Category: Uncategorized

Beyond imagining

It’s understandably hard for ordinary Americans to take seriously the overwrought claims of Hollywood actors and actresses that shady people are trying to kill them or destroy them. Then you read things like this story about Uma Thurman’s treatment at the hands of Harvey Weinstein and his team, and you realize that it is simply an alien world every bit as foreign as a civil war in Malawi or ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

Since the revelations about Weinstein became public last fall, Thurman has been reliving her encounters with him — and a gruesome episode on location for “Kill Bill” in Mexico made her feel as blindsided as the bride and as determined to get her due, no matter how long it took.

With four days left, after nine months of shooting the sadistic saga, Thurman was asked to do something that made her draw the line.

In the famous scene where she’s driving the blue convertible to kill Bill — the same one she put on Instagram on Thanksgiving — she was asked to do the driving herself.

But she had been led to believe by a teamster, she says, that the car, which had been reconfigured from a stick shift to an automatic, might not be working that well.

She says she insisted that she didn’t feel comfortable operating the car and would prefer a stunt person to do it. Producers say they do not recall her objecting.

“Quentin came in my trailer and didn’t like to hear no, like any director,” she says. “He was furious because I’d cost them a lot of time. But I was scared. He said: ‘I promise you the car is fine. It’s a straight piece of road.’” He persuaded her to do it, and instructed: “ ‘Hit 40 miles per hour or your hair won’t blow the right way and I’ll make you do it again.’ But that was a deathbox that I was in. The seat wasn’t screwed down properly. It was a sand road and it was not a straight road.” (Tarantino did not respond to requests for comment.)

Thurman then shows me the footage that she says has taken her 15 years to get. “Solving my own Nancy Drew mystery,” she says.

It’s from the point of view of a camera mounted to the back of the Karmann Ghia. It’s frightening to watch Thurman wrestle with the car, as it drifts off the road and smashes into a palm tree, her contorted torso heaving helplessly until crew members appear in the frame to pull her out of the wreckage. Tarantino leans in and Thurman flashes a relieved smile when she realizes that she can briefly stand.

If a car can’t go 40 MPH on a straight stretch of road, you don’t need a stunt driver, you need a crash team investigation and a prosecutor. I doubt Tarantino tried to kill Thurman, but either she is the worst driver in the world or someone did.

Two weeks after the crash, after trying to see the car and footage of the incident, she had her lawyer send a letter to Miramax, summarizing the event and reserving the right to sue. Miramax offered to show her the footage if she signed a document “releasing them of any consequences of my future pain and suffering,” she says. She didn’t.

EXCERPT: Six Expressions of Death

SIX EXPRESSIONS OF DEATH by Mojo Mori. Available in Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

Morijuku was not a large town, and a minute’s walk brought him to the house of Baisetsu. It stood as dark and silent as the carpenter’s shop beside it, causing Tadashi to wonder momentarily if he was mistaken. Then his glance detected a dark shape huddled by the covered walkway fronting on the street. Beholding that awkward shape, which could only be a corpse, he knew that he guessed correctly, and death was stalking very near.

He stood for a moment to survey Baisetsu’s house, a larger dwelling than his own and far more spacious than Akiko’s. A roofed walkway fronted on the street, with the house’s main door at its center and windows to either side. A narrow gravel path ran along the nearer side of the house, leading to a large formal garden behind it.

Tadashi groped in his memory for details of the building’s layout, recalling how a second covered walkway fronted on the garden, with two additional doors giving access to the interior on that side. The low structure included just one story despite its size, but a large number of windows pierced its walls. Three servants usually lived in the house alongside Baisetsu’s wife and children. Tonight, however, every window showed dark and empty, giving no sign of life inside.

Silently, Tadashi slipped off his geta, or wooden clogs, and set them close against the wall of the carpenter’s shop where he would not stumble on them were he forced to retreat in that direction. Then, drawing his katana, he glided forward with all the stealth he could muster, with both his mind and his body poised for instant action.

The samurai paused only momentarily near the shape by the walkway, long enough to reach out a hand and feel cloth, with the yielding firmness of flesh underneath it—flesh which failed to stir as his hand pressed it. Tadashi noted that warmth still remained in the corpse. He rose and stepped up onto the covered walkway, breathing as quietly as he could. His heart thundered in his ears, but his mind filled with a poised calm like the razor serenity of a sword-blade.

