Michael Hastings is dead

[thyme4change]

Do you think it was a hit?  Was he investigating the wrong people, and they did not want their story to be told?



www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michael-hastings-rolling-stone-contributor-dead-at-33-20130618

[Shooby]

Sorry, never heard of him.

[swamp]

I'd like to know some more of the details of the car accident before I could discuss it further.

But, a personality like his is often prone to risk taking, the type of behavior that can result in accidental death.  

I find it hard to believe that there could be a conspiracy to kill him and cover it up.  People talk too much.

[swamp]

Jun 19, 2013 15:05:36 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Sorry, never heard of him.

Neither did I, but I read the link. 

[djAdvocate]

great journalist.  great loss.

[Virgil Showlion]

The long and the short of it is that we'll never know if it was a random accident or if he was murdered for running afoul of the wrong people.

[thyme4change]

One comment said he was in the middle of exposing some illicit behavior in the CIA.  


It is like a movie...

[swamp]

Jun 19, 2013 15:13:13 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

One comment said he was in the middle of exposing some illicit behavior in the CIA.  


It is like a movie...

I don't understand how he could do that, since his reputation was to skewer those in charge and not cover anything up, how did he get anyone in the CIA to talk to him? 

[djAdvocate]

to answer the OP: staged accidents like this are really tough.  more likely just the kind of bad luck that most of us pray we don't have.

[thyme4change]

I don't know.  I agree with you that he obviously has a risk-taking personality, and the money to buy a schmacy car, so, this is likely self-inflicted.  

[Virgil Showlion]

Jun 19, 2013 15:18:41 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

to answer the OP: staged accidents like this are really tough.  more likely just the kind of bad luck that most of us pray we don't have.

Tough how?

If I could get access to your car's CPU under the hood and possessed a set of manufacturer's tools, I could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable your breaks and "floor" your accelerator as soon as you hit a certain speed, and take you out without breaking a sweat.

I'm not claiming this is what happened in Mr. Hastings' case, but the toughest part of the whole operation would be breaking into the car to pop the hood for 10 minutes without being noticed.

[Deleted]

Hastings is probably still alive and being tortured and interrogated by the CIA. The body in the car was probably a look alike / body double.

[Robert not Bobby]

I can be trusting but also very skeptical…and I would urge everyone to always question “authority” and what is handed down to you as the truth.

Still, have we all gotten so paranoid since the Snowden revelations…which in my circle, were common knowledge, and they should have been for most thinking people.

Not everything is some sort of nefarious conspiracy.

Still, I really would like to know who killed JFK? No, really... 

[thyme4change]

That Snowden guy - I think he has a screw loose.  I think he left a few bodies somewhere.  Literally.

[Virgil Showlion]

Jun 19, 2013 15:46:46 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:41:21 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Tough how?

If I could get access to your car's CPU under the hood and possessed a set of manufacturer's tools, I could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable your breaks and "floor" your accelerator as soon as you hit a certain speed, and take you out without breaking a sweat.

I'm not claiming this is what happened in Mr. Hastings' case, but the toughest part of the whole operation would be breaking into the car to pop the hood for 10 minutes without being noticed.

I'm not saying I would do it.

I'm saying that sabotaging a car isn't the complex mechanical feat it might once have been. Everything on modern cars are regulated by the on-board computer. Your steering wheel, pedals, etc. may once have been mechanically coupled to the wheels, brake pads, etc., but that era is long past. All they do now is feed position sensor readings into the computer.

If you screw with the computer firmware, you can make the car do backflips if you want to.

[steff]

Jun 19, 2013 15:46:46 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:41:21 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Tough how?

If I could get access to your car's CPU under the hood and possessed a set of manufacturer's tools, I could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable your breaks and "floor" your accelerator as soon as you hit a certain speed, and take you out without breaking a sweat.

I'm not claiming this is what happened in Mr. Hastings' case, but the toughest part of the whole operation would be breaking into the car to pop the hood for 10 minutes without being noticed.

and this is why pets are better than people....LOL

[thyme4change]

Jun 19, 2013 16:05:29 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:46:46 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

If you screw with the computer firmware, you can make the car do backflips if you want to.

Now THAT I would like to see.  Is there a youtube of that somewhere?

[Virgil Showlion]

Jun 19, 2013 16:11:53 GMT -5 steff said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:46:46 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

and this is why pets are better than people....LOL

Touche.

[steff]

See, even the "nice" guys have a plan that isn't so "nice" & shouldn't be trusted. 

uh huh....I'm not so crazy now am I? 

[Virgil Showlion]

Jun 19, 2013 16:14:15 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Jun 19, 2013 16:05:29 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

If you screw with the computer firmware, you can make the car do backflips if you want to.

