Snorkeling Doc?

Well, as promised there's already some interesting developments in the Doc bankruptcy saga. One of our intrepid readers noticed that Doc posted this evening on the HHI website about his supposed "Spanish shipwreck" -- you know, the one that suddenly disappeared after Doc and Solomon made such a big deal about it back in April.

Here's the full text of Doc's HHI post from this evening:

Well Members,

At long last we are to make the next dive on the "unknown Spanish wreck" during the fourth week of this month. Charles, my dive partner and co-hort in this mission has arranged to have an archaeologist from the NPS join us as well as the archaeologist who is responsible for the Territory of the Virgin Islands. Hopefully we can come to some sort of conclusions about what has been found. More dredging has been scheduled in the big ship channel leading up to the harbor. This will surely destroy what we have found. I for one cannot understand why they need bigger cruise ships than they already have.

I am very grateful that my dive partner has put this together at last. Charles holds a graduate degree in maritime history from Texas A&M. In addition, Charles is a close friend of Dr Filipe de Castro and James Goold Esq and he is also on the lecture circuit. Dr de Castro was kind enough to arrange the Carbon 14 testing for our artifacts at Texas A&M.

It will be a stroke of luck if we can halt progress (?) and save the artifacts. I shall keep you appraised of progress.

Cheers, Doc

We're fairly certain Doc's creditors would be interested in how a man with over $238,000 in personal debt is funding these personal little expeditions? (And one wonders if this is why he credits his friend "Charles" for "putting it together"? Hmmmm?)

Perhaps even more interesting is Doc's name dropping of one James Goold, Esq, as being a close friend of his diving buddy. Is Doc pulling the six degrees of separation trick to connect himself to one of Odyssey's major opponents? We think so. First of all, why would any respectable person in this industry, and especially one involved in such a volatile case as the Black Swan, want to be within 100 yards of a loser like McManus?

We suspect Doc's merely once again exaggerating his involvement with and importance to this shipwreck"mission" -- if finding an anchor and some other junk can be called that. The reality is, we'd bet the house that HHI's many posts today about their various projects in Europe, and with his recent personally embarrassing bankruptcy announcement, this is Doc's pathetic attempt to still seem relevant among his poser buddies. (It will be interesting to see how Master Solomon responds: Enthusiasm? Or not at all?)

We suspect they know desperation when they read it, however, and undoubtedly had a good snicker at his expense. The poor Dearie! Stay tuned....

You like us, you really like us!

If you had told us last April that this website would have 10,000 hits by mid-September, we would have said: "Are you smoking some of that Doc Weed?" Followed by, "Hey, where can we get some?"

10,000 is a milestone, for sure. And while it's no 238,098, we like to think this proves the old adage that less can be more (with one notable exception...just ask Doc). We'd like to thank all our readers, writers, researchers, and those anonymous folks kind enough to support our humble efforts here. One thing for certain: We couldn't have done this without your help, suggestions and readership.

We remain committed to smacking down the small minds that are, for whatever reason, focused on tearing down a good company and investment we admire. No need to name names here, if you read this site, you know well enough who they are.

What are we most proud of?

In the old days, there was no way to critique or openly comment on the actions and words of the HHI posers. They certainly don't allow alternative viewpoints on their website, and are quick to delete posts that don't conform with their official line on any matter. So much for intellectual curiosity and honesty. For the longest time they were even able to control the content on Yahoo through manipulation of Yahoo's fairly non-judgmental TOS (they continue to do so, for the record). So we created this site for a very simple reason: To provide a forum that pointed that same harsh light they like to point at others directly at them. Predictably, the roaches scattered.

Finally, as a celebration of this admittedly minor moment (we'll break out the champagne at 500,000), we're pleased to resurrect HHI's initial response to our website. Ironically enough, we think this graphic ended up helping promote our site and even drove traffic to us. Not surprisingly, they quickly realized the unintended consequences and shut it down, but not before we got a snapshot of this:

Needless to say, looks like all us white trash got the last laugh. Hyuk hyuk.