It was dark on the walkway, and the main door into Baisetsu’s house was a gaping blur of even deeper shadow. Tadashi stood considering for a moment. A thin, cold sensation of menace crept along his back looking at the yawning door, like the legs of ghostly insects crawling on his skin.

Baisetsu’s wife and servants are probably already dead, he thought. If Yuukai is alone, he is likely searching for information about who else knows of his crimes. If he has a companion, though, then surely the front door is watched. I will be clearly silhouetted against the street as I enter and easily killed. The killers probably left it open as a trap.

Tadashi stepped off the covered walkway onto the gravel path and moved around the house towards the back. An early firefly glinted among the leaves ahead, then blinked out as the man approached. The dog barked again, from the far side of the town. Then, a prolonged, muffled scraping sound issued from somewhere inside the house, followed by utter silence.

They are indeed still here! Tadashi thought. He approached the second gallery overlooking the garden and stepped up onto it. Unless Yuukai had brought a large band of men, they could not watch every entrance. He looked out over the garden, but it appeared still and peaceful in the moonlight, displaying the asymmetrical perfection of a well-tended formal garden. Moving along the gallery noiselessly, Tadashi found a half-opened door and slipped inside, katana held out before him. In the total darkness inside, he pressed himself to the wall, pausing to listen.

Tadashi heard nothing, but a faint gleam of light appeared suddenly deeper in the house, dimly showing the walls of the corridor he stood in and several dark openings where someone had slid open the panels leading into rooms.

He also saw a severed human head, as he guessed from its shape, lying perhaps two paces from where he stood, surrounded by dark streaks on the pale tatami. The samurai felt anger at the sight of it, but not surprise, since he expected everyone in the house except Yuukai and his confederates to be dead in any case.

Then the faint gleam went out, leaving the samurai in complete darkness once more.

There is Yuukai, searching with a small lamp, Tadashi thought.

He was about to step out into the corridor and move deeper into the house when the door onto the garden behind him swung open soundlessly, grazing his left elbow. Even Tadashi’s iron nerves scarcely kept him from crying out in surprise. His head whipped around. He saw a man’s shape flit in through the doorway, silhouetted for a moment against the garden’s dimness. Then Tadashi heard the faint sound of an indrawn breath only inches from his ear.

Tadashi dropped to the floor, hearing the soft whistle of steel just above his head, and lashed out with his own sword. A loud scream exploded from just overhead, and hot liquid showered down on Tadashi’s face and arms. A man fell across the samurai, thrashing, bearing him to the floor with his weight. For a moment the two men grappled in the darkness, hands clawing blindly at each other. Then Tadashi slashed again, feeling his blade cleave through ribs, and the other man’s motions became a spastic jerking. Then there was a long sigh and the weight across Tadashi’s thighs went limp.

The samurai drew himself out from beneath the dead man and rose to a crouch. A soft patter of footfalls sounded from somewhere deeper inside the house, followed by silence. The darkness now appeared absolute, and Tadashi crept quickly along the hallway, one hand extended to feel along the left wall. As he expected, he soon came to a place where a screen stood open, giving ingress to a room, and he slipped through the doorway.

In the pitch blackness of the room, Tadashi drew himself up against the wall just inside the doorway. He swept his sword back and forth several times through the air, first at shoulder height, then at waist height, to assure himself that no assassin lurked within arm’s reach. Then he held his breath, listening.

He detected no sound at all in the house’s profound silence, but the samurai knew that at least one more man waited nearby. He must trick the man into revealing himself, yet do so in a way that would not make Tadashi an easy prey for his foe.

He devised a plan after only a few moments. Moving back into the hallway, Tadashi felt his way to the man he had killed. Searching the corpse quickly, he found a knife hidden beneath the waistband of the man’s hakama. Drawing the blade free, he hurled it down the hallway with all his force, so that it clattered loudly at the further end. Then he ran forward as noiselessly as he could in the same direction, and halted, pressed flat against the wall, halfway between the dead man and the end of the passage.

