Journalist Michael Hastings is dead at 33

[Nordic]

ha ha ha fingerprints!!!

I was wondering why that one guy with <senior moment, cannot remember the name of the 'production company' that had the cameraman at the scene> anyway.. is there more footage from that source? it cut off at what, to me, seemed a strange moment. All along the fella was asking the people on the street if there was anyone in the car and he kept saying, "I hope not".. but he didn't stick around to find out, or...???

Yea what is up with that dashcam guy that caught the speeding car running the red light that they allege is Hastings, I understand it is a media company, so are they in the habit of just cruising around LA/Hollywood at 4 am with cam on randomly recording shit? I guess that would be understandable in a place liek Hollywood, I dont know...

yeah, that's what they do.

They were 'in the area' after having been responding to a (false) tip that Justin Beiber had been in a wreck in the area. Wouldn't it be nice to know where that tip came from? Well, they can find out.

NO SHIT?!?! I didnt know about that Beiber connection, now that is interesting. THAT is the perfect way to tip someone off that there is gonna be a crash without tipping yourself off by using a real name, in this case Hastings, you get all your media coverage there claiming its Beiber and dont expose a possible conspiracy by telling them its Hastings.


You definitely want that FIREBALL video to be made to make a real impact statement to whomever you are sending a message to so you need media there immediately to get that coverage, so how do you do that without exposing a conspiracy? Simple, you leak a possible Beiber car accident, media shows up in the area and is there to record Hastings accident seconds after it happens complete with giant fireball and explosion, this is really starting to make sense to me.

Yeah. That is so obvious the exact same scenario was used in a tv show i worked on back in the spring. Guy in a jewelry shop says "Look, it's Justin Bieber!" and points out the window to get people's attention so he can steal something.

I think you make a really good point here. Having good video footage of the flaming wreck was VERY important.

[JackRiddler]

Question re: the "accuracy" of Hastings article on McChrystal.

He wasn't fired because of the content of the article, he was fired because Barack Obama is surrounded by people who give him terrible fucking advice, yes? There was really nothing in the article that necessitated letting the man go -- it was Barry's discretion, and he believed he had to make an Alpha Male statement.

Please advise where my conception of that incident is not aligned with the facts.

My understanding is that Obama needed the least amount of attention possible on the wars because obviously he wanted, at first to end them, he and SM first clashed over the counter insurgency idea, which SM was a huge supporter of and which SM had called Obama out on, on several occasions in a very public way, putting Obama in a bad and uncomfortable position and which necessitated Obama telling him to quit drawing unnecessary attention to himself and when the article came out and Obama read it, seeing how he was still calling all kinds of attention to himself with his behavior, he did indeed have to make the Alpha Dog move as you describe it and forced his resignation. While the article itself wasnt the sole reason, it could be explained as the straw that broke the camel's back, they had a long and unhappy marriage and that was just the last straw. SM was continuously putting Obama in the position that if he said no to him he would be characterized as soft on terrorism and not supportive of the troops on the ground and their safety and needs and if he said yes to him he would be crucified by the anti war faction in his own party, which at the time was rather large and vocal.

Obama could be one of the intended recipients of the message.

[Hunter]

Question re: the "accuracy" of Hastings article on McChrystal.

He wasn't fired because of the content of the article, he was fired because Barack Obama is surrounded by people who give him terrible fucking advice, yes? There was really nothing in the article that necessitated letting the man go -- it was Barry's discretion, and he believed he had to make an Alpha Male statement.

Please advise where my conception of that incident is not aligned with the facts.

My understanding is that Obama needed the least amount of attention possible on the wars because obviously he wanted, at first to end them, he and SM first clashed over the counter insurgency idea, which SM was a huge supporter of and which SM had called Obama out on, on several occasions in a very public way, putting Obama in a bad and uncomfortable position and which necessitated Obama telling him to quit drawing unnecessary attention to himself and when the article came out and Obama read it, seeing how he was still calling all kinds of attention to himself with his behavior, he did indeed have to make the Alpha Dog move as you describe it and forced his resignation. While the article itself wasnt the sole reason, it could be explained as the straw that broke the camel's back, they had a long and unhappy marriage and that was just the last straw. SM was continuously putting Obama in the position that if he said no to him he would be characterized as soft on terrorism and not supportive of the troops on the ground and their safety and needs and if he said yes to him he would be crucified by the anti war faction in his own party, which at the time was rather large and vocal.

Obama could be one of the intended recipients of the message.