Thanks again and stay tuned. As the BS case picks up, and news about Doc's libel case and bankruptcy filing gather steam (we think the latter is especially ripe for some juicy findings), we'll be doing some reporting and editorializing. As always, feel free to send us tips and/or ideas for our coverage and content. We fully welcome that.

~ Team HH Watch

Where's the Diver in the Doc?

Anyone else find it curious that a guy who refers to himself descriptively as "Diving Doc" (over on HHI), and who was recently bragging about finding his very own Spanish treasure ship on a personal dive, listed no diving equipment or related apparatuses as assets?

We know a lot of serious divers and they'd rather leap off a tall bridge than use rented equipment. So, it seems reasonable to conclude that either Doc is not as devoted a diver as he has claimed, or there's some funny business going on. Regardless, it doesn't appear he'll be diving again any time soon.

Hey, you think those two Casio watches listed are water proof?

P.S. And yes, this is a picture of "Diving Doc," taken directly from his HHI profile page. (We find the mass wreckage surrounding him an appropriate metaphor.)

Dressed to Shill

Can someone explain to us how a person can spend $100 a month on clothing but only end up with a wardrobe worth $300?

Is this the kind of financial savvy that makes Doc an economic genius? Does "clothing" really mean "booze"?

That's a lot of Vesper t-shirts, friends.

Doc Yahoo post highlights

Since Yahoo is acting like a bunch of pussies by mindlessly bending to the incessant demands of McManus and friends, we've compiled a list of some of the best comments about Doc's recent bankruptcy filing before they're zapped into the cyberspace void. Here are just a few:

"Most all of today's posts have been deleted. I guess they will start burning books next." ~ Quick Draw

"The funny thing is the case with OMEX is not finished; therefore, if OMEX wins then they will become a new, post Chapter 7 creditor entitled to payment.....My question, and I'm sure the court's question, will be - where did all that money go? There are severe penalties for abuse of the Bankruptcy laws. I knew of a fellow that tried to hide assets and got several years in prison for his efforts. It's not something to fool around with." ~ Gold

"'Certain debts -- such as...a debtor's intentional conduct (e.g., assault, defamation, embezzlement or fraud)...are not discharged in most cases and are unaffected by a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.'" ~ Gold

"The other point to consider is that since Odyssey is now listed in the filing, I think they could appeal directly to the bankruptcy judge to order Doc to cease and desist commenting in public forums about Odyssey. After all, it's obviously in his interest now to shut his yap and not make his libel situation worse. Do I think he has a sense of self-preservation, though? No, I don't. One doesn't get to this level of personal disaster through smart, rational behavior." ~ Jerry Kevlin

"Well one thing we all know for sure: Doc is tying a major one on tonight...." ~ Doc Doof

"With all the financial "woes" going on you would "think" that he would focus his energies on paying his credit cards....I would DIE if I had that much owed to someone else. Do you think he feels any shame???" ~ Kevin Mc

"Doc has always...operated under the presumption that he's the expert and the rest of us would do well to listen to him. And, as many have asked before, what has he ever done to justify that position? Absolutely nothing. This bankruptcy filing, which shows he's obviously been living well beyond his own simple means, illustrates his self-delusional mindset perfectly." ~ Jerry Kevlin

Stay tuned.....

Just asking....

Should a dude who has run up $238,000 in credit card and personal loan debts be eligible for online credit counseling?

We see old Doc had to complete a course on the ABC's of money management in advance of his bankruptcy filing and he was able to do so from the convenience of his shack's Internet connection (which really should be considered a luxury when you're broke, right?).

Doesn't saddling one's self with such crushing debt call for something a tad more intensive? At the very least, someone should have given Doc a firmly delivered lecture on personal responsibility! At any rate, can we all agree to laugh with contempt in Doc's face the next time he dares to question and criticize Odyssey's financial affairs? It's obvious he doesn't know a flip about money: how to make it, how to manage it, how to keep it -- and the meager 200 clams in his bank account proves the point (how does one get to be his age and only have $200 to your name? Again, direct evidence of his foolish recklessness over a long, long period of time).