Tadashi tensed as his ears caught a faint whisper of movement ahead. Then the samurai heard a stealthy footfall just behind him also. Adrenaline exploded through his body as he realized that at least two more assassins prowled the darkened house, and that these men now trapped him between them.

Vote today!

If you backed Will Caligan’s Comic campaign, please check your email today. You will be receiving a survey that will permit you to cast ONE vote for the book or books you most want to see converted into a graphic novel. Simply click on the title you prefer to vote; note that a vote for The Green Knight’s Squire will take up two of the three graphic novels.

If, for some reason, you did not receive the survey by this afternoon, please email me with your backer number and your choice of the following options:

  • Flashpoint: Titan
  • Rocky Mountain Retribution
  • Swan Knight’s Son
  • Sword and Flower
  • The End of the World as We Knew It
  • The Green Knight’s Squire
  • The Lawdog Files
  • The Stars Came Back

The results will be announced here on Monday. Thank you all so much for making this happen!

Deep State sedition

CNN reports that the FBI and CIA are actively committing sedition against the President and the Constitution:

Former CIA counterterrorism official Phil Mudd: The FBI people “are ticked” and they’ll be saying of Trump, “You’ve been around for 13 months. We’ve been around since 1908. I know how this game is going to be played. We’re going to win.” 

If those FBI people are smart, they will promptly be telling Mr. Mudd, “Who is this ‘we’, kemosabe?” I’m not sure that openly declaring a seditious intention to defeat the duly-elected President of the United States is a wise idea for any employee who serves at the President’s pleasure, much less for any U.S. citizen who is legally subject to being targeted as an enemy by the President of the United States.

Didn’t really think that one through, did you, Obama supporters.

It would certainly be fascinating if President Trump followed his predecessor’s example, declared these openly seditious officials and ex-officials to be enemies of the United States and began ordering drone strikes. It’s not as if he doesn’t have legal precedent to do so, and these people are clearly far more dangerous to the American people and to the U.S. Constitution than any of Obama’s targets ever were.

The convergence cometh

When he’s not writing hit pieces on artists, Rich Johnston is observing the ongoing convergence of DC Comics.

Brian Bendis‘ arrival at DC Comics, taking over Superman and Action Comics as monthly titles after a Man Of Steel six-weekly series does seem to have changed existing plans considerably. I think it is unarguable that the work of Jurgens, Gleason and Tomasi has created for Superman a new comic book level of success for the character than it has enjoyed in comic books for a very long time. Restoring the marriage, giving Superman a son and exploring his own father/son relationship as well, all while doing very Supermanny things. Critically and commercially, the Superman books have been a success for DC Comics, and a marked improvement over what had come in the decades before.

And now the publisher is changing horses in mid-stream

You don’t say… As expected, Brian Bendis is going to do for DC what he has done for Marvel.

Bendis is quoted as saying “The last runs on Superman by Dan Jurgens and Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason have been phenomenal runs, and my run will be following their runs. We’re not throwing anything out, we’re not abandoning anything, we’re following what’s been going on and taking it to surprising new areas” but also “It’s some of the biggest status quo changes to Superman literally since Crisis.”

Translation: Superman is going to have an affair with Aquaman, and be revealed as a transgender Dreamer. Then he’ll convert to Judaism and dedicate himself to imposing peace in the Middle East.

It occurs to me that I should be a little more careful about these satirical suggestions. Marvel might offer me a job.

SJW hit piece on DC artist

Bleeding Cool is the most embarrassingly SJW of the comics fan sites that try to pose as real journalistic organizations. They don’t cover much actual news, they prefer to devote their efforts to fan-squee over failing Marvel comics and striking blows for social justice at every opportunity. They’ve run hit pieces on my erstwhile opponent Ethan Van Sciver before, but now Rich Johnston is jumping on the campaign by four minor artists that has the objective of getting Van Sciver fired from DC.

Ethan Van Sciver is a successful superhero comic book artist. Beginning with his own character Cyberfrog, he would go on to draw New X-Men, written by Grant Morrison; Green Lantern Rebirth by Geoff Johns; go exclusive with DC Comics; and more recently draw the DC Rebirth series Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps.

Van Sciver has also continuously exhibited a rather fractious online personality, and has been accused of being an agitator and a troll. Over the course of much of his professional career, he has generally characterized such behavior simply as over-the-top, often ironic, bombastic banter, but last year even he seemed to accept the notion that it was something beyond that.

