Re: Vaguely Encouraging Message
Subject: Re: Vaguely Encouraging Message
From: Jonathan Kundra <jkundra@gmail.com>
Date: 12/27/10, 02:44
To: barriticus@gmail.com

Ok, time to get serious in response to your straightforward offer and description.

In parentheses, I hope you'll understand that I saw nothing sinister in your proposition - either previously or right now: I was just riffing along between the lines of our initial encounter with no particular objective other than to amuse, and with no desire to do so at your expense.

You've provided enough elements in your forum posts and in what you've communicated to me to attract my interest as well as my instinctive respect for what I believe to be your positions and commitments.   

I'm not certain what I could contribute to the effort(s) you've described below, but I'm willing to find out.  To this end, and to further feel each other out (I'm implying nothing that any red-blooded American gent would be ashamed of here) I'd be happy to give you a call at your convenience and at the very least, say hello.  Let me know what you think of this idea, and if it meets your approval, when a good time might be to call - given the seven-hour time difference between our respective locations.  You could just shoot me a message when you have a moment and if I can, I'll ring you up more or less pronto - particularly if said message arrives here between six pm and midnight. If possible, I'd prefer a land-line number. The 512-560-2302 you posted on The Diary appears to be of that nature. 

In the meantime, be of good holiday season cheer and keep on keeping on.  Something tells me that you're on the right track and doing the right thing, and I've been around the block enough to usually know when someone is.

It's early morning here and the middle of the night over on your end of the planet.  A very good day to you whence you awake -

Best regards,


Jonathan Kundra  




On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 5:28 AM, barri2009 <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
It's not as sinister as it may appear. Likewise, it would seem more sinister in certain quarters were it to appear as what it is. The bottom line is that it is not sinister at all if one values freedom and competence and knows what those things really mean. I'll tell you that we are involved in several transparent and above-the-level programs intended to improve science understanding in the U.S. and health development in Africa. Meanwhile I am of course an anarchist and serious about my anarchism, and even, uh, meaner while I'm working with certain other people to right wrongs in a fashion that is considered unacceptable by others who are more sympathetic to the state. The best thing I can tell you is to attend our weekly IRC meeting and meet the other people involved, very few of whom are radicals of any sort, as the nature and mixture here is unusual. Thanks again for taking the time to write and for your whimsical interest.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

From: Jonathan Kundra <jkundra@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 08:26:31 +0100
To: Barrett Brown<barriticus@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Vaguely Encouraging Message

You should be sleeping at this hour, Barrett, lest Santa leave you lumps of coal instead of that shiny Schwinn you've been pining for.  As for me, I just woke up to another gorgeous Paris Nuclear Winter morning and will soon be plumping up the pillows and...going back to sleep.

Before I do, permit me to thank you for your invitation.  Pending my understanding what you're up to with your (anarcho-hacker?) Internet mini-gov'mint, my reply is a qualified 'um, maybe: send the stuff over and I'll have my legal staff check it out.'  

But before you do, perhaps I should also tell you that my political dream-date, were he not dead and were I not a guy, would be Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. They sure don't make them like that anymore, club-foot and all.

It also occurs to me that you should also know that I'm hopelessly lazy and totally pessimistic (why else would I chose to live in Paris?)  I'm the human equivalent of a Black Hole in any organization, so unless your idea of an Internet mini-government includes the idea of some sort of  Jim Jones health care plan with over-and-undertones of Waco and Wounded Knee, I'm not sure that I'll have a lot to contribute.  But before jumping to all sorts of hasty conclusions, let's both discover what's over the next hill, so to speak.  

And when you let slip that you've recruited one of LGF's most active and useful members, I have to say that I'd be honored to serve in any organization that had Killgore Trout as a member.  My own forum nic is 'ryyannon' (pretty sharp, no?) and I was the only person with the courage to upding one of your posts a week or so ago.  If my memory serves me well, I believe the post had something to do with not torturing koalas - an issue on which I've always taken a strong stand myself.  

So yes, please do send on your stuff; I'd be quite interested in looking it over.

In the meantime, and just to spread a bit of Christmas Cheer, here are a few links to people clearly in need of a dose of governance, not to mention a mega-dose of the appropriate neuroleptic medications:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/21/world/main7173011.shtml 

and from a guy who's probably his first cousin:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/21/world/main7171143.shtml

As you can see, there are a lot of people out there in need of a bit of structure, whether Internet-based or at the level of pre-emptive abortion clinics - alas, somewhat too late in these two particular cases.

Have a nice day and do feel free to send on your stuff.

Your new Internet pen-pal in Paris,

Jonathan Kundra






On Sat, Dec 25, 2010 at 5:54 AM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
That was indeed a vaguely encouraging message, and also enjoyably phrased.

I've recruited several folks from LGF for Project PM, my experimental internet mini-government. One of them is among the most active and useful members. Based on what I get from you in this e-mail, I think I could probably convince you to join as well. Would you be interested in seeing some materials? Let me know.


On Fri, Dec 24, 2010 at 7:33 PM, Jonathan Kundra <jkundra@gmail.com> wrote:
Especially since I'm not in the habit of sending fan-mail or otherwise manifesting my approval (who really cares?) or my support (other than a few hundred regretted dollars in Charles Johnson's Tip Jar back in the days when it wasn't embarrassing to be a member of LGF. 

I stopped reading around the time that Ms.NewNoun Weasel and her unfortunate partner began to go all psychotic on the few remaining LGF free spirits (of which Bagua, who has a brain and isn't shy about using it), but feeling a Disturbance in the Force several weeks ago, I checked back in what has become blogdom's own Hotel California and witnessed all the shit that went down the moment you began standing up for Assange & Co.  

All of which to say that even if you are financed by the Russian Mafia and/or the Chinese (or was it North Korea?) I still think you're a swell guy and would very much appreciate if you could pass on your contact info for said financeers: in other words, I'll write any kind of shit for or against anyone if the price is right.

But no one is paying me to write the present lines of encouragement however vague, and I hope that the compliment will neither be wasted on you nor go to what has been variously described as your faggot, metrosexual, hacker, or simply too-intelligent-for-his-own-good head by certain cretins over at The Diary of Daedalus, which I've also started reading as a homeopathic antidote to the cretinous echo chamber that LGF has become.

It's a few hours past Christmas Eve where I am and not yet Christmas where you are, but I wish you the best for the coming year and what's left of this one.  May Santa bring you all you desire, and may you find the energy and rage to keep up the good work: it's that much less for me to do.


Best regards,


Jonathan Kundra
Paris, France



--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302