Re: Howdy from Barrett

I'm getting in touch again as I wanted to seek your consultation on an effort I'm about to launch as part of my experimental entity, Project PM, which is in effect a media reform project as well as a sort of functional laboratory for various new methods of online collaboration; we think of it as a sort of dynamic think-tank. Our central effort involves establishing a network of bloggers and other journalists who work at least partly in an online medium and providing a means for these participants to better disseminate their most important work to a larger audience; we are also pursuing various related efforts, such as bringing attention to the failures of specific outlets and pundits and doing so in such a way as to force the outlets in question to actually address such deficits publicly. Our media participants so far command a collective audience of several hundred thousand unique readers a month and range from pure bloggers such as Allison Kilkenny to more traditional journalists such as former Newsweek Baghdad correspondent Michael Hastings.

Meanwhile, our other network consists of some eighty individuals - lawyers, hackers, medical professionals, academics, charity workers, editors and producers - with varying skill sets and knowledge bases, who collectively seek to accomplish various tasks by way of particular methods that have only become possibly very recently and which I have designed in order to better ensure that such tasks are pursued in the most efficient possible manner. For instance, our flagship experiment, the Africa Development Project, involves identifying the best techniques by which to assist in increasing productivity and standard of living on the village level, while at the same time drawing conclusions regarding the best techniques by which a collection of individuals can pursue such projects as this in the most effective possible manner. There is some crossover between our two networks insomuch as that, for instance, our media people can relate to their readers what we discover in terms of collaborative methods, as well as asking for donations later on (although currently we are experimenting with a particular educational program that requires no money to implement) at such time as we set up a non-profit to accommodate any such funds.

I'd like to ask your opinion on a sub-project we're thinking of implementing, which would be intended to improve science journalism on the part of U.S. outlets. We would compile a group of scientists and others with high degrees of scientific literacy and then approach various newspapers and television stations with a standing offer to have one or more of these volunteers review any articles or segments they intend to run that deal with science. Properly overseen, and with the involvement of just a dozen or so volunteers, we could notably reduce the number of errors that currently reach the public (and which tend to spread just as misinformation always does, which is to say that we can prevent a larger negative effect than simply that which is incurred by virtue of a single audience obtaining bad info).

Are you aware of any similar efforts that exist already, in which case we could simply assist them? Otherwise, would you be willing to forward this e-mail to anyone you know who might have input into how this could best be implemented, or who might be open to participating as one of our volunteer reviewers?

Additionally, we're looking for more bloggers as well as anyone else who would be interested in working with us on a variety of efforts related to media reform, skepticism, and other such things related to improving information flow in the U.S. and elsewhere. I've written a sort of treatise geared towards the skeptical community which may be found here if you'd be willing to forward this e-mail or a link to that article to individuals you think would be interested in joining us.

Finally, I know that you're pretty busy, but perhaps you might be interested in serving on our governing network when it is established after August? Doing so would entail no time commitment whatsoever; you would be free to propose, tweak, and "vote" on ideas to whatever extent you'd like and otherwise influence the activities of what we think will be a highly effective organization. Let me know if you'd like to learn more.

Anyway, thanks for your time, and let me know if I can be of any assistance to the NCSE. I'm going to Texas and Mexico for a couple of months to begin my third book and further the project as well as some other things, and I expect to have more time to work on other things due to the lack of distractions relative to New York, so I'd be happy to assist you guys or make our participants available to you in any capacity that would be useful.

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 7:05 PM, Robert Luhn <luhn@ncse.com> wrote:

You betcha. Reach out when time permits...

r

Howdy, Robert-

Thanks for getting back to me and for the considerable effort. I've been incredibly swamped in revising my book before it goes to the typesetter plus some other things, but will get back to you at further length soon; just wanted to send a thank-you your way for all this contact info.

