Michael Hastings – “Foul Play Or Not” – Do you have a plausible theory? , page 22

posted on Sep, 11 2013 @ 11:08 PM

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barabajagal
...The Barrett Brown story is very interesting, and taking place in Mansfield, TX. Barrett is even less love able than MH. None the less he is getting rail roaded by the Feds. Check out the Guardian article by Ed Pilkington on 9/4/13. It is a good overview and has good links. "US stops jailed activist Barrett Brow from discussing leaks prosecution"
...I liked your time line on MH. I wished you would have included his last story " Why Democrats Love to Spy on Americans" on 6/7/13. The memory of Jeremy Scahill about his evening with MH on 6/12.

Thanks for the info barabajagal
Will look into the Ed Pilkington story...
Believe it or not...I still have not read the "Why Democrats Love to Spy on Americans" article...(but, hopefully, will in the next day or so)...
I probably should have included the Jeremy Scahill memory...(and/or other pieces, as well)...
I am wanting to add another "timeline"...that includes significantly more than the "hard facts", as shown above.
Saw some of your comments on some other websites and thought they were insightful, intelligent, and even more thoroughly considered than many/most-all of the rest!

barabajagal

posted on Sep, 11 2013 @ 11:09 PM

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reply to post by WanDash

Interlude was great. A friend recently introduced me to a Robert Palmer LP "Sneakin Sally Through The Alley". It was done with collaboration of Little Feet. Awesome!

WanDash

posted on Sep, 11 2013 @ 11:29 PM

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barabajagal
...Interlude was great. A friend recently introduced me to a Robert Palmer LP "Sneakin Sally Through The Alley". It was done with collaboration of Little Feet. Awesome!

OutSTANDING!!!!
Thank you SO much for that.
I never really looked into Robert Palmer... Enjoyed his "hits"...but didn't really look past that.
Knew he and Sinead O'Connor had 'a thing'...for a bit...
Excellent musicianship!

barabajagal

posted on Sep, 12 2013 @ 02:54 PM

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reply to post by WanDash

twitter.com/mmhastings

This has probably been explored by many here. I have not. Just looked at it a bit. Makes me wonder what happened. Probably in the early morning hours of June 13. Seems strange that a frequent user of twitter suddenly stopped. MH tweeted frequently & retweeted frequently until that point. A quick look makes a non use of twitter for several days look very suspicious. I noticed a retweet of Ben Smith, his boss at BuzzFeed, that causes suspicion of friction between them. It occurred on 6/7, the day of MH last article.

Could MH lost his phone? Twitter account been frozen? Can twitter accounts be frozen? I do not use face book, twitter, etc. I do not know much about them. Sure seems like a way of knowing a lot about a persons mind set. MH does not seem to be displaying signs of excessive agitation, paranoia, depression, drug disorientation in tweets.

Mark this as another "sweet spot" for me. And thanks for support.

I am following ATS "FBI Continues To Investigate"

edit on 12-9-2013 by barabajagal because: (no reason given)

WanDash

posted on Sep, 12 2013 @ 05:04 PM

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barabajagal
...
twitter.com/mmhastings
...what happened. Probably in the early morning hours of June 13. Seems strange that a frequent user of twitter suddenly stopped. MH tweeted frequently & retweeted frequently until that point. A quick look makes a non use of twitter for several days look very suspicious. I noticed a retweet of Ben Smith, his boss at BuzzFeed, that causes suspicion of friction between them. It occurred on 6/7, the day of MH last article.
...Could MH lost his phone? Twitter account been frozen? Can twitter accounts be frozen? I do not use face book, twitter, etc. I do not know much about them. Sure seems like a way of knowing a lot about a persons mind set. MH does not seem to be displaying signs of excessive agitation, paranoia, depression, drug disorientation in tweets.
...Mark this as another "sweet spot" for me. And thanks for support...

