Re: Why the Hacks Hate Michael Hastings

On Jul 21, 2010, at 1:19 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

One more thing - one of my top guys, Scott Mintz, is friends with one of the hikers who is being held in Iran on an espionage charge. They'll be having a rally in a couple of days to mark a year of their captivity, and Mintz has asked me to do what I can to help. Am planning on writing some posts about it and perhaps an article, but wanted to see if you had any suggestions before I do anything publicly.

On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 3:42 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Howdy-

Thanks for that, and enjoyed the piece; will try to spread the word on NPR's actions. About to go into a meeting but will get back to you further ASAP.

On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 6:48 PM, Barry Eisler <barryeisler@mac.com> wrote:

Hi Barrett, okay, just posted my latest on my website blog, Heart of the Matter, cross-posted at CHUD, Huff Post, Michael Moore, Smirking Chimp, and Truthout (if Jason Leopold wants to run it). All about NPR and the establishment media, so a perfect opportunity to plug your book and embed your challenge to Lowry. Let me know when your publisher settles on a pub date so I can keep helping get the word out. Speaking of which, FWIW I know Glenn Greenwald somewhat and just sent him a heads-up about the book. I hope it'll help.

Gibson: Agreed. He coined the term "cyberspace," IIRC, and his predictions about how humans would augment themselves with machinery is doubly amazing considering he wrote the book in 1984. I should have spotted your affinity from your thoughts in the prologue of HFC and would love to hear more.

PM: I think your concept and proposed implementation is smart and has a good chance of catching on. I know two bloggers I'd recommend based on your criteria (lots of others, of course, such as Greenwald and Sullivan, but the big ones you already know).

http://sensen-no-sen.blogspot.com/
http://www.disordered.org/

I'd be happy to talk schematics etc if you like and to help anyway I can -- but I feel I should warn you that I'm mostly a seat-of-the-pants guy, which is probably why I work for myself and don't manage anyone!

Stephenson: I believe he's with William Morrow, which is where my previous editor works these days. If you could send me an email likely to get Stephenson's attention, I could forward it with some additional thoughts to my editor, who I'm confident would be willing to help.

The materials for Green: happy to take a look and offer some thoughts. Though it's not the case with schematics etc., I seem to have a knack for business plans and pitches.

Cheers,
Barry

On Jul 19, 2010, at 2:41 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Barry-

No need to apologize; I understand you're unusually busy, and anyway you've been more helpful to me than I could possibly be to you. Glad you enjoyed the rest of the book, and thanks much for those notes on typos and whatnot - some of these have already been caught and corrected, but others have not, so this is very helpful and I will forward them to the editor today. The book was originally supposed to come out in May but when the publisher got around to reading the manuscript he decided it would be better to take more time to send out review copies, ensure enough copies are printed, etc. The official date was August last I heard, but that's clearly impossible now; at any rate, it will be out in the next few months, and I will keep you updated on what I hear, most of which will be inaccurate.

As for Project PM, we are still hammering out some details and recruiting and otherwise getting our ducks in a row. I've just recently made contact with Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Greenwald, for instance, and provided them with the manuscript and some basic info on PM. Meanwhile, we've been asking our recruits to choose others whom they deem to be particularly competent and intellectually honest, while also giving a great deal of thought as to how the governing network would be operate. To that end, we've been setting up groups of participants and asking them to hammer out solutions to various problems, such as how to set up a chain reaction of African development without spending any money and how to improve science journalism in the United States. We also pay close attention to how various sub-mediums of the internet are best used for such purposes, and the pros and cons of each; our participants have used shared Google documents, e-mail, group chats, a private blog, and phone calls to discuss these projects, and meanwhile some of our more active colleagues and I have been trying to draw conclusions based on the nature of the results so that we will be better situated to determine the specifics of how the governing network ought to operate. As I mentioned, the basic framework of this governing network will be similar to the media network, but of course we have a number of additional questions we have to answer for ourselves if we are to ensure that this network will meet my intended criteria of being (a) extraordinarily efficient, (b) capable of operating without any further input from myself or any other central leader, (c) self-perpetuating, and (d) capable of retaining a high average level of competence even while expanding its membership base. We're also in the process of identifying potential sub-project leaders among our existing participants, as we'd like to move forward on some of these projects soon and then transition them into the governing network later, when the software is prepared. There are a lot of others ends and outs - I'm talking with reps from various organizations like the National Center for Science Education and Bikes for the World regarding how we can help them to pursue their respective goals through a variety of means, most of which involve improving the manner of information flow, which is essentially what our project is about.