“I’m going to try to focus on being kinder. I try every day, but I have this mean streak…”, he said in part, at a candid moment in May 2017.

While Van Sciver has echoed that desire for a kinder focus on social media in more recent times, there are many who would say that this mean streak still in large part defines him, and guides his current intent in ways not too far removed from that pivotal moment last year.

Public and Private

At that time, some of his privately posted comments became subject to public scrutiny. While in a heated discussion, Van Sciver suggested that another user — someone who had been suffering from depression — should kill themselves.

View image on Twitter

This seemed to be a critical moment for the artist, and for the people around him. Many creators spoke out about the incident, and he seemed to realize he’d gone too far. Indeed, DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson was made aware of the situation, and responded to it in private email that was CC’d to Dee Dee Myers, the head of corporate communications at Warner Brothers, which we are running for the first time here. Replying to concerns that a fan expressed to her, Nelson stated that Van Sciver’s comments were offensive, did not meet their standards for their creators, and that his actions did not speak for DC Comics.

Dear Deeply Concerned Individual,

Thank you for taking the time to write. I couldn’t agree more that the comments Ethan van Sciver made on Facebook were offensive. His actions do not meet the high standards we strive for from our creative community. They are inconsistent with the values of Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, as well as those of the pantheon of the DC superhero characters.

Ethan is just one of hundreds of members of DC’s freelance creative community, and I assure you his actions do not speak for the rest of us. That said, I completely understand if fans choose not to purchase Ethan’s work.

Thanks again for taking the time to craft such a thoughtful email. It’s appreciated.

Best,

Diane
President, DC Entertainment

He publicly apologised and committed to changing his ways, vowing “not to vent” on social media anymore. He also closed two of his three Facebook pages and withdrew, stating, “I’m going to try to focus on being kinder. I try every day, but I have this mean streak… I’m sorry. Truly. I’ll be a better man.”

So, the question is: has Van Sciver made good on that apology and promise? Or has his “mean streak” gotten the better of him?

Friends In Low Places

Van Sciver has shown glimpses of the better man he vowed to be in that dark moment. He has spoken up against instances of abuse directed at LGBTQ comic book creators. He has tweeted about the need to treat each other with kindness. But overshadowing those glimpses, he has continually invested considerable effort into elevating voices whose intent seems in direct opposition to those words.

He started a YouTube channel, ostensibly to share the secrets of comic book artists, to present his commentary on the industry and engage with figures from Vox Day to Chuck Dixon to Mark Waid — but more often, Richard C. Meyer, the commentator behind the Diversity & Comics YouTube channel, which stands accused of propagating bigotry, hate speech, and harassment. Meyer’s followers have aimed abuse against many members of the comic book community.

For transparency, that often includes me.
Van Sciver has hosted a number of videos with Meyer now, equivocating away Meyer’s actions, past and present.

It was in the light of this that Van Sciver openly posted an invite to one of his critics, cartoonist and comic store employee Darryl Ayo, to come onto a live YouTube show to debate comic artist Jon Malin, with Ethan as moderator. Malin recently found himself at the centre of criticism after comparing Hitler’s ideology to that of “social justice warriors”. Ayo declined. But the requests kept coming.

Ayo, also a heavy critic of Bleeding Cool, nevertheless invited me to look into this. I reached out to Van Sciver, who initially agreed to take and answer questions about this and other matters. But before I could begin, he rescinded his agreement (more on that later). So I talked to Ayo.

Rich Johnston: Darryl, what is your history with Ethan Van Sciver?

Darryl Ayo: I don’t have a history with Ethan Van Sciver prior to January 23rd, 2018. He is a known superhero artist and I’m a minicomics creator and comics critic. I’ve never interacted with Ethan Van Sciver and haven’t made any attempt to interact with him. We are from different parts of the comics art form and industry.

RJ:  So what led to his recent invite to you?

DA: In professional terms, nothing. There was no reason for Ethan Van Sciver to even be thinking about me, much less talking to me.

