Graphika published a report on the PeaceData.net network, which was attributed to Russia's Internet Research Agency. The website never reached a wide audience, but it's still interesting to look at the IRA's activity.
In addition to the main website (PeaceData.net), the network also consisted of social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. One of the Twitter profiles was "Alice Schultz" (@AliceSc14113509), which was created on June 3, 2020. I looked on Reddit and a found a user named /u/AliceSchultz25, which is just about the fakest-sounding username you could come up with. Alice's account was created on June 1, 2020. She shared two links to PeaceData.net in /r/History and made another self-post in /r/PoliticalDiscussion (which likely contained a link to PeaceData.net). All three links were removed by the automod and none of them got any upvotes.
I went onto RedditSearch.io, and found 10 other submission to PeaceData.net. The most successful of these posts received 6 upvotes.
One post came from /u/Thisisntthespace, which is a shadowbanned account, so I can't see when the account was created.
So I assume /u/AliceSchultz25 is a sockpuppet, and perhaps /u/Thisisntthespace was a sockpuppet, too. None of the other submissions came from accounts that I would say are sockpuppets, but I'll give a summary for the sake of completeness.
Three posts came from /u/gregorjamessmith40, which is a four-month old account with a lot of posts about Turkey and Syria and the Middle East. He shares a lot of links to sites I haven't heard of, such as LibyaPolicy.com and TheArabWeekly.com.
Two posts came from /u/kavabean2, which is a 12-year-old account with 112,000 karma points. KavaBean2 is a moderator of /r/Labour and he shares links to a lot of left-wing sites such as PeoplesWorld.org and PeoplesDispatch.com.
One post came from /u/IntnsRed, which is a 14-year-old account with 400,000 karma points. IntnsRed is a moderator of /r/WorldPolitics2, and he shares links to a ton of websites, including The Guardian, Newsweek, and CounterPunch.
Two posts came from /u/captainwaffles, which is a 10-year-old account. CaptainWaffles also shares links to videos from Jimmy Dore and articles by Aaron Maté.
One post came from /u/human-no560, and he was sharing the link in order to highlight an example of Russian propaganda, so that doesn't really count.
Below are all the links:
AliceSchultz25:
https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/gugch5/war_crimes_committed_by_british_troops_peacedata/
https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/gugpx0/western_special_services_role_in_the/
https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalDiscussion/comments/gugynt/brazils_ailing_welfare_state_clashes_against/
Thisisntthespace:
https://www.reddit.com/r/inthenews/comments/h9h4my/indian_government_is_abusing_the_covid19_lockdown/
Gregorjamessmith40:
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews2/comments/hi1sxx/how_erdogans_government_is_hiring_mercenaries_for/
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/hi1rjz/how_erdogans_government_is_hiring_mercenaries_for/
https://www.reddit.com/r/socialmedianews/comments/hi1sls/how_erdogans_government_is_hiring_mercenaries_for/
KavaBean2:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Labour/comments/i7r06n/housing_how_coronavirus_has_exposed_this/
https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/i7r2f9/housing_how_coronavirus_has_exposed_this/
CaptainWaffles:
https://www.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/igr827/svetlana_tikhanovskayas_deleted_webpages_show/
https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageImperialism/comments/igr7tf/svetlana_tikhanovskayas_deleted_webpages_show/
IntnsRed:
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldpolitics2/comments/i4lb98/does_the_us_military_assassinate_journalists_the/
Human-no560:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/ikzshh/this_is_the_website_the_russians_were_using_to/
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
People on Reddit think /u/MaxwellHill is Ghislaine Maxwell
Here's a weird conspiracy theory which sprang out of nowhere. /u/MaxwellHill is a long-time moderator on Reddit. He's the #2 moderator on /r/WorldNews and a prolific submitter, having accumulated over 14 million karma points.
However, he hasn't posted anything in the last seven days. This led people to speculate that /u/MaxwellHill is the online alter ego of Ghislaine Maxwell. The reasoning is that Ghislaine was arrested this past week, and the two of them have "Maxwell" in their names, so...maybe they're the same person?!
I assume there's no connection between /u/MaxwellHill and Ghislaine Maxwell. I get why people might fool themselves into thinking there's a connection, but there's no substance here. Nonetheless, users on /r/Conspiracy and /r/Epstein are digging through MaxwellHill's commenting history (Pizzagate style!), looking for any corroboration that he's Ghislaine. For instance, he shared an article seven years ago titled "Three Reasons Possession Of Child Porn Must Be Re-Legalized In The Coming Decade." He also allegedly stopped posting for about three days at the same time when Ghislaine Maxwell's mother passed away.
