Thanks for getting in touch. My name is Joe Tauke, and
I'm the owner, creator, and general guy-in-charge of a site called the
Melting Pot Project. The general idea behind MPP is to combine several
forms of content - a fast-paced main blog, full-length articles,
original videos, forums, and social networking - into a site that
revolves around a political philosophy that I believe is quite
prevalent, yet is notoriously under-represented. That philosophy is
that the Democrats and Republicans have become mirror images of each
other, that they play wag the dog by raising hell about issues that
have virtually nothing to do with the actual governing process of this
country while simultaneously allowing that process to become more and
more inefficient and corrupt. MPP is built to be a place for those who
are tired of what both parties have become and of the two-party system
in general.
Now, to drop some knowledge on you - right now we're just getting
the site up and running after spending the past couple of months
working out all the technical aspects. You can check it out here:
As you can see, the main blog, while fully operational, is still in
the "Let's play around with it" stage because we haven't officially
launched yet (when we do, I'll be cleaning out all those test posts).
However, we've started to upload some of the content that we've been
preparing for the launch, including several of the articles our writers
have been working on. You should be able to get a bit of an idea as to
what we're aiming for there. Also, a couple posts down from the top of
the main blog, I wrote a few paragraphs explaining some basics about
the site (including an explanation as to why the current welcome video
is a Green Day song, rather than one of our own). You should be able to
see them if you scroll down just a bit on the front page.
Judging by your email, you're right up our alley - not only do you
know where periods and commas go, but you can throw sarcastic quips into an analytical essay without tripping over yourself.
You've definitely got the goods. What you
need to do now is let me know if you are, in fact, interested in
signing on with MPP. If so, I'd also like to know if you have anything
you could add to the site beyond writing - for example, we have one guy
who makes great spoof music, another who does basic animation, and so
on. Just speak up if anything pops into your head.
I'm more
than happy to answer any questions you might have, so if any pop into
your head, fire away. Otherwise, I hope this seems like your cup of
tea, and that I'll hear from you soon.
- Joe
On May 23, 2008, at 10:45 AM, Barrett Brown wrote:
I understand that you're looking for someone to write for your new political web zine, and I'd like to be considered. I've blogged about politics on a professional basis for outlets like PoliticalBase.com, and my other work has appeared in dozens of publications including National Lampoon, McSweeney's, American Atheist, and The Onion A.V. Club. My first book, Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design, and the Easter Bunny, was released last March to praise from Alan Dershowitz, Rolling Stone, Skeptic, The Huffington Post, and Air America Radio, among other souces.
I understand that you're not paying initially, but I'd be willing to wait it out.
I've pasted a few links below; please take a look and let me know if you'd like to discuss this further.