Know Your API Accomplices - Meet Jotojingi and Beckwith, Part 2

I'd like to thank Mountain Sage, for posting part 1 of my research, and for fighting so hard to discover the truth about API. Although we don't agree on everything, we are inseparable when it comes to the matter of API and it's lies and deception. Sage has gained my deepest respect and trust, and I am honored by her efforts.


API's MORE-RECENT ACCOMPLICE - WHO STARTED THE MICHELLE TAPE HOAX?

Background

I have a free software program called HTTrack, which anyone can download and use in order to create a mirror of another site, on their very own computer.

A mirror is a copy of a website. It's like copying africanpress.wordpress.com to reallynewafricanpress.wordpress.com, except that the copy is on your computer, and you can bring it up and look at it, click on archives, click on links, look at avatars, yada yada yada, just like you were actually there.

(by the way, for those trolls who love to make up things, no, I did not have anything to do with alternate API sites online.)

A mirror allows me to preserve evidence, so that I have something captured even though Google's cache might let me down. For those who don't know, right now Google's cache' on the 10/15/08 initial Michelle Obama tape hoax story is gone. Perhaps API is doing their best to cover their tracks?

Of course, sometimes people forget about about Yahoo ;)

The first time I used HTTrack to create a mirror of API was on October 29th, 2008. I started my first attempt, went to work, and came back 10 hours later, and it was still running and copying. While it's running, a small display box shows you that is is working hard to find everything it can, as files, directories, photos, comments, avatars...everything is copied, It also lets you know when it can't find something that used to be there...

and it was showing me the following: "elephone-to-API/www.TheObamaFIle.co..." (please note that FIle is spelled with a capital "I", proven later my searching the document via "control F")


Deciphering the clue

HTTrack keeps logs while it is having fun, so I stopped my first mirror attempt after 10 hours, to try to figure out what it was telling me. I tried to load both the hts-log and the "hts-cache/new" log, but both of them were too large to load using WordPad or NotePad.

Later that night, I had an idea. I decided to start another mirror, and stop after awhile, so that maybe one of the logs I was trying to load, would load. My idea worked.

This is what the hts-log displayed after the message appeared and I stopped the program:

22:20:36 Error: "mirror stopped by user" (-1) at link africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/www.TheObamaFIle.com (from africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/)

This is what the "hts-cache/new" log displayed:

21:47:14 27023/27023 ---MC- 404 error ('Not%20Found') text/html date:Thu,%2030%20Oct%202008%2004:49:55%20GMT http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/www.TheObamaFIle.com C:/API%20Miniature/africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/www.TheObamaFIle.de.delayed (from http://africanpress.wordpress.com/)

Two days later, I still was unsure exactly what I had found - clearly I found a connection between API and TheObamaFile, but what exactly did it mean? Was it proof of something juicy? I decided to make another attempt, and let it run a little longer in case I could get more information, yet not too long so that the log would not load. Here is what I captured in the hts-log:

13:44:56 Info: engine: warning: serialize error for africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/www.TheObamaFIle.com to C:/API 5th pass/africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/www.TheObamaFIle.14d.delayed.tmp: open error: No such file or directory (directory exists, file does not exist)

HTTrack just gave me proof, that API had a directory in its structure with "TheObamaFile" at the end of the directory's name, but it could not locate the file within the directory (the hoax story), with the same name.

I know this might sound like a bunch of gobbledy-gook, so in plain English - When Sammy first saved the story, he typed www.TheObamaFile (and accidentally capitalized the "I") at the end of the story title, stored it, later changed the name of the story by deleting "TheObamaFile" at the end of the name, and re-stored it.

There is only one logical reason whatsoever why Sammy would have done this - TheObamaFile started the hoax, and Sammy was the first one to put it out there for others to spread. Let this be a lesson to all you trolls out there - don't capitalize letters you shouldn't capitalize!


And it spread like a wildfire in California, thanks to others

The time in Norway is 5-6 hours ahead of the time on East Coast. According to API's story, Sammy posted the hoax at 2:46 PM. You might not know that Sammy had a lot of problems setting the correct Norwegian time at API for two years, until I harassed him about it last month.

We all know that he posted it on the 15th though. Now check this out...

4:23 AM on 10/15, the sockpuppet "objectiveanalysis" posted the hoax story at TheObamaFile. Mr. "Objective" also lets us know that TexasDarlin, that notorious troll who must be getting paid for working so hard at fooling others, also posted it.

1:26 AM on 10/15, the sockpuppet "UnPolitically Correct2008" posted the hoax story at ABC.

While we don't know what time zone those two times represent, we can at least determine that time really does move backwards as well as forwards in Norway! Perhaps Sammy owns a DeLorean...ok, I know that was lousy lol.


The Bottom Line on the Michelle Obama Tape Hoax

TheObamaFile crafted the hoax. API was the first to publish. TheObamaFile and TexasDarlin were all ready to spread it.

So who is the notorious person behind TheObamaFile, who is responsible for so many of us tuning in day after day to the hilarious Chief Editor Korir?

Well, he goes by the name of Beckwith, and this is not the first time he has crafted a hoax - as you can see, he was recently outed by Dr. Danielle Allen as the person who created the original "Obama is a Muslim" viral email.

Beckwith, of course, denies the charge...but a good reading of the article leaves little doubt the woman knows what she is doing...and then there is really neat sentence...

"But while Beckwith speaks with pride about his research -- much of which he credits to an unnamed "colleague" in Europe...

Hmmm :)


Thank you for reading,
John Dean
SluggoJD