Thanks barabajagal
I've not looked into it, either... As you say - others have...and they have brought-up the sudden disappearance, as well...
But...just a brief...
History of Michael Hastings Tweets - April 2013 through June 2013:
April 15th (1), 17th (1), 26th (1), 29th (1)
May 12th (1), 15th (5), 16th (4), 21st (1), 22nd (5), 23rd (1), 24th (6), 25th (1), 30th (1), 31st (7)
June 1st (2), 2nd (1), 3rd (4), 4th (3), 6th (5), 7th (6), 8th (19), 9th (13), 10th (1), 12th (5)
-- And...that's all folks!

I agree -- Interesting that NOTHING shows on his Twitter feed after June 12.
Will spend some more time on this...as...I do find it interesting.

barabajagal

posted on Sep, 12 2013 @ 07:57 PM

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reply to post by WanDash

After looking at it that way, maybe not to strange. He was a big retweetr. Counting those as well as the ones he generated the numbers are much larger. He did have a few periods of inactivity.
Starting in feb he missed the 1st, 9th, 18th, 20&21, 25-28. In March he missed 2-4th,6-12th, 14th,16-18th,21-25th,27-April 8th. Starting mid may his use stepped up a lot. May 15th he used it 14 times. Hardly missing any days until June 14. On June 3 he used twitter 66 times to either tweet or re-tweet someone else. Double digits were not uncommon after mid May.

MH had a Vine account which is still up. Many short videos he made from Jan through June 12. Between the video and twitter you can get a good account of his whereabouts. He seemed pretty normal to me. He had a Corgi dog he was fond of taping. I wonder if the dog was in the cash? IMO after watching several videos and comparing to Google map MH lived a little NW of Highlands and Hollywood Blvd. Probably on Pinehurst or Hillcrest. The prominent land mark to orient with is the Hotel. On Google map it is a Renaissance. It is now a LOEWS. That confused me for a while.

So he did live about 2 miles north of crash. Not far from Highlands.

WanDash

posted on Sep, 12 2013 @ 08:51 PM

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reply to post by barabajagal

Thanks for saving me some work...
I was going to point out the Corgi in my last post...but deleted it, thinking I'd save it for later.
Seemed pretty fond of the dog...

I was going to address the primary point of the first part of your comment ... being ...he did a lot of reTweeting...but, I was going to "log" every Tweet & ReTweet...Who he ReTweeted...the dates...etc...since Jan/2013.
Don't need to now (though I may finish it, for my own 'records').

So - approximately 2 miles north of the crash-site. Not much different than the address I'd been working with, before.
I am in agreement with your view/s that...at least as far as Tweeting goes...he seemed as normal as any of the other journalists (etc) that were a part of the general crew he communicated with.
They all seemed to be getting excited about the same kinds of things he was getting excited about - and Tweeting excitedly at the same times he was Tweeting excitedly...
Do you recall if he ever broke-off from Tweeting...with the same abruptness as June 12?
I don't recall, at the moment.
Twelve Tweets one day
Ten Tweets two days before
A boat load the day before that...
But - come June 13...nothing to say...
No-One-Else saying anything he wants to ReTweet...
Am wondering if this might be when he received news of 'The FBI' interviewing "associates and close friends"... ?

edit on 9/12/2013 by WanDash because: collection

barabajagal

posted on Sep, 12 2013 @ 10:50 PM

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reply to post by WanDash

IMO he either decided that was no longer a safe way to communicate, or he was sending and re-tweeting as usual and somebody shut down his outgoing messages. When you tweet a message is there any way to tell if your followers are receiving or able to read?

