FilmsBit.com

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

Your article from October 30, 2018, is titled: "Sony Film Unit Posts $209 Million Quarterly Profit"

A Hollywood Reporter article from October 29, 2018, is titled: "Sony Film Unit Posts $209 Million Quarterly Profit"

Your opening:

Sony Pictures posted a profit of $209 million for the July to September quarter, Sony Corp. announced in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Sony's film unit contributed $209 million (¥23.5 billion) to quarterly earnings, compared to $68 million last year, thanks to the strong global box office of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, which pulled in $520 million, and The Equalizer 2, which took around $190 million worldwide; higher television licensing revenues from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Peter Rabbit, as well as a new accounting standard.

The opening from the Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Pictures posted a profit of $209 million for the July to September quarter, Sony Corp. announced in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Sony's film unit contributed $209 million (¥23.5 billion) to quarterly earnings, compared with $68 million last year, thanks to the strong global box office of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, which pulled in $520 million, and The Equalizer 2, which took around $190 million worldwide; higher television licensing revenues from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Peter Rabbit; and a new accounting standard.

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

OkayNews.info

Come on, OkayNews.info, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from October 22, 2018 is titled: "Inspiring NYC student goes from homeless shelter to college dorm"

A New York Daily News article from October 22, 2018, is titled: "Inspiring NYC student goes from homeless shelter to college dorm"

Your opening:

More than 42,000 city high school grads entered college this fall, but few of them overcame as many obstacles as Odean Gray.

The Brooklyn student enrolled as a freshman at State University of New York Cortland in August on a full scholarship — but unlike many of his peers, his previous residence was an East New York shelter, where his family still lives.

The opening from the New York Daily News:

More than 42,000 city high school grads entered college this fall, but few of them overcame as many obstacles as Odean Gray.

The Brooklyn student enrolled as a freshman at State University of New York Cortland in August on a full scholarship — but unlike many of his peers, his previous residence was a homeless shelter in East New York, where his family still lives.

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

What's the deal with CallerSource.net?

The internet is a gateway to information.  But is the information always accurate?

Recently, I stumbled on CallerSource.net, which is a website that provides Caller ID for phone numbers.   I looked up my own phone number on the site (it begins 908-872), and CallerSource said the number belongs to a woman in Alexandria, Louisiana.

I then looked up the phone numbers for several businesses in my hometown of Warren, NJ:

The phone number for the Starbucks in town center is 908-668-8028; CallerSource.net says that # belongs to a person named "Jodelle Soua" in Grapevine, Texas.

The phone number for the Smoothie King in town center is 908-222-3590; CallerSource.net says that # belongs to a person named "Savana Ronny" in Janesville, Wisconsin.

The phone number for the Jersey Mike's Subs in town center is 908-753-5184; CallerSource.net says that # belongs to a person named "Juliah Dalylah" in Texarkana, Texas.

The whole website strikes me as suspect.  I sent an e-mail to CallerSource.net@gmail.com (which is the e-mail listed on their contact page) and said:

I looked up my phone number on your site, and it said the number belonged to some woman in Alexandria, Louisiana.  I was wondering how you get the information on your site, since it doesn't appear to be accurate?

I didn't get a reply.

CallerSource also displays AdSense ads (ca-pub-7922405717763424).  I refreshing the site several times, and all the ads I saw were for Spokeo, BeenVerified, or Intelius.  (That might be the result of targeted advertising, though.)    

A sample of phone numbers on CallerSource.net

AmanTimes.com

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

Your article from October 17, 2018, is titled: "What Would Netflix Do Without ‘Friends?’"

A Deadline article from October 16, 2018, is titled: "What Would Netflix Do Without ‘Friends?’"

Your opening:

Netflix faced questions about the shifting media landscape during its earnings release, held a week after WarnerMedia announced plans to launch a competing service in a move that follows in the digital footsteps of The Walt Disney Co. 

One issue, in particular, loomed large for Wall Street: What will Netflix do to fill the hole in its content library, once Disney and WarnerMedia claw back their movies and television shows for their own on-demand services?

