Journalist Michael Hastings is dead at 33

[Hunter]

Also in the book The Operators there are several mentions of him being sober and committed to it, that he hasnt had a drop of booze in ten years, he sort of hints there may have been a problem with alcohol in the past but never actually says it, but you do get the idea that his sobriety is very important to him.

So there is that and there is no mention by Scahill in his reddit AMA yesterday about Hastings having been drinking that night since they were together, all he really says is this needs to be investigated and he doesnt want to comment further until he knows more details. Scahill said he was truly a great guy, kind, compassionate and generous and it is a great loss for all of us.

From my POV I wouldnt suspect someone would fall off the wagon if they had just learned the FBI was looking in to them, that would probably be the last thing on their mind, going out to get drunk after learning that BUT I am not an addict and I suppose the pressure of knowing something like that could be a trigger for someone to fall off the wagon. I do not want to introduce drugs and booze in to this and smear the guys name but I fear that we will soon be seeing that I mention the above so that people know that the guy took his sobriety seriously if in fact there was a problem I dont know, he never really seems to admit it, just that he hasnt drank in ten years and he takes being sober very seriously.

[Hunter]

From Scahill's AMA yesterday, he, like I had up thread, compares him to the Good Dr Hunter S Thompson, that makes me happy as a big Gonzo fan (and yes I know about the alleged Franklin connection and I dont think it is him):

I was devastated by the loss of Michael. He was an epic shit disturber who was the perfect antidote to the caviar correspondents who populate the White House press corp. He never--never--bowed before the throne of the powerful. He was part Hunter S Thompson, part IF Stone mixed with a great war correspondent. He will be sorely missed.

Other interesting Scahill comments:

I get detained pretty regularly at airports when I come back home. And it always sickens me because I am often released from a room where I was the only white person detained, leaving behind other people who have been pulled aside. And I have seen many frightened looking people from the Middle East and Africa--at times with their families--waiting and not knowing what will happen to them.

We are living in a hyper-secret, radically-outsourced society. Some 70% of the US intel budget is spent on private contractors. There were more contractors than soldiers in Iraq during the war. The state's monopoly on the use of mass, organized violence is now spread across for-profit corporations. i think we will increasingly see corporations with access to their own armed units to defend their interests.

After my computer was breached a few years ago, I radically changed my online behavior. Obviously, I use encryption and OTR. A lot of sources now want batteries removed from cell phones when we meet and some won't engage in any electronic communications at all anymore--about sensitive issues. It is almost like we have to be Luddites to have something resembling private comms.



His AMA can be read here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabled/comments ... _security/

[8bitagent]

This may end up being one of those "politely unsaid" things where all the journalists of his stripe are being gut checked but they dare not say it in public wrt foul play. But that the message, among private meetings and dinner talk, is loud and clear.

Hastings death being the result of manic fury or intoxication to me is on par with them finding WMD's buried in Iraq some day. I usually don't like to make bold statements(I dont believe Sandy Hook was a black op, and have not seen definite proof of Boston being a through and through set up yet but am very open to it) But this...I mean, a few days shy of the three year annv of the Mcchrystal thing? Obviously this guy pissed off a lot more people than Scahill and seemed even more proactive. You can bet Mcchrystal is having an extra wink with that drink clink at the dinner table.

Also I hate it when people bring Obama into this. As if Obama would have anything to do with this. This is wink and nod shit beyond his awareness. This isnt the Nixon days.

[justdrew]

we should identify the names of S.McC.'s "staff" and determine what became of their 'careers' post S.McC's end-of-command.

[Hunter]

This may end up being one of those "politely unsaid" things where all the journalists of his stripe are being gut checked but they dare not say it in public wrt foul play. But that the message, among private meetings and dinner talk, is loud and clear.

Hastings death being the result of manic fury or intoxication to me is on par with them finding WMD's buried in Iraq some day. I usually don't like to make bold statements(I dont believe Sandy Hook was a black op, and have not seen definite proof of Boston being a through and through set up yet but am very open to it) But this...I mean, a few days shy of the three year annv of the Mcchrystal thing? Obviously this guy pissed off a lot more people than Scahill and seemed even more proactive. You can bet Mcchrystal is having an extra wink with that drink clink at the dinner table.

Also I hate it when people bring Obama into this. As if Obama would have anything to do with this. This is wink and nod shit beyond his awareness. This isnt the Nixon days.