P.S. We see McManus has the Yahoo administrators working overtime to have any references -- no matter how benign -- to this shame-faced development promptly removed. We find that somewhat amusing, and not a little disturbing. Does anyone doubt that if there were something equally embarrassing about one of Odyssey's management team members out there as a public document that Doc and his poser cohorts would be posting non-stop about it? As always, the level of hypocrisy is stunning. But, never fear, the damage is clearly done: Doc's reputation is officially all blowed up. Hey, it couldn't have happened to more deserving fellow.

238,098 More Reasons why Doc is a Fool

We never fail to be amused by the profound idiocy that is James "Doc" McManus.

And with some new, stunning breaking news in hand about Twit Minor (thank you devoted readers!), we've decided to take a break from our summer vacation. Turns out McManus is not only stupid enough to continue libeling Odyssey after he's already been sued, but he's also a deadbeat who doesn't pay his bills. Doc recently filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in a Federal Bankruptcy Court in the Virgin Islands.

Doc fancies himself well-informed about current events, but he apparently failed to notice Congress's recent overhaul of bankruptcy legislation that is decidedly unfriendly to individual debtors. It not only makes filing far more punitive over the long haul, it also makes it virtually impossible to have the entire debt discharged. And with $238,098.11 worth of debt, Doc should thank the heavens there's no such thing as debtor prisons any longer.

Note to Doc: We actually wonder if you're stupid enough to think this prevents you from being prosecuted for libel. In fact, it should finally awaken you to cease harassing the company with your countless aliases, lies and BS over at Yahoo and on History Hunters. If you're found guilty and a judgement against you is rendered, you'll be on the hook for those damages regardless of your personal situation. We're obviously not attorneys, but we think a public apology and a promise to never post about Odyssey again is in order so you can focus on getting your obviously disheveled life into some kind of rational order.

We'll even offer to post it here for you. We're waiting....

No reasonable person wishes ill will on another human being, but, in your specific case, you're an obvious exception to that humane rule. You're getting everything you deserve and more. Some call it Karma, we call it "about time." It's about time the truth about your character came into focus, especially since you've questioned others for years now with no consequences. The screw is turning now, though, that's for certain.

So Doc, as soon as we stop laughing at you (which, be forewarned, won't be anytime soon), we'll post some analyses of your public filing. We're particularly interested in your staggering amount of credit card debt. It's tough trying to live like a Glorious King when you're nothing more than a sorry pauper, huh? You poor sap. Perhaps we should call it "Trying to keep up with the Bartrams"?

(Ouch.)

Read Doc's public bankruptcy filing here.

Hacking Stupidity

Message for HHI: In the old days you blamed Odyssey for your website problems. You even told a New Yorker reporter you would never have "gone after" Odyssey if they hadn't "attacked" you first. (Yeah right. And, as usual, you never provided one ounce of evidence the company ever hacked your site.)

Now you're suggesting a Turkish invasion to muss up your already-bad HTML?

The hilarious part is you think this "attack" puts you in the same category of major international organizations. Positively shocking narcissism.

Word for the wise: Maybe you HHI nerds should just accept you're all profoundly stupid. Or, In the parlance of Americans: you're dumb asses, incapable of running your own website. Time for outsourcing?

Just saying....

Disposing of the Trash

We've been away a bit of late, but will suspend our sweet time in the summer fun to note the History Hunter scum, led by Chief Errand Boy Doc (with hefty side contributions from the usual steaming turds), have officially taken over and ruined the Yahoo OMEX board. This is mostly by default, as most of the long-time Odyssey investors have clearly given up on the board. Few even bother to post any longer. It's really not that surprising. The Yahoo board ceased long ago to be anything more than a staging ground for the worst kind of worthless bashing and poser punk garbage.

There is one upside to the development: Doc has gravitated back toward his evil side (that can't shut up) and is again attacking individual Odyssey employees by name, in this case, one of Odyssey's archaeologists. We think this reckless, insidious behavior will make a damning showing in his upcoming libel trial. Regardless, we also find it revealing that the History Hunters are so lacking in a coherent public argument against Odyssey they are reduced to having a third-rate boat captain manage literally dozens of aliases on Yahoo that daily and repeatedly attack the company, its integrity, and its employees.