The opening from Deadline:

Netflix faced questions about the shifting media landscape during its earnings release, held a week after WarnerMedia announced plans to launch a competing service in a move that follows in the digital footsteps of The Walt Disney Co.

One issue, in particular, loomed large for Wall Street: What will Netflix do to fill the hole in its content library, once Disney and WarnerMedia claw back their movies and television shows for their own on-demand services?

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

24USA.net

Come on, 24USA.net, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from October 22, 2018, is titled: "A Device That Makes Running Faster and Easier"

A New York Times article from October 17, 2018, is titled: "A Device That Makes Running Faster and Easier"

Your opening:

A newly invented wearable device could provide support, succor and an unexpected boost in speed to runners who might otherwise not be able to keep up with their training partners or former selves, as well as people who might like to try running but fear it is just too hard.

The device, a kind of lightweight harness worn around the midsection and legs, can increase someone’s running efficiency by about 8 percent or more, according to a new study, making running feel much easier and also raising interesting questions about whether and how we should augment natural human abilities.

The opening from the New York Times:

A newly invented wearable device could provide support, succor and an unexpected boost in speed to runners who might otherwise not be able to keep up with their training partners or former selves, as well as people who might like to try running but fear it is just too hard.

The device, a kind of lightweight harness worn around the midsection and legs, can increase someone’s running efficiency by about 8 percent or more, according to a new study, making running feel much easier and also raising interesting questions about whether and how we should augment natural human abilities.

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

EntrepreneurSays.com

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

Your article from October 22, 2018, is titled: "NBA suspends Lakers’ Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo and Rockets’ Chris Paul for fighting"

An LA Times article from October 21, 2018, is titled: "NBA suspends Lakers' Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo and Rockets' Chris Paul for fighting"

Your opening:

Long after practice ended, Rajon Rondo stood all alone beneath a basket. Every other player had left the courts, but the Lakers point guard held a basketball with a towel draped over his left shoulder. Occasionally he turned back to look at a crowd of reporters gathered around a tight-lipped Luke Walton.

 The opening from the LA Times:

Long after practice ended, Rajon Rondo stood all alone beneath a basket. Every other player had left the courts, but the Lakers point guard held a basketball with a towel draped over his left shoulder. Occasionally he turned back to look at a crowd of reporters gathered around a tight-lipped Luke Walton.

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

ScienceNews.cc

Come on, ScienceNews.cc, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from October 19, 2018, is titled: "Facebook Risks Losing the Trust of Its Only Real Customers"

An NYMag.com article from October 17, 2018, is titled: "Facebook Risks Losing the Trust of Its Only Real Customers"

Your opening:

A little over two years ago, Facebook announced that it had messed up. This was before the 2016 election, before Cambridge Analytica, before a data breach exposing the information of 30 million users. Even then, this announcement was still pretty serious. Following a Wall Street Journalreport, Facebook disclosed that it had been miscalculating video viewership for two years — in that same period of time, the social network was heavily pressuring advertisers and media organizations to invest in its video platform.

The opening from NYMag.com:

A little over two years ago, Facebook announced that it had messed up. This was before the 2016 election, before Cambridge Analytica, before a data breach exposing the information of 30 million users. Even then, this announcement was still pretty serious. Following a Wall Street Journal report, Facebook disclosed that it had been miscalculating video viewership for two years — in that same period of time, the social network was heavily pressuring advertisers and media organizations to invest in its video platform.

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

Infowars.com and related domains

The Alex Jones web empire has taken a lot of hits this year, but the plucky radio host is still standing.  Recently, I watched the Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone, and noticed that Roger Stone had attended some political rallies alongside Alex Jones.  The movie made me curious to map out the InfoWars domains a little bit.

In 2013, InfoWars.com was registered to the e-mail address:
7caee533b6ee0b9a69765cc21f4e072a-32511@contact.gandi.net

In 2015, InfoWars.com was registered to the e-mail address:
sysadmin@infowars.com.