I dont think that Mr Obama is giving direct orders to kill anyone of Hastings ilk but I do think there is a general unspoken vibe in the entire administration that leakers, whisleblowers and journalists who dont play by the rules should not be treated with kid gloves and should in fact be treated very harshly to send messages to others, but as far as Obama giving orders, that likely is not happening. And it may not even be democrats, this could be a hit by factions within the govt or any number of the defense contractors now working for the NSA and CIA. Which brings up a point I have been trying to make, this is very dangerous, as Scahill points out, 70% of the budget is now beings pent on these private for hire intelligence/spy/mercenary corporations whose employees are not going to be loyal to the USA or the President or any of the agencies they are contracted with, their loyalty is going to be to the guy who signs their paychecks meaning they will do what is best for blackwater, booz hamilton etc before they do what is best for the US/The People. It may not be long before we see all of these contracted companies going to war AGAINST EACHOTHER like we see drug dealers warring over terrirtory, to keep the upperhand and the money and contracts flowing their way, we already know these companies are all spying on eachother, corporate espionage, for that very reason. It's just a matter of time before they start to send in their own troops/mercenaries, in to parts of the world where THEIR OWN INTERESTS and not necessarily the interests of the US, are being threatened,and declare their own private wars against other countries and regimes without congressional approval etc.

[Hunter]

we should identify the names of S.McC.'s "staff" and determine what became of their 'careers' post S.McC's end-of-command.

A worthy endeavor, I will try and contribute, ready, set, go.

[Hunter]

MICHAEL HASTINGS' WIFE PISSED OFF AT NEW YORK TIMES DISMISSIVE OBITUARY AND LASHES OUT AT THEM ABOUT IT:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/1 ... 69095.html

In the 24 hours since the tragic death of journalist and author Michael Hastings was first reported on Tuesday, those who knew him, worked with him, and covered his work have offered numerous remembrances of the man best known for his Polk Award-winning Rolling Stone piece, “The Runaway General.”

That article, which presented a dim view of the U.S. strategy in the Afghanistan war and exposed a military command structure working to actively undermine its civilian leadership, also contained several accounts of less-than-professional behavior and comments by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the International Security Assistance Force commander, the disclosure of which led to McChrystal tendering his resignation in June 2010.

But it’s an obituary in The New York Times that has sounded a discordant note amid the rest of the encomiums. And now Hastings’ widow, Elise Jordan, is firing back at Times brass.

In its obituary of Hastings, posted online Wednesday evening, the paper of record casts doubt on the accuracy of his profile of McChrystal. Here's the salient part of the obit, penned by Margalit Fox:

An inquiry into the article by the Defense Department inspector general the next year found “insufficient” evidence of wrongdoing by the general, his military aides and civilian advisers. The inspector general’s report also questioned the accuracy of some aspects of the article, which was repeatedly defended by Mr. Hastings and Rolling Stone.

(Fox also identifies Hastings’ piece as a “cover story.” It was not. Rolling Stone featured Lady Gaga on the cover of the issue containing “The Runaway General.”)

But the notion that that McChrystal was somehow “cleared” in this matter is a story to which the Times has long tried to stick. When the inspector general's report was first released, the Times headlined it: "Pentagon Inquiry Into Article Clears McChrystal and Aides." It did no such thing.

That said, it’s unclear whether the Times' reaction to Hastings' story is rooted in professional jealousy or a knee-jerk defense of the establishment. The inspector general's report said it could not confirm some elements of Hastings' reporting, but that was to be expected. Hastings quotes the general and his aides making disparaging remarks about their civilian superiors. Such people would be unlikely to acknowledge having said such things, especially considering that Hastings allowed some of them to remain nameless.

Jordan did not take kindly to the Times’ remembrance, and in an email to Times' editor Jill Abramson, asked the paper correct its report before printing it in the morning paper. Abramson sent the note to Bill McDonald, obituaries editor, who rejected the request. Both emails were provided to The Huffington Post:

Dear Jill, I was shocked and saddened to read a blatant mischaracterization of my late husband Michael Hastings’s Rolling Stone story “The Runaway General” in his obituary.

The obituary states: “An inquiry into Mr. Hastings’s article by the Defense Department inspector general the next year found ‘insufficient’ evidence of wrongdoing by the general, his military aides and civilian advisers. The inspector general’s report also questioned the accuracy of some aspects of the article, which was repeatedly defended by Mr. Hastings and Rolling Stone’s editors.”

If a reporter at the Times actually would read and properly analyze the Pentagon report, they would find exactly the opposite. The report clearly states: “In some instances, we found no witness who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported. In other instances, we confirmed that the general substance of an incident at issue occurred, but not in the exact context described in the article.”