Certainly, I wouldnt close my mind to that, I think Drew has made some points in some other threads that a lot of the crap we have been seeing is not Obama, but right winger hangers on still in positions of power in certain agencies.

[Hunter]

ha ha ha fingerprints!!!

I was wondering why that one guy with <senior moment, cannot remember the name of the 'production company' that had the cameraman at the scene> anyway.. is there more footage from that source? it cut off at what, to me, seemed a strange moment. All along the fella was asking the people on the street if there was anyone in the car and he kept saying, "I hope not".. but he didn't stick around to find out, or...???

Yea what is up with that dashcam guy that caught the speeding car running the red light that they allege is Hastings, I understand it is a media company, so are they in the habit of just cruising around LA/Hollywood at 4 am with cam on randomly recording shit? I guess that would be understandable in a place liek Hollywood, I dont know...

yeah, that's what they do.

They were 'in the area' after having been responding to a (false) tip that Justin Beiber had been in a wreck in the area. Wouldn't it be nice to know where that tip came from? Well, they can find out.

NO SHIT?!?! I didnt know about that Beiber connection, now that is interesting. THAT is the perfect way to tip someone off that there is gonna be a crash without tipping yourself off by using a real name, in this case Hastings, you get all your media coverage there claiming its Beiber and dont expose a possible conspiracy by telling them its Hastings.


You definitely want that FIREBALL video to be made to make a real impact statement to whomever you are sending a message to so you need media there immediately to get that coverage, so how do you do that without exposing a conspiracy? Simple, you leak a possible Beiber car accident, media shows up in the area and is there to record Hastings accident seconds after it happens complete with giant fireball and explosion, this is really starting to make sense to me.

Yeah. That is so obvious the exact same scenario was used in a tv show i worked on back in the spring. Guy in a jewelry shop says "Look, it's Justin Bieber!" and points out the window to get people's attention so he can steal something.

I think you make a really good point here. Having good video footage of the flaming wreck was VERY important.

I was just sort of pulling things out of my ass with that post but it does really make some sense when you think about it and I am glad you agree, I do think it was important to have someone there immediately to get good footage of that fireball/explosion and now we have reports of media being tipped off to be in the area because of a possible JB car wreck, when you add all that up, it just stinks and strengthens my resolve to keep looking for answers about Hastings death because I am of the opinion right now that there is more here than meets the eye.


Please if anyone comes across more Wikileaks tweets wrt this situation, post them here by all means, some of what they said really is baffling and needs more explanation and I hope that is forthcoming.

[Hunter]

The incident occurred on the 600 block of North Highland Avenue, just south of Melrose Avenue

the location is also... Spoiler:just NORTH of Clinton St.

from the loudlab dashcam video of the red light running car...

He mentioned to us in our meeting that he was close to the story because he was working a lead on the Justin Bieber crash on Sunset Blvd.

The lead turned out to be nothing

found the psychic sign on google maps. It's Madam Mazale

It's 623 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

The Palm crashed into is directly across from the next door neighbor, at 621. It's either folks from the psychic house or the folks from 621 running the hose.

a tow truck made it to the scene ahead of the loudlab video guy and so did an ADT "security response" car.

I thought there was a fire hydrant hit in the green median, but there are no hyrdrants there. I'm assuming they have in-ground 'popup' sprinklers to keep the grass green? IS that right? Otherwise I have no idea what it is that's gushing water up from the ground just north of the wreck.


still trying to decide if I want to take apart the red-light running video to estimate speed. I do not want to. do not want to s ee this video any more.

Well just to be fair, if there was water spraying or gushing on the car that would INCREASE the flame, when you throw water on a gas fire it makes it burn more generally, you need to fight that with foam, same as a grease fire, never use water.

[justdrew]

... right winger hangers on still in positions of power in certain agencies.

true, but this event doesn't require ANY government involvement. Personal revenge is entirely possible and I think far more likely than any other scenario. The 4 star's ex-staff may be very displeased and possibly some one or more of them felt, or indeed were, deeply screwed out of the "2nd half" of their career and pension etc...

[justdrew]

why then would cars, who's potentially rupturing gas tanks lead to an apparently very real risk of the entire car going up in a ball of flames, not have a built in extinguishing system?

Say a thing with an activator like an airbag, and if it senses a bad enough crash, it shoots a bunch of super absorbent pellets into the tank and if fire is sensed, releases an extinguisher gas. Should be fairly doable.