There were a few periods of that duration of inactivity earlier in the year. There were a couple of re-tweets credited to 6/13. I was left with the impression of early morning hours. I wonder if this is a complete list? Do they really keep every record of every tweet on line? For how long? Should we print them out before they are deleted?

edit on 12-9-2013 by barabajagal because: (no reason given)

WanDash

posted on Sep, 12 2013 @ 11:08 PM

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barabajagal
...IMO he either decided that was no longer a safe way to communicate, or he was sending and re-tweeting as usual and somebody shut down his outgoing messages. When you tweet a message is there any way to tell if your followers are receiving or able to read?
...There were a few periods of that duration of inactivity earlier in the year. There were a couple of re-tweets credited to 6/13. I was left with the impression of early morning hours. I wonder if this is a complete list? Do they really keep every record of every tweet on line? For how long? Should we print them out before they are deleted?

I don't know how to "print/save" them... Was trying earlier and failed...which was why I began placing the info into a spreadsheet. I was not, however, going as far as "expanding" to view entire conversations, etc... So...it is possible that there are more of his "Tweets" than I gave him credit for.
As of the start of January 10...there were forty-five entries... So...it's going to take a while (for me) to get all of the data.
The point I was trying to make (or - that caught my attention) regarding the "sudden" halt on his account was... The activity for quite a few days preceding that, had been rather intense. I don't recall other "multi-day" quiet spells having followed such frenzied activity.
So - you may be correct (about - safe communication/s). On the other hand...it didn't seem like he was communicating any "sensitive" materials...at any time (that I noticed).

barabajagal

posted on Sep, 13 2013 @ 06:45 PM

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reply to post by WanDash

My iPad lets me print one page at a time. Only five tweet records per page. That will take a lot of ink and paper. Anyone know if MH twitter record will ever close? I would hate to lose a record of his contacts. Is it worth time and expense?

WanDash

posted on Sep, 13 2013 @ 07:07 PM

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barabajagal
reply to post by WanDash

My iPad lets me print one page at a time. Only five tweet records per page. That will take a lot of ink and paper. Anyone know if MH twitter record will ever close? I would hate to lose a record of his contacts. Is it worth time and expense?

MindBodySpiritComplex has done some work with embedding Tweets on ATS... Don't know how far they've gone with "downloading" or otherwise saving the Tweets (and conversations, pics & vids)...but... Maybe we'll get a visit with help... (finger's crossed)
Otherwise - I have continued the process of logging (in a spreadsheet) each entry beginning with Jan 1, 2013 (but not the expanded 'conversations')... Am only to the first entry for Jan 24 - and have 183 such entries.
This will take a while...but...hope to have some useful information or insights as a result.
Should you want/need the spreadsheet (it's in Microsoft Excel - 2010 version)...let me know through U2U, and I'll find a way of getting it to you. Same goes for anything else in regard to this story...

ETA: Should have done this before replying, above...but...
Check out this blog for a "how to" download a Twitter feed...

OKAY - apparently, the info that said "blog" referred to is outdated, as I simply get the good of 404 error... So - will try to find another way.
Sorry.

edit on 9/13/2013 by WanDash because: Additional Info

edit on 9/13/2013 by WanDash because: Remove outdated instructions...

MindBodySpiritComplex

posted on Sep, 14 2013 @ 02:51 AM

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reply to post by WanDash

re Twitter: I did it all by hand, even suggested to ATS to find a way to embed tweets:

Integrating twitter status in posts just like "VID:YOUTUBE"?

SkepticOverlord answered it could not be done for security reasons - which makes sense to me.

I also looked for analyzing tools re twitter but none really seemed to do what I needed. BUT about a week ago this was announced:

Entire Twitter History Now Publicly Available Through Topsy

Topsy, Now With Every Tweet From 2006 On, Has Other Social Media Indexes In The Works

It sounds like it would be a fantastic tool for analyzing Hastings' twitter feed. Not sure how useful the free and trial versions are. I am itching to try it out but can't seem to find the time these days. Here is their site: topsy.com...

WanDash

posted on Sep, 14 2013 @ 11:01 PM

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reply to post by MindBodySpiritComplex

Thank you MindBodySpiritComplex
I'm still working on the Twitter stream... Up to mid-April...
Don't know what (if anything) the results will add to our quest...but...I'm at least getting a good feel for what was normal &/thus expected.
Hope to be back with something of interest in a day or two.