Truly a sign that victory is not in HHI's grasping, desperate grasp.

So, if you're looking for an alternative forum to discuss Odyssey in reasonable, measured tones, that is, a place where the HHI whores and mindless bashers have no sway or wrecking ball capabilities, check this place out. For the record, we know nothing of the moderator, who claims to be in his teenage years (wink wink, nudge nudge), but who does have a long track record of fair posts about Odyssey on Yahoo.

Summer Hiatus

You've probably noticed the frequency of our posts have plummeted of late. Consider it the beginning of our official summer break, started a tad late. Also, and predictably, life's responsibilities and many curve balls have impacted our ability, and frankly our desire, to pay attention closely to the HHI scumbaggery (which, after a while, becomes predictable enough to be boring).

Also, there's not really been a lot to report about the HHI idiots of late. Right now, they're busy laying out some truly lame conspiracy theories. These "theories" appear to be driven by the Spanish reporter, Santiago Mata, a guy who has yet to be correct or accurate about Odyssey (we like one Yahoo poster's characterization of him as "Spain's Geraldo Rivera"). This proves he's in league with HHI founders, as many have suspected (and now we can guess where Bartram got his "information" about those supposed mass arrests of Spanish government officials for dealing with Odyssey that amazingly never made it into the press).

This is yet another reason to condemn John Colapinto's sorry-ass judgement in making the history hunters poseurs a part of his New Yorker piece. Hell, he should have also quoted some of those folks who think O.J. Simpson was innocent -- they're just as likely to be as misinformed and ignorant about Odyssey as HHI.

The hilarious part is the HHI nitwits are suggesting Odyssey enlisted the U.S. State Department and the Spanish military to apply pressure on the Spanish government to benefit...wait a minute...yeah, that's right: Follow that thought to its logical conclusion. The mind naturally asks "what the fuck?" Someone in HHI's midst should raise the question begging to be asked: Okay, so there's a conspiracy here and the classic question is who benefited from it? Odyssey? Wha-Huh? Anyone with two orbs in skull sockets witnessed how fair and balanced Spain has behaved toward Odyssey the past few years.

Hey, what can we say? These guys ain't our favorite idiots for nothing!

They also are currently obsessed about goofy, half-thought-out theories involving Hedge fund shenanigans (we expect this to make its way into Doc's libel defense), Odyssey's director of international business, and others. And, as always, these topics are pronounced as major, Earth-shattering news that will absolutely devastate Odyssey, only to inevitably result in dead-ends, lost momentum, and ultimately, complete silence. In essence, HHI is made up of ferociously snapping, yelping chihuahuas leaping around wildly. All that noise and motion for nothing.

Regardless of how much more we continue to post here, we think we've laid down a solid public record of HHI's idiocy and their obvious anti-Odyssey agenda. So, for that reason alone, we''ll forever leave it up as an accessible public record for those seeking some perspective about who HHI is and what they're about.

Also, we are still planning on attending Doc's upcoming libel trial because we know that's going to be ripe with amusement. We can't wait to see him lay out all his conspiracy theories in public, especially since they're all utterly irrelevant to the fundamental issue of his libeling and defaming Odyssey. We expect little patience and much scolding from the judge. We'll report as much as we can.

Finally, we owe much thanks to our dedicated readers and the many contributors who've made this site so popular. If you had told us we would achieve over 8,000 hits in a mere few months of existence, we would have spewed mouthfuls of beer all over you. Though, we're not really all that surprised that there's so much interest in the lying, deceitful, and hypocritical behavior of the poseurs, particularly of the moronic founding pair of John Bartram and Jim McManus. One is soon going to suffer some true pain in a Tampa courthouse and the other simply has to suffer through life as a self-righteous asshole who thinks he's something he's not.

We expect their karma to pay hellacious dividends over time, that's for sure.

Now let's be clear: we're not saying we're going away completely, but we've been feeling quite guilty the past week watching the hit count continue to climb every day with no new content to offer. So, we recommend checking in every couple of weeks, but no more than that. Obviously, if something major breaks with Odyssey, or new lawsuits emerge regarding HHI, we'll be on that like stink on...well, you know.