In 2016, InfoWars.com was registered to the e-mail address:
ishare_domains-brandnames@infowars.com

Currently, InfoWars.com is registered to the e-mail address:
ishare_domains-domainsite@infowars.com

At least 347 unique domains have been registered to that fourth e-mail address.  I've listed them below, in alphabetical order:

1776to1984.com
1776to1984.net
1776to1984.org
1984to1776.com
1984to1776.net
1984to1776.org
2012andbeyond.net
2012andbeyond.org
2012deepblack.com
2012deepblack.net
911chronicles.com
911chronicles.net
911chronicles.org
alexanderemerickjones.com
alexejones.com
alexemericjones.com
alexemerickjones.com
alexjones.net
alexjones.org
alexjonesbroadcasting.com
alexjonesbroadcasting.net
alexjonesbroadcasting.org
alexjonescoffee.com
alexjonesinvestigates.com
alexjonesinvestigations.com
alexjonesmobile.mobi
alexjonesradio.com
alexjonesradio.net
alexjonesradio.org
alexjonesshow.com
alexjonesshow.net
alexjonesshow.org
alexjoneswakeupamerica.com
alexjoneswakeupamerica.net
allthenews.us
americakiller.com
americasmasher.com
anonymousjones.info
anonymousjones.org
anonymousjones.us
arnoldexposed.com
arnoldexposed.net
arnoldexposed.org
arnoldtheinvader.com
babynimmo.com
beckdeception.com
bepaulrevere.com
biashow.com
biglieobama.com
biglieobama.net
bigliesobama.com
bigliesobama.net
blacksunshinethemovie.com
broinarms.com
brotherinarmshow.com
brotherinarmsshow.com
brothersinarmshow.com
brothersinarmsshow.com
brothersinarmsshow.net
championoftyranny.com
charlottejones.org
charlottejones.us
coalitiontodefendfreespeech.com
cuckley.com
darkskies.us
darkskiesconspiracy.com
deathoftherepublic.com
deathoftherepublic.info
deathoftherepublic.net
deathoftherepublic.us
deepblack2012.com
deepblack2012.net
deepblackthemovie.com
deepblackthemovie.net
deplorablejones.com
diabolicalnarcissism.com
diabolicalnarcissist.com
donaldmcronald.com
dontbegoogle.com
emporerobama.com
emporerobama.net
endgamefilm.com
endgamemovie.org
endgamethefilm.com
endgamethemovie.com
endgamethemovie.net
endgamethemovie.org
enemiesoftherepublic.com
essentialresolution.com
essentialresolutionpack.com
evilcities.com
evilisloose.com
fakenewswars.us
falloftherepublic.com
falloftherepublic.info
falloftherepublic.net
falloftherepublic.org
falloftherepublic.us
falloftherepublicfilm.com
falloftherepublicmovie.com
freespeechsystems.com
freespeechsystems.info
freespeechsystems.net
freespeechsystems.org
freespeechsystems.us
gangstagov.com
gangstagov.us
gangstainchief.com
gangstergov.us
gangsterincheif.com
gangsterinchief.com
gangsterinchief.net
gansterinchief.com
georgewashingtonposse.com
georgewashingtonsposse.com
georgiagrayce.com
georgiajones.us
glennbeckdeception.com
globalistconquest.com
goodguyswithguns.com
goodguyswithguns.info
goodguyswithguns.net
goodguyswithguns.org
goodguyswithguns.us
hardkill.us
humanpreservationsystem.com
humanpreservationsystem.org
iamwithgeorgewashington.com
ickenomics.com
ickonomics.com
imwithgeorgewashington.com
infobabe.us
infobabes.us
infowars.cards
infowars.com
infowars.net
infowars.org
infowarsart.com
infowarsartilary.com
infowarsartilery.com
infowarsartillary.com
infowarsartillery.com
infowarsbabes.com
infowarsbabes.net
infowarscoffee.com
infowarsdaily.com
infowarsdefensefund.com
infowarsenergy.com
infowarsfood.com
infowarsguardian.com
infowarshealth.com
infowarshealthnews.com
infowarshome.com
infowarshop.com
infowarshousehold.com
infowarsinsider.com
infowarsinsider.net
infowarsinvestigates.com
infowarsinvestigations.com
infowarslegalfund.com
infowarslife.com
infowarslife.net
infowarslife.org
infowarsmonthly.com
