The Editor in Chief of News Growl, Patricia McConnell, was working on a story on a naughty Alaska House of Representatives member earlier this week when she made a very surprising discovery. The Alaska Legislature website had been hacked by Black Hat SEOs, populating the site with over a thousand redirect links to porn, gambling, and illegal diet websites.
No one will find the links by accident. No real people I mean. The links are just there for the benefit of search engines. The Alaska Legislature website, akleg.gov, would provide any SEO practitioner with a highly valuable link because of the .gov suffix. When a website has a link from a .gov website Google and Bing will often think it is a real authority on something. After all, a government body is citing it or directing traffic towards it. The fact that this had happened at all is a scandal. The fact that it likely happened months or even years ago is a bigger scandal. But the really huge scandal is I can't get any media to pay any attention to this. Other than News Growl, it has been covered by no one. And we've issued press releases, tweeted to journalists, and even emailed several Alaskan newspapers of record. No one cares. Here's the thing: the Alaska Legislature is helping these sites appear on Google more often than they should. And it does matter, not just because porn and gambling sites are not, well, you know, the best thing on the internet. It is the diet sites that bug me. At least one of them is promoting HGC diet injections, which are downright dangerous. Don't believe me? Read this, and then think if the Alaska Legislature and the Alaska media should be more concerned about what their negligence is helping to spread on the internet. "HCG is used mainly to treat fertility issues. HCG is not approved for over-the-counter use, nor has it been proved to work for weight loss. Some over-the-counter HCG weight-loss products are labeled "homeopathic" — but the FDA says they're still not safe. Companies that sell over-the-counter HCG weight-loss products are breaking the law...Side effects have also been reported with the HCG diet and include fatigue, irritability, restlessness, depression, fluid buildup (edema), and swelling of the breasts in boys and men (gynecomastia). Another serious concern is the risk of blood clots forming and blocking blood vessels (thromboembolism)."(From the Mayo Clinic website)
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Is it something in the water, because politicians in Missouri seem to be acting really weird at the moment. For months the website I contribute to, News Growl, has been reporting on the scandals surrounding Republican Missouri Governor Eric Greitens. First he admitted to having an affair when the ex-husband of his mistress found out. Then it turns out he took a photo of her naked and in bondage as blackmail to keep her quiet (or so it is alleged). Now it appears that certain elements were not consensual. Facing one felony privacy invasion trial for that, he is now indicted for a second felony of stealing data from his former charity. And like a mini-Trump, Greitens is riding out the scandals, hoping to cling on. Missouri lawmakers may have to decide soon whether to impeach him or let him serve out his term. And speaking of Missouri lawmakers, it appears one Bob Burns, a Democratic representative from Missouri State House district 91, is a big fan of white supremacist broadcaster Bob Romanik. An intrepid activist has been logging the "best bits" of Romanik's morning talk show on St Louis area KQQZ for months, and finally this week someone noticed. Among the dozens of YouTube videos "Romanik Watch" has cataloged are six calls from Burns to Romanik (or so it appears, and Burns has yet to deny it was him). Burns always wants to talk veterans issues with the hyper-patriotic Romanik, and never gets into the details of how Romanik's racist dogma, but he clearly approves of Romanik's views generally. He is constantly saying how amazing he thinks Romanik is every time he calls up and how he's doing a great job with his show. So both the Democrats and Republicans are suddenly dealing with rogue politicians in their midst. I'm struggling to decide which one of these losers I like least. My guess is Burns will be gone by the end of this week, whereas Greitens will hang on for a few more months. Want to listen to Burns calling into Romanik's show? Here's a link to a clip from Romanik Watch's YouTube channel. Be warned, it's full of offensive language from the start. As a man I don't feel entirely qualified to weigh in on a group that calls itself the Women's Equality Party. And there is a party in the UK by that name which is fairly small (with a larger media profile) but reputable. I've been really shocked by what I've learned about the Women's Equality Party of New York, though, from my colleague Patricia McConnell at News Growl.
It's barely a real party. It has automatic ballot access thanks to a quirk in New York law, but it was started by a man (Governor Andrew Cuomo), is funded by his supporters, and as far as anyone can tell has no real purpose other than to endorse him for Governor every four years and to allow his name to appear on the ballot an additional time (making four times in total in 2014). Seriously? Why is this legal? Or why is it politically sustainable for a man to start his own party that exploits the good name of women's rights in a cheap gimmick to advance his political career? I really don't understand New York politics I guess. But I do understand this: exploiting the sympathy of a downtrodden group for political game is wrong. Imagine if Cuomo had stared a new Black Panther Party and endorsed himself for Governor — everyone would be up in arms! Why is this different? It must be because Cuomo simply has less respect (or fear) or women politically. So really, the Women's Equality Party is just proof that Women are not equal in politics — they are safe to exploit. Thanks for making this loud and clear, Governor Cuomo. |
AuthorSteve has many disparate and unconnected interests. This, he thinks, entitles him to claim the label "Renaissance Man." Archives
March 2019
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