I guess it's just not worth the cost and effort. Well, you know, gas tank explosions are supposed to be rare. I'm told. Rare and unlikely.

[Hunter]

There are EMTs in the Hastings reddit thread saying in 15, 20, some say 30 years of being an EMT they have seen maybe ONE fireball explosion like that. I have found most redditors to be honest when they chime in about professional experience and these guys sounded sincere.

[Nordic]

Question re: the "accuracy" of Hastings article on McChrystal.

He wasn't fired because of the content of the article, he was fired because Barack Obama is surrounded by people who give him terrible fucking advice, yes? There was really nothing in the article that necessitated letting the man go -- it was Barry's discretion, and he believed he had to make an Alpha Male statement.

Please advise where my conception of that incident is not aligned with the facts.

My understanding is that Obama needed the least amount of attention possible on the wars because obviously he wanted, at first to end them, he and SM first clashed over the counter insurgency idea, which SM was a huge supporter of and which SM had called Obama out on, on several occasions in a very public way, putting Obama in a bad and uncomfortable position and which necessitated Obama telling him to quit drawing unnecessary attention to himself and when the article came out and Obama read it, seeing how he was still calling all kinds of attention to himself with his behavior, he did indeed have to make the Alpha Dog move as you describe it and forced his resignation. While the article itself wasnt the sole reason, it could be explained as the straw that broke the camel's back, they had a long and unhappy marriage and that was just the last straw. SM was continuously putting Obama in the position that if he said no to him he would be characterized as soft on terrorism and not supportive of the troops on the ground and their safety and needs and if he said yes to him he would be crucified by the anti war faction in his own party, which at the time was rather large and vocal.

Obama could be one of the intended recipients of the message.

Certainly, I wouldnt close my mind to that, I think Drew has made some points in some other threads that a lot of the crap we have been seeing is not Obama, but right winger hangers on still in positions of power in certain agencies.

Are we still under the old illusion that Obama is somehow NOT a right winger himself? Still thinking he's a good man in an impossible situation? Yeah such a victim, little goody goody Barry.

There aren't right-winger hangers on pulling the strings, there is the most powerful crime syndicate of all time that claimed power in the 50's, slaughtered all their high-profile opposition during the 60's, and have been consolidating their power throughout the world ever since. Obama never would have experienced his meteoric rise to the Presidency without the strings being pulled every step of the way by those guys.

[Hunter]

Question re: the "accuracy" of Hastings article on McChrystal.

He wasn't fired because of the content of the article, he was fired because Barack Obama is surrounded by people who give him terrible fucking advice, yes? There was really nothing in the article that necessitated letting the man go -- it was Barry's discretion, and he believed he had to make an Alpha Male statement.

Please advise where my conception of that incident is not aligned with the facts.

My understanding is that Obama needed the least amount of attention possible on the wars because obviously he wanted, at first to end them, he and SM first clashed over the counter insurgency idea, which SM was a huge supporter of and which SM had called Obama out on, on several occasions in a very public way, putting Obama in a bad and uncomfortable position and which necessitated Obama telling him to quit drawing unnecessary attention to himself and when the article came out and Obama read it, seeing how he was still calling all kinds of attention to himself with his behavior, he did indeed have to make the Alpha Dog move as you describe it and forced his resignation. While the article itself wasnt the sole reason, it could be explained as the straw that broke the camel's back, they had a long and unhappy marriage and that was just the last straw. SM was continuously putting Obama in the position that if he said no to him he would be characterized as soft on terrorism and not supportive of the troops on the ground and their safety and needs and if he said yes to him he would be crucified by the anti war faction in his own party, which at the time was rather large and vocal.

Obama could be one of the intended recipients of the message.

Certainly, I wouldnt close my mind to that, I think Drew has made some points in some other threads that a lot of the crap we have been seeing is not Obama, but right winger hangers on still in positions of power in certain agencies.

Are we still under the old illusion that Obama is somehow NOT a right winger himself? Still thinking he's a good man in an impossible situation? Yeah such a victim, little goody goody Barry.

There aren't right-winger hangers on pulling the strings, there is the most powerful crime syndicate of all time that claimed power in the 50's, slaughtered all their high-profile opposition during the 60's, and have been consolidating their power throughout the world ever since. Obama never would have experienced his meteoric rise to the Presidency without the strings being pulled every step of the way by those guys.

