Manic News: August 2018

Thursday, August 23, 2018

SI-NBA.com

SI-NBA.com is another fake news site from the same mold as FoxNews-us.com and NYTimes-us.com.

The domain was registered on June 28th, 2018. The WHOIS page only shows info about the Registrant State/Province (New South Wales) and the Registrant Country (AU).

The top story on SI-NBA.com is titled: "SEASON OVER – Lebron James Ruptures Achilles In Lakers Practice." It was published August 9th, and it's obviously fake news. I looked around, and it doesn't appear anyone has been sharing the story. Incidentally, the photo in the article (showing LeBron James and a grimacing Kobe Bryant) was taken from a recent post on ClutchPoints.com

Monday, August 20, 2018

Reddit spammer: /u/USA_Really

I noticed a spammer on Reddit, named u/USA_Really. He's been spamming links to USAReally.com.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Invasion of the Instagram account snatchers

Mashable wrote about a massive Instagram hack that took place earlier this month:

https://mashable.com/2018/08/13/instagram-hack-locked-out-of-account/#TK_RAMb0dqqw

I'm going to try keeping track of some of the hacked accounts:

Brightscar Eva
https://www.instagram.com/brightscareva/
20, 320, 451
profilePage_499705292

Brightscar Mary
https://www.instagram.com/brightscarmary/
386, 206, 303
profilePage_1076725251

Brightscar Vera
https://www.instagram.com/brightscarvera/
177, 834, 291
profilePage_373544318

Faugor Adilynn
https://www.instagram.com/faugoradilynn/
44, 175, 533
profilePage_313052536

Faugor Eliza
https://www.instagram.com/faugoreliza/
28, 1377, 610
profilePage_198119865

Faugor Isabella
https://www.instagram.com/faugorisabella/
8, 833, 926
profilePage_465226106

Faugor Romina
https://www.instagram.com/faugorromina/
107, 52, 74
profilePage_195985928

Faukasa Adley

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaadley/
0, 11, 14
profilePage_8343746728

Faukasa Adriana
https://www.instagram.com/faukasaadriana/
75, 62, 78
profilePage_3648792248

Faukasa Aiyana
https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaiyana/
0, 0, 0
profilePage_1216101687

Faukasa Alaia

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaalaia/
7, 60, 144
profilePage_8334995176

Faukasa Alani
https://www.instagram.com/faukasaalani/
10, 8, 0
profilePage_3724798930

Faukasa Aliya

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaliya/
73, 206, 236
profilePage_231948911

Faukasa Alora

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaalora/
178, 187, 457
profilePage_12740758

Faukasa Amanda

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaamanda/
17, 1289, 1055
profilePage_1911963014

Faukasa Aniyah

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaniyah/
63, 443, 410
profilePage_1041826054

Faukasa Aranza

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaranza/
0, 50, 0
profilePage_7880848546

Faukasa Arianna

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaarianna/
0, 26, 47
profilePage_8309775398

Faukasa Ariella

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaariella/
1, 85, 163
profilePage_8359734091

Faukasa Ashlyn

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaashlyn/
0, 17, 4
profilePage_6193840887

Faukasa Aubrye

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaubrey/
110, 100, 257
profilePage_184466713

Faukasa Aurora

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaurora/
69, 268, 395
profilePage_288133964

Faukasa Ayla

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaayla/
0, 6, 0
profilePage_4241897717

Faukasa Ayleen

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaayleen/
2, 58, 105
profilePage_8420158565

Faukasa Ayln

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaaylin/
3, 46, 49
416162880

Faukasa Blakely
https://www.instagram.com/faukasablakely/
0, 239, 194
profilePage_505524158

Faukasa Elliana
https://www.instagram.com/faukasaelliana/
0, 71, 0
profilePage_8183900586

Faukasa Elyse

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaelyse/
1, 23, 28
profilePage_8319845087

Faukasa Ember

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaember/
4, 113, 149
profilePage_7410933883

Faukasa Emelia

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaemelia/
10, 696, 743
profilePage_8385817607

Faukasa Emory
https://www.instagram.com/faukasaemory/
0, 1, 0
profilePage_509810285

Faukasa Estella

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaestella/
6, 1, 233
profilePage_7723872260

Faukasa Everlee

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaeverlee/
109, 735, 623
profilePage_239370066

Faukasa Evie

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaevie/
13, 91, 190
profilePage_31158347

