Sooooooo…
This is what I do for my Day Job.
Drunk at #roflcon. A rage face version of mount rushmore. Having a good time! yfrog.com/mgsu4daj—
Fruzsina Eördögh (@FruzsE) May 05, 2012
It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.
That somebody is my co-worker (for the second time: the first was at the long-lost and oft-lamented True/Slant. We’re both chicks, so when it got sold to Forbes they let us go, but HEY NO HARD FEELINGS. The layoff notice addressed to “Dear Contributor” was a classy touch, I thought) Fruzsina Eördögh, and she is reporting from deep in the heart of ROFLcon for the DailyDot, along with a full third of the masthead.
I’m not. But it’s fine.
This is what conference journalism looks like from the trenches. If you’ve ever read Hunter S. Thompson I know these scenes will not frighten you, but they will shock you with just how far things have gone since HST was conference-going himself. You. Have. Been. Warned.
And here I am stuck at home. No open bar. No ROFLs. Not even a deflated Whoopie Cushion.
But it’s fine. It’s okay. I’ve still got my poetry.
Today’s classified ad comes from Christian outreach organization WEC International, who take the missionary position on all things, including, it seems, HR. You must read to the end to get the full effect.
Magazine Sub-editor or Chief Sub-editor, England – WEC International
Submitted: 25/04/12 ; Closing Date: Open
WEC’s Media & Communications team needs a clever, enthusiastic and hard-working sub-editor to work across a range of projects. Given the changing landscape of publishing, you will think multi-channel: print, web and mobile and be able subedit copy to suit each media.
Duties include: Subbing copy (news, features and marketing leaflets and flyers) arriving from various WEC UK ministries at speed and to tight deadlines, but with accuracy, attention to detail, precision and to a high and consistent standard, while also maintaining the house style and an appropriate tone of voice at all times; Writing eye-catching, snappy and accurate headlines, straps and abstracts/summaries. You will also be required to write the occasional feature.
This position is non-salaried as all WEC personnel look to God to provide their personal needs.
wecinternational.org.uk
They look to God to provide personal needs but apparently not to provide their staffing needs. Is that Satan’s department? From what I have experienced of HR, the answer is YES!
After the night I’ve had, make mine a decaf.
Hey #auspol listen up: @assangeC was misquoted. I know: I misquoted her. Updating post now dailydot.com/society/christ… #wikileaks #opassange—
(@raincoaster) February 21, 2012
@raincoaster Big of u to admit that! Maybe that could be the theme of your next article! read wlcentral.org/node/1418—
ChristineAssange (@AssangeC) February 21, 2012
@AssangeC @raincoaster somehow this little incident encapsulates what's happening to Julian: people hearing about "sex" instead of "facts".—
WikiLeaksLover (@NOH8ER) February 21, 2012
@NOH8ER @AssangeC whoa, that is SO true. I guess I was guilty too. I think you got right to the heart of it there.—
(@raincoaster) February 21, 2012
@raincoaster me too. Everyone makes mistakes, wish they handled them as you did this one.—
pj (@wheeliesmom) February 21, 2012
On the upside:
Plastic midget slacker for life homie RT @raincoaster: Lego Kurt Cobain is now Following me. That's GenX geek cred, right there.—
lego kurt cobain (@Lego_KurtCobain) February 21, 2012
So yeah, validated.
But I’m telling you, for the next little while I don’t need any god damn more surprises. CHEERS!
It’s a tale told in tweets, a very Twenty-First Century tale, for lo, it is all about recycling, Wikileaks, Russia, Orwellian paranoia, US online surveillance, and the Mainstream Media vs the New Media (remember the New Media? This is it. Are we vindicated or embarrassed?).
In other words, this is what my editors over at the DailyDot.com did NOT decide to run with my latest Wikileaks story, so I’m using it here, so there.
They took out all my wacky Cold War jokes, too, damnation! What’s an article about Russia and the US without a few tasteless Cold War jokes thrown in? Whodathunk a few references here or there to Google’s info-capitalist hegemony would get people in Silicon Valley so touchy?
Our story begins:
АФП выдало заметку о том, что Ассанж выходит у нас. Намешали туда, что я ходила на встречу с ВВ, и про альфа-самца, и про ДА:) #чистыйтрэш—
Маргарита Симоньян (@M_Simonyan) January 25, 2012
which comes from the head of RT, the network which has just picked up Julian Assange‘s new talk show. I repeat: JULIAN ASSANGE’S NEW TALK SHOW.
and translates thusly:
The AFP has issued a note that Assange goes with us. Are mixed there, I went to a meeting withthe explosive, and about the alpha male, and about YES:) #chistyytresh
to which we can only reply:
This might actually convince me to get cable. I’ll just let Twitter tell the rest of the story.
RT @RT_com: #Assange's TV show on RT: Most anticipated news series of 2012? on.rt.com/a9t8pm—
WikiLeaksLover (@NOH8ER) January 25, 2012
RT @melbourneninja: Wow! @RT_com secured the rights to Julian #Assange's political TV series just 24hrs after the #WikiLeaks press release!—
WikiLeaksLover (@NOH8ER) January 25, 2012
and from my former boss at True/Slant, now in charge of the front page of the NYT.com,
This is Orwellian RT @evgenymorozov: So Assange has sold out to Kremlin – yack! rt.com/news/julian-as…—
Michael Roston (@michaelroston) January 25, 2012
@michaelroston Actually RT is not bad sometimes.—
(@raincoaster) January 25