As for Neuromancer, I have found William Gibson to be an unusually capable predictor of social trends as catalyzed by technology and other influences - as Robert Heinlein was, to a great extent - and, having spent a great deal of time watching emergent behavior on the internet - some of which has trickled into mainstream awareness, some of which has not - I believe that certain trends he employs in his novels as well as his non-fiction have already come into existence and will end up being extraordinarily significant. I've written a bit about this and will provide you with links later, and will be doing my next book on that general subject; let me know if you'd like to discuss this further in the meanwhile.

Anywho, there are a couple of specific ways in which you can be of great assistance to this project - and again, I deeply appreciate the readiness with which you've offered your support. For one, you could bring in anyone you happen to know whom you judge to be trustworthy, intellectually honest, and competent; these people need not have any credentials as such (I myself am not a high school graduate, having been trotted off to Tanzania when I was 17); they need only be clever and of good character. Secondly, you can look over what we have been discussing so far in terms of how best to create improved schematics by which to facilitate communication and corroboration and let us know how we can improve upon and complete these; I don't know the specifics of your work in the intelligence community, but between that and your career as a plotter of intricate story lines, you would presumably have insight into these issues that none of us would. Finally - and this would be a tremendous favor - you could get in touch with the author Neal Stephenson and ask him if he would be willing to talk to me; I was going to try to reach him myself but I believe you might have a better chance of getting through to him. Stephenson may be among the most erudite people to be publicly known at this time, and I believe he could be of tremendous assistance to us in a number of respects and would be willing to provide that assistance if I were to talk to him for at least ten minutes.

Again, thanks for everything you've done so far; I look forward to seeing your piece tomorrow regarding the Memory Hole. Amusingly enough, the other day I watched the film How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which was okay as a film but at any rate is based on some English writer's career at Vanity Fair, where Graydon Carter was in the habit of ensuring that truth be sacrificed to access in terms of celebrity coverage. That chapter on Richard Cohen is based around an article I had originally written for Vanity Fair but which was shot down by Carter because Cohen is a "friend of the magazine," as the editor relayed to me. I'm also in contact with another fellow whose own article on Putin and the Russian apartment bombings was ordered taken out of all Russian editions of the magazine in question by Conde Nast's execs. Ah, Conde Nast.

Last thing: been talking a bit more with the producer Robert Green whom I mentioned to you and for whom I'm preparing materials for him to compile into a presentation for his potential donors out in LA. I'll send you those materials when I've finished them so that you can help me ensure that they are as succinct and persuasive as possible, as of course there is a great deal of money at stake here which could be used to essentially free the nation's better journalists and commentators from having to play ball.

Once again, thanks for everything.

On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 2:55 AM, Barry Eisler <barryeisler@mac.com> wrote:

Barrett, apologies for my slow response. Family obligations this weekend and a nice break from the computer. I did, however, manage to finish HFC. It is just superb -- congratulations on having written such a hilarious, persuasive, and important book. I noticed a few typos, BTW, which I'll mention below in case there's still time for your publisher to tweak the manuscript. When does it come out? May, according to Amazon, but it doesn't seem to be available yet. I'd like to help get out the word anyway I can.

Project PM: sounds like a great idea and I'd be proud to be part of it. How can I help?

Your closing comments on RT were great... practically caused a Pavlovian "we're going to have to leave it right there." Reminds me of my recent attempt to mention NPR's ban on the word "torture" in an essay I wrote for them on 1984. That got edited out, as did a discussion of Friedman, Krauthammer, and Joe Klein and the Ministry of Truth's "Memory Hole." I'm going to post my unedited piece on my website tomorrow with a discussion of the changes NPR insisted on.

The True/Slant vblog challenge to Lowry -- will tweet it tomorrow when more people are online and also post it on my FB page.

Neuromancer -- yes, read it years ago and enjoyed it. Why do you ask?

Aleph... this is what Aum goes by these days? I have to admit, I know little about them; just what's in the news, or what was in the news, anyway, around 1995, when they gassed the Tokyo subway.

Typos:
3: in the first full para you have Skuratov; in the next para, it's Skurativ.
63: "having claimed less than 80 lives..." I think should be "fewer than 80..."

84: "perimeters" I think should be "parameters."
132: not a typo, but I couldn't help thinking your lion/spear analogy is perhaps too generous to enemies of truth. Maybe germs/antiseptic?

150: "that someone to apologize"... delete the "to."
158: two periods after "irregularities."
184: In the first para, I know the "one" refers to the previous "series of sentences," so is technically correct, but made me stumble for a second anyway because I was thinking plural "sentences" and trying to match the plural to the singular "one." Maybe just say "series" again, instead of "one"? Also, further down the page, the para that begins "Anywho" is indented a little too far.

189: Second full para, I think there's an extra "only" in there.
212: About 3/4 down the page, I think there's an extra "perhaps". Also, missing a period after "as well," just before "Gee discusses..."