Well I agree with you wrt Obama, Drew has disagreed with me about it and I have certainly tried to see his point and I think he has made some good arguments but I generally feel Obama isnt much different than any of the rest of them, I just dont, but like I said, I try and keep an open mind and listen to all sides and not draw rash conclusions, but like you I have a very difficult time imagining Obama as anything more than just another fucking politician who serves those paved his yellow broke road to power and that generally isnt you and me and the rest of the hard working middle of the road Americans.


He has pretty much expanded and enlarged, by a lot, the police/national security state that Bush introduced, there have been no positive change in that regard, none, but a lot more negative shit AND he has treated whistleblowers like crap even though he praised them during his senatorial days. So I cant forgive him for that, I just cant do it. The democrats, as Michael Hastings himself has pointed out, have now adopted and embraced everything we all hated about Bush. Irony is the word there.

[8bitagent]

I notice that even amongst the alternative to the mainstream left(your Greenwalds, Cenks, Scahills, etc) that even hinting at foul play in accidents/suicides/etc is taboo.

I'm extremely disappointed in that development. Larisa Alexandrovna Horton, who while working at The Raw Story was bold enough to write pieces documenting attempts by Task Force 20 in Iraq to have WMDs planted for them to find, recently responded to the death of Michael Hastings on Facebook demanding "Internet loons" stop emailing theories of his death to her. She followed that up by stating, "In the U.S. journalists are not killed. They are discredited." Right. I'm sure that Jim Koethe and Bill Hunter, as well as Dorothy Kilgallen might beg to differ. Oh, but that was so long ago, that sort of thing can't happen in 21st century America, right?!

what you don't know is how spooked a given person may or may not be, it's easy to be brave when it's all an abstract unlikely possibility and/or you have no life at stake but ones own.

Larisa's tone is not one of someone spooked by this incident. It's the same smug Bill Maher-esque tone liberal gatekeepers use in their chestpumping. If someone believes they are in danger for their line of work or inquiry,
they wouldn't address it at all and especially not in such a smug manner. (Phoenix mayor circa 1997 notwithstanding) I understand the gatekeepers attacking the eye rolling theorist stuff, but there's a lot of reason to
at least give pause with this situation. It's bizarre to see the same righteous anger given to people questioning the details and timing of Hastings death as one might with the Sandy/Boston hoaxer trolls.

[8bitagent]

....and cue a condescending essay from Natasha Lennard in 3, 2, 1....we have ignition:

The title -- I shit you not! -- is actually Stop Speculating About Hastings' Death

Thanks for your hard work policing the internet, Natasha! You're so dependable.

Looking forward to your next installation of I'm Right, You're Wrong.

WHAT THE FUCK?

Salon.com: Stop speculating about Hastings’ death

Coming from SALON, Greenwald's old hand made cottage of unflinching questioning? ahahah...wow. Either the gatekeepers are scared or the wool has been pulled over thick(the same wool that made many lib'ruls
think "Afghanistan is the right war")

"concerns expounded based on threadbare evidence and assumptions — that sits quite at odds with Hastings’ legacy of thorough reporting and serious probing."

hahahah....they manage to give a middle finger to anyone wondering if it was just a random crash AND then claim Hastings wouldnt want anyone questioning the event
Fucking sad.

It does little to honor his important journalistic legacy to apply any less skepticism than Hastings would have to a strange and tragic incident. But skepticism is a different game altogether from wild speculation.

Yeah, but these asshats DON'T EVEN WANT ANY QUESTIONING. The other day I was saying how the patriot/freedom/dont tread on me conspiracy wonks make me wince, but these smug gatekeepers are right up there.

[8bitagent]

Clinton St, a psychic parlor? Ya know, this incident reminds me of how twilight LA is. From Black Dhalia to Manson to Laurel Canyon to OJ to this. I need to watch Mulholland Drive again.
There's something about this incident that is so in your face, even if you can't put your tongue or finger on what it is.

ha ha ha fingerprints!!!

I was wondering why that one guy with <senior moment, cannot remember the name of the 'production company' that had the cameraman at the scene> anyway.. is there more footage from that source? it cut off at what, to me, seemed a strange moment. All along the fella was asking the people on the street if there was anyone in the car and he kept saying, "I hope not".. but he didn't stick around to find out, or...???

Yea what is up with that dashcam guy that caught the speeding car running the red light that they allege is Hastings, I understand it is a media company, so are they in the habit of just cruising around LA/Hollywood at 4 am with cam on randomly recording shit? I guess that would be understandable in a place liek Hollywood, I dont know...

yeah, that's what they do.

