Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/18/obviously-fake-paid-proteste.html
…
Trump voters don’t care what’s true. They prefer lies that confirm their prejudices over the truth. Confronting them with facts? You may as well debate with a lemming.
36 Likes
Wayback machine doesn’t have more than three days worth of backups for the site. Whois data shows the registrant as “Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 124951702” which operates from some store backlot in Toronto, Canada ( https://www.google.nl/maps/place/96+Mowat+Ave,+Toronto,+ON+M6K+1G2,+Canada/@43.6386282,-79.4287974,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x882b35aa02bd130f:0xaf0fc924795d5468!8m2!3d43.6386282!4d-79.4266087 ). Interestingly, there are several companies located at this according to Google Maps. First is a web hosting company called “OpenSRS”. Then there’s an internet company called “Tucows” (remember them?) and something called “Grey and Dean research”. My guess is that “OpenSRS” registered the domain (and is possibly hosting the site). A mail in their direction might uncover who’s behind this website
9 Likes
Too bad the perps missed an opportunity for verisimilitude. An organization like this, if it existed, wouldn’t be organized as an LLC, it would be a non-profit.
(Although it would be damned hard to convince the IRS that disrupting Trump rallies is a charitable, religious, educational, or scientific cause. But who thinks libtards would even tell the government the truth? They’d probably pretend to be a church. With fake Japanese stickers!)
13 Likes
Gross… And stupid.
3 Likes
What makes your church real, but mine fake?
(This is what a satanist will come at you with.)
8 Likes
Jesus does, and he told me to hit you!
12 Likes
Cult vs religion…
13 Likes
Perfect.
Basically, a religion is a cult that’s socially acceptable.
15 Likes
And vice versa.
7 Likes
Tucows is not a fly-by-night company.
It looks like “Contact Privacy Inc” is a service they offer to register your domain anonymously. The makers of the site have probably never set foot in Toronto.
11 Likes
Wow, there’s a blast from the past! Back in the 90’s I had one of these Tucows plushies on my desk…
9 Likes
Makers are probably either some pranksters or an O’Keefe like person looking to create false validity to the “paid protestors” conspiracy. That said, if a news outlet wanted to know more, all they would really need to do was find someone at tucows/opensrs/contact privacy inc. who is willing to release info on who made the site.
3 Likes
The “operative login” page, by the way, has a different phone number than the home page (415) 915-9114. The recruitment page says they aren’t accepting new recruits, but Wayback Machine shows it linking to a Google Docs form : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdX6liIADPf6p8V9hDAKB4tw-eFFU50MPEyifFo_4ur_pR9eg/viewform?embedded=true
6 Likes
I think that would require a police subpoena. See the word “privacy” in there?
If you went the ethical route and there would be some way to prove that what this website is doing is illegal then: yes. If you were a journalist looking to investigate the story however you might want to find an “unnamed source” at tucows.
2 Likes
One serious definition of cult versus religion is extremely simple: can you belong to it for free if you don’t have any money? (Having to do work for it if you can’t afford anything doesn’t count as “free”).
7 Likes
They were advertising in the threads a few days ago
1 Like
edited link to a more accessible one:
http://winning-teams.com/definitions.html#projection
“We put ourselves in the smart shoes, and try to get him to wear our shabby ones, our feeling of inadequacy.”
eta: Our own tendency to want to make sure we’re not doing this is taken advantage of by those that can’t help themselves.
1 Like
Not a bad gig.
8 Likes