ShadellacZumbrum

posted on Sep, 15 2013 @ 02:43 PM

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reply to post by WanDash

Well,. .. .. . .. .. . .. ..

I have been patiently waiting for an answer from John Greenwald the owner of The Black Vault.com

He did acknowledge my original message on Friday and said that he would be very happy to answer any of my questions.

So, I sent him several questions asking about obtaining forms and filing for FOI and a couple of other items.

Since then there has been ... . . . .. .

. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . . ..

. .. .. . .. . .. Dead Space.

Maybe I will receive an answer on Monday.

Anyways,

I have been reading through Micheal's Twitter Feed. He posts merely only matter of fact information. There is really no Chit/Chat posts. It makes me wonder if he had a second Twitter Account?

WanDash

posted on Sep, 15 2013 @ 07:28 PM

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ShadellacZumbrum
...I have been patiently waiting for an answer from John Greenwald the owner of The Black Vault.com
...Maybe I will receive an answer on Monday.
...Anyways,
...I have been reading through Micheal's Twitter Feed. He posts merely only matter of fact information. ...There is really no Chit/Chat posts. It makes me wonder if he had a second Twitter Account?

Hope something comes of your request from The Black Vault.com .
As to Michael's Twitter Feed... I know he also used the @BobbySneakers account...
Have completed the Twitter-to-Spreadsheet transfer... Will follow this "reply" with a post regarding the same.

ETA: Just a thought...but...you may want to check out Elise Jordan's Twitter feed (back a number of months), to see if she communicated with him under another Account Name. She does not appear to have communicated with him AT ALL from Jan 1 through June 12 of 2013 on the @mmhastings account.
BTW - She apparently took @BobbySneakers after Michael's death...and has given him a new "account name".

edit on 9/15/2013 by WanDash because: Just a thought

WanDash

posted on Sep, 15 2013 @ 09:12 PM

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Here is a fairly straightforward, and basic look at the Tweeting history of @mmhastings (Michael Hastings) from January 1st, 2013 through June 12th, 2013...

*Again - please note that I did not include any expansions (including other Tweets or ReTweets)*

Jan 1 thru Jan 31: 223
Feb 1 thru Feb 24: 85
Mar 1 thru Mar 26: 26
Apr 10 thru Apr 29: 5
May 4 thru May 30: 92
• May 4 thru 14 - 6
• May 15 thru 31 – 86
• News regarding DOJ scandal & Obama’s war on press kicked into gear around May 15th
June 1 thru June 12: 172
Around or about June 6…the Glenn Greenwald (/Edward Snowden) info started coming out.

As a general take on the @mmhastings Twitter feed…it seems to have been primarily used in conjunction with his occupation (journalism & writing) – securing & bolstering relationships (by giving shout-outs, kudos and “hey, everybody look at what @myfriend is doing”). Did a lot of promoting his books and articles…as well as the shows he guested on.
There were occasional ‘hot spot’ topics that dominated discussions and conversations…but…nothing like what happened around/about May 15.
And, even so…there were days between May 15 and the end…where he neither Tweeted or ReTweeted (May 17 through May 19 = nothing; June 11 = nothing).
June 8th – 44 Tweet/ReTweets
June 9th – 48 Tweet/ReTweets
June 10th – 10 Tweet/ReTweets
June 12th – 12 Tweet/ReTweets

So – Unless I’m missing something (barabajagal has suggested the possibility of a couple/few Tweets on June 13th…that I’ve not found)…his last day using Twitter…was the night Jeremy Scahill was interviewed on The Tonight Show by Jay Leno.
Not only was he at the “party” that night…but, was apparently with Jeremy Scahill most/much of the day (Screening of Dirty Wars – Q&A for Dirty Wars)…

My take – (initial)
There appeared to be nothing any more out of the ordinary with Michael Hastings’ Tweeting (and/or online) persona during the last month…than any of his industry cohorts. Nothing he said (meaning NOT ONCE) betrayed an unusually (exceptionally) troubled individual.
To me – he was simply “engaged” in his craft and the landscape that defined the same.