Faukasa Ingrid

https://www.instagram.com/faukasaingrid/
389, 1462, 2976
profilePage_972406300

Faukasa Kenia

https://www.instagram.com/faukasakenia/
175, 241, 283
profilePage_5557277217

Faukasa Lylah

https://www.instagram.com/faukasalylah/
256, 92, 120
profilePage_2205209554

Faukasa Nalani

https://www.instagram.com/faukasanalani/
517, 248, 265
profilePage_1593576400

Faukasa Sayara
https://www.instagram.com/faukasayara/
125, 155, 445
profilePage_1359964881

Faukasa Tatum
https://www.instagram.com/faukasatatum/
0, 16, 0
profilePage_8369244368

Laitus Anahi
https://www.instagram.com/laitusanahi/
34, 414, 382
profilePage_259003903

Laitus Angie
https://www.instagram.com/laitusangie/
16, 3288, 2864
profilePage_175928598

Laitus Aubree
https://www.instagram.com/laitusaubree/
3, 416, 406
profilePage_4666620165

Laitus Briana
https://www.instagram.com/laitusbriana/
535, 287, 122
profilePage_1549952994

Laitus Claire
https://www.instagram.com/laitusclaire/
4, 29, 29
profilePage_479237890

Laitus Eliza
https://www.instagram.com/laituseliza/
0, 12, 21
profilePage_8439020793

Laitus Eva
https://www.instagram.com/laituseva/
0, 13, 3
profilePage_8407909942

Laitus Faye
https://www.instagram.com/laitusfaye/
0, 0, 290
profilePage_2965850140

Laitus Heavenly
https://www.instagram.com/laitusheavenly/
59, 2188, 1065
profilePage_1414143766

Laitus Isla
https://www.instagram.com/laitusisla/
585, 253, 216
profilePage_3655902017

Laitus Justice
https://www.instagram.com/laitusjustice/
457, 2562, 980
profilePage_21956112

Laitus Lacey
https://www.instagram.com/laituslacey/
24, 508, 340
profilePage_306121510

Laitus Legacy
https://www.instagram.com/laituslegacy/
134, 278, 342
profilePage_294800442

Laitus Madilynn
https://www.instagram.com/laitusmadilynn/
0, 4, 2
profilePage_195456458

Laitus Maeve
https://www.instagram.com/laitusmaeve/
29, 787, 501
profilePage_1062763989

Laitus Malani
https://www.instagram.com/laitusmalani/
1474, 605, 689
profilePage_38695723

Laitus Maria
https://www.instagram.com/laitusmaria/
501, 406, 1573
profilePage_32084226

Laitus Oakley
https://www.instagram.com/laitusoakley/
0, 20, 9
profilePage_7601318101

Laitus Ophelia
https://www.instagram.com/laitusophelia/
45, 57, 64
profilePage_1449770004

Laitus Rayna
https://www.instagram.com/laitusrayna/
11, 55, 86
profilePage_285279317

Laitus Zaylee
https://www.instagram.com/laituszaylee/
860, 319, 433
profilePage_206602105

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

BreakingUSA.us, MICHELLEa2 and SANDRAx1

There are two Reddit accounts spamming the site "BreakingUSA.us."

The accounts are /u/MICHELLEa2 and /u/SANDRAx1.

BreakingUSA.us is a political site that copies-and-pastes stories from other news outlets. For example, an article on BreakingUSA.us titled "President Trump Has Had It With AG Sessions – Hits Him So Hard It Scared Him Stiff" was a copy of a Right Wing News article. BreakingUSA.us also contains AdSense ads (ca-pub-5463543759997951).

MICHELLEa2 and SANDRAx1 have had some luck spamming their posts in /r/The_Donald, although none of their posts have actually broken 100 upvotes yet.

BreakingUSA.us has a Twitter account with 32 followers and a Facebook page with 51 likes. The domain is registered to a "Awais Mughal" in Pakistan.

Monday, August 13, 2018

Realtiven.xyz

Come on, Realtiven.xyz, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from August, 2018, is titled: "Amazon quietly reduces free shipping minimum back to $35/order for non-Prime members"

A GeekWire article from February 21, 2017, is titled: "Amazon quietly reduces free shipping minimum back to $35/order for non-Prime members"

Your opening:

Facing new competition from Walmart’s free shipping program, Amazon has reverted to a minimum order of $35 for people who aren’t members of its Prime subscription program to qualify for free shipping.

The move comes a year after Amazon increased the threshold to $49 per order, and a few weeks after Walmart introduced its new $35 minimum order policy for free shipping.

The opening from GeekWire:

Facing new competition from Walmart’s free shipping program, Amazon has reverted to a minimum order of $35 for people who aren’t members of its Prime subscription program to qualify for free shipping.