They were 'in the area' after having been responding to a (false) tip that Justin Beiber had been in a wreck in the area. Wouldn't it be nice to know where that tip came from? Well, they can find out.

NO SHIT?!?! I didnt know about that Beiber connection, now that is interesting. THAT is the perfect way to tip someone off that there is gonna be a crash without tipping yourself off by using a real name, in this case Hastings, you get all your media coverage there claiming its Beiber and dont expose a possible conspiracy by telling them its Hastings.


You definitely want that FIREBALL video to be made to make a real impact statement to whomever you are sending a message to so you need media there immediately to get that coverage, so how do you do that without exposing a conspiracy? Simple, you leak a possible Beiber car accident, media shows up in the area and is there to record Hastings accident seconds after it happens complete with giant fireball and explosion, this is really starting to make sense to me.

Certainly one way of doing it.

... right winger hangers on still in positions of power in certain agencies.

true, but this event doesn't require ANY government involvement. Personal revenge is entirely possible and I think far more likely than any other scenario. The 4 star's ex-staff may be very displeased and possibly some one or more of them felt, or indeed were, deeply screwed out of the "2nd half" of their career and pension etc...

Well "government" is a clumsy term in general. What is it, 70% of US intel gathering is outsourced to private firms? How many private contractor firms in US war zones?
You had black ops at the Boston marathon, even if they had no foreknowledge; private security firms are everywhere. From Katrina to Boston. General Mcchrystal was a very powerful man,
and certainly there are black ops boys that are non government who take honor in these sort of wetworks. The sort of shit Scahill wouldnt dare report.

Question re: the "accuracy" of Hastings article on McChrystal.

He wasn't fired because of the content of the article, he was fired because Barack Obama is surrounded by people who give him terrible fucking advice, yes? There was really nothing in the article that necessitated letting the man go -- it was Barry's discretion, and he believed he had to make an Alpha Male statement.

Please advise where my conception of that incident is not aligned with the facts.

My understanding is that Obama needed the least amount of attention possible on the wars because obviously he wanted, at first to end them, he and SM first clashed over the counter insurgency idea, which SM was a huge supporter of and which SM had called Obama out on, on several occasions in a very public way, putting Obama in a bad and uncomfortable position and which necessitated Obama telling him to quit drawing unnecessary attention to himself and when the article came out and Obama read it, seeing how he was still calling all kinds of attention to himself with his behavior, he did indeed have to make the Alpha Dog move as you describe it and forced his resignation. While the article itself wasnt the sole reason, it could be explained as the straw that broke the camel's back, they had a long and unhappy marriage and that was just the last straw. SM was continuously putting Obama in the position that if he said no to him he would be characterized as soft on terrorism and not supportive of the troops on the ground and their safety and needs and if he said yes to him he would be crucified by the anti war faction in his own party, which at the time was rather large and vocal.

Obama could be one of the intended recipients of the message.

Like the recent Santa Monica situation? I still find that odd, that this guy in the usual black clad attire goes on a shooting rampage a few miles from Obama, mirroring the Omaha mall/Bush visit 2007 thing.

[8bitagent]

Gotta say, lot of good points made here. Talks about Pat Tilman, Jessica Lynch's comrades all dying by mysterious gunmen in 2003, the in your face fire death of Chris Dorner(who I feel was being a menace but he didnt deserve that)
Evidence showing the car possibly blew up before it got near the tree

[Canadian_watcher]

Larisa's tone is not one of someone spooked by this incident. It's the same smug Bill Maher-esque tone liberal gatekeepers use in their chestpumping. If someone believes they are in danger for their line of work or inquiry,
they wouldn't address it at all and especially not in such a smug manner. (Phoenix mayor circa 1997 notwithstanding) I understand the gatekeepers attacking the eye rolling theorist stuff, but there's a lot of reason to
at least give pause with this situation. It's bizarre to see the same righteous anger given to people questioning the details and timing of Hastings death as one might with the Sandy/Boston hoaxer trolls.

i do not want to get into either sandy hook or boston here at ALL, but what I will say is that that is why I fight SO vehemently against the shutting down of any debate, any questions about current events no matter what. Once you start that, every incident slowly but surely becomes 'unquestionable.' I am not of the opinion that 'ridiculous theories' can actually poison the well, not if there truly is a vigorous, intellectual debate. When the climate is right the outlandish theories are more apt to be rooted out and discarded more quickly, IMO.

anyway. sorry if that seemed like a rant, not meant to be.