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Small Town Truth says it's a registered 501(c)(3). I just found it by searching here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ It leads to f

Small Town Truth says it's a registered 501(c)(3). I just found it by searching here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ It leads to further rabbit holes I don't have the time to dig into now, but I might later, because now I'm very curious where it leads.

jodacola 2y ago
Meetings ended and I couldn't wait to get back! So, searching via that Exempt Organization Search led to a 501(c)(3) letter being issued to Small Town Truth, mailed to a residential address in the care of the "Better Narrative Group" - another "interesting" site[0]. Doing a little more searching, I've found another 501(c)(3) in care of Better Narrative Group: Soul of a Nation Media. Similar setup. In trying to find more information to connect some dots, I found Soul of a Nation Media's taxes were filed by ChurchBiz[1], but this hasn't led to anything interesting. Both Small Town Truth and Soul of a Nation Media changed addresses to a PO Box in Virginia in 2022. Oh, and here are another two I just found related to Better Narrative Group: American Volunteer Corps[2], Better Neighbors Network[3]. To not assume malice, maybe it's a concerned citizen trying, in their own way, by establishing these organizations. Something feels off about the sites, though - not much content, a little dead behind the eyes, and I can't put my finger on the actual purpose of the sites. Odd. [0] https://www.betternarrativegroup.org https://www.betternarrativegroup.org [1] https://www.churchbiz.com https://www.churchbiz.com [2] https://www.americanvolunteercorps.org/ https://www.americanvolunteercorps.org/ [3] https://www.betterneighborsnetwork.org/ https://www.betterneighborsnetwork.org/ edit: formatting
- dartos 2y ago
  Not at my desktop, so I can’t really dig into the technical details of these sites, but by the look of them, they were all made either with the same tool and general components OR they were all made by the same group (maybe the same contracting firm or something)
  - neom 2y ago
    The images are all hosted on wix, so I guess they're all built with wix (I checked through them all to see if I could track the images back to anything, it's all stock photos) The weirdest thing I find about everything in there is this hobby lobby page: https://www.smalltowntruth.org/our-economy https://www.smalltowntruth.org/our-economy
    - dartos 2y ago
      Yknow maybe these are just actual us political groups… they have to exist, right?
      - crazygringo 2y ago
        "Real" legitimate domestic political groups usually have the names of the people running them, with bios, etc. Who founded them, etc. They try to make it easy to figure out who they are so you trust them. When that information is missing it's extremely suspicious, and rightly so.
        uoaei 2y ago
        I think that's a pretty obsolete take that hasn't been reliable since Obama '08 and the "digital strategy". Not saying anything about "should", zealous downvoters...
        singlepaynews 2y ago
        Why? Do you know something I don’t? Intuitively to me it seems like “unverified identities are usually fake” is the core tenant of post-internet media literacy.
        uoaei 2y ago
        Have you interacted with any political organizations in the last 10 years offline? If/when you interact with them online, do they claim provenance through some actual recognized body or just some vagaries around how they want to depict their alignments? If this was such a big deal, where is the hubbub about pretty much every email in my inbox? NGPVan (for instance, on the Dem side) doesn't require much except the bare minimum of legal registration for political organizations, I don't buy that what is essentially a "marketplace for voters' email addresses" suddenly legitimizes anyone who signs up for their service. My point is, if this is a problem, it has been one for a long time and the cultural zeitgeist seems to have simply ignored this except in cases that can be used to demonize enemies.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Both Small Town Truth and Soul of a Nation Media changed addresses to a PO Box in Virginia in 2022 What else is at that P.O. box?
  - jodacola 2y ago
    Good question. Uncovering some more things here, with a wider web. Another tax-exempt org was established in 2021 (like the others), named NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. This one, though, was established in Asheville, NC. Like the others, it was moved to the same P.O. Box in 2022. It was registered under the care of a different name. Its taxes were also filed by ChurchBiz. Another entity registered at this address is AMA AL PROMIJO. This has a web presence like the other original sites[0]. It was also registered in 2021 and changed address in 2022 to the P.O. Box, but was registered in care of another different name. The fact that the website has the same feel as those others that branched off Small Town Truth is odd, though. There is also a BORN BROWN INSTITUTE, which has some different presences on LinkedIn and such[1]. Now that this address appears associated with some different non-profits, I wonder if there’s some entity that acts as an agent for helping establishing non-profits operating out of this P.O. Box, hence the mix of entities I’m now bumping into. Still. It’s an interesting web here I can’t quite make sense of. I’m also being a little circumspect here in order to not accidentally dox someone, but the research is fairly straightforward with the Exempt Organization Search site and some googling. [0] https://www.ama-al-projimo.org/ https://www.ama-al-projimo.org/ [1] https://www.wjbf.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/676457138/spiritual-entrepreneurs-team-up-to-offer-a-wellness-retreat-and-indigenous-culture-experience-in-costa-rica/ https://www.wjbf.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/6...
    - jodacola 2y ago
      One more interesting update: AMA AL PROMIJO was established in care of an individual named Eric Sapp. Some googling landed me on an org’s site named Public Democracy. One of the other team members at the company[0] is the person named in care of one of the NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. Seems we have some glue here! Time to learn more about this Public Democracy thing to try to figure out their angle. [0] https://www.publicdemocracy.io/teammates https://www.publicdemocracy.io/teammates
euroderf 2y ago
headline: Russian disinfo webring busted by HN diligence
- datavirtue 2y ago
  Spot on.