Again – should any of you want this “spreadsheet”, let me know by U2U, and we’ll arrange for some manner of transfer.

Will follow this post with another…more subjective…note regarding what, if anything, this information does to “the story”.

Thanks.

WanDash

posted on Sep, 15 2013 @ 09:53 PM

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If anything (imo), an exhaustive look at the Michael Hastings’ history on Twitter (Jan-Jun 2013) only heightens the sense of… “What Happened Here?”

If we are/were to accept that his family was so concerned about his welfare (behavior)…that they were engaged in an attempted “intervention” – one would have to wonder “why” his professional demeanor, disposition, manner/s and communications appear to have been so “unaffected”.

The day & night with Jeremy Scahill & Friends…was only 5 days before his last full day…
Jeremy’s take was that, essentially, Michael was occupied with his normal interests (professional, at least), talking about the future (back in Vermont), and full of life.
It seemed that Jennifer Robinson had a similar take…having been present at the “watch Jeremy Scahill on The Tonight Show” party.

So -- -- aside from the fact that his Twitter account went silent after the evening of that “party” -- -- we would have no reason to suspect “anything” to have been off-kilter.
And – as has been stated – his account going silent for a multi-day stretch was not…unusual…in itself.

Can people spiral out of control…on a subliminal level…without tipping their hand in a day-to-day professional environment? It may be possible… But – generally – those instances are a little different – being – pre-meditated acts. So – while “the event” may appear ‘out of the ordinary’…it is not.

To accept a notion (that has been swirling since Gene Maddau’s article)…that Michael Hastings had been growing exceptionally (or unrealistically) paranoid since the NSA spying news broke in mid-May…fails to consider that many of the other “professionals” he followed and that communicated with him on Twitter…appeared to have been just as “rocked” at the news…and were just as verbose in their response/s to said news (as well as the subsequent news regarding the revelations from Edward Snowden).

Having read through (and ‘memorialized’) the identified Twitter history…and considered the contents, trends and themes…I am of the opinion that he was no more “out of control”, 5 days before his last, than anyone-else.
I see no “slips” to justify even the slightest suspicion…that he did not have a firm grip on his ability to deal with the world.
And thus – I see no clues in his Twitter feed that lend credence to – “he was spiraling out of control”.
The only “clues” of ANYthing, that I see…is…the conspicuous absence…of any…clues.

WanDash

posted on Sep, 16 2013 @ 11:39 AM

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I recall reading a fairly in-depth article regarding (I believe) contractors for various agencies of the gov't, as well as for the military... The article regarded such names as "EndGame Solutions" and may have named Booz Allen.
My primary interest, at the moment, was the part regarding "how" the U.S. allegedly infiltrated the Iranian uranium-enrichment facility with a virus...
If you recall this "article" - and wouldn't mind saving me some trouble (before I've finished going through the effort)...it will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

ETA: ...never mind... - I found it.
The Secret War
Thanks anyway
edit on 9/16/2013 by WanDash because: Update

WanDash

posted on Sep, 16 2013 @ 03:25 PM
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Issues with the “No Foul Play” scenarios…(imo)

Every “No Foul Play” scenario relies on ‘natural course’ as its foundation.
Whether the ‘natural course’ is a result of Mechanical Failure, or Operator Error (unintentional or intended)…it precludes the possibility of malicious intervention from outside sources.

Mechanical Malfunction holds a chair that might be the easiest & most logical answer…if not for numerous-other loose-ends. (4 a.m., late night request to use neighbor’s car, expressed concern about safety/tampering, etc…)

Operator Error might be the next logical choice to sit on the throne…if the type of behavior necessary to explain the activities WE KNOW of…were not so far OUT THERE!

