At this point
in time (June 2009), it had already become clear to me that Glenn Paquette was
in the CIA—along with others—and though I had been put on guard and had some reservations,
I basically assumed that the overture of Glenn introducing me to Anthony was a good
faith overture of introducing to others in the network, so to speak.
This post is
about Mr. Anthony Blackman, whom has been named on this blog, but the reasons not
described in detail. The following series of emails is not something that
seemed desirable to make public, and since Mr. Blackman had been removed from
the scenario after I sent copies to the DOJ, I didn’t bother going into the
matter further on the blog. He has resurfaced, however, and I don’t know if
that means the DOJ hasn’t prohibited his being posted here or what has transpired
in the interim of the past couple of years, but he is now online as working at
an English conversation school that was newly established in April 2010:
http://web.archive.org/web/20130429013917/http://www.englishbuffet.net/instructors
According to the information under the above link, Mr. Blackman has been married (since 1995) to a Japanese woman with whom he has two daughters.
http://www.englishbuffet.net/instructors (current page, he's gone!)
http://web.archive.org/web/20130630042114/http://www.englishbuffet.net/blog/6 (web archive page!)
He describes himself here as having "co-founded English Buffet, Kyoto's largest school":
http://anthonyblackman.brandyourself.com/
6/20/09
You can use this e-mail if you like as well.
I only use it for communicating with Mr. Takamiya and for receiving email
related to translating.
Anthony
I only use it for communicating with Mr. Takamiya and for receiving email
related to translating.
Anthony
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009
Subject: 翻訳
アンソニー
翻訳の見積依頼です。
４つの取扱説明書で量がたくさんあります。
見積と納期を連絡下さい。
たかみや
Here, he
forwards me the email request for the job. In the forwarded message, the
Japanese client indicates that he is requesting an estimate for translating the
four files, including Operating Manuals and GUI screenshot, in the attached zip
file. He comments that the amount of text is quite large (about 110 pages of
manuals in the Japanese originals), and asks for both an estimate as well as
the date the completed translation will be ready for submission.
Sat, Jun 20, 2009
got it!
Anyway, Takamiya and I met last night for about an hour
and he handed me 4 operating manuals and asked me to give him a translating
price estimate by SUN. night.
This doesn't mean we get the job, it just means we are
now IN THE BIDDING for the job.
So, I would like to meet you tonight after 10pm if
possible or tomorrow morning or early afternoon to show you the stuff.
And by the way, do you have the ability to access
ICHITARO word pro?
In this message he basically reiterates that there are
four manuals, but claims we are only “in the bidding”.
Sat,
Jun 20, 2009
I found your e-mail
on my **** account and took it out
of SPAM, so now e-mail posted to either 3 accounts will reach me now.
I use a MAC at home
and was unable to open up his file. I have hard copies of it though and
will be taking it with me tonight and tomorrow.
If you just happen
to drop by Starbucks on your way home after the movie, I might still be there.
Or could we meet at about 230pm at STARBUCKS?
Anthony
Mon, Jun 22, 2009
Here are two e-mails I got from Mr. Takamiya.
I believe they speak for themselves.
インターネットで 英語→日本語 一文字¥６
日本語→英語 一文字¥３
があります。
値段検討下さい。
無理なら断ることも考えてください。
**** さん <***** > wrote:
前回（今年の１月）の見積は ９万円と３万円で出しています。
これはアンソニーから聞いた値段です。
この値段で計算すると一文字￥６ くらいになります
I figured that 10yen per character was probably a little
too high, but now he is quoting 3yen per character.....that's more than just a
slight difference.
I told him I will still do it at 3yen per character, but
I will need at least 2months because I couldn't possibly treat this as a
PRIORITY JOB.
At that price, it is more of a hobby than a job.
I doubt he will take such a ridiculous offer of 2mos.
But WHO translates at 3yen a character?, you were saying
yesterday that agencies charge 12-15yen
Oh well, we'll see.
We apparently have differing views on appropriate
salaries.
Anthony
Note that he
did not forward me the email from the client here in the same manner as the
first communication, for whatever reason. It appears that maybe Anthony wrote
the first Japanese text himself, attempting to portray the client as demanding
a reduction in the rate by half, from 6 yen/character to 3 yen/character,
whereas the second passage simply mentions the rate for the last job (6
yen/character).
His apparent willingness
to immediately accept the job at half of the rate he received for the previous
job and less than a third of the rate discussed with me is disingenuous, so the
conversation is already unraveling into an attempt at subordination. Note that
at the time in question I had been translating patent specifications, manuals,
business documentation, etc., for about nine years, and had sat for the
Japanese bar exam for patent attorney.