The move comes a year after Amazon increased the threshold to $49 per order, and a few weeks after Walmart introduced its new $35 minimum order policy for free shipping.

You're using somebody else's content, and your site has AdSense ads? That's just sketchy.

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Alex Jones's follower count is surging on Twitter

Alex Jones and his InfoWars program have now been banned from YouTube, Facebook, iTunes and Spotify. Nevertheless, Alex Jones still maintains a verified account on Twitter (much to the irritation of tech journalists). Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey, has stated there are no immediate plans to ban Jones from the platform:

We didn’t suspend Alex Jones or Infowars yesterday. We know that’s hard for many but the reason is simple: he hasn’t violated our rules. We’ll enforce if he does. And we’ll continue to promote a healthy conversational environment by ensuring tweets aren’t artificially amplified.
— jack (@jack) August 8, 2018

Jones is being treated well by Twitter in more ways than one. According to SocialBlade, Jones has gained 42,592 new followers over the past 3 to 4 days. Previously, Jones was gaining about 400 followers per day.

This jump makes sense. If somebody wishes to "follow" Alex Jones on social media, Twitter is the only decent option remaining. I wonder how long until he passes a million followers?

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

A compilation of people calling Jack Dorsey a Nazi

A modest compilation:

We all know jack is a nazi and a sack of Shit.
— Ban Trump, Fuck The NRA (@Ban_Trump_Now) August 8, 2018

Is that time that y'all accept that @jack is a nazi.
— ʎǝdnɔ ɟo ǝʞnp (@jlojno) August 8, 2018

Jack is a Nazi, are you surprised his Moral Takes stink of sympathizing with oppressors?
— Lani (@laaaaaaaaani) August 8, 2018

@jack is a Nazi, it really is that simple.
— Wade W. Wilson (@evilgjb) August 8, 2018

we all know who @jack is — a nazi-sympathizing piece of silicon valley trash who should be drawn and quartered. i implore all of us to consider leaving this hellhole of a website for good. pic.twitter.com/gvJTJ0xgT1
— assbutt (@evilassbutt) August 8, 2018

It's becoming more and more apparent that @jack is a nazi.
— john donelkovich (@walnutbackpack) August 8, 2018

@jack is a NAZI. Pure garbage. https://t.co/lrJYOTtCh1
— Julie (⛽kill ) 🌲🔥😚👌😤 #420Love (@missjulie420) August 8, 2018

@jack is a nazi
— BLM ❤️POCM❤️TRANSLM (@TheGirlNYC) August 8, 2018

@jack is a proud Nazi.
— Hiri David Feign (@HiriDavidFeign) August 8, 2018

The fact that @jack has consistently refused to deal with the fucking Nazis on his site leads me to conclude that @jack is a fucking Nazi.
— Robynne (@vinegarworks) August 8, 2018

The night we found out children were being kept in cages @jack went to a GOP fundraiser.

The day after refusing to ban Alex Jones he’s going on Hannity.

I apologize for ever calling him a Nazi sympathizer. He’s just a Nazi.
— Mike Monteiro wants @jack fired. (@monteiro) August 8, 2018

NYTiwes.com copy-and-paste job

NYTiwes.com is a fake news site, and it recently garnered attention by publishing a death hoax about singer Demi Lovato. (LeadStories debunked the hoax here.)

NYTiwes.com also does this annoying thing where they copy-and-paste the entirety of a story from another news outlet, and then insert one line at the end acknowledging the source. For instance, this post titled "Margot Robbie Joins Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron in Fox News Movie" copies the entirety of a Hollywood Reporter article. At the bottom of the post it says: "Source: hollywoodreporter.com"

At least they're not taking credit for writing the story.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

AP dispatches disappearing from the Washington Post website?

Has anyone else noticed that AP stories are disappearing from the Washington Post's website?

Between June 7, 2018, and July 3, 2018, the Washington Post published five AP stories about an Iraqi refugee in Germany who was accused of killing a 14-year-old girl. Below are the URLs of those five stories. Each story now displays the error message: "Sorry, we can’t seem to find the page you’re looking for."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/world/europe/germany-girl-14-killed-fugitive-iraqi-suspect-sought/2018/06/07/7fc8a73e-6a3c-11e8-a335-c4503d041eaf_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/suspect-in-girls-murder-in-germany-arrested-in-iraq/2018/06/08/33d96fa2-6b0e-11e8-a335-c4503d041eaf_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/world/europe/suspect-in-girls-killing-returned-to-germany-from-iraq/2018/06/09/1ef5698e-6c2f-11e8-a335-c4503d041eaf_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/suspect-said-to-have-confessed-to-killing-girl-in-germany/2018/06/09/6a9af2a2-6c28-11e8-a335-c4503d041eaf_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/iraqi-accused-of-killing-german-girl-also-rape-suspect/2018/07/03/8bb1d254-7ec9-11e8-a63f-7b5d2aba7ac5_story.html

I'm not gonna go all "conspiracy theorist" and say they were removed on purpose. It just seems weird that they would disappear in the first place. I can still see links for some of these stories on Google, but even when I click the Google links, the Washington Post's website gives me an error message:

???