Thanks again,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 7:24 PM, Robert Luhn <luhn@ncse.com <mailto:luhn@ncse.com>> wrote:

Sir:

Good to hear from you. Sorry for the late reply. Killer campaign,
killer cold, then...rainrainrain.

Hmm. Bad science reporting? Not fair to hit the blogs, I suppose.
they're always totally clueless. But I'll ponder. the smaller
newspapers are definitely slipping...of course, because they fired
their sci guys! Ach.

Interesting your slip into evo and religion. we talk about this a
fair lot. In fact, we even have a staff theologian! I can connect
you, if and when you'd like to talk with him. A fairly recent
clip:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/06/west_of_eden.html

Work wise...I will indeed keep my eyes/ears open. Have you thought
about doing what I'm doing? (Me a writer/journalist/editor of 30
years?). With our kind of resume...professional
communicators...it's possible to clip into a communications job
for awhile. Esp. at say, a BioLogo kind of place...where science
and religion meet. Have you hit up places like these:

The BioLogos Foundation
P.O. Box 33634
Washington, DC 20033
www.biologos.org <http://www.biologos.org>

--founded by Dr. Francis Collins, now head of the NIH
--"promotes the search for truth in both the natural and spiritual
realms"
--Contact: Loretta Cooper, Media Specialist

American Scientific Affiliation
P.O. Box 668
Ipswich, MA 01938
978-356-5656
FAX: 978-356-4375
asa@asa3.org <mailto:asa@asa3.org>

http://www.asa3.org/
--"a fellowship of men and women of science and disciplines that
can relate to science who share a common fidelity to the Word of
God and a commitment to integrity in the practice of science"
--Contact: Randy Isaac, Executive Director

John Templeton Foundation
http://templeton.org

Metanexus
http://metanexus.org/

Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences
http://ctns.org

Adrian Wyard
http://counterbalance.org

International Society for Science and Religion
http://issr.org

A thought?

Now...you getting work as a professional smartaleck/humorist.
Well..I've trod those boards a lonnnng time. Not very
renumerative. What's up with the pilot, et al?

r

Hi, Robert-

Have been meaning to touch base with you again for a while,
but was busy finishing up my latest book and preparing to move
to a new apartment and whatnot. First off, I'm still working
on getting this damned promotional video for Enlighten the
Vote created, at which point we'll be doing our first big
campaign, so that's nifty. Second, I wanted to ask that if you
guys see any bad science reporting or anything of the sort to
please let me know so that I can make fun of the culprit on
True/Slant and Huffington Post and wherever else. Third, I
just gave my first university lecture earlier this week to a
class dealing with evolution and religion (as in, the
evolutionary aspects of religion and its possible functions as
well as related topics) last Tuesday over at Rutgers, and it
seems to have gone over pretty well; another professor has
since asked me to talk to her philosophy class as well.

Meanwhile, I'm somewhat strapped for cash due to having spent
a lot of time on longterm projects as well as having to help
out a troubled family member, and wanted to see if you knew of
any sort of gigs that I might be able to get within the whole
skeptic/academia/activism sphere. I'm about to have to start
working in the damned kitchen of the Illustrator's Guild in
Manhattan under the auspices of a girl I'm sort of seeing but
whom I'm not entirely crazy about, and I fear disaster, so I'm
basically willing to do anything. If you could keep your ears
open and let me know of whatever comes up, I'd be greatly
appreciative. I'll be back in business soon as I start getting
some checks from Vanity Fair and a couple of other pubs over
the next few months, but meanwhile just need to get my hands
on whatever cash I can. Anyone who's interested in having
their own political humorist get them coffee or whatever is
totally welcome to me.
Anyway, keep it real over there.

Thanks,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

-- Robert Luhn
Director of Communications
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x314
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
luhn@ncse.com <mailto:luhn@ncse.com>

http://www.ncse.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ncse

--
Robert Luhn
Director of Communications
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x314
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
luhn@ncse.com
http://www.ncse.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ncse

--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302