Subject: Re: I was going to send a card...
From: "barri2009" <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: 10/13/11, 00:11
To: kjlanc@aol.com
Reply-To:
barriticus@gmail.com

Thanks for the reply. My views on the situation may be a bit more nuanced than one can tell from a short op-ed, so we may agree more than you think. And unlike the many miserly people who selfishly keep their opinions to themselves, I've always been generous enough to grace all comers with everything I think, so perhaps you and I can discuss it this Christmas via my benevolence.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

From: kjlanc@aol.com
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:01:42 -0400 (EDT)
To: <barriticus@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: I was going to send a card...

As to the question of how much of the military budget should be subcontracted to private industry, my own opinion is firmly in the moderate position.  One can easily identify advantages to the practice, and of course the dangers are well documented.  It seems to me that during the GWBush years the government was forced into hiring contractors for low tech duties (logistics, food, security) because so many of the servicemen and women were assigned to combat.  That is not cost effective; I am pretty sure that a grunt is significantly cheaper than a KBR professional.

The high tech business is a different matter.  It doesn't seem possible for the military to build and maintain a cadre of technical whizzes given the limitations of an all volunteer force.

I realize that this response probably doesn't answer your questions but it's about all I can do.  And I trust you'll understand my concerns about getting too involved in this political matter, given that your correspondence may well be the target of an investigation.  Not to mention that my own sympathies may not align well with yours.

Take care of yourself.

-----Original Message-----
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
To: kjlanc <kjlanc@aol.com>
Sent: Sun, Oct 9, 2011 5:37 pm
Subject: Re: I was going to send a card...

I wanted to get your opinion, if you're willing to give it out, on the general topic I've been writing about lately, such as in this op-ed from today: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/09/virtual-secret-state-military-industrial

On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 6:54 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for the note. You may be overestimating my seriousness as a person; I've retired from Anonymous and am now just running a research team to suss out what we can about aspects of the intelligence contracting industry and putting it all up on a wiki we've created to serve as a public data set on the subject. I also spend a lot of time playing my new XBox 360, so there you go. Also, just signed with Writer's House to do the big Anonymous book with Gregg Housh, the fellow who helped turn it into an activist group back in early 2008. Actually, I'm not happy with a lot of things that have been done in the name of Anonymous lately, so I'm glad I left when I did. At any rate, the whole thing is not only fascinating on its own, but also indicative of some of the dynamics that are going to be playing an increasing role in human affairs over the next several decades, both for good and ill.

Thanks again for the birthday note. Hope all is well.


On Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 11:39 AM, <kjlanc@aol.com> wrote:
...but they were too highly structured and thematically constrained, and I didn't want to offend you.

Hey Barrett--

To be honest, there is an uncomfortable dissonance in sending you cheerful and simplistic birthday greetings at this time, what with your intense focus and active involvement in some pretty serious and heady stuff.  So I hope you accept this note for what it is.  We wish you well on the occasion of this arbitrary milestone.  Take care of yourself.

Kermit




--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302



--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302