So, have a great summer, and again, thank you!

Message to John Bartram

Hey Bartram, instead of posting articles about Sotheby's and fraud, and making predictably lame-ass connections to certain treasure hunting companies, why don't you clean up your own barn?

It stinks to the high heavens, man.

Have you been paying attention to the regular embarrassment your co-founder is causing HHI on Yahoo? Is it a sanctioned policy of your members to use deception and deceit in pursuit of all perceived enemies. Having facts and the truth on your side won't do? Is your case against Odyssey so intellectually bankrupt that Nixonian Jr. methods are encouraged and pursued?

Don't bother answering: those questions are rhetorical -- anyone who reads this site regularly knows the answers already.

Oh, but wait: you have some credibility issues of your own, don't you? In fact, we're still awaiting your professional archaeology and historian credentials. Did those get lost in the mail? Sounds to us like these are strictly amateur pursuits for you, just like your horsewhipping and shooting hobbies. How shocked should we really be that it only took five minutes of Internet research to connect your name to allegations of fraud involving ... wait for it ... treasure hunting.

How delicious.

You, McManus and your sordid HHI practices reek of filthy swine. But, that's okay: More and more are catching your scent and paying attention.

You feeling us yet? Oh, we bet you are.

The Answer to our Prayer

Our favorite nautical nimrod has outed himself on Yahoo again, though not in the usual way. "Doc" typically exposes himself by accidentally signing his name to one of his many aliases' posts. In fact, Doc's Friday night meltdowns used to be so frequent they became a source of high entertainment. Tonight's outing, which appears to mark a return to his old act, was much less obvious, but damning all the same.

In recent days the Yahoo board was invaded by an aggressive new anti-Odyssey poster who went by "intelcall22." Many Odyssey regulars suspected it was HHI founder Jim McManus, even as he tried to pass off a persona of a hard, truck-driving country hick. Tonight, the new Bocephus in town distinguished himself by teaming up with that Ape Man Andy buffoon to insult and challenge others to real-world physical confrontations. (Yep, we agree: Let's hope these disturbed, delusional dipshits aren't raising or influencing youngsters.)

One of our intrepid readers noticed that old "Mister Guidrey" -- the "real life" name Doc assigned his new bad-ass alias should anyone care to meet him for a beatdown at his favorite bar (we know, you can't make this stuff up) -- was available for an online chat. So he clicked on the link to do so and, low and behold, the following profile and user photo popped up:

Yep, that sure looks like Doc McManus, aka "intelcall22," alright (click on the image to enlarge).

Not fully convinced? Fair enough. Okay then: Take a close look at the photo of Doc below (on the left) taken directly from his profile page on the HHI website:

That sure is an interesting "Vesper" t-shirt Doc has on, no? Now where have we seen that before?

Busted!

Poor Jim McManus. Let us bow our heads in vespers that someone, anyone, will save this poor dumb bastard from himself. Or not.

Again, here we have another stellar example of how the History Hunter founders operate in the real world. Not through honesty, integrity and truth -- the very traits they so often self-righteously accuse others of not possessing -- but rather by cheap deception, lies and dishonest measures such as this.

Is there more disgrace to come from the HHI poseurs (haven't we given you enough already)? We're not the praying types, but we'd wager some secular Ben Franklins it's all but inevitable.

Stay tuned.

Yawwwwwn

[Photo at left: The oddest looking manchild on the planet displays an anatomically accurate model of John Bartram's teeny-weeny naughty parts, discovered in his Uncle Purv's super secret, don't-you-dare-touch-that "curiosities" drawer. No word of love letters. Yet.]

Gosh it's been boring over at HHI lately, eh? No Doc spouting about Odyssey's daily evil-doings (say, whatever happened to that Spanish shipwreck old nautical-researcher claimed he discovered; did his infamous illegal Chinese immigrants whisk it away?); no Solomon threats of beat downs, shootings or horse-whippings of anonymous American tormentors; no HHI members writing hilariously putrid poetry...wait, hold the line: that one's actually a go.

