SLAPP: DailyKos Revival

Returning to a venue I left long ago.

Thirteen years ago I was suspended on DailyKos due to manipulation from the same group of people that are the origin of my OIG complaint against the Dallas FBI field office. This came at a time when I was the most popular right hand column (community) writer there as well as ghost writing for the House Progressive caucus.

I ran into the site’s founder, Markos, at a fundraiser in San Francisco for Lauren Windsor back in the fall of 2021. I told him a bit about Rauhauser v. McGibney, my precedent setting 1st Amendment case against James “Pissboy” McGibney. He was a bit bemused by the whole epic adventure, and when I told him how I’d been suspended, his response was simple. “Just make a new account.”

I set out to do just that a week ago … and discovered that I’d squatted my personal Gmail eighteen years ago, and then forgotten about it. I announced that I was Back After A Brief Hiatus as nealr, and there is also a nealr on Democratic Underground. If you’re looking for a scapegoat, blame my literary agent - I’ve been told I need channels of my own before a publishing house will agree to handle my upcoming book.

Around Here:

The planned activity here this quarter was announced in Snivel War - a mix of the usual cyberconflict stuff with a focus on counter-insurgency, and some litigation related coverage. Digging into SLAPP suits would be a significant departure from this site’s usual fare, and after a bit of consideration, I think I’m going to settle into SLAPP related writing over on DailyKos. I can do a weekly round up of news there, probably Tuesday mornings, and within a month it’ll become an institution.

I have not forgotten that owe you guys some work on counter-insurgency, but something REALLY good happened at the start of August. Four months ago I posted Rushing Into Semrush, which is about a best in its class SEO management platform, which can also produce intel like what’s seen in MIOS: Russpublicans. I took the online training for Google Analytics and Semrush itself, and I expected my first commercial project to start in mid-May. That project finally started on the 1st, and I’m halfway through a security audit of these new properties I get to manage.

Revenue Requirements:

I moved at the start of June and concurrent with that move I got to start something new - which I described as packing and shipping duties at Wally’s Widget World. The widget business suits me, I get to stuff widgets into boxes a couple hours a day, which I enjoy, and this goes a long way towards paying for my East BARTistan hut.

My first litigation specific article on DailyKos, Winning SLAPP Lawsuits, contains a proffer at the bottom. Similar to what I do with Infowar Irregulars Bulletin, I’m going to transfer my knowledge in this area to the next generation. There’s a hint of commercial interest at the very end, but it is going to be a pro bono/cost recovery sort of thing.

That being said, August looks great, but I am in dire need of an anchor client that will employ some of my skills on a quarter or half time basis at a Bay Area professional rate. Even my humble hut under this overpass comes with a four digit price tag, and I fear for my life if the wet food supply runs low.

So … my office assistant Fluff Warrior and I would be eternally grateful if any one of the 409(!) of you have a lead on work that would suit us.