knowing how to win wars since before 1993
Comrades, put your cursor over the image, it is CLICK-ABLE to the “villagers.”
Click on the innocent blog-villagers (Althouse, Surber, Dennis the Peasant, Simon, Jarvis, Riehl, Grant) to read their horrifying stories of resistance to this Frankenstein of the blogosphere.
Update: Cardinal Martini on PJM as Frankenstein
image by Jillian
Heh
Reason No. 4,354,355 why I love the Blogsphere: The PajamaMedia Death Pool. I have a vague recollection that we were invited to join PJM way back in the day. Either that, or we were almost invited. Or something. Obviously, I…
[…] Better humor: It’s alive! Hat tip to Charles Johnson. —– […]
OSM…err Pajamas Media
I haven’t weighed in on the OSM / Pajamas Media kerfuffle yet, not that anyone has asked, but I’m working on something from a different perspective which I may post later. Anyway, this Commissar post was too good to
NEWS FLASH! Flannel Nightgown Media Reports on Kuala Lumpur’s cleanest toilet.
And Dar Commissar has a lil’ thang going on, with a visit from Big Mo hizzself (in the comments of course). Titled: Pajamas Media - The Monster of the Blogosphere
(no title)
SOMETIMES you can only say one thing, even though it’s Glenn’s trademark:
Heh.
Are We Having Fun Yet?
The Pajamas Media thing is taking on a life of its own as sides are being drawn up, odds are being laid, and there’s even a dead pool for the PJ media enterprise. None of this is surprising, least of all to me.
a solemn vow
Repeat after me: I will never write a post containing the words “Pajamas”, “Media”, “Open”, and “Source”.
All the schadenfreude in the blogs about them is just dumb. If they’re so bad, just let th…
A Fine Piece Of Work
Okay, not as natural as something I posted earlier - but this graphic is a great piece of work. Be sure and following the brief instructions to scroll the image. I wish I knew how the Commissar did this -
Bloggy Goodness
I haven’t linked Joe Carter in awhile. Here’s a list he’s compiled of the most over and underrated films. His taste in movies is so good, you’d be shocked that ‘Evangelical’ is in his blog title. 
Phil Johnson links to a Charisma article where…
Oh, Steve. Mocking them for offering helpful, friendly, well-intentioned constructive criticism?
Don’t you realize they’re doing this out of love?
But does the monster return the love? Noooooooooo!
Heh. This is the best OSM post so far.
Exactly. If the monster really cared about blogging, he’d light himself on fire or something. Instead, he goes around looking for … money. Ew.
It used to be about the music, man.
I’d like to see one on the Roger “No Written Contract” Simon Hollywood School of Management™
Well-done satire is always enjoyable. Thanks for the laugh!
LOL
Where are my pitchfork and torch?
Ya know, bloggers are gettin awfully tetchy about criticism — sorta like the NYT and Paul Krugam
Thanks for not linking. Don’t want to upset the bears. Might have to change his rules again
Question: Is there a paid ad yet on OSM/MSM/PJM/PB&J yet? Even Err America appears to have those
Wait… there was a link to IFOC before, now it’s gone.
You use the same publishing tools as Reynolds, right?
Laurence,
I switched the link to your PJM Dead Pool. Your choice.
Allah, we’ll decide if we want to make fun of them for making money when they get around to making some. I personally won’t because when that happens it will switch from joke to worthwhile money making venture in my mind.
Until then the notion of a grown man who sports a fedora and an aging hippy with a pony tail putting out press copy that says “groovy” is gonna have to suffice.
Of course, Allah, you could always give us your honest opinion of the portal itself. Does the actual product match the hype to your eye? Okay, forget that, that’s too obvious. How about, is the actual product worth bookmarking even if it hadn’t been overpitched with such hyperbolic bombast?
No cheap shots at Allah [Please,(he’s doing just fine by himself)]. Allah, you know we love ya Babe. But I think the rubber band has snapped on this wind up propeller airplane. And it’s currently in descent. And no amount of hot air from ‘The Seventy’ is gonna keep it aloft.
Elmo, I personally like Allah (don’t know him but think he’s smart and funny). I don’t think he’s embarrassing himself in the least.
