*scratches head*
When I woke up today, the radio news claimed that some Finnish reservists had received letters telling them to prepare for "a possible case of war" and that the dpt of defense declined to comment on whether the activity had anything to do with Russia. Now that I have the Internet at my fingertips and can go looking for details ... nothing. Did the media have a hoax pulled back really fast, or should I have myself checked for hallucinations ... ?
The short version: No, you weren't hallucinating. But it was a routine notice misinterpreted by U.S. (and other) media.
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On May 1, the Finnish army started sending out a mass mailing to 900,000 former military conscripts (now on reserve status -- i.e., practically all the able-bodied, military-aged male citizens), informing them what their post would be in a crisis situation. Finland says this is a routine project in the works since 2013, mainly to confirm whether they have the correct mailing addresses for all the reservists. The timing was a coincidence, not connected to any Russian activity.
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As reported by Finnish broadcaster YLE, Newsweek, a U.S. magazine, published a story about this on May 1. Newsweek got some facts wrong, and presented the mailing in the wrong context -- as a response to perceived threats from Russia.
The next day, the Finnish military's main spokesman rushed to correct Newsweek, and repeated that the mailing was purely routine.
.........
Possibly more detail than anyone except JoB wanted. But just in case you were wondering...
(Plus, it's a good case study for how inaccurate stories get into the news. Far more often, it's sloppiness and/or jumping to conclusions rather than deliberate falsehood. Says the former reporter.
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