Michael Hastings
September 3, 2013 12:00 AM Subscribe
Michael Hastings may have been a damaged soul, but I still find it nearly impossible to believe that he wasn't being spied on in many ways, given all that's come out about the NSA.
It also doesn't seem that far-fetched to believe that the car crash was not an accident.
posted by maggiemaggie at 5:07 AM on September 3, 2013 [6 favorites]
It also doesn't seem that far-fetched to believe that the car crash was not an accident.
posted by maggiemaggie at 5:07 AM on September 3, 2013 [6 favorites]
maggiemaggie: It also doesn't seem that far-fetched to believe that the car crash was not an accident.
I sort of agree with this, but has there ever been proof of this happening at any other point in time? In the past 20 years there have definitely been other government officials who've been taken down by journalists, and nothing happened to them.
posted by gucci mane at 2:58 PM on September 3, 2013
I sort of agree with this, but has there ever been proof of this happening at any other point in time? In the past 20 years there have definitely been other government officials who've been taken down by journalists, and nothing happened to them.
posted by gucci mane at 2:58 PM on September 3, 2013
I found this: Wikipedia List of Journalists Killed in the United States, which goes back to 1837.
The most recent one listed is the 2007 murder of Chauncey Bailey of the Oakland Post, killed by the target of his investigation. There are a few such but nothing on a national level.
I don't want to go too far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, it's just that this is one case that doesn't seem like it takes a crazy person to believe that it may not have been an accident.
posted by maggiemaggie at 5:18 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
The most recent one listed is the 2007 murder of Chauncey Bailey of the Oakland Post, killed by the target of his investigation. There are a few such but nothing on a national level.
I don't want to go too far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, it's just that this is one case that doesn't seem like it takes a crazy person to believe that it may not have been an accident.
posted by maggiemaggie at 5:18 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
It also doesn't seem that far-fetched to believe that the car crash was not an accident.
Hastings' Mercedes had a 3G connection allowing for engine firmware updates, among other things. There was no air-gap: you don't need access to the car's ODB port. The car is also drive-by-wire: this means that gas and brakes are controlled not by a mechanical linkage, but by the computer.
We have learned that the NSA is much more robust at breaking crypto than we ever thought.
Would it have been possible for someone with the NSA's capability to push a malicious ECU firmware over 3G, causing the car to speed out of control? Quite likely.
Not to shut him up, primarily. But to send a message. As we've seen, they love sending messages.
posted by anemone of the state at 12:27 PM on September 7, 2013
Hastings' Mercedes had a 3G connection allowing for engine firmware updates, among other things. There was no air-gap: you don't need access to the car's ODB port. The car is also drive-by-wire: this means that gas and brakes are controlled not by a mechanical linkage, but by the computer.
We have learned that the NSA is much more robust at breaking crypto than we ever thought.
Would it have been possible for someone with the NSA's capability to push a malicious ECU firmware over 3G, causing the car to speed out of control? Quite likely.
Not to shut him up, primarily. But to send a message. As we've seen, they love sending messages.
posted by anemone of the state at 12:27 PM on September 7, 2013
Twelve U.S. Intelligence have sent a memo to Obama saying "[the chemical] incident was not the result of an attack by the Syrian Army using military-grade chemical weapons" and "CIA Director John Brennan is perpetrating a pre-Iraq-War-type fraud", which makes Michael Hastings' death more interesting.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:53 AM on September 10, 2013
posted by jeffburdges at 6:53 AM on September 10, 2013
FBI continues to investigate Hastings for 'controversial reporting'
posted by KatlaDragon at 5:33 AM on September 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by KatlaDragon at 5:33 AM on September 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
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This is a good read, thanks for posting it. And, as usual, if you value your sanity in the least do not go near the comments.
posted by nevercalm at 1:30 AM on September 3, 2013