Re: Wikileaks raid
Subject: Re: Wikileaks raid
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: 3/29/10, 04:45
To: Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com>

Yeah, I've had run-ins over there on a couple of occasions; it's like any mob. But the primaries are over, and things have calmed down. Consider this - a lot of the recommended diaries are nonsense rants about bullshit and otherwise worthless, whereas your commentary, which is more wonkish than most, could help at least a bit in changing the culture there by example, as well as expanding your ability to get the topics you're covering - which of course aren't being covered widely enough - out to a wider audience. I was able to get the Wikileaks story covered by more outlets largely by way of Kos, as of course lots of media folks scan the recommended diaries there for topics. Just something to consider, anyway; you can always cross-post at HuffPo and Kos with a link back to your True/Slant piece at the end like I do and thereby come out ahead.

But, yeah, to reiterate, I've got nothing but contempt for a lot of those douchebags. The shit they vote to the top is usually ridiculous.

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 4:08 AM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:
Great news about Hastings. I don't have particularly fond memories of Kos, since I was practically chased out of the place by zealot Obamaniacs early in the election year for suggesting he might sell out Democrats and the black community. Actually, I think I posted something called "Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson's Drunken One Night Stand." No one was happy.

Of course, they're much more reasonable now that shit has died down and they see he's a centrist pragmatist and not the liberal messiah. Glad they've come around.

I've sort of excommunicated myself from blogs that aren't True/Slant, which I know is absolutely a retarded strategy and a great way to diminish my reach, but I'm sick of these huge blogs (Kos, Huffpost) basically making a profit from our free content. Naturally, I don't count Project PM in that group, since I view PM as a journalistic endeavor and a way to enhance our respective content.

This turned in a cathartic bitchfest and I didn't mean for that to happen. Sorry. Hastings sounds like a catch (always good to get the burned ones fresh from the belly of the beast).

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 6:30 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, Allison-

Good news; just spent an hour on the phone with Michael Hastings, who served as Newsweek's Baghdad correspondent for a number of years and who's about to head over to Afghanistan for GQ and other pubs (and who also writes for True/Slant). He's very enthusiastic about Project PM and has agreed to join up. When he left Newsweek, he did a great piece on how much it sucks, and is basically on the same page as us in terms of media dynamics in particular, so he'll be a great asset.

Also, we now have our own senior security analyst/global risk assessor/architecture developer with 15 years experience advising governments and companies on such things; recruited her the other day when I had a cross-post at Daily Kos go to the top of the recommended list (it was on Wikileaks, which finally got some coverage). 

Do you cross-post at Kos at all? It's a pretty good way to reach seasoned activists and readers in general, even if the place is often wacky.


On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 6:15 AM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:
Good to hear.


On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 6:40 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
I appreciate that. They just put out a press release which I've now posted; seems like they're all fine for now.


On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 2:35 AM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:
I heard about this. Seriously fucked up. Linked to your article (and subsequent updates,) but I think anything I added at this point would be redundant. But I'm keeping an eye on the story, and as it evolves, I'm sure there will be more to write about. At which point, I'll add my "wtf" take.