I made archives for two of the Iraqi refugee stories (here and here). However, I wasn't able to get archives for the other three stories.

It crossed my mind that maybe the Washington Post's website doesn't preserve all of the AP's dispatches. I tested that theory out, and was able to get error messages for some other AP stories that were originally posted in June. For example, these two URLs now give an error message:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/politics/whitehouse/things-to-know-8-states-cast-midterm-primary-votes-tuesday/2018/06/05/88f814d8-687b-11e8-a335-c4503d041eaf_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/national/remains-of-civil-war-soldiers-found-in-pit-of-severed-limbs/2018/06/20/58471456-74ba-11e8-bda1-18e53a448a14_story.html

Right now, I'm leaning towards "weird database glitch" as far as an explanation.

Monday, August 6, 2018

Who will warn us about the gay frogs now?

YouTube, Apple and Facebook have all banned Alex Jones, thus greatly diminishing his reach:

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/06/636030043/youtube-apple-and-facebook-ban-infowars-which-decries-mega-purge

Sure, he still has InfoWars.com, but can Alex Jones truly reach the masses in this day and age without social media? And if Alex Jones can't reach the masses, how will we learn the truth about gay frogs?

Sunday, August 5, 2018

ElectronicEngineeringBooks.com

Come on, ElectronicEngineeringBooks.com, who are you trying to fool?

Your post from August 5, 2018, is titled: "Swiss police say dogs should wear shoes in heatwave"

A BBC article from August 2, 2018, is titled: "Swiss police say dogs should wear shoes in heatwave"

Your opening:

Police in the Swiss city of Zurich are urging owners to buy shoes for their dogs, in order to protect their paws in the high temperatures, reports say.

According to the public broadcaster SRF, the police in Zurich have launched the “Hot Dog campaign”, and are educating dog owners on how they can protect their four-legged friends in the hot weather, given that the overheated pavements can be painful on their feet.

The opening from BBC:

Police in the Swiss city of Zurich are urging owners to buy shoes for their dogs, in order to protect their paws in the high temperatures, reports say.

According to the public broadcaster SRF, the police in Zurich have launched the "Hot Dog campaign", and are educating dog owners on how they can protect their four-legged friends in the hot weather, given that the overheated pavements can be painful on their feet.

You're using somebody else's content, and your site has AdSense ads? That's just sketchy.

FairObserver.us

Come on, FairObserver.us, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from August 1, 2018, is titled: "This 10-Year-old Boy Just Beat Michael Phelps’s Most Enduring Swimming Record"

A GoodNewsNetwork.org article from August 1, 2018, is titled: "This 10-Year-old Boy Just Beat Michael Phelps’s Most Enduring Swimming Record"

Your opening:

Clark Kent Apuda may only be 10 years old, but he is making international headlines for beating one of Michael Phelps’s longest standing swimming records earlier this week.

In 1995, Phelps – who is one of the “most successful and decorated Olympians of all time” – completed the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:10:48. Clark just beat that time at 1:09:38.

The opening from GoodNewsNetwork.org:

Clark Kent Apuda may only be 10 years old, but he is making international headlines for beating one of Michael Phelps’s longest standing swimming records earlier this week.

In 1995, Phelps – who is one of the “most successful and decorated Olympians of all time” – completed the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:10:48. Clark just beat that time at 1:09:38.

You're using somebody else's content, and your site has Content.ad ads? That's just sketchy.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Fun with headlines

It's interesting how an article's headline can set certain expectations.

For example, here is a Hollywood Reporter headline regarding an interview wth Tim Allen:

Tim Allen on ABC's 'Roseanne' Controversy and "Icy Time" for Comedians

As far as headlines go, that's pretty neutral.

Now here's a headline from Entertainment Weekly, regarding the exact same interview:

Tim Allen breaks silence on Roseanne firing: 'Who makes up these rules?'

Hoo, boy! You know that's gonna be controversial!