To explain this event as “Operator Error”…accounting for the evidence presented in the LoudLabs and security camera videos…kind of needs some OUT THERE help…
And – what is one of the oldest “standbys” around…to help in such regards…?
Drugs.

As soon as “drugs” was mentioned in the first interviews with family…(within a few hours of the accident)…no need to look further…because…DRUGS can adequately account for abnormal behavior (whether it was the reason or not) in the public’s perception.

Nevertheless – the coroner & toxicology reports appear to relegate the possibility of “drugs” contributing to the accident...to a very distant (clandestine?) back burner…

Does this categorically rule DRUGS out of the equation?
No… There might be a/the possibility of some normally-untested-for drug…that would not have been evident in the results…but…if that were the case – is it likely that Michael would have been trying to hide such a drug from toxicology tests…or…Someone-Else?

I have witnessed (second-hand account & aftermath viewing) accidents where drivers had heart attacks…resulting in devastating (fatal) collisions…
Interesting that his heart “exploded” (paraphrased).
Who’s going to look for a drug that causes the heart to explode (or – seize up)…if the ‘explosion’ can more easily and readily be explained with massive trauma?
Who’s going to try to determine if the heart experienced ‘total arrest/seizure’ within one minute of the collision?
Is it even…possible?

I know – there are many kinds of heart attack/s. I had one, last year. I was lucky – got the ‘circumflex’ artery…and not one of the other two.
I did not drive to the hospital…but, instead, my spouse drove me there…while I gave instructions all along the way – assisting in looking out for on-coming & cross traffic – etc…
Could I have driven that route (morning rush hour) without incident if necessary?
I don’t think so.
There may have been a very slim chance…but…it would have been…‘slim’.

So – on account of the narrow margin available for safe passage through the Santa Monica’ intersection, and the nifty maneuvering (correction/s) after Melrose, I’m not seeing cardiac arrest as a reasonable motivation for the events leading to the fiery crash.

If we eliminate Suicide from possible explanations (and – I do)…what other “No Foul Play” scenarios are left standing…that don’t require the same kind/size of crutches that the “Foul Play” scenarios need?

As I hope is evident from the history of this thread – I will consider anything you put forth…and try to vet it…if it appears to be sincerely put forward.
So… Thanks for your time – again!

barabajagal

posted on Sep, 16 2013 @ 05:36 PM
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reply to post by WanDash

After reading EJ "took @BobbySneakers after MH death ... and has given a new account name" I went looking. I am confused by the new account name. Can you add any insight to accounts?

After looking at twitter (Michael Hastings@mmhastings) I find it a good resource of MH professional contacts. If you have made a list of these I would be interested.

Twitter (Bobby Sneakers@BobbySneakers) seems to be controlled by EJ. Not much info to be garnered from it. The posts from the Jan 25 office visit at BuzzFeed led me to a flicker/Instagram photo by Summer Burton that has an odd caption. "MH corgi puppy is in office right now and I'm dead bye ok #rip". I am assuming this was posted after his death? There was a comment credited 3 months ago to a mstuomel. Comment "aww" seemed a bit odd to me. Nikki Tuomela seems to be mstuomel. Looking at his twitter history is interesting. Seems out of place for their usual contacts and commenters. He seems very interested in NSA, Snowden, Greenwald, etc. I keep getting knocked off his tweeting history on or around July 7. No mention of MH that I noticed. Could not go any further back in his tweeting history.

Twitter history of EJ (Elise Jordan@Elise_Jordan) is similar to MH. Seems primarily professional in nature. Would be interested in comparing her contacts and retweets to MH. A quick look leads me of a list much different. Her contacts seem mainstream and conservative compared to MH.

Any other info on social media accounts for either would be appreciated. I recommend people look at MH Vine account.