infowarsnews.com
infowarsnews.net
infowarsnightly.com
infowarsnightlynews.com
infowarsplanet.com
infowarssocial.com
infowarsspecialreport.com
infowarsstream.com
infowarstonight.com
infowarsunited.com
infowarsunited.net
infowarsunited.org
infowarswakeupamerica.com
infowarswakeupamerica.net
infowarsweekly.com
infowarsworldnews.com
infowarsworldnews.net
infowarsworldnews.org
invisibleempire.us
invisibleempiremovie.com
invisibleempiremovie.net
invisibleempirethemovie.com
invisibleempirethemovie.net
jamestrafficant.com
jonesbroadcasting.net
jonesbroadcasting.org
jonesinvestigates.com
jonesnewsnetwork.com
jonesproductions.com
jonesproductions.net
jonesreport.com
kingnimmo.com
lordnimmo.com
massnarcissism.com
nannypig.com
narcissist.us
neworleansatlantis.com
newstruth.us
newworldorder4zombies.com
newworldorderforzombies.com
newworldorderplaybook.com
newworldorderzombies.com
nwoplaybook.com
obamadeception.com
obamadeception.net
obamadeception.us
obamadeception2.net
obamaenemywithin.com
obamafalloftherepublic.com
obamafalloftherepublic.net
obamafilm.net
obamaslave.com
obamaslave.net
obamaslavery.com
obamaslavery.net
obamaslaves.com
obamaslaves.net
obamatakeover.net
planetarychange.net
planetarychange.org
planetinfowar.com
planetinfowars.com
policestate4.com
powercult.com
poweredbytruth.net
printtwopoint0.com
prisonplanet.biz
prisonplanet.info
prisonplanet.net
prisonplanet.org
prisonplanetnews.com
prisonplanetnews.net
prisonplanetnews.org
radioviewer.com
radioviewers.com
realcoffeeparty.com
realcoffeeparty.net
redbloodparty.com
redpillparty.com
republicdestroyer.com
republickiller.com
republicsfall.com
republicslaststand.com
rexjones.info
rexjones.org
rexjones.us
riseandfallofthenewworldorder.com
riseandfallofthenwo.com
riseoffema.com
riversofvomit.com
roadtoconspiracy.com
ronpaulcommandbase.com
ronpaulwarroom.com
schoolof1776.com
schoolof1776.net
schoolof1776.org
schoolof1776.us
secretsofsurvivalfilm.com
shopfreespeech.com
slaveobama.com
slaveobama.net
slavesofobama.com
slavesofobama.net
stealthkill.us
stopfakenewscoalition.com
teapartydeception.com
theendgamemovie.com
theendofus.com
theglobalistconquest.com
theinfopimp.net
theinfowarrior.com
theinfowarsshop.biz
theinfowarsshop.com
theinfowarsshop.info
theinfowarsshop.net
theinfowarsshop.org
theinfowarsshop.us
theinfowarsstore.biz
theinfowarsstore.info
theinfowarsstore.mobi
theinfowarsstore.net
theinfowarsstore.org
theinfowarsstore.us
theinvisibleempire.net
theobamadeception.net
theriseisthefall.com
theriseoffema.com
theroadtoconspiracy.com
theteapartydeception.com
traficantagain.com
traficantreturns.com
trustytheclown.com
truthisbulletproof.com
truthmedia.us
truthnews.mobi
truthnews.us
twentyminuteswiththepresident.com
twofacedobama.com
twofaceobama.com
tyrannyschampion.com
uarechange.com
uarechange.net
uarechange.org
uberfreedom.com
urgentradio.com
urgentradio.net
v4tw.com
violetblog.com
violetjones.com
wakeupamericacoffee.biz
wakeupamericacoffee.com
wakeupamericacoffee.net
wakeupamericacoffee.org
wakeupamericacoffee.us
warroom.show
warroomshow.com
washingtonwars.com
wasselhoff.com
wasselhoff.net
wasselhoff.org
waterdiet.us
wearechange.biz
wearechange.info
wearechange.mobi
wearechangenews.com
wearechangenews.net
wearechangenews.org
wearechangeworld.com
wearechangeworld.org
wearepaulrevere.com
wearewithgeorgewashington.com
werewithgeorgewashington.com
whatisendgame.com
whatisendgame.net
whatisendgame.org
whatistheendgame.com
whatistheendgame.net
whatistheendgame.org
whoishutton.com
youarechange.com
youarechange.net
youarechange.org
youarepaulrevere.com