220: Looks like a double "that."
221: First full para, "anti-Christian, pro chose"...? A little farther down the para, "white people really spend much time" I think should be "don't spend much time."

226: "Its actual politis" should be politics.
229: Not a typo, but "all of these things" maybe better as "all these things."
231: "those tacts" should be "those facts."

236: "writing extended the utility of this..." not a typo, but I thought maybe it would be more clear as "extended the utility of this practice."
239: There's an unnecessary quote mark after "Informed Comment."

Again: bravo, and I hope this book finds a very wide audience.

Cheers,
Barry

On Jul 15, 2010, at 5:21 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Barry-

Thanks for the praise, and particularly for your kind offer of further assistance.

Things have been speeding up a bit on this end. I've been contacted by producer Robert Green, who's proposing that I allow him to raise funds by which to advance Project PM and potentially start a new cable news outlet that would be run somewhat differently than, say, all of the shitty ones now in existence. Obviously, that second effort is quite preliminary and perhaps overly-ambitious, but then perhaps not; there seems to be quite a bit of motivation out there to take on the existing structure. Anyway, I'm currently preparing materials with which he'll be creating a presentation for donors. I've pasted one of these below; it's a description of how the blogger/media network will operate. Let me know if you have any questions. Also keep in mind that running parallel to this network will be another, similar one, tentatively called the governing network, which will serve as a sort of distributed online think-tank.

Incidentally, I was on Russian television the other evening and the ending was quite amusing; I pulled a bit of a prank on this Kremlin-funded outlet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbBZe478xE&feature=player_embedded

More to the point, I am currently trying to force National Review to acknowledge my criticisms of Rich Lowry's attacks on Michael Hastings, as described in that Vanity Fair piece. I know for a fact that they've seen it, but of course it's not in their interest to reply. If you could distribute this somehow, it would be of great help in forcing their hand:

http://trueslant.com/barrettbrown/2010/07/15/an-open-message-to-national-review-editor-rich-lowry/

Anyway, let me know if you have any other questions about PM and what we're doing. Also, have you ever read Neuromancer?

On Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Barry Eisler <barryeisler@mac.com> wrote:

Barrett, if you don't mind my saying, and I promise not to go on and on about it, but... the book is brilliant. Really. Read the prologue and Friedman and Bennett chapters last night and so far it's just superb -- horrifying, hilarious, fucking devastating. The notion of equating pundits with failed-but-still-flourishing futurists is smart and I can't think of a better way to help people see the nature of the problem. The first paragraph is a lapel-grabber. Your arguments and evidence are unanswerable, and there were so many lines that had me laughing out loud... Bennett, a spirit creature from Neptune composed of pure energy. Some actual sentences Friedman has written (which reminded me of on SNL skit where Tiny Fey did Sarah Palin, but without manufactured dialogue -- she repeated Palin's actual, fantastically garbled words, and the joke was that no comedy could possibly top the real thing).

Hmm, I think I'm violating that promise not to go on and on.

Krauthammer is cued up for this morning and I'm pissed I have an interview in Berkeley later on because I don't want to stop. I'll do all I can to get out the word via my blog, FB, Twitter, etc., but if there are any other ways you can think of that I can help you reach the widest possible audience, please just ask.

Now, back to the book.

On Jul 14, 2010, at 4:38 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Barry-

Thanks, I appreciate your interest and your assistance. Below, I've pasted a summary of our main effort, the media network. I've also cc'd my associate Clark Robinson on this; he's helping to organize our various recruits and otherwise assist in administration as we expand our scope.

Incidentally, I was approached two weeks ago by Robert Green, a producer out in LA, who's proposing to raise a great deal of money in order to assist in our operations as well as to potentially found a new cable outlet. Apparently he has the means to raise the necessary funds. Let me know if you'd like to speak with him, and feel free to call me if you'd like to discuss any other details (we'll also provide you with links to further info on what we're doing specifically with our other entity, tentatively known as the governing network).

***

Information flow is fundamental to the success of every manner of human collaboration. Nonetheless, the processes by which information is gathered, handled, transferred, and acted upon receive far less attention than is warranted. The purpose of Project PM is to change this dynamic by developing new techniques with which to more efficiently conduct information.

Because the great preponderance of information crucial to the success of a representative government is transferred through the media, Project PM focuses primarily on media reform. Our first and foremost effort has been to establish a distributed media cartel made up of bloggers as well as journalists who work at least in part through online media. Rather than simply assembling this group of exceptional media professionals into an online outlet similar to those currently in existence, we are instead organizing our participants into a network which itself operates under a unique schematic designed to take best advantage of the internet as a medium while simultaneously avoiding the drawbacks common to even the best online communities.