As Rolling Stone stated in response to the Pentagon report, “The report by the Pentagon’s inspector general offers no credible source — or indeed, any named source — contradicting the facts as reported in our story, ‘The Runaway General.’ Much of the report, in fact, confirms our reporting, noting only that the Pentagon was unable to find witnesses ‘who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported.’ This is not surprising, given that the civilian and military advisers questioned by the Pentagon knew that their careers were on the line if they admitted to making such comments.”

Unfortunately, the mischaracterization in the obituary reflects a longstanding -– and ongoing –- misrepresentation of the facts in and surrounding this story by the Times. Your archived story of the Pentagon report, for example, still carries the headline: “Pentagon Inquiry Into Article Clears McChrystal and Aides,” even though the report did no such thing. Insufficient evidence to prosecute is not the same as “clearing” someone of a misdeed. It is as if a district attorney had found no witnesses to prosecute a suspected murderer – the only other witnesses being his accomplices -– and the Times ran a story headlined, “DA Clears Alleged Killer.”

I personally transcribed and have all the tape recordings of Michael’s interviews during his time with McChrystal and his staff. I can personally verify that some of the most damning comments were made by McChrystal himself, and many others made by his aides in his presence were greeted with his enthusiastic approval. Michael refused to give further evidence to the Pentagon investigators, even though he could have directly attributed a host of insubordinate comments to others on the general’s staff, in part because he believed that it was not the role of a journalist to open his notebooks to the military, and in part because he felt that what was needed when it came to the war in Afghanistan was not a change in personnel, but in policy.

I trust you’ll make these corrections online and before you print tomorrow’s paper.

Here’s McDonald’s reply:

Dear Ms. Jordan Jill Abramson passed along your email concerning our obituary about Mr. Hastings. First, I hope you’ll accept our condolences. I must say, however, that I don’t believe we’ve mischaracterized the Defense Department report from 2011. As the report stated, “Not all of the events at issue occurred as reported in the article. In some instances, we found no witness who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported. In other instances, we confirmed that the general substance of an incident at issue occurred, but not in the exact context described in the article.” In other words, as the obit states, “the inspector general’s report … questioned the accuracy of some aspects of the article.” I don’t know how else you could interpret the passage quoted above (“not all of the events occurred as reported,” incidents occurred “not in the exact context described”). I think it’s also clear that it’s not The Times that is questioning the article’s accuracy; it was the Defense Department. We’re simply reporting what it publicly said, while noting that your husband received a Polk Award for the article and was vigorously defended by Rolling Stone. So we see no reason to change the obituary. Again, I’m very sorry about your loss.

Jordan’s letter to Jill Abramson also was sent to New York Times national news editor Sam Sifton, and to New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan.

[Hunter]

So the FBI identified his body huh? Heh.


http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013 ... _crash.php

The L.A. County Department of Coroner today confirmed that the burned body found in the charred Mercedes that crashed in Hollywood early Tuesday was indeed that of noted journalist Michael Hastings.

The remains of 33-year-old Michael Mahon Hastings were identified through fingerprint records "obtained from the FBI," coroner's Lt. Fred Corral told us:

The cause of death?

That determination could take as long as 10 weeks, he said. Coroner's investigators have ordered toxicology tests to figure out if Hastings had been drinking or was under the influence of drugs.

Hasting was involved in a horrific, solo-vehicle crash that was reported about 4:25 a.m. Tuesday just south of Melrose Avenue on Highland Avenue.

See also: Michael Hastings, Noted Journalist, Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash (VIDEO).

A freelance TV video crew stopped at Highland and Santa Monica Boulevard taped a southbound car blazing through a red light just seconds before the crash.

See also: Michael Hastings Crash: Amazing Red Light Violation, Speeding Caught on Video.

But Hastings' work on the national-security beat, including coverage of the CIA, put conspiracy theorists in a frenzy about his death.

See also: Michael Hastings Probed the CIA Before Fatal Hollywood Crash.

The Rolling Stone contributor perhaps best known for taking down General Stanley McChrystal worked in L.A. as a staffer at Buzzfeed.

Oh, and yes, WikiLeaks says he told a lawyer for the organization he was being investigated by the FBI shortly before his death.

[Hunter]

So his fingerprints were not charred like the rest of his body? Interesting.

[justdrew]

So his fingerprints were not charred like the rest of his body? Interesting.

WTF? That makes no sense AT ALL. fingerprints? Total Bullshit

[Canadian_watcher]

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...???

[barracuda]

It's not entirely outrageous. Even if the outer layer of skin is burned, the fingertip epidermis can be removed and prints may be obtained by turning the skin inside out and printing from the reverse side. It's gross being a coroner.

[stillrobertpaulsen]

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?!

[justdrew]

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.

[Canadian_watcher]

yeah, but if she were that frightened she would just keep quiet.