There were also 4 domains that were previously registered to sysadmin@infowars.com, and which are now expired.  Those were:

ronpaulcommandbase.net
ronpaulcommandbase.org
ronpaulwarroom.net
ronpaulwarroom.org

Many of the above domains (e.g. AlexJonesCoffee.com, InfoWarsFood.com) redirect to the vendor site InfoWarsStore.com, which sells various items like supplements and t-shirts.  InfoWarsStore.com was previously registered to the e-mail address ishare_domains-1and1@freespeechsystems.com. 

In total, I found an additional 44 unique domains that had been registered to ishare_domains-1and1@freespeechsystems.com.  These domains hadn't previously been registered to any of the other e-mail addresses mentioned above:

2012blackop.com
2012deathfromabove.com
2012poisonskies.com
blackop2012.com
darkskies2012.com
darkskies2012deception.com
freedomnugget.com
infowarsmag.biz
infowarsmag.com
infowarsmag.info
infowarsmag.net
infowarsmag.org
infowarsmag.us
infowarsmagazine.com
infowarsmagazine.net
infowarsmagazine.org
infowarsnewspaper.com
infowarsnewspaper.net
infowarsnewspaper.org
infowarsshop.biz
infowarsshop.net
infowarsshop.org
infowarsstore.biz
infowarsstore.com
infowarsstore.net
infowarsstore.org
infowarsthemagazine.com
infowarsthemagazine.net
infowarsthemagazine.org
scanneroptout.com
shopinfowars.biz
shopinfowars.net
shopinfowars.org
the2012secret.net
theinfowarsmag.com
theinfowarsmag.net
theinfowarsmag.org
theinfowarsmagazine.com
theinfowarsmagazine.net
theinfowarsmagazine.org
theinfowarsnewspaper.com
theinfowarsnewspaper.net
theinfowarsnewspaper.org
tsaoptout.com

The RadiationThreats.org spam ring

Last month, I made a chronological list of the 900+ suspected Russian troll accounts on Reddit.  One of the outliers was /u/George_BENTLEY.  The account was made in 2011, and shows no recent activity.

However, George_BENTLEY did submit links to various spam domains:  CitizensInfo.com, City-Fun.info, RadiationThreats.org, TopIndex.com, and UK-Deals.info.

At first glance, RadiationThreats.org is a confusing site.  It seems like somebody took a phonebook and cross-referenced the names of people (along with their cities) with a list of nuclear facilities in the U.S.  Each name was assigned a "threat level" from 1-100, based on their distance from the nearest nuclear plant.  (I wouldn't take the "threat level" seriously.)  Each entry also contains a hyperlink to Infopay.com.  That, in turn, redirects to Inforegistry.com, which is a site that offers background reports.  The reports cost between $9.95 and $29.95.

CitizensInfo.com, City-Fun.info, and UK-Deals.info are all inactive.  TopIndex.com is still up, and it appears to be an SEO blog, with hundreds of posts dated between 2010 and 2012.

Starting with /u/George_BENTLEY, I looked for other domains that seemed to be part of the same spam ring.  In total, I found 101 domains and 2,139 Reddit accounts.  Later, I'll try to figure out who actually operated the spam ring.  For now, here's the list (after the jump):

DigitalUnbox.com

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

Your article from October 11, 2018, is titled: "Facebook removes over 800 accounts, pages for political spam"

An article on TheHill.com from October 11, 2018, is titled: "Facebook removes over 800 accounts, pages for political spam"

Your opening:

Facebook says it is removing 559 pages and 251 accounts that “have consistently broken … rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior.”