That said, Ethan Van Sciver decided to invite me (and I don’t necessarily see it as an “invitation,” per se) to appear on his show after I had been highlighted and targeted for harassment by an online person called “Diversity and Comics.” At the time, “Diversity and Comics” had been focusing his attention on me and targeting me for abuse by his fans for about a week.

The supposed purpose of Ethan Van Sciver’s initiation of contact was to discuss a superhero artist named Jon Malin, who had made bizarre comments earlier that day about Hitler being an “SJW,” which is a derisive term applied to liberals, progressives and leftists. The idea of Hitler, one of the most notorious and brutal right wing thugs in the twentieth century being equated with a term that essentially means “progressive” was appalling and many people throughout the comics industries, including, but not limited to me, expressed disgust at the comments of this Jon Malin person.

As I was about to shut off my computer and go to bed, I noticed a string of notifications to my twitter account. There was a discussion and there were replies. The origin was Ethan Van Sciver, who I had never spoken with before, mentioning me on his twitter and asking/telling/pleading/demanding that I join some debate that he was currently having on a podcast that he apparently hosts. This is the first time that I had any contact with Ethan Van Sciver and therefore, the casual tone of his tweets was disturbing as they seemed to indicate a familiarity or at least a preexisting relationship between us. There was no preexisting relationship. I had never agreed to appear on this podcast and I certainly was not going to be coaxed or goaded or railroaded into appearing in public in such a manner. I made a post to my own twitter account, not as a reply to Ethan, but a plain text post, indicating that I was not appearing on an Ethan Van Sciver podcast.  Ethan pressed the issue by tweeting to me and attempting to sustain the illusion that there was a mutual agreement about a desire to debate. There was no agreement. There was no prior discussion or contact.

RJ: How did this invite and the repeated requests affect you?

DA: I thought it was all quite annoying and unprofessional. And since it opened me up to further trolling and harassment by the same parties that have already been attacking me, I was furious.

The entire affair was manipulative and frankly, insulting. The notion that anyone would drop everything and appear on a podcast to argue with a stranger at midnight just because someone goaded them is preposterous. The more Ethan tried to talk me into this nonsensical idea, the more certain I was that it was an attempt to publicly humiliate me. All of this became even more obvious after Ethan Van Sciver eventually dropped his pretense and admitted that he was angry with me about a comment that I had made months prior regarding reports that he, Ethan Van Sciver, had named a book of his after Hitler’s book.

As Ethan Van Sciver continued to tweet about me and at me, he would exaggerate this to his audience, spinning a fantasy that I had personally led a mob of hatred against him. Nonsense; many people publicly expressed disgust about Ethan Van Sciver’s Hitler-referencing title at the time of that particular report. However, since I was designated as the enemy of the moment by “Diversity and Comics,” Ethan sought to lie to his twitter followers and insist that I had led a hate campaign against him “for six months.” In other words, a comment *made* six months prior was recast as an ongoing campaign *lasting* for six months. Lies, outright lies. Flagrant lies. And of course, this further enflamed the angry bigots who, as I have said above, were already targeting me and friends of mine for abuse and harassment.

RJ: What outcome would you like to see come from this?

DA: Who cares. I’m already a target of abuse by the “Diversity and Comics” person’s followers. I’m already a target of abuse by the alt right. I don’t see any outcome. If you’re asking me whether Ethan Van Sciver, for his part, should lose his contract with DC Comics: absolutely. This reckless and dishonest behavior would get anybody fired from a traditional employer. But since that’s not going to happen, I don’t care. They should all definitely stay away from me and everyone I know.

A New Age Of Heroes

Van Sciver is a freelance artist working for DC Comics, and discussions with the publisher have focused on the difference between this role and that of a staffer, in regards to how the company would view their actions.

However, I have been made aware that senior DC creators have been vocal within the publisher, some going as far as refusing to work in any project Van Sciver was affiliated with, in a similar manner as some refused to work under editor Eddie Berganza. Berganza was a champion of Van Sciver’s work before he was fired following several allegations of sexual harassment. I understand that a number of letters by senior DC creators have been sent up the chain, objecting to Van Sciver’s behavior online.

It is notable that despite his critical reputation, Van Sciver was not part of the DC New Age of Heroes lineup, alongside peers of a similar background such as Tony S. Daniel or Kenneth Rocafort.

Regardless, the subject has been getting more heated. Comic book creators have again been making public statements — some about Van Sciver and some about Meyer, whom they see Van Sciver as supporting and promoting. And these creators have called on comic book publishers to do something:

I approached Van Sciver to discuss all of these issues. He initially agreed to participate, but after I asked that he not screencap or post extracts of our conversation before publication, he declined to proceed.

If Van Sciver had continued, I would have asked him about the reaction from his fellow comic book professionals, from DC President Diane Nelson, senior DC employees and other freelancers and commentators. I would have asked him if, like Trump, he saw “very fine people on both sides” regarding this.

Most of all, I’d have asked him if he felt that he was living up to his promise to be a better man. And if his expressed desire to bring unity was working.

Because it seems to be having quite the opposite effect. And I am told by a number of DC sources not to expect to see Ethan Van Sciver’s name on any other upcoming DC projects after his current run on Hal Jordan & Green Lantern Corps.

Many comic book fans enjoy Ethan’s artwork and he has a solid body of work behind him. But his self-described “mean streak” has blunted his own creative potential.  It has ruled him, rather than served him. I suspect even Ethan knows that too. I’d have liked the chance to ask.

As of yesterday, he has deleted his Twitter account with the apparent intent to move his comics commentary and work to YouTube.

Neither DC Comics nor Van Sciver chose to comment on this story.

There are a lot of interesting details to be mined from the SJW behavior here, but among other things, this is yet another lesson in never apologizing. And notice how heavily converged DC Comics is. The Hillary Clinton fundraiser who runs the show reports to Dee Dee Myers, who you may recall served as the White House Press Secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration, worked for Alan Sorkin as a consultant on The West Wing, and wrote the book Why Women Should Rule the World.

Who better to know what young men want to read, right? As bad as Marvel’s convergence has been of late, you can be very confident that DC’s will be even worse within 18 months.

Anyhow, this is simply more of the same SJW DARVO that we saw the busted Googlers attempting via Wired and USA Today last week. They swarm and harass until their target hits back, then run screaming to Mommy Media that the bad mans hit them because Nazi. It’s the same disingenuous routine every time; notice that the media never quotes what provoked the initial response from the target.

And if the comics-SJWs think that Ethan Van Sciver, of all people, is far Right and has a mean streak, well, then the VFM and the Dread Ilk are going to have a seriously GOOD TIME these next few years. The poor sensitive bastards clearly have no idea what the Evil Legion of Evil has in store for them. Ethan and his fans aren’t the bad guys.

We are the bad guys.

The Nunes memo

The Honorable Devin Nunes
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
January 18, 2018

To: HPSCI Majority Members
From: HPSCI Majority Staff
Subject: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Purpose

This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.

Investigation Update

On October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a FISA probable cause order authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page from the FISC. Page is a US citizen who served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Consistent with requirements under FISA, the application had to be first certified by the Director or Deputy Director of the FBI. It then required the approval of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), or the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute, a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ.

Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA submissions (including renewals) before the FISC are classified. As such, the public’s confidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on the court’s ability to hold the government to the highest standard, particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government’s production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted.

1) The “dossier” compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or. any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior and FBI officials.

b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named US. person, but does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a US. law firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOI at the, time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of – and paid by – the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.

2) The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by- Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page’s July 2016 trip to Moscow. This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News-and several other outlets-in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele’s initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington DC. in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed.

a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations-an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn. Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with Yahoo and other outlets in September-before the Page application was submitted to the FISC in October-but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts.

b) Steele’s numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling-maintaining confidentiality-and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI.

Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the election, the FBI began interviewing Ohr, documenting his communications with Steele. For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.” This clear evidence of Steele’s bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files, but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications.

a) During this same time period, Ohr’s wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife’s opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs’ relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC.

According to the head of the counterintelligence division, Assistant Director Bill Priestap, corroboration of the Steele dossier was in its “infancy” at the time of the initial Page FISA application. After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele’s reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was according to his June 2017 testimony “salacious and unverified”. While the FISA application relied on Steele’s past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information.

5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos. The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel’s Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, Whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an “insurance” policy against President Trump’s election.

CNN is Fake News

Unidentified “aides” are supposedly worried about the FBI Director doing what he hasn’t said he will do. Right. Better not release the memo, then!

Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.

Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI, according to a senior law enforcement official.

Wray’s stance is “raising hell,” one source familiar with the matter said.

Wray has not directly threatened to resign after clashing with Trump over the possible release of the memo, the source added, because that is not his style of dealing with conflict.

No one cares. Ignore the fake news and the bureaucrats desperately trying to keep their corrupt backsides covered. Release the memo unredacted.

Stupefying Stories #20

The Original Cyberpunk is giving it away today on Free Release Friday:

To celebrate the release of STUPEFYING STORIES #20, we’re giving away the Kindle edition FREE for the cost of a click—but only for the next 24 hours, beginning at Midnight tonight, West Coast time.

Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell people you know who aren’t such good friends but still like to get free ebooks! Share the news!

But share it soon, because at midnight tomorrow night, this book goes back to normal price.

» DOWNLOAD ISSUE #20 RIGHT NOW

STUPEFYING STORIES #20 features the gut-grabbing cover story, “Zombie Like Me,” by Clancy Weeks, along with a terrific mix of fantasy, light horror, demons, abominations, vampires, old family secrets, very nasty little fairies, and Bo Balder’s remarkably strange but charming story, “Alien Whispering.” If nothing else, read “Endeavor to Dream on Broken Wings,” so you can someday tell people that you were reading AJ Finley before anyone else had heard of her.

CONTENTS:

  • THEIR NOSTALGIA WILL BE VERY MUCH LIKE OUR NOSTALGIA • by Eric Cline
  • HOW TO BUILD A TRAIN • by Brandon Kempner
  • ENDEAVOR TO DREAM ON BROKEN WINGS • by AJ Finley
  • PILES OF DUST AND BERRIES • by Sadie Bruce
  • ALIEN WHISPERING • by Bo Balder
  • LUCKY FIND • by Lance Young
  • SECRET SEED • by Shannon Norland
  • ZOMBIE LIKE ME • by Clancy Weeks

We’re #2

Things have been quiet at Infogalactic lately, and they will continue to be quiet even as we continue to improve performance, until DONTPANIC is ready to bring the noise, but you can bet that Wikipedia is aware that it exists now. This is #2 on Breitbart’s list of the Best Examples of Left-wing Bias on Wikipedia in 2017:

2. Burying CNN’s Blackmail controversy and other scandals at the network

Shortly after CNN’s blackmail controversy, an editor created a page on the topic. Other editors promptly had the story buried by moving the content  into the bottom section of an article about CNN controversies. Roughly two dozen editors, mostly left-wing, supported this move citing a policy that says Wikipedia is not for news. Five of these editors showed a double standard, having previously voted to keep an article on Trump’s disclosure of intelligence about ISIS threats in a meeting with Russia where the same policy would apply.

A few editors went even further by cutting out critical information on the blackmail controversy from even the general CNN controversies article, as well as gutting nearly a third of the article’s content covering a variety of scandals that gripped the network, despite much of it being backed by sources considered reliable by Wikipedia standards. These removals included a section on CNN New Year’s Eve host Kathy Griffin’s firing from the network, which was justified by claiming it wasn’t a CNN controversy. The same argument was used to keep out mention of undercover journalist James O’Keefe’s video series on CNN, itself denied its own article by many of the same editors.

Only a small amount of the removed content had been restored after the flurry of deletions. When the situation was mentioned on the Vox Popoli blog of science fiction author Vox Day, the founder of Wikipedia alternative Infogalactic, an editor sought to restore noteworthy content about the blackmail controversy and was immediately reverted.

Scandalous! The mainstream media won’t cover this, of course, but that’s fine. More and more people are routing around them every day.

But this underlines the importance of Infogalactic. Do take the trouble to thank the Burn Unit, which make it run. And if you’re using Infogalactic, consider joining it. The thing about foundational structures like Infogalactic is that they’re neither sexy nor exciting. That’s why people pay so little attention to them even when they rely upon them heavily. The thing is, they are absolutely vital. Which, of course, is why I prioritized it in the first place.

Note that only 561 of Wikipedia’s 1,237 administrators are active now. We have a LONG way to go, but it is doable. And the more that Wikipedia is converged by its admins, the easier our long march becomes.