Here's the thing with MaxwellHill: He's a semi-mysterious fellow, and he carries some weird baggage with him. People have complained before that he pushes his own agenda in /r/WorldNews, and there was a controversy several years ago when he turned /r/Technology into a "total shit-storm" (per the Daily Dot). He's a bit obtuse, and he seems to have no interest in nipping this conspiracy theory in the bud. A fellow moderator from /r/WorldNews named Hasharin says he spoke with MaxwellHill earlier today to give him a heads up about the conspiracy theory. Here was MaxwellHill's response:
Hasharin also mentioned that MaxwellHill is a Malaysian man, and that the username is inspired by a place in Malaysia which is literally called Maxwell Hill:
Several Twitter users—most notably Joe Leonard (@maelfyn)—have shared speculation about MaxwellHill. Joe Leonard's tweet thread has 5,400 re-tweets and 16,400 likes so far. There have also been threads on 4Chan's /pol/ board filled with speculation.
However, he hasn't posted anything in the last seven days. This led people to speculate that /u/MaxwellHill is the online alter ego of Ghislaine Maxwell. The reasoning is that Ghislaine was arrested this past week, and the two of them have "Maxwell" in their names, so...maybe they're the same person?!
Hasharin also mentioned that MaxwellHill is a Malaysian man, and that the username is inspired by a place in Malaysia which is literally called Maxwell Hill:
Maxwellhill is a Malaysian man please stop this nonsense. I mod r/worldnews with him. Maxwell Hill is literally the name of a place in Malaysia it is not a reference to his name.— J D (@hasharin) July 8, 2020
Several Twitter users—most notably Joe Leonard (@maelfyn)—have shared speculation about MaxwellHill. Joe Leonard's tweet thread has 5,400 re-tweets and 16,400 likes so far. There have also been threads on 4Chan's /pol/ board filled with speculation.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Bringing Down the House and Iraq
Bringing Down the House, the 2003 film starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, was #1 at the box office for three straight weekends. Its final domestic gross was $132,716,677. It was a definite hit, and I've always wondered how much of its success was attributable to that random joke in the trailer where the kid goes, "Dad, what's a rack?" and Steve Martin's character responds, "It's a country."
No, I'm being serious. The movie was released on March 7th, about a week before the invasion of Iraq. So the joke was weirdly topical, but not political. If you wanted an escape from the stresses of the world, you could rest assured Bringing Down the House would ONLY mention Iraq in the context of a sexual pun.
Tomorrow, I'm going to investigate how much of the success of Bad Teacher was attributable to that joke in the trailer about LeBron James.
No, I'm being serious. The movie was released on March 7th, about a week before the invasion of Iraq. So the joke was weirdly topical, but not political. If you wanted an escape from the stresses of the world, you could rest assured Bringing Down the House would ONLY mention Iraq in the context of a sexual pun.
Tomorrow, I'm going to investigate how much of the success of Bad Teacher was attributable to that joke in the trailer about LeBron James.
Friday, June 5, 2020
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
PenielAgency.com
PenielAgency.com is a random plagiarism site.
Here's an article from April 14, 2020, titled: "Man expecting to get stimulus check finds millions in bank account"
Here's an article from April 14, 2020, titled: "Man expecting to get stimulus check finds millions in bank account"
https://web.archive.org/save/https://penielagency.com/man-expecting-to-get-stimulus-check-finds-millions-in-bank-account/It was copied from an April 14, 2020 New York Post article titled Man expecting to get $1,700 stimulus check finds millions in bank account"
https://nypost.com/2020/04/14/man-expecting-to-get-stimulus-check-finds-millions-in-bank-account/
Thursday, April 2, 2020
TrumpNation20
Have you ever taken the time to browse these pro-Trump meme accounts on Instagram?
I'm looking at one now called @TrumpNation20. It has a total of 1,200 posts and 42.8k followers. Some of the posts are pandering, with messages like 'If you're pro-life, give a follow.' But then you have stuff like this:
That's bordering on out-right fakeness. The quote isn't real. (If it were, there would be 10,000 Google results for it.) And there's no real humor to it, either. They're just claiming that a Congresswoman wants to do harm to Trump. And then you've got responses from people like briannk3, who said: "Threatening the President is a felony, I believe!" and marycrockettsleezer, who says "Isn't that a threat against the President? Thought you got thrown in JAIL for that."