The company explained Thursday that this batch of accounts and pages was focused on manipulating the platform for financial gain by pumping out misleading political clickbait and spam rather than trying to actually influence U.S. politics.

The opening from TheHill:

Facebook says it is removing 559 pages and 251 accounts that “have consistently broken ... rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior.”

The company explained Thursday that this batch of accounts and pages was focused on manipulating the platform for financial gain by pumping out misleading political clickbait and spam rather than trying to actually influence U.S. politics.

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

(For reference, the AdSense ca-pub-2457188894823533.)

RT.com and ankiryuhin@rttv.ru

I decided to look at RT.com's WHOIS information on Whoisology. 

RT.com was previously registered to the e-mail addresses "iasmirnov@rttv.ru" and "tina@rttv.ru."  Currently, RT.com is registered to the e-mail address "ankiryuhin@rttv.ru."

Here are the 24 domains that have been registered to "ankiryuhin@rttv.ru" (both currently and in the past):

1917live.red

actualidad-rt.com

inthenow.media

inthenowgo.com

iwantrt.com

romanovs100.com

rt.com

rtarabic.com

rtarabic.net

rtarabic.org

rttv.com

rusiahoy.com

russiabeyond.com

russia-beyond.com

russiatoday.com

russiatoday.net

russiatoday.space

russopedia.com

south-ossetia.info

south-ossetia.net

south-ossetia.org

store-rt.com

watchingthehawks.com

worldcuprussia.com

Furtheir.com

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

Your article from October 3, 2018, is titled: "Kavanaugh Just Got HUGE Win 48 Hrs After Hearing – Liberals Will Be IRATE"

A RWNOfficial.com article from September 30, 2018, is titled: "Kavanaugh Just Got HUGE Win 48 Hrs After Hearing – Liberals Will Be IRATE"

Your opening:

There has been an enormous amount of support out there for Doctor Christine Blasey Ford, the alleged victim of Judge Kavanaugh who accused him of sexually assaulting her three decades ago. However, there has also been a large amount of support for Judge Kavanaugh and his family in light of all the accusations that have seemingly destroyed their career. 

Over $700,00 has been donated to Dr. Blasey Ford’s GoFundMe page for her family, security purposes, and her protection. Both fundraising sites were set up earlier in the month.

The opening from RWNOffical.com:

There has been an enormous amount of support out there for Doctor Christine Blasey Ford, the alleged victim of Judge Kavanaugh who accused him of sexually assaulting her three decades ago. However, there has also been a large amount of support for Judge Kavanaugh and his family in light of all the accusations that have seemingly destroyed their career. 

Over $700,00 has been donated to Dr. Blasey Ford’s GoFundMe page for her family, security purposes, and her protection. Both fundraising sites were set up earlier in the month.

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

(For reference, their AdSense ID is: ca-pub-8367065964544160)

Berkelete.com

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

Your article from October 3, 2018, is titled: "Japan Waves Goodbye to U.K. as ‘Gateway to Europe’ Post-Brexit"

A Bloomberg article from October 2, 2018, is titled: "Japan Waves Goodbye to U.K. as ‘Gateway to Europe’ Post-Brexit"

Your opening:

After a February meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and 19 Japanese business chiefs, Tokyo’s ambassador to Britain warned what might happen if Brexit took an unfavorable turn for foreign investors.

“No private company can continue operations” in the U.K. if it becomes unprofitable, Koji Tsuruoka told reporters on the steps of May’s Downing Street residence, after the premier pledged to pursue frictionless trade with the European Union. “It is as simple as that.”

The opening from Bloomberg:

After a February meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and 19 Japanese business chiefs, Tokyo’s ambassador to Britain warned what might happen if Brexit took an unfavorable turn for foreign investors.

