: Democrats hyping a story line in order to excuse their embarrassing loss to Donald Trump; Hillary Clinton loyalists defending their candidate from the same charge; rogue elements within our intelligence agencies either fabricating or exaggerating Russian involvement to undermine Trumps legitimacy after he compared them to Nazis, or those same elements of the deep stateinveterate cold warriorssabotaging Trumps efforts to bring about dtente with Moscow.

But these narratives dont hold up when viewed in a larger geopolitical context. Its unlikely that in 2015 British intelligence tipped off US spy agencies about those suspicious contacts because it wanted to absolve Hillary Clinton for her future loss to Donald Trump. The Dutch arent interested in what lessons the Democratic Party took away from their defeat, nor are the Lithuanians invested in the idea that Bernie would have won. And its highly unlikely that Germany, which was torn apart during the Cold War, is chomping on the bit to launch a new one.

In recent months, one intelligence official after another has testified before Congress that the Russians will take the lessons they learned in the US election last year, and in previous campaigns elsewhere, and use them again in the future. Last week, CNN reported that, emboldened by the lack of a significant retaliatory response to its attack on the 2016 election, Russian spies are ramping up their intelligence-gathering efforts in the US, according to current and former US intelligence officials who say they have noticed an increase since the election. According to the report, US intelligence and law enforcement agencies have detected an increase in suspected Russian intelligence officers entering the US under the guise of other business. Former director of national intelligence James Clapper warned on CNN about potential Russian intervention in the 2018 midterm elections. They are going to stretch the envelope as far as they can to collect information and I think largely if I can use the military phrase, prep the battlefield for 2018 elections, he said.

The fact that theres a significant amount of skepticism on both the left and the right is blunting calls to prepare for the next attack. The president has hesitated to even acknowledge that this is a serious issue. And, while a recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found that just $400 million invested in replacing paperless voting machines with machines that read paper ballotsless than the Pentagon spent last year on military bandswould help secure our election infrastructure, no such funding is in the works. In fact, in late June Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee voted to defund the Election Assistance Commission, which Ari Berman says is the only federal agency that helps states make sure their voting machines arent hacked. The level of concern should be even higher now that we have evidence that the Russian military intelligence did target election systems specifically: The Intercept reported last month that leaked NSA documents showed that Russian military intelligence launched cyber-attacks against an election-software vendors internal systems. A subsequent report by Bloomberg said that US investigators had found evidence that Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states.

Compare our lackadaisical response to the seriousness with which Europe is taking the issue. Dana Priest and Michael Birnbaum reported for The Washington Post that European countries are deploying a variety of bold tactics and tools to expose Russian attempts to sway voters and weaken European unity. Across Europe, counterintelligence officials, legislators, researchers and journalists have devoted yearsin some cases, decadesto the development of ways to counter Russian disinformation, hacking and trolling that theyre now trying to use to safeguard their own democratic processes.

France and Germany have pressured Facebook to take down thousands of automated accounts that spread fake news. In Sweden, school children are learning to spot fake news. Fourteen hundred Slovakian companies have agreed to boycott a list of fake-news sites. The EU is employing hundreds of volunteer researchers to expose false stories on the Internet. In Lithuania, write Priest and Birnbaum, 100 citizen cyber-sleuths dubbed elves link up digitally to identify and beat back the people employed on social media to spread Russian disinformation. They call the daily skirmishes Elves vs. Trolls.

While Russian interference in last years election was all about us, Moscows use of asymmetric tactics to undermine multilateral institutions and aid pro-Russia parties in so many other countries is not. The difference is that with some Americans across the political spectrum insisting that we should simply move on, we arent doing much to counter it. Doing so doesnt mean creating an environment of neo-McCarthyite hysteria, escalating hostilities with Moscow or blundering toward a shooting war in Syria. It simply requires that we acknowledge the reality of the problem and work with our allies to address it in a sober and serious way.

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Russia's Attacks on Democracy Aren't Only a Problem for America - The Nation.