The @TrumpNation20 account contains a discount link in its bio to the website LibertatumApparel.com, which apparently is a company in Raleigh, North Carolina that makes American hats. I don't necessarily think the two are connected. I mean, look at the rest of the bio for @TrumpNation20:
I'm looking at one now called @TrumpNation20. It has a total of 1,200 posts and 42.8k followers. Some of the posts are pandering, with messages like 'If you're pro-life, give a follow.' But then you have stuff like this:
That's bordering on out-right fakeness. The quote isn't real. (If it were, there would be 10,000 Google results for it.) And there's no real humor to it, either. They're just claiming that a Congresswoman wants to do harm to Trump. And then you've got responses from people like briannk3, who said: "Threatening the President is a felony, I believe!" and marycrockettsleezer, who says "Isn't that a threat against the President? Thought you got thrown in JAIL for that."
The @TrumpNation20 account contains a discount link in its bio to the website LibertatumApparel.com, which apparently is a company in Raleigh, North Carolina that makes American hats. I don't necessarily think the two are connected. I mean, look at the rest of the bio for @TrumpNation20:
⚠️AOC doesn’t want you to follow us⚠️A person from Raleigh wouldn't write something as janky as "America First US".
Conservative 🐘
America First 🇺🇸
Pro-Life 👶
Pro-Gun 🔫
R.I.P @trumpnation2020 1-3 💔
🚨 DM ME FOR ADS 💴
Sunday, August 18, 2019
DailyAmericanBuzz.com
Here's another plagiarism website: DailyAmericanBuzz.com
A few days ago it published an article titled "There's Only One Surviving Blockbuster Left on Planet Earth"
When I tried clicking the "x", a new tab opened up. The tab went to this URL...
I wonder if that's a genuine Mailchimp pop-up? It seems kind of strange that Mailchimp would have a feature that makes a new tab open in your browser when you trying clicking the "x."
There are a handful of Reddit accounts posting links to DailyAmericanBuzz.com:
A few days ago it published an article titled "There's Only One Surviving Blockbuster Left on Planet Earth"
http://archive.is/zuPJOThe text was copied from a Gizmodo article from March 5, 2019, titled "There's Only One Surviving Blockbuster Left on Planet Earth"
https://gizmodo.com/theres-only-one-surviving-blockbuster-left-on-planet-ea-1833075071I didn't see any ads on the DailyAmericanBuzz article, but there was this annoying "Mailchimp" pop-up:
When I tried clicking the "x", a new tab opened up. The tab went to this URL...
https://deloplen.com/1/1407888/?var=2224709Then it redirected here...
http://homepros.zone/service/flooring/index.html?traffic_source=pro&campaign=floor305&keyword=186960768124597127&group=2224709After I'd closed the new tab, I was able to click the "x" and close the Mailchimp pop-up.
I wonder if that's a genuine Mailchimp pop-up? It seems kind of strange that Mailchimp would have a feature that makes a new tab open in your browser when you trying clicking the "x."
There are a handful of Reddit accounts posting links to DailyAmericanBuzz.com:
https://www.reddit.com/user/ingeniousmind
https://www.reddit.com/user/debate2
https://www.reddit.com/user/stuffymindYou can tell something is "off" with these accounts. They'll post a bunch of links to legitimate news sites like Reuters.com and TheGuardian.com and Today.com, but then they'll sneak in a submission to a URL such as DailyAmericanBuzz.com and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Saturday, August 17, 2019
The Maddux Mystery
I went to YouTube to look for footage of Greg Maddux's 76-pitch game against the Cubs from July 22, 1997. Here's what I found, courtesy of the official MLB YouTube account:
What is this abbreviated garbage? The clips shows you just nine pitches. NINE! I want to see all 76 pitches. Also, the description for the YouTube video says:
Curiously, the TV announcer says Maddux threw 78 pitches. I would guess the TV announcer lost track of the number of pitches, but I can't be sure without watching the full game. (And why does the announcer say "one hit, no runs." That's not correct.)
ESPN.com has a clip of the game, but the description says Maddux threw 77 pitches:
What is this abbreviated garbage? The clips shows you just nine pitches. NINE! I want to see all 76 pitches. Also, the description for the YouTube video says:
7/22/97: Greg Maddux throws a complete game with just 76 pitches against the Cubs, leading the Braves to a 3-2 victory
The final score of the game was 4-1. So whoever wrote the description wasn't paying attention.
Curiously, the TV announcer says Maddux threw 78 pitches. I would guess the TV announcer lost track of the number of pitches, but I can't be sure without watching the full game. (And why does the announcer say "one hit, no runs." That's not correct.)
ESPN.com has a clip of the game, but the description says Maddux threw 77 pitches:
https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/24114199Baseball-Reference.com also says Maddux threw 77 pitches during the game:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN199707221.shtmlAnd an AP write-up of the game says Maddux threw 78 pitches:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-23-sp-15312-story.htmlWill we every TRULY know how many pitches Greg Maddux threw during that game? No, not until someone posts footage of the full game.
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