Nope, just stultifying benign posts about strange-looking kids finding historic artifacts, Nazi loot buried under British homes, and the Holy Grail being carefully excavated from a member's holy....oh, never mind. The point is, we're bored, man.

Why did the HHI guys get so quiet all of the sudden? Did Bartram receive a cease and desist? Did the tough guy shart himself from fear when he finally realized he made one too many threats or loosey goosey allegations about Odyssey? Honestly, we don't know. What we do know, however, is our main source of comedic material has suddenly dried up. Gone missing.

Oh well, there's always that little Jack Ass Doofus of a Sleazeball, Smitty/Fleas, to mock. (Although admittedly, it's a litte too easy, even for us.) Anyone else marvelling at what a complete douchebag he's making of himself over at Yahoo these days? He's obviously bored too, not to mention wicked pissuh drunk on top of it. Nothing good ever comes from mixing those two things, especially when you throw in a degenerate mind like Smitty's.

So what do you say, dear readers? Send us some good stuff: Write something about the poseurs, or anything you like really, and we'll post it. Help us survive these summer daze...or at least help us make it till Doc's libel trial. You know that's going to provide more comic relief than Rodney Dangerfield could shake a schtick at.

Bartram Fartram

As we've said before, it's amazing the plump little nuggets one can randomly find stumbling about HHI's beast of a website. And even though we've had great fun at Bartram's expense regarding his practice of threatening violence toward those he disagrees with, believe it or not, we found yet another example of his self-professed meanliness:

"The media has been - very largely - happy to report Odyssey's case, often quoting verbatim Odyssey's words without due diligence. Who is responsible for that? Not Odyssey, as I see it. It is their job to sell themselves and they have done so with considerable success. So, if it ever comes time to bring out the horse whip, I know who I'll be taking into the yard for some exercise." ~ Horse Master Bartram

Beatings, shootings, horse-whippings -- apparently all in a day's work for the Angry Twit. Smarter people than us have made the appropriate Freudian observations about those who feel the need to constantly tell everyone who will listen how tough they are. Of course, all one has to do is look at a picture of the Hapless Dork to be absolutely stricken with terror by his manly menace. (No, not really; in fact, put some doggie ears on him and you'd have yourself a human facsimile of Disney's Goofy.)

So what's up with this wanker, John Bartram?

He says he stands for what's right in archaeology, and constantly attacks Odyssey about its practice of and credentials in the field, yet he apparently falsely portrayed himself on a number of occasions to certain members of the public as an accredited archaeologist and historian.

Bartram claims to be merely an objective observer about Odyssey, yet devotes virtually the entire HHI website to publishing and spreading lies and mistruths about the company. (This often comes, sadly, at the expense of some HHI member projects that seem fairly interesting.)

He speaks of his disdain for rudeness and bad behaviour, yet sends out two of the most pathetic, vile, stupid human specimens to populate this planet to do his anti-Odyssey bidding. (We've devoted much space to the putrid reputations and actions of Smitty and Doc; check our archives for the dirt.)

Bartram never fails to rip Odyssey for having a profit motive as "treasure hunters" (a term he uses disdainfully), yet in an older version of the HHI website, he peddles media, archaeology and history services for sale, presumably not for charitable purposes, to...wait for it....treasure hunters. (And, as further evidence of his deep hypocrisy, neither he nor his website provides one shred of evidence of their expertise or credentials to offer such services. They also claim numerous "clients," yet no client list or projects summary is to be found.)

We think it's obvious what Bartram and HHI is all about. He can stomp about, arrogantly sniff, threaten violence, lawsuits, and days of reckoning, even raise an offended pinkie in protest, but he can't stop our efforts to bring you the truth about the history poseurs and their lying, misleading claims.

That's a perspective you won't ever find on HHI -- disagreement and dissension are strictly forbidden.

Happy 4th Ya'll!

Happy July 4th everyone!

As we celebrate this nation's historic defeat of tyranny and embrace of liberty, we're reminded of the need for constant vigilance to those who would limit our hard-earned freedoms.

As Ben Franklin wrote,“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

Sound relevant to today? We think so.

Now, back to the BBQ....