“No private company can continue operations” in the U.K. if it becomes unprofitable, Koji Tsuruoka told reporters on the steps of May’s Downing Street residence, after the premier pledged to pursue frictionless trade with the European Union. “It is as simple as that.”

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

(For reference, their AdSense ID is ca-pub-8367065964544160.)

Ryan Broderick predicts Infinity War

Back on April 20th, Ryan Broderick of BuzzFeed published an article titled:

All The Characters In "Avengers: Infinity War" Ranked By How Likely It Is They Don't Survive The Movie

He counted down from 37 to 1.  In other words, the character at #37 was whom Ryan thought was least likely to die, and the character in the #1 spot was whom Ryan thought was most likely to die.

I'm going to revisit Ryan's predictions and see how he fared.  For the purpose of this post, I'm only judging what was shown on-screen.  Also, I'm including the post-credits scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp, since that's canon.

So....

#37:  The Wasp:  Dead

#36:  Ant-Man:  Alive

#35:  Agent Coulson:  Not shown

#34:  Agent Hill:  Dead

#33:  Nick Fury:  Dead

#32:  Hawkeye:  Not shown

#31:  Black Panther:  Dead

#30:  Shuri:  Not shown

#29:  Okoye and the Dora Milaje:  Alive/1/2 Dead

#28:  M'Baku:  Alive

#27:  Doctor Strange:  Dead

#26:  Wong:  Not shown

#25:  The Hulk:  Alive

#24:  Star-Lord:  Dead

#23:  Teen Groot:  Dead

#22:  Rocket Racoon:  Alive

#21:  Mantis:  Dead

#20:  Thanos:  Alive

#19:  Falcon:  Dead

#18:  Scarlet Witch:  Dead

#17:  Gamora:  Dead

#16:  Thor:  Alive

#15:  Black Widow:  Alive

#14:  War Machine:  Alive

#13:  Happy Hogan:  Not shown

#12:  Pepper Potts:  Not shown

#11:  Drax the Destroyer:  Dead

#10:  Spider-Man:  Dead

#9:  Nebula:  Alive

#8:  Vision:  Dead

#7:  Valkyrie:  Not shown

#6:  The Asgardian Refugess:  3/4 Dead

#5:  The Collector:  Not shown

#4:  Iron Man:  Alive

#3:  The Winter Soldier:  Dead

#2:  Captain America:  Alive

#1:  Loki:  Dead

Good effort, although he probably could've drawn the names out of a hat and fared just as well...

Did Russian trolls host a Reddit AMA on Christmas?

I recently made a chronological list of the suspected Russian troll accounts on Reddit.  The final account on that list, /u/TrollsOfficial, was created December 25th, 2017, at 9AM EDT.  At 9:04 AM, /u/TrollsOfficial created a thread in /r/CasualIAmA titled:

We are "Russian Trolls", ask us anything!

You can view the thread here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/casualiama/comments/7m1hht/we_are_russian_trolls_ask_us_anything/ 

And here is a version showing deleted comments:
https://www.removeddit.com/r/casualiama/comments/7m1hht/we_are_russian_trolls_ask_us_anythin
g/

Earlier in 2017, the administrators of BlackMattersUS.com (a site linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency) created a minor stir by saying they planned to host an AMA on Reddit.  Several sites like Business Insider and Think Progress wrote about the announcement, but the idea seemed to have been dropped as quickly as it was formed.

There have been plenty of low-effort AMAs in which a person claimed to be a Russian troll or Russian bot.  One piece of evidence which lends credibility to the December 25th AMA is this tweet from Casey Michel of ThnkProgress:

Russian trolls (still using BlackMattersUS email) celebrating Christmas, too. pic.twitter.com/rm6HrH8Tqt

— Casey Michel 🇰🇿 (@cjcmichel) December 25, 2017

Casey received an e-mail on December 24th from the administrator of BlackMattersUS.com, claiming there would be an AMA on Christmas morning at 9 AM—which is exactly what happened.  Furthermore, Casey didn't share his image on Twitter until the next afternoon, so it's not as though someone decided to impersonate the Russian trolls after reading his tweet.  So I suspect the AMA was legitimate.

