Here we go again...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

something tells me he's not the type to learn from his mistakes.

That sounds like me. I try to perfect my mistakes by making the same ones over and over and over again...

I think I'm going to change my middle name to T (pronounced Kuppa in line with an enlightening brew blended in the Himalayas since ancient times)....

[Taro Toporific]

CJ was published again in the JT on Sunday. Is he back?
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fv20121209a1.html

Japan's cyber-bullies fight comments war
Asian Times | Mar 15, '13
By Christ0pher Johns0n
TOKYO - Japan's version of the "Comment Crew" - a Shanghai-based group believed to be behind Chinese hacking of Western computers - aren't working inside a military unit like the alleged Chinese hackers. They are often foreigners with jingoistic views similar to Japanese "netto-uyo" ("Internet rightists"), their targets include journalists, anti-nuclear campaigners, English teachers and anyone who questions the Japanese government's handling of immigration, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, the killing of dolphins and whales, and Japan's hardline stance against China, South Korea and North Korea.
Blah, blah, blah....

[legion]

TOKYO - Japan's version of the "Comment Crew" - a Shanghai-based group believed to be behind Chinese hacking of Western computers - aren't working inside a military unit like the alleged Chinese hackers.

fucking brilliant, conflating Chinese state sponsored hackers with random gaijin commenting on various web sites.

[Russell]

TOKYO - Japan's version of the "Comment Crew" - a Shanghai-based group believed to be behind Chinese hacking of Western computers - aren't working inside a military unit like the alleged Chinese hackers.

fucking brilliant, conflating Chinese state sponsored hackers with random gaijin commenting on various web sites.

You think he is referring to us?

[Coligny]

But we're not chinese hackurz !?

[yanpa]

TOKYO - Japan's version of the "Comment Crew" - a Shanghai-based group believed to be behind Chinese hacking of Western computers - aren't working inside a military unit like the alleged Chinese hackers.

fucking brilliant, conflating Chinese state sponsored hackers with random gaijin commenting on various web sites.

You think he is referring to us?

Fuck, my cover is finally blown.

[legion]

I've been called a hack but never a hacker

[yanpa]

In the view of Swift and others such as US-based lawyer and blogger Rick Gundlach, the cyber-bullies' belligerent actions and violent threats, which might lead to punishments, sackings, arrests or libel suits in other countries, raise questions about how Japanese organizations supervise employees who spend valuable time and energy "playing" online before, during, and after office hours, creating a drag on the nation's economic productivity.

Sounds like normal behaviour for employees of Japanese corporations...

I do hope Mr. Johnson never gets wind of a group of FGs (some of whom are employed by Japanese corporations) who are planning a liquid lunch on a Monday, he'll probably bust a cranial blood vessel. Only war-hardened journos who know obscure bands are allowed to drink on Monday mornings.

[Coligny]

Wait, you mean the guy is -also- a hipster !?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

This whole thing is fucken sad...there's not a single redeeming feat in any aspect of what's going on. Well, maybe that we can sit back and laugh at all the crackpots, but I don't really derive a great deal of pleasure out of that.

[havill]

You know it's pretty bad when even Debito feels he has to post something saying it's inaccurate.

Oh, BTW, regarding the article in question: I wasn't on a Google business trip in Wuxi, China. That was a personal trip that was entirely paid for with my time and not a single hour spent on Google time. Should be obvious: Google has 0 connections with Wuxi, China. (I can't think of a single Internet company in Wuxi, come to think of it)

Panasonic also felt compelled to issue a public statement that the other person did not do any personal activities on company time. Still didn't stop him.

If you want to see some real humor, you should see the email he sent to me asking for comment prior to publication. He asked if I was a spy, had connections with the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, the Canadian Intelligence Service, and Amnesty International.

Obviously, I did not think that warranted a serious response.

(notice how he politely calls me by my real legal name in this email... vs how he addresses me in the AT article)

Dear Eido,

Apologies for writing you on a Saturday. I'm on deadline since the story is skedded for tomorrow.

We're already able to quote you at length, but fresh quotes would be better.

Could you kindly answer these questions, below?

Thanks,

CJ


--how long have you known Ken Nicolson? Do you often get together in person, or is it only online?

--how would you describe your friendship, and what kind of person is he?

--do you know any of the other commenters on Japologism personally? Or are they all merely anon pseudonyms to you?

--what is your relationship with Japan Probe, precisely? Please explain in as much detail as possible, in order to clear up any rumours. For example, when did your relationship start, and why.