Mon, Jun 22, 2009
hi anthony,
needless to say that rate is out of the question. like i
said, i will go as low as 7.5 yen per character, with a 7 day time frame and
mandatory terminology references.
also, there is no way that it is more to translate from
english to japanese than japanese to english, so either he has the figures
backwards (in which case 6 only 25% less than 8), or there is deception going
on somewhere in the chain. in either case, it doesn't matter what illiterate
person he tries to get off of the internet, probably someone in india, but he
can be my guest.
the only people i work cheaper for are people who send me
a high volume of legal and government documentation.
responses like his--stating simply something he saw on
the internet with no further knowledge--are one of the main reasons that there
is so little viable business activity here in kansai.
it's practically an insult to my intelligence, but nothing personal,
of course. on the other hand, a lot of people don't regard translation as a
very highly skilled profession. especially low and mid-level management types.
it would be nice to have some more consistent work locally, but he is being too
greedy. the other local work i have here pays 10 yen per character.
best regards,
I had obviously
become a little disconcerted at this point, and it seems like I may have been
drinking before composing this message. This was a point in time when there
seemed to be an increase of outsourcing to translation companies in India, and
I had been asked to check text that was written in somewhat broken English
without the typical flaws found in English translations by native Japanese
speakers, so I entertained the possibility that the ridiculous rate might be
connected to that, as only in a country with a very low cost of living would
such a rate be feasible. Things had been slow, and that trend had been somewhat
worrisome. In fact, the downturn had compelled me to sit for the bar exam, but
that takes place in May, just after what had been the busiest time of year for
me work wise at the end of the Japanese fiscal year in April—one reason I didn’t
pass that test…
Tue, Jun 23, 2009
hello again anthony,
i noticed that in editing my last message i left int he
phrase "like i said" which shouldn't be there, as i had said i would
go as low at 8 yen initially, but am willing to go a little lower with more
time and references seeing that things are slow at the moment.
on the other hand, please note that there will have to be
a contract drawn up for freelance translation services, with a viable company,
be it tsa or whoever. i assume that this company tsa is an actual registered
business, right?
i don't want to waste any more time on this project until
it begins to seem less sketchy.
regards,
Tue, Jun 23, 2009
Regarding your first question about TSA, I believe all
the correct paperwork is in order and we are registered as a business. We
spent nearly 6mos in meetings planning this out and it has always been my
assumption he took care of that aspect. which is also why he doesn't want
to suddenly drop me and start dealing with someone else............name
changes, the unknown, business cards, etc.... or whatever....... In the
13 years I have been in Japan, I have daily unpleasant surprises as I get to
know "THE REAL JAPAN".
My answer is always the same...........'WHATEVER!'
Anyway, I sent him an e-mail yesterday saying I will do it for 3yen, but
at MY COMFORTABLE PACE. He then set my KEITAI ablaze with a bunch
of phone calls last night and early this morning, but I was watching TV and
re-arrranging my sock drawer and couldn't be bothered, so I finally gave him a
call this morning to see what he wanted and he is going to submit the proposal
at 7yen for the 3 manuals, The Ichitaro formatted one will be declined as
I am unable to open it. The PDF file will be sent to me in its original
WORD format and he would like all three done in 2weeks and that is how he will
submit the BID.
3 manuals (all WORD)
2 weeks
7 yen per character
I would like to work with you because you are
professional and know what you are doing.
I, on the other hand, am still a complete rank below
novice in this world and need to get my feet wet.
Anyway, I will let you know if we get the project.
Anthony
In this message
he attempts to teach me about “THE REAL JAPAN” and preaches the adoption of an
unquestioning disposition of resigned acceptance in the form of “WHATEVER”. He
subsequently reverses that order and defers to me as “a professional” and
himself as “a complete rank below novice”, despite pointing out that he had
been in Japan for 13 years, which was about the same length of time I had been
in Japan at the time.
2009/6/24
Hello Anthony,
That's a very low bid to be submitting as a company, but
under the circumstances I am agreeable to taking it on and helping you get
started. One thing I'd like to clarify is what the 7 yen represents. Is
that what you are offering me? If not, what are expecting in terms of remuneration?
Also, get the references as soon as possible, as I could
start looking at those from Thursday. It will be necessary to evaluate how
viable the previous translations are and whether or not further research will
be necessary.
This email was
sent on June 24, and I received no reply for over a month.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
hey asshole,
it's very rude to waste peoples time and not respond to
emails regaridng work. not to mention unprofessional.
are you a freemason? cia? it would certainly seem so.
i suggest you get your shit together, because i'm in mode
for such bullshit.
how about your buddy takamiya?