In order to seed the network, we have recruited around two dozen bloggers and journalists whom we have identified as particularly competent and intellectually honest. Each of these individuals is encouraged to bring other bloggers into the network based on their own judgment; these new participants are then connected to the blogger who has brought them in and may likewise bring others into the network, and so on . As such, the network grows perpetually while maintaining a high average quality in terms of its participants, as is explained further below.

Upon the launch of our network, each of the initial bloggers will be connected to each other via a widget which is embedded on their respective blogs, as well as connected to those whom theyve recruited. When a particular individual composes a piece of work that he considers to be of particular merit, the individual pushes a single button which causes the article in question to be sent to all of the bloggers to whom he is connected. Each of those bloggers in turn then decides whether or not they agree that the article is worthy of greater attention; if so, they push the button and thereby send it along to every blogger to whom they themselves are connected. Thus it is that information deemed worthy of attention by some great number of erudite and honest individuals from a variety of backgrounds will tend to perpetuate through the system and gain a larger audience than they might otherwise receive.

As the network expands by way of the process described above, it is inevitable that there will be failures of judgement on the part of participants when choosing additional bloggers to bring into the network. Let us say that Blogger X, who is rather competent, brings in Blogger Y, who is only moderately so, and who in turn brings in Blogger Z, who is a giant douchebag. Blogger Z begins composing and pushing forward posts to the effect that Barack Obama was born in Tehran or that ethanol subsidies are awesome or some such thing but these posts only initially go to Blogger Y and whatever horrid bloggers Blogger Z has brought in himself, assuming he has brough in any. Blogger Y may or may not be inclined to push forward these nonsense posts, but Blogger X will almost certainly delete them immediately and is quite likely to disolve his connection to Blogger Y for displaying such poor judgement. Thus it is that the system is defended from deterioration by the high competence of the initial round of bloggers and consequently comparable competence of those brought in gradually afterwards, coupled with the nature of the schematic itself. No supervision is necessary for the network to expand while maintaining a high level of quality.

A few other characteristics bear noting. Any participant may connect to any other participant who agrees to the connection, no matter where each participant resides in the network, and thus the network is likely to evolve from the shape of a pyramid to that of a web, which is advantageous in terms of ensuring that good information does not become overly regionalized. All participants are equal regardless of the order in which they joined. Participants are free to bring on as many other bloggers as they would like, although they will find that it is to their own advantage to be selective in this regard.

The system is capped off with another widget distinct from that used by the bloggers the reader widget, a downloadable application which displays those posts which have been pushed forward a certain number of times (as set by the individual reader). The end result should be the best system of news and information filtration that has ever existed.

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 7:25 PM, Barry Eisler <barryeisler@mac.com> wrote:

Hi Barrett, sorry for the slow reply -- back from the tour now, though still distracted by interviews and a few local events. Just printed out the manuscript and will start digging in tonight. I'll be in touch as soon as I'm done reading, and would like to help get the word out anyway I can -- getting people to approach the news more critically has become almost a personal mission for me. In which regard, I'd love to hear more about Project PM.

Cheers,
Barry

On Jul 7, 2010, at 7:31 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Barry-

Thanks again for your help. I have just received the final manuscript for the book, which I have attached here. The last chapter alludes to Project PM, which I would love to have you involved in some capacity (and which would require no time commitment on your part while also giving you influence over our organization,which is composed of of some 150 people including Michael Hastings, the head of theoretical physics at Case Western, philanthropists, a former editorial board member of the Washington Post, and people of similarly diverse and useful backgrounds. We are growing extraordinarily quickly now. Let me know if you'd like me to send you a short summary of our main media reform effort.

On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 4:30 PM, Barry Eisler <barryeisler@mac.com> wrote:

Hi Barrett, I'd love a sneak peek, and email is fine if that works for you. Will do what I can to get the word out -- getting people to recognize pseudo-journalism and embrace real journalism has become a mission of mine, one I'm trying to use my novels and whatever platform I have as a novelist to advance.

Best,
Barry

On Jun 28, 2010, at 11:12 AM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Hi, Barry-

Thanks for the note and for Twittering my article or Tweeting it or whatever. I'll have the publisher get you a review copy of the upcoming book as well, or will e-mail the manuscript if you prefer. Let me know.

On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 11:06 AM, Barry Eisler <barryeisler@mac.com> wrote:
Barrett, I just read your scathing, hilarious, devastating VF piece. Can't wait for Hot, Fat, and Clouded, which sounds right up my alley, and will do what I can to help get the word out about it.

Cheers,
Barry Eisler
www.barryeisler.com

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Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

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Barrett Brown
512-560-2302

<HFC ARC 7-2010.pdf>

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Barrett Brown
512-560-2302

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Barrett Brown
512-560-2302

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Barrett Brown
512-560-2302

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Barrett Brown
512-560-2302

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Barrett Brown
512-560-2302