--how many of your articles/essays/comments/etc.. have appeared in Japan Probe? When was the first article/essay and the last one?

--Japan Probe claims to have 24 editors. Do you consider this to be true, or a fraud? If so, why haven't you written about it before?

--other than your ALT work in Osaka, have you ever taken payments, or done unpaid work, for any governments? If so, what and where?

--did RCMP or CSIS agents contact you during your recent trip to Vancouver? If so, please explain.

--has Debito ever threatened or taken legal action against you, and likewise, have you done so with him?

--is it true that you and Debito used to work together with Amnesty International? If so, why did the relationship go downhill? What would it take to repair the relationship?

--In addition to AI, what other rights groups do you work for, and why?

--how many hours a day do you train for marathons? Or is it impossible to train daily, due to your busy schedule?

--what is your exact position at Google Japan, and do you work at the Mori Tower office in Roppongi Hills, or are you able to work at home or other places?

Thanks again

[havill]

My reply:

Chris, I really think you should pause and think before you do something very rash from which there may be no point of return.

If you intentionally commit libel and defame people just to settle a personal vendetta and are caught (get sued and lose), it literally goes on your public record (which unlike the internet, cannot be erased), and it may be very hard to ever get paid work in the field of journalism again.

I realize times may seem tough for you, but you have to believe me when I tell you: your biggest enemy is yourself and your poor judgement. The only person's reputation you are destroying is your own.

Please, stop making it worse for yourself and get help from anybody. I'm can refer you to some good people when you're ready.

Although I'm not amused that you've decided to focus your paranoid delusions on me, I'm more concerned now about you and your reputation than I am about mine.

Please, get help.

[havill]

His reply:

Eido,

Thanks for your reply on a Saturday night. Again, sorry to write you on a weekend.

It's too late to go back. The story is already almost done, and it's skedded to go soon.

Don't worry. There's no libel or defamation in the story. I wouldn't do that, for obvious reasons, and I did study media law at J-school. Your side is well represented. I do stories like this all the time and I'm very careful. Some people might have a vendetta against you, but not me. I actually admire your running ability.

I appreciate your offers of help, but really, I'm just handling this like any other story. Please don't confuse me with Debito or other opinionated bloggers. I'm simply presenting facts and verifiable information as a public service. It's my job to be a mirror and a watchdog, as a public service, much like what your father did by probing people like Woodward and Bernstein. You are indeed a prominent figure in the expat cyberworld, and many people want to know more about you and Ken. I'm trying my best to write a fair, balanced story.

Could you at least explain why you can't answer those questions? My main goal is truth, and you know the truth better than anyone. I sense from your own writings that you seek truth also.


Best,

CJ

[havill]

My final reply to him, before he published that "fun" article without taking me up on my offer to meet him at the time and place (or via video conference) of his choosing, allowing him to bring up to two people with him (to my one person):

I think you've forgotten to check your other email account (which you send mail from as recently as today), as you haven't responded to my other messages, which explain why I'm not answering your questions. I await your response to those messages.

Don't worry about the "skedded" article. There is no deadline or must-publish date for something nobody's paying you for or commissioning you to do. It can wait until you get to meet me face to face, which I've offered and you've ignored, so you can actually write a "fair, balanced" (fox news fan?) story that actually has "my side" in it, rather than your imagination of "my side".

And please, I say again, get help. Not help for your story. Help for yourself. I'm not being flippant or sarcastic. As you know, since you admitted it to me in your email from many months ago, you revealed your drinking problem to me. Have you gotten help for that? Because it seems to be severely affecting your judgement.

[havill]

Here's the TL;DR version of the whole saga:

• Chris gets denied entry into Japan for visa running
• writes blog article, saying he was actually denied due to racism and conspiracy against journalists writing about fukushima
• economist republishes blog article in their blog, goes viral
• j ex-pat community tears it apart, both anonymously and publicly (me, ken, jake adelstein, and many others), figures out he was merely a visa runner
• cj feels that community destroyed his career, begins mission to clear up all things that say bad things about article and him
• cj can't figure out pseudonyms, so goes after people that use real names
• cj then believes conspiracy goes higher... in that its search engines conspiring against him to make bad things appear about him
• cj writes me a letter, accusing me of manipulating search results
• I write letter back, saying, sorry, i think you're a visa runner, but no, you're wrong, and here's how you fix your search results and get back in the country.
• cj writes back saying thank you. writes something later saying i'm a nice guy
• cj ignores most of the advice i give him, continues to rage... which puts those rages and the responses... at the top of search results
• cj then thinks i give him false advice, and it's all A Conspiracy, and I am single handedly every single Anonymous Nick and sockpuppet on FG, JP, Tepido, Japologism. publishes an article saying that on another website... as a sockpuppet anonymous nick
• the allegations are so over the top that even that website disavows the anonymous article.
• cj goes ballistic for that anon article getting taken down and disavowed yet his search results still look bad. vows "flame war" on another blog ... as a pseudonym.
• and the rest of the story is the email exchange above, followed by the publication of that on his blog and atimes.