My scrawl betrays the anger, and I didn’t even bother to fix the typos of things such as “I’m
in no mood for such bullshit”. Since he was introduced to me by Mr. Paquette,
he had been something of a question mark from the beginning, but at that point
I’d become convinced that he and Paquette were in collusion and aimed to waste
my time, frustrate me, and generally prevent me from being productive not to
mention trying to subordinate me. It was the following month that I first
decided to visit the American consulate in Osaka, and sent a series of follow-up
emails, finally receiving the reply posted here on the blog dated September 16,
2009.
Thu, Aug 6, 2009
you started out talking about a project similar to ones
you had received 3,000-6,000 per page in the past from the same person. the
situation gradually changed drastically to the point when i agreed to work for
less than the rate we originally talked about, and you tried to get me to work
for 3 yen per word, which is an insult.
the job started out as part of a continuing relationship
you had established with this guy, for which you declared wanted no
compensation. wound up being something we would "bid on".
i just talked to takamiya over the phone, and he says
that you finished the job already.
you a deceptive, manipulative individual. you wasted my
time and i am seriously pissed off about your duplicitous bullshit. YOU SUCK.
Not only had he
sent me the files and forwarded me an email directly from the client, he had
also given me the client’s phone number. I decided that Mr. Blackman had made
one mistake too many in doing that, basically, and called the client. During
the conversation, I asked the client if he knew that Blackman was an officer in
the CIA. I asked him if he knew what the CIA was, etc., several times because
he was a bit uppity so I wanted to make sure the message got through.
Thu, Aug 6, 2009
First of all, concerning all the words in your e-mail.
In the last 40yrs I have been dealing with people, I have
never seen the need to be rude or sarcatic. It's childish. If
you're upset about the lack of e-mails. That could have been handled with
a differently worded e-mail.
There are two things at the end of my last e-mail that
speak very clearly.
1: I don't do this for a living. I am a
complete beginner and unfortunately and against my wishes, he still wishes to
deal with no-one else but me.
2: The last line says 'I will let you know if we
get the project'
I have heard nothing back from him since that last e-mail
and I have no interest in contacting him directly. I decided it was in
your best interest that I stop writing e-mails unless there was in fact
something pertinent to tell you concerning the project. As of this
writing, there is still nothing to tell you.
Regards,
Anthony Blackman
8/7/09
Well now, you
can write an email when there is some impetus, apparently.
The drastic
difference in rates from the start of the discussions and in reference to past
work and rapid vacillation were entirely suspect, and the fact that you didn't
respond to the last email I sent you was even a little on the bizarre
side. Let's just lay it to your poor communications skills.
You and Takamiya
are clowns, and I obviously don't want anything to do with you. I didn't make
my way out here to join some freemason circus.
I'd rather not be
bothered about going to the consulate to inquire whether I'm being harassed by
some rogue with ties to the Japanese underworld, perhaps, wasting my
time, plumbing me for information, or whatever the objective, but you are on
the radar, pal.
My last email
to Mr. Blackman.
Fri, Aug 7, 2009
Yes, I heard Mr.
Takamiya received your phone call. He wanted me to remind you that all
jobs go through me and then on to others as I need. He prefers to deal
with no-one else.....because we spent 6mos. behind closed doors working out the
details and he's not going through it again with a complete stranger.
The project I did
for Mr. Takamiya was something completely unrelated to what I first showed you.
It was completely revised downward that I could do it in just a couple of
days without any help. I am still waiting on the bids for the 4 manuals
that I wanted you to do.
You know, Darren, I
don't get you at all. You're over 40yrs old and this is the best
interpersonal communication you could muster.
Manipulative?
get you to work for 3yen? Insult you? CIA? Freemason?
Where did all that
come from?
Did you forget how
this relationship started? I was approached by Takamiya with an offer to
do some translations? I really wanted to steer clear of any more
difficult translations and so I went looking for a qualified translator and I
thought you fit the bill. Manipulated you? I went offering you
work!! Money for you!! I didn't make you sign over your first born!
I simply showed you what was offered at the time. I even paid out a
quick 15bucks out of my own pocket at the internet cafe so that you could see the
file as quickly as possible. I told Mr. Takamiya directly that it is
better to deal with you directly and stop going through me. Again....I
was going out of my way to help you secure work...and I REQUIRED NOTHING OUT OF
YOU, NO DEPOSIT OF MONEY OR LIEN AGAINST YOUR HOUSE or ANYTHING! I made
sure that this would not cost you anything! I simply thought you were the
best translator to a big project and I went out of my way to work you into this
company. You told me your bid, I gave it to him. He gave me back
an e-mail about a lower bid at 3yen. Not a contract....just information
from him about some prices out there on the internet. Again, I REQUIRED
NOTHING out of you. I simply kept you informed. A few weeks passed,
he sent me a file to translate and asked if I could do this quickly and I did.