Below is a full transcript of the AMA, complete with photos.  I also put some notes at the end:


9:05:21

Mohato: What are your political agenda and goals in general?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/mrOwdXe

9:12:48

Malefane: What's your current campaign is about?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/Gl7uMlI

9:19:11

Researchbeggar: Of your many US troll personas and organizations, which do you consider your greatest success so far?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/6T027dq

9:23:40

JoJouel: What is your practice when someone accuses one of your accounts of being a troll? Do you ignore the accusation, deny it, attack back, or something else?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/GuoJ9qV

9:25:58

Caterpillarclass: Do you actually believe in anything?

TrollsOfficial: They are among us. Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids with only one objective in their cold-blooded little heads: to enslave the human race. They are our leaders, our corporate executives, our beloved Oscar-winning actors and Grammy-winning singers, and they're responsible for the Holocaust, the Oklahoma City bombings and the 9/11 attacks ...

https://imgur.com/0qQp0kD

9:36:13

Caterpillarclass: Does your mother know that you are a troll?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/ugnwWVA

9:39:24

DroppingTheOppressor: Did you coordinate your efforts, in any way, with anyone affiliated with Trump during or after the 2016 election?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/jkbYtFW

9:48:39

Solodoto666: Are you finding Facebook’s and Twitter’s tightened security an obstacle? How are your replacement accounts performing?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/GNqoFQx

10:01:34

Solodoto666: Do you use hacking against your political enemies?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/IwP4ccj

10:06:00

-NorthKorea-:  Best program to learn Russian?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/7fbhAZS

10:11:36

Mohato: Could you proof that you are the Russian Trolls?

TrollsOfficial: https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/russian-troll-factory-created-hillary-clinton-s-tape-with-impersonator-and-black-actor-ex-employee/

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/3Cjepdx  [NOTE: This leads to a NSFW image]

Silent_xfer: I'm confused about how an article and a Screenshot are proof? I could post those two things, too.....

TrollsOfficial: This screenshot wasn't in the final cut, so it is proof, cause only we have it.

Silent_xfer: Are you familiar with the concept of offering context?

10:19:14

Malefane: Where did you shoot that "Hillary Clinton" sex video, and why is the man wearing slippers?

TrollsOfficial: https://imgur.com/gxPJvhh

Silent_xfer: This doesn't even make sense and has virtually no humorous impact. This whole thread is like 2/10 at best.

TrollsOfficial: So, make it better, comrade, ask questions, drink vodka!

Silent_xfer: 1/10

11:44:35

Jisoosana: Rocky IV is the best American film because we kicked a Russians ass.  :)

TrollsOfficial: Hans "Dolph" Lundgren is a Swedish. Even Russian kid can kick your ass

Jisoosana: Except when it comes to basic human rights.  Because well.....

13:27:06

Deidara141: No question, just wanted to say that you draw pretty good drawings for a troll.

________________________________________________________________

It's possible that many of the accounts asking questions in the AMA were also Russian trolls.  The Reddit accounts /u/Caterpillarclass, /u/JoJouel, /u/Malefane, /u/Mohato, /u/Researchbeggar, and /u/Solodoto666 were all suspended and added to the list of the suspected troll accounts.  I discussed the issue with fellow spam-hunter /u/abrownn, and he advised a bit of caution in leaping to assumptions.  We don't know the reason why Reddit's administrators flagged certain accounts, and it's possible some non-troll accounts got swept in with the rest.  

Also, if you look at the exchange starting at 10:11:36, you'll see that /u/TrollsOfficial shared an unreleased image from the infamous Hillary Clinton porn parody.  (NBC News wrote about the video in April.)  /u/TrollsOfficial offered the image as proof of their status as a real Russian troll, but that screenshot might have been floating around the internet for months before the AMA took place.

I sent an e-mail to admin@blackmattersus.com and asked if they were responsible for the AMA.  I haven't gotten a reply yet.