Now THAT I would like to see.  Is there a youtube of that somewhere?

You might say the answer is "almost yes"  :


http://youtu.be/RavPi16b4IQ?t=9s

[Virgil Showlion]

Aaargh. I give up.

Post a video: video is broken.
Post a link: Proboards automatically converts into a broken video.
Post an address: Proboards automatically converts into a broken video.
Post an address in a code block: Proboards automatically converts into a broken video.


http: //youtu.be /RavPi16b4IQ?t=9s
Take out the spaces in the above and you will see a truck doing a backflip... almost.

[The Captain]

Jun 19, 2013 15:41:21 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:18:41 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

to answer the OP: staged accidents like this are really tough.  more likely just the kind of bad luck that most of us pray we don't have.

Tough how?

If I could get access to your car's CPU under the hood and possessed a set of manufacturer's tools, I could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable your breaks and "floor" your accelerator as soon as you hit a certain speed, and take you out without breaking a sweat.

I'm not claiming this is what happened in Mr. Hastings' case, but the toughest part of the whole operation would be breaking into the car to pop the hood for 10 minutes without being noticed.

Hopefully I remember to never piss you off...

[Virgil Showlion]

I used "I" in the general sense.

Using the second person instead:

If you could get access to my car's CPU under the hood and obtain a set of manufacturer's tools, you could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable my breaks and "floor" my accelerator as soon as I hit a certain speed, and take me out without breaking a sweat.

[steff]

Too late Virgil....

[Angel!]

Jun 19, 2013 15:41:21 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:18:41 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

to answer the OP: staged accidents like this are really tough.  more likely just the kind of bad luck that most of us pray we don't have.

Tough how?

If I could get access to your car's CPU under the hood and possessed a set of manufacturer's tools, I could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable your breaks and "floor" your accelerator as soon as you hit a certain speed, and take you out without breaking a sweat.

I'm not claiming this is what happened in Mr. Hastings' case, but the toughest part of the whole operation would be breaking into the car to pop the hood for 10 minutes without being noticed.

Can you keep the person from turning off the car or shifting into neutral? Just thinking through what else you could do in a no brakes, floored accelerator scenario.

[Jaguar]

Be at Peace.

[Virgil Showlion]

Jun 19, 2013 17:03:14 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Jun 19, 2013 15:41:21 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Tough how?

If I could get access to your car's CPU under the hood and possessed a set of manufacturer's tools, I could add a few dozen lines of code to the firmware to disable your breaks and "floor" your accelerator as soon as you hit a certain speed, and take you out without breaking a sweat.

I'm not claiming this is what happened in Mr. Hastings' case, but the toughest part of the whole operation would be breaking into the car to pop the hood for 10 minutes without being noticed.

Can you keep the person from turning off the car or shifting into neutral? Just thinking through what else you could do in a no brakes, floored accelerator scenario.

Modern automatic transmissions are completely governed by computer, hence a saboteur could take full control of that.

I don't know about using the key to kill the engine. Time was, pulling the key out would physically seal off the fuel line. I know the ignition system has since become an abstraction and is governed by computer, but you might still have a mechanical failsafe for something so critical.

Furthermore, not all electronics in a car are run through a central computer. Some of the simpler systems (possibly including emergency fuel shutoff) might be on separate hardwired circuits. Those would be much harder to sabotage. The question is whether a driver has the presence of mind to pull the key out, and whether it's enough to prevent a crash.

Parking brakes are still (I believe) mechanical, but don't have anywhere near enough stopping power to overpower an engine.

[hurley1980]

Jun 19, 2013 15:03:03 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Do you think it was a hit?  Was he investigating the wrong people, and they did not want their story to be told?



www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michael-hastings-rolling-stone-contributor-dead-at-33-20130618

No hit, no staged crash, no investigation gone bad, not even an accident.  Michael Hastings was a troubled man.

Don't ask me for a link, there isn't one.  You don't have to take my word for it either.  I just know how nosy we all can be, and thought I would share my insider information with you all.

RIP Michael, and may his family find peace.

[billisonboard]

There are certainly better ways to ensure death than to create an automobile accident.  I would hope that the CIA won't give him even a one in a million chance of not dying if their goal was to kill him.

[chiver78]

Jun 19, 2013 15:19:00 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I don't know.  I agree with you that he obviously has a risk-taking personality, and the money to buy a schmacy car, so, this is likely self-inflicted.  

some might consider my little rice rocket to be a schmancy car (when it was new, anyway), and I was a couple seconds away from being a shmear on a tree today from someone else completely disregarding a stop sign. does that mean my near-miss was self-inflicted just because I bought a shmancy car?

I've never understood revenge killings. once your story's out there, the fan doesn't care whether the snitch is still alive or not, you still have to clean up the shit.