If I can translate something by myself without assistance and meet the
deadline, I damn sure am going to do it. It wasn't the 4 big manuals he
had promised, it wasn't even close. THAT IS STILL IN THE PIPELINE!
They still need them translated. They are still going to go through
me and then if I can not do them within the deadline, I am STILL going to go
looking for translators to help me.
Deceptive? I
don't tell you what I do every hour of everyday. And neither do you...but
I have never thought you to be deceptive.
Insult? I
have never called you a dirty word in my entire 40yrs on this planet. If
the price is too low, you simply have to say 'No, thank you'
Wasted your time?
Are you moving soon? It took me 6mos. of midnight meetings with
this guy before I even saw a dime. I thought you would be appreciative if
someone could help you find work for the short and LONG TERM. Because,
last I checked, you were nowhere close to retiring or dying.
I did make a
mistake. Because, I am just starting out with this translating stuff, I
jumped the gun a little bit and gave you more info than you needed to know.
I thought I was doing the right thing. And, I didn't keep you
informed as much as I should have. As you pointed out, you don't like to
waste your time and I thought it would be best if I just waited until I had
contract and translations in hand before contacting you again.
I still believe you
can translate from Japanese into English very well and up until these e-mails
today, I had still wanted to use you for the big stuff he will eventually give
me that I cannot handle. I teach 63 English classes a week, I have over
200 students and there is no way I can handle 4 operating manuals. It's
just not possible. I need one or more translators.
You'll still do
well in Japan, but in our particular relationship, you got 10% of the facts,
dreamed up the other 90% and lost your cool. I have no choice, but to no
longer consider you for either SHORT or LONG TERM projects.
Good Luck in Japan.
Hope everything works out for you.
Anthony
He admits
mistakes and tries to lie his way out of it in a rather amateurish manner. Note
the number of students he claims to have had then, and look at where he is
working now, not to mention anything about the bogus company he tried to
convince me existed.
Fri, Aug 7, 2009
Hey Glen,
I'm sure you were just trying to help me out and send me some translation work by introducing to me Anthony, and I appreciate that.on the other hand, the way I got dicked around by that guy and the conceited salry man at the company was just too far fetched.
At any rate, I've had enough of uncouth dealings with foreigners that have been here in Kyoto longterm, and many seem to have dubious connection to the place. I have enough stress dealing with the domestic criminals to have to worry about suspect gaijin. That was kind of the last straw in my unquestioningly trusting the presence of any Americans or other foreigners that have been in this area long term. I've been questioning whether people might belong to the secret society circle for a number of years now, now I seem to have to be more proactively vigilant, shall we say.
If he turns out to be under the employ of the government of the usa, he will be called to account and made to not repeat causing time wasting and frustrating fiascos such as that to which I have been subjected by his acquaitance. He is not the only person capable of having people waste their time, or lose sleep over nonsense.
At any rate, I hope you don't take it personally,
Regards,
I'm sure you were just trying to help me out and send me some translation work by introducing to me Anthony, and I appreciate that.on the other hand, the way I got dicked around by that guy and the conceited salry man at the company was just too far fetched.
At any rate, I've had enough of uncouth dealings with foreigners that have been here in Kyoto longterm, and many seem to have dubious connection to the place. I have enough stress dealing with the domestic criminals to have to worry about suspect gaijin. That was kind of the last straw in my unquestioningly trusting the presence of any Americans or other foreigners that have been in this area long term. I've been questioning whether people might belong to the secret society circle for a number of years now, now I seem to have to be more proactively vigilant, shall we say.
If he turns out to be under the employ of the government of the usa, he will be called to account and made to not repeat causing time wasting and frustrating fiascos such as that to which I have been subjected by his acquaitance. He is not the only person capable of having people waste their time, or lose sleep over nonsense.
At any rate, I hope you don't take it personally,
Regards,
I made sure to
let Mr. Paquette know that I was not happy with what had transpired, and that
the next step of seeking recourse to the authorities had basically been
decided.
Sat 8/08/09
Hi Darren. Yeah, I understand you anger with this
Anthony guy. It was originally my impression that he was just going to
introduce you to the person and then get out of the way, but it seemed that he
wanted to keep having a hand in it, which makes me think that he was trying to
take a cut somewhere. Not very honest. I think it's hard to find honest people
to work with.
Anyway, I don't take your anger personally.
Anyway, I don't take your anger personally.
Glenn
Mr. Paquette
tries to dissociate himself from Mr. Blackman, but the stuff about taking a cut
is disingenuous, as nobody works for free, especially if they are starting a
company. Maybe my understanding of “free enterprise” is all wrong and I’ve got
this backwards...
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