And, I don’t dislike “The Seventy” either. A good number of them kick ass and I’ve put money into tipjars myself because I want them to have some return for all their efforts.
For some reason this quote comes to mind:
“Do you know who I am? I’m Moe Greene! I was making my bones while you were going out with cheerleaders!”
What was it that happened to Moe Greene at the end of that movie again?
Something about his eye?
Hey, listen, I agree. Allah is a legend. Of course, so is SDB and that didn’t keep Allah from calling him a backbiting **********.
So Allah is loyal to his friends and that’s a virtue, no argument. But I don’t think it’s out of line to ask him what he thinks about the actual product in question.
There was Moe’s problem: He was making bones when he should have been making cheerleaders
An instant classic.
I was making my bones while you were going out with cheerleaders!”
How long have you had this issue with Cheerleaders? ; ) And I wished you’d have linked SondraK’s ass instead. But, great job! Here’s the link if you want it, otherwise just delete it. Wouldn’t want it to look like one of those open trackback deals. LOL
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2005/11/pajamas_media_f.html
Dan,
You are linked IN THE IMAGE! Go mouse over the image.
You are there.
I’m a bit on the anti-authoritarian side. That good old American individualism, don’t box me in.
Hey Stephen, that’s the neatest interactive graphic I’ve seen in a while. Nice image by Jillian too.
Hey, listen, I agree. Allah is a legend. Of course, so is SDB and that didn’t keep Allah from calling him a backbiting **********.
No, Steven is the Devil.
Der Commissar, could i please bear your humor-enhanced children?
Hey, Don Surber menitoned something about a blogger insurgency, now THAT I could get into.
Sorry for the late reply, 1234. (And thanks for the (too) kind words. I’m flattered.) To answer your question, I think much of the criticism leveled at PJM thus far is justified. I think PJM thinks it’s justified, too: David Corn’s post about the “less than stellar” launch and Glenn’s “hear hear” follow-up made clear that folks behind the scenes weren’t happy with the first week’s worth of business. Needless to say, the trademark problem with Radio Open Source was especially unfortunate and embarrassing. John Hawkins’s post on the subject is the best I’ve seen thus far, in that he manages to hit all the major points where PJM could do better without being snide about it or indulging in bad-faith accusations.
And that’s what it’s really all about for me. My problem isn’t with the substance of the criticism; hey — birds gotta fly, dogs gotta hunt, and bloggers gotta criticism. My problem is with the critics who have obsessed about it, day after day, multiple posts per day, sneering all the while. I’m not even referring to Dennis the Peasant, whose anger (assuming he’s telling the truth) is understandable. I’m not referring to the Kossacks either; that’s just politics. I’m talking about otherwise level-headed people on the right or in the center whose posts on this subject simply radiate schadenfreude. Bill Ardolino, who’s a pretty level-headed guy himself and is certainly no ideologue, put it this way:
I don’t have a particularly strong opinion on the venture either way. While I think that some of the criticism is valid, particularly the head-scratching confusion about OSR’s specific image, format and goals, I also think that certain folks have gone fairly far overboard, including indulging in ridiculously hyperanalytical criticism, personal attacks and innuendo about OSR’s use of venture capital, as well as prematurely busting out the cliched “they’re just like the MSM!” irony.
That last part is especially galling. I’ve seen several critics try to play off what they’re doing here as analogous to the blogosphere’s expose of the Rathergate memos — because, you see, both were fiascos, and therefore both guilty parties deserve incessant belligerent criticism. See, for me, the salient point about Rathergate wasn’t that it was a fiasco; it’s that CBS tried to influence the presidential election using forged documents and a fictional source. That’s why folks like me and Bill ended up frothing at the mouth. But hey, if a few guys starting up a media company and ******* up a trademark search rises to the same level of iniquity in other people’s minds, different strokes for different folks, I guess. After all, it’s not like PJM’s success would have any benefits for blogging as a whole, right?
Incidentally, Bill isn’t the only level-headed customer to be a bit flummoxed by all the schadenfreude. So is our gracious host here. So are John Cole and Dean Esmay. So am I (although feel free to dismiss me as level-headed). I have nothing personal against any of the critics, either, and will repeat here for the record that I’m a fan of Althouse’s and enjoy her posts on all things non-PJM related. I just don’t see the point of all the venom and all the bad-faith accusations, such as how PJM is supposedly censoring its contributors’ content (ask Cole or Jeff Goldstein about that) or how PJM refuses to link to anyone who isn’t a contributor (there was a link to Kos, of all people, in one of the PJM news round-ups last night). It makes me question people’s real motives and pisses me off on Charles Johnson’s behalf. Because what has Charles ever done to deserve a few weeks’ worth of the benefit of the doubt from right-wingers, right?
Thanks Allah. I was curious what you thought.
… and ****, let me be honest. Reading that made me feel petty about making the CJ ponytail crack. Groovy or no groovy.
Worth noting for all the critics who insist that PJM neither has a sense of humor about itself nor is willing to acknowledge the problems with its launch:
[R]eturn to this spot at noon Pacific, when OSM Editorial Advisory Board Members convene to carve up The Turkey that Laid a Golden Egg - the story of Pajamas Media’s journey to OSM and back again. A fast-moving, live, online debate, this blogjam features Glenn Reynolds, Adam Bellow, Cliff May and Tammy Bruce.
That’s from the OSM homepage. They’re having a blogger panel — on Thanksgiving, no less — devoted to their own ****-ups. Under the heading “The Turkey that Laid a Golden Egg”.
Now watch the naysayers change course and whine that they’re not taking themselves seriously enough. Man, how those goalposts do move.
Dan,
You are linked IN THE IMAGE! Go mouse over the image.
You are there.
lol Thanks, I knew that. I meant I wished you had linked the post with SondraK’s ass. Much finer piece of work IMO. ; )
Allah, let’s face it …. there’s You, Whittle, and SDB. But in my book, there will NEVER be gianter giants, than you three. EVER. Period. End of story.
I can understand your feelings, of seeing/thinking some are over reacting and over doing it [and yes, some are jumping on a rolling bandwagon after it got its start (shoot, more than some)].
There are a lot of reasons this one is going to tank, taking them all together (one can weigh them individually, calling out the scale deflection). But as a whole ….. it’s going down. It is a disaster. Totally and completely.
The propensity for The Seventy to largely overlook some things, which were distasteful to a healthy chunk of the sphere. Is where the major cleave took place. And there seemed to be no effort to even acknowledge the possibilty of the existence, of something stinky.
I’ll simply disagree, and say this was 100% an internal meltdown. The reactor core was breached from inside. This was not an outside hit from a stealth bomber. Myself, I have no long time loyalties to defend. Only what’s right. Only the truth. Doesn’t mean that I myself, wouldn’t stand in front of Zarq’s crew for ya.
Hoping Your Thanksgiving Is All That, Sincerely, Elmo.
Allah,
While I’ll agree that some of the criticism is over the top, so is making more of it than it is. And for the record, I think they have as much chance at succedding as they do failing. But I would argue that not all the criticism is petty, or overly venomous. WHile they never did me wrong personally, it’s clear they did do some very wrong as regards communication, inclusion, removing, etc.
At the same time they are putting themselves out there as, in essence, THE force in an area which, by definition, most every blogger takes very personally. It stands to reason people are going to react and even over-react.
At the same time the blogging community is changing so quickly from so many new bloggers - hell I only started a year and a half ago. It’s almost like watching certain generational, or iterational influences at work.
And just as you could point to certain people as being level headed, one could fairly claim that some individuals are also the most likely to hedge their bets, as opposed to speaking out.
OSM has taken NZ Bear hostage and forced him to delink me 
Dang, Dan is getting me all nostalgic…I remember when they used to call us war bloggers. Hey mang, can’t we all just get along?
Elmo — Thanks, much appreciated. Like 1234, you’re far too kind. As for your insistence that PJM is an irredeemable disaster: perhaps. I’m no businessman so I won’t offer an opinion. All I can say is, I hope you’re wrong.
I’m baffled by your knocking the contributors for not blogging more about PJM’s problems, though. It’s not like they suppressed information; the story about the trademark problem was way out in the open and being blogged at the speed of light by the rest of the ’sphere. As for Dennis’s allegations, I wouldn’t have touched those either. No one knows the full story except him and Roger, and I’d feel like a royal ******* if I started slagging Roger on my blog and it later turned out that the charges against him were untrue.
To those who would charge “the Seventy” with having been bought off as part of some conspiracy of silence: when do you plan to start posting nasty criticisms of businesses from which you derive revenue? Don’t let your employer buy your silence! Stand tall, incorruptibles!
Dan — You wrote:
But I would argue that not all the criticism is petty, or overly venomous. WHile they never did me wrong personally, it’s clear they did do some very wrong as regards communication, inclusion, removing, etc.
Indeed. Hence my admission that much of the criticism is justified and my link to Hawkins’s post. (Hence also PJM’s self-effacing description of itself as the Turkey that Laid a Golden Egg.) I must say, though, that I don’t make much of PJM’s assertions that they’re “the next stage in blogging” or whatever. They’re a start-up; they’re going to engage in a bit of puffery to try to grab people’s interest. I find it bizarre that non-affiliated bloggers are taking it personally, particularly when, as noted above, PJM is willing to link those same non-affiliates. (In fact, a quick glance over there reveals that they currently have a link up to — gulp — Think Progress. So much for the monolithic neocon cabal.) Whatever they’re doing, they’re not trying to pretend like the blogosphere begins and ends with them. And if they eventually succeed somehow in getting a critical mass of bloggers to do original reporting, then let me tell you: they will be the next stage in blogging.
I dunno. I suspect most of the hard feelings will blow over once PJM starts to find its footing and the naysayers get bored with it. For now, though, most of the nastier posts seem to run along the following lines:
“Why are people upset that I’m mocking PJM? I have nothing against them personally. It’s not like I want the business to fail.
By the way, here’s a link to the Pajamas Media Dead Pool. Tee hee!”
Allah - “Why are people upset that I’m mocking PJM? I have nothing against them personally. It’s not like I want the business to fail.
Granted. I’d say my criticism has been measured, except for feeling the Roger should have responded to Dennis. However, I said my piece and am done with it. My last two posts on it were humorous - except where I linked to Hog on Ice with the email suggesting there was still some lying going on. But I didnt comment on it.
And while you’re right, they may not be claiming to be all that and a bag of chips, the MSM grossly misinterprets blogging and bloggers as it is, IMO. I do fear it could happen - expecially with a political year coming up. I hate turning on some MSM outlet to hear “Well, those right wing bloggers blah blah blah” Hell, anyone who reads us knows of our diverse opinions - we couldnt agree on the time looking at the same watch.
Anyway, the challenge for PJM, one of them, is going to be recruiting moderate and lefty blogs - they’re being painted as conservative by the left.
As to your seemingly never ending ability to be acknowledged as a blog God - lol - I said this once in a thread maybe a year ago: I was coming in and around just before you were winding down, but it was some phenomenal stuff you were doing. You’re one of the few bloggers for which I’ve actually taken time to read archived posts. I think you quit just so as not to force Dean out at the DNC because we need him there so badly. ; )
Happy Thanksgiving - you and all.
Jane: can’t we all just get along?
Chill Rodney, ain’t be no fun in dat!!
Hey Allah, I never implied/inferred coinage as being an external directive. Though I most definitely have commented, about an intrinsic value system that a blogger might apply (I have the perception of an unwillingness to question). And I think we have different perceptions of the impact of DtP as well.
Myself, not the great intellectual, more emotive.
I think the weight and gravity of the situation, regarding a humble blogger from Ohio, won’t soon be forgotten. Whatever the progress/failure of PJ’s.
In fact I see two camps emerging as we speak. Me, I have no one to answer to. I however, cannot in good conscience, believe in anything OSM/Pajamas Media ever again.
P.S. Gonna spin some platters and sip some spirits …. catch all of you fine folks another day.
“…will repeat here for the record that I’m a fan of Althouse’s and enjoy her posts on all things non-PJM related….”
Allah, how can you possibly say that? The whole OSM/PJM kerfluffle has exposed her as exactly the faux, whiny, poseur foul-weather feminist that she has always been underneath. She is a parody of herself. I can never read her with anything but sardonic suspicion again.
Do you watch Boondocks? I empathize completely with little rage-filled Huey over this. Just like the blackfolk Huey despairs over, Ann AltHouse descended to fulfill every stereotype believed about women when she went whining to Drum and Black about the “sexist” attacks launched on her. No one was attacking for her sex, it was for her stupidity. Most of the people attacking her were women, like me.
I think the whole OSM/PJM “outrage” has exposed a lot people for who they really are. Except for Dennis (who may have a legit gripe), the ODS subscibers are wrapped waaaay too tight and exercising their own agendas.
Now watch the naysayers change course and whine that they’re not taking themselves seriously enough. Man, how those goalposts do move.
Hmm. With Allah as their PR director, we don’t stand a chance.
Any other “critics” wanna pool money and see if we can put Buddha on retainer?
No offense, playah grrl, but you’ve been leaving nasty comments in Althouse’s comments since this whole controversy began. It’s stupid, it’s dumb, it’s silly, and I wish bloggers wouldn’t take themselves so seriously over a business venture that’s not even a year old yet. I think the PJM defenders can defend themselves just fine. You’re just making it worse with your misplaced snark.
PS: Althouse has explained her feminist posts in subsequent comments, so I suppose you just have a different interpretation of what she said because you dislike her and because she’s very critical of PJM.
“Now watch the naysayers change course and whine that they’re not taking themselves seriously enough. Man, how those goalposts do move.” - Allah
Nah. I’m just pondering the “So.. when did they lay a Golden Egg?” part, Pinky.
But then, I’m not level headed or center. I’ll just snicker and note that it’s a part of the same amateur hour BS as the previous history, and equally amusing.
“See, for me, the salient point about Rathergate wasn’t that it was a fiasco; it’s that CBS tried to influence the presidential election using forged documents and a fictional source.” - Allah
Hrrm. Not sure I agree. Key for me on Rathergate wasn’t that it was a fiasco, nor that they tried to influence the elections: it was the complete lack of ethics that the forged memos illustrated, and the “whatever it takes is justified” attitude, combined with the transparent efforts to deny there was any “there” there to the criticism.
The Katrina fiasco was of a kind with Rathergate: illustrates a complete disregard for ethics over agenda.
And that to me is a large part of the problem with the PJM/OSM fiasco: it displayed openly that the very people who made their bones in part over Rather’s wilingness to toss any vestige of ethics aside to pursue an agenda… were willing to toss blogging ethics or business ethics aside to pursue a business venture.
Lack of transparency. Changing the story on the name kerfluffle. Signing bloggers to an exclusivity contract that precluded them taking in other ad revenue for the contract period [by a number of accounts], only to drop them without communication. Just to list a few of the already documented lapses…
Sure, Allah - its not on the same scale of situation as the CBS memos: none of this is going to affect a Presidential election. Wah. It does bespeak of the same type of situational ethics, though.
And it affects the credibility of the people who associate with it and defend it. “Oh, but that’s DIFFERENT, dammit!” *snicker*
If we’re going to slap the piss out of the MSM for violating its own oft trumpeted standards, then we don’t get a pass on having our own standards of convenience.
“when do you plan to start posting nasty criticisms of businesses from which you derive revenue? Don’t let your employer buy your silence! Stand tall, incorruptibles!” - Allah
Been there, did that, still have my t-shirt. [Literally: I still have my Renderosity Moderator t-shirt and mug]
I quit working there when it became clear that they and I were *never* going to see eye to eye on certain issues. And I was never quiet on the dichotomy between their statements and their actions.
Does that pass muster, O’ Maker of Worlds? ;]
“‘Why are people upset that I’m mocking PJM? I have nothing against them personally. It’s not like I want the business to fail.’” - Allah
I at least have never gone that route in my comment commentaries. I don’t particularly care to see it succeed on the basis on which it’s started: I think it’ll set a bad example for future blogosphere endeavors if it succeeds in spite f itself - other wankers will have been shown that that’s the way to go about it, and that everyone will forgive the Means if the End is Good [Profitable].
Nah.
“I dunno. I suspect most of the hard feelings will blow over once PJM starts to find its footing and the naysayers get bored with it.” - Allah
Oh, on that I agree with you fully. It’s today’s Ten Minute Sensation. In 1-2 months, no one will remember it or care, just like no one is still talking much about the muchly debated “Blogger’s Ethics Committee” of a year ago.
Like forum weasels, most bloggers have the attention span of a ferret on crack.
And Steven den Beste is a lot of things, but a “back biting **********” isn’t one of them.
Rhesa, i object vehemently to Ann playin’ the sex card. She’s been screaming “sexist attack” about LGF, Drum, Eschaton, and now Kos. She deleted my comments linking Baldilocks post where she said she was just doing it for the sistahs. I don’t want her doin’ it for me. Then on her blog, she says it was about her being attacked–which is it? Her or the sistahs?
You know what, she can’t scream sexist attack on me, i’m a grrl–so is she gonna scream PJM supporter attack? Sounds about right.
Oh, Rhesa, Ann just deleted her own comment where she whined about Jeff G. attacking her– she sez to Jeff–
“You come over to my blog and rant as if you’ve been given the assignment to be my personal Baldilocks?”
Censoring herself?
She’s having a meltdown.
She explained nothing in her “subsequent posts”. She just whined about being attacked because she’s a woman.
And Steven den Beste is a lot of things, but a “back biting **********” isn’t one of them.
No. I already told you. Steven Den Beste is the Devil. Look, he says it himself.
Rhesa, jus’ one more thing. I don’t care about AltHouse’s PJM ‘tude anymore. You are just not getting me. I feel exactly the same way about AltHouse at this point as I do about vapors-having sex-traitor Dr. Nancy Hopkins.
Do you remember the Summers affair?
If Charles Johnson can be compared to Dan Rather, then AltHouse is isomorphic with the loathesome Dr. Hopkins. And that is why I am so mad.
I especially don’t want her speaking for me.
Ever.
She explained nothing in her “subsequent posts”. She just whined about being attacked because she’s a woman.
She’s explained plenty. She even went to Baldilocks’s comment section to clarify her post on the feminism angle. I didn’t see a response from you on THAT one.
You are just not getting me. I feel exactly the same way about AltHouse at this point as I do about vapors-having sex-traitor Dr. Nancy Hopkins.
You’re right on THAT part. I sure don’t get you.
I especially don’t want her speaking for me.
Ever.
Since when has one female blogger’s cry for feminist allies when it comes to a stupid intra-blog feud suddenly morph into a feminist hatefest? Methinks you protest too much.
Rhesa.
No.
She’s explained plenty. She even went to Baldilocks’s comment section to clarify her post on the feminism angle. I didn’t see a response from you on THAT one.
The reason you don’t see a response from me is that she repeatedly deleted my comments at her blog linking what she said in Baldilocks comment section. She said there, she was jus’ doing it for the sistahs, yet at her blog, it’s all about her.
Since when has one female blogger’s cry for feminist allies when it comes to a stupid intra-blog feud suddenly morph into a feminist hatefest? Methinks you protest too much.
She did it three times. So far.
And, this is why.
Now, i gotta go. Half-day pass.
Latah.
The reason you don’t see a response from me is that she repeatedly deleted my comments at her blog linking what she said in Baldilocks comment section. She said there, she was jus’ doing it for the sistahs, yet at her blog, it’s all about her.
Something’s wrong with her using her blog to talk about feminist issues because…why, exactly? The first time she ventured on to Baldilocks’s blog to explain herself, no reaction from you. In the second Baldilocks post, your reaction reminded me of a groupie’s.
You’ve been calling her Nancy Hopkins all this time and waxing outraged because she dared to ask some feminists to point out gender-related problems on her fracking blog. Frankly, I’m not sure why you’re latching onto HER blog because of your own issues with chauvinistic pigs out there. It’s not like Althouse represents all the female bloggers in the blogosphere, let alone female commenters or female readers. She certainly doesn’t represent ME. I ain’t screaming about her pulling a sex card attack on female blogdom because I’m a girl. So give it a rest, would ya?
PS: Bloggers post about feminist issues and blogging ALL THE TIME, you know.
PPS: Your various attacks on Prof. Althouse on this and other blogs make it seem like it’s all about YOU. Trust me, it’s not very becoming of you, either.
“No. I already told you. Steven Den Beste is the Devil. Look, he says it himself.” - playah grrl
Saw that, probably minutes after he posted it, actually. I’ve been watching this meltdown from the launch and before, thanks. ;]
If Steven’s De Debbil, what does that make PJM? Christ on a Wiki? *snicker*
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