jodacola 2y ago

Meetings ended and I couldn't wait to get back! So, searching via that Exempt Organization Search led to a 501(c)(3) letter being issued to Small Town Truth, mailed to a residential address in the care of the "Better Narrative Group" - another "interesting" site[0]. Doing a little more searching, I've found another 501(c)(3) in care of Better Narrative Group: Soul of a Nation Media. Similar setup. In trying to find more information to connect some dots, I found Soul of a Nation Media's taxes were filed by ChurchBiz[1], but this hasn't led to anything interesting. Both Small Town Truth and Soul of a Nation Media changed addresses to a PO Box in Virginia in 2022. Oh, and here are another two I just found related to Better Narrative Group: American Volunteer Corps[2], Better Neighbors Network[3]. To not assume malice, maybe it's a concerned citizen trying, in their own way, by establishing these organizations. Something feels off about the sites, though - not much content, a little dead behind the eyes, and I can't put my finger on the actual purpose of the sites. Odd. [0] https://www.betternarrativegroup.org https://www.betternarrativegroup.org [1] https://www.churchbiz.com https://www.churchbiz.com [2] https://www.americanvolunteercorps.org/ https://www.americanvolunteercorps.org/ [3] https://www.betterneighborsnetwork.org/ https://www.betterneighborsnetwork.org/ edit: formatting

dartos 2y ago
Not at my desktop, so I can’t really dig into the technical details of these sites, but by the look of them, they were all made either with the same tool and general components OR they were all made by the same group (maybe the same contracting firm or something)
- neom 2y ago
  The images are all hosted on wix, so I guess they're all built with wix (I checked through them all to see if I could track the images back to anything, it's all stock photos) The weirdest thing I find about everything in there is this hobby lobby page: https://www.smalltowntruth.org/our-economy https://www.smalltowntruth.org/our-economy
  - dartos 2y ago
    Yknow maybe these are just actual us political groups… they have to exist, right?
    - crazygringo 2y ago
      "Real" legitimate domestic political groups usually have the names of the people running them, with bios, etc. Who founded them, etc. They try to make it easy to figure out who they are so you trust them. When that information is missing it's extremely suspicious, and rightly so.
      - uoaei 2y ago
        I think that's a pretty obsolete take that hasn't been reliable since Obama '08 and the "digital strategy". Not saying anything about "should", zealous downvoters...
        singlepaynews 2y ago
        Why? Do you know something I don’t? Intuitively to me it seems like “unverified identities are usually fake” is the core tenant of post-internet media literacy.
        uoaei 2y ago
        Have you interacted with any political organizations in the last 10 years offline? If/when you interact with them online, do they claim provenance through some actual recognized body or just some vagaries around how they want to depict their alignments? If this was such a big deal, where is the hubbub about pretty much every email in my inbox? NGPVan (for instance, on the Dem side) doesn't require much except the bare minimum of legal registration for political organizations, I don't buy that what is essentially a "marketplace for voters' email addresses" suddenly legitimizes anyone who signs up for their service. My point is, if this is a problem, it has been one for a long time and the cultural zeitgeist seems to have simply ignored this except in cases that can be used to demonize enemies.
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Both Small Town Truth and Soul of a Nation Media changed addresses to a PO Box in Virginia in 2022 What else is at that P.O. box?
- jodacola 2y ago
  Good question. Uncovering some more things here, with a wider web. Another tax-exempt org was established in 2021 (like the others), named NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. This one, though, was established in Asheville, NC. Like the others, it was moved to the same P.O. Box in 2022. It was registered under the care of a different name. Its taxes were also filed by ChurchBiz. Another entity registered at this address is AMA AL PROMIJO. This has a web presence like the other original sites[0]. It was also registered in 2021 and changed address in 2022 to the P.O. Box, but was registered in care of another different name. The fact that the website has the same feel as those others that branched off Small Town Truth is odd, though. There is also a BORN BROWN INSTITUTE, which has some different presences on LinkedIn and such[1]. Now that this address appears associated with some different non-profits, I wonder if there’s some entity that acts as an agent for helping establishing non-profits operating out of this P.O. Box, hence the mix of entities I’m now bumping into. Still. It’s an interesting web here I can’t quite make sense of. I’m also being a little circumspect here in order to not accidentally dox someone, but the research is fairly straightforward with the Exempt Organization Search site and some googling. [0] https://www.ama-al-projimo.org/ https://www.ama-al-projimo.org/ [1] https://www.wjbf.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/676457138/spiritual-entrepreneurs-team-up-to-offer-a-wellness-retreat-and-indigenous-culture-experience-in-costa-rica/ https://www.wjbf.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/6...
  - jodacola 2y ago
    One more interesting update: AMA AL PROMIJO was established in care of an individual named Eric Sapp. Some googling landed me on an org’s site named Public Democracy. One of the other team members at the company[0] is the person named in care of one of the NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. Seems we have some glue here! Time to learn more about this Public Democracy thing to try to figure out their angle. [0] https://www.publicdemocracy.io/teammates https://www.publicdemocracy.io/teammates

euroderf 2y ago

headline: Russian disinfo webring busted by HN diligence

datavirtue 2y ago
Spot on.