[TennoChinko]

CJ appears to be a great living example of how NOT to utilize social media.

In this example, he creeps out female journalists with unsolicited shout-outs on Twitter:

[Coligny]

Trainwreck wayyyy too complicamated to be fun anymore...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[yanpa]

Havill is hereby appointed to the elite Premium FG Crew.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Hey Havill, can I have a job?

[iiyama]

Don't forget the part where he (oops, I mean a very devoted fan who knows everything about him and writes just like him) tried to get his loooooonnnng (auto)biography into Wikipedia and it was denied because he is a nobody. And then he (oops, the completely unrelated fan) completely innocently and not meant as a threat at all ! asked the wiki editor if they've ever been sued over such a decision.

Well, his twitter feed will make you laugh, make you cry, make you start to wonder if schadenfreude maybe has a limit where it's not funny anymore

- unless you're German.

[legion]

I don't partake of Twitter or Facebook etc, I obviously miss out on a great deal

I think we should draw a line on this topic, it's gone past the power of the hivemind of the interweb to prod and probe a story to get to what we believe is the truth and just become a killing jar

[yanpa]

I don't partake of Twitter or Facebook etc, I obviously miss out on a great deal

I will admit to using Facebook, but I delegate Twitter filtering to the internet at large.

I think we should draw a line on this topic,

I tried, but failed when I read how his thoughts go out to Nicola Furlong's family as being strangled in Nairobi and left unconscious in a park is terrible. He knows what she went through, I guess he's trying to say.

cj-furlong.png

The sight of someone not only putting their foot in their mouth while it is still bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot, but trying to ram it so far down that it pops out the other end, is one which has strangely addictive qualities.

[Marked Trail]

He's getting more strident...

CJ-ranting.png

twitter-brain.png

Also, check out his lastest screed on the Alien Times: atimes.com/atimes/Japan

[GomiGirl]

He is trying to play the victim and the attacker at the same time.

Meltdown alert - danger Will Robinson.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I wonder which "Tokyo-based media" he's talking about because I regularly see stories about kids being bullied online by their schoolmates. And just because something is big news in other countries doesn't mean it's actually news worthy.

[yanpa]

I wonder which "Tokyo-based media" he's talking about because I regularly see stories about kids being bullied online by their schoolmates.

Any Tokyo-based media which has not picked up on the scandalous story of a war reporter who was stripped naked and left for dead in a Nairobi park being mercilessly bullied on the interwebz dontcha know.

[matsuki]

I wonder which "Tokyo-based media" he's talking about because I regularly see stories about kids being bullied online by their schoolmates.

Any Tokyo-based media which has not picked up on the scandalous story of a war reporter who was stripped naked and left for dead in a Nairobi park being mercilessly bullied on the interwebz dontcha know.

Having known a dude who woke up dazed and confused in an African slum ( "but she was hot!" he said) I can't help but laugh at the "left for dead" comment. Besides the never ending AIDS jokes, the dude is fine.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I wonder which "Tokyo-based media" he's talking about because I regularly see stories about kids being bullied online by their schoolmates.

Any Tokyo-based media which has not picked up on the scandalous story of a war reporter who was stripped naked and left for dead in a Nairobi park being mercilessly bullied on the interwebz dontcha know.

Of course. How stupid of me.

[yanpa]

I wonder which "Tokyo-based media" he's talking about because I regularly see stories about kids being bullied online by their schoolmates.

Any Tokyo-based media which has not picked up on the scandalous story of a war reporter who was stripped naked and left for dead in a Nairobi park being mercilessly bullied on the interwebz dontcha know.

Of course. How stupid of me.

It's an easy mistake to make for anyone who's not a trained journalist.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I'm enormously grateful to CJ.
Sometimes, I have delusions of grandeur and think about how wonderful it would be if I let loose on everyone who bullied me.
Then, I come across something like what he has written and I realize what an absolute fuckwit I would look like if I went on the same sort of spiel and I can sorta readjust to trying to get on with living a normal kind of life.

Besides, I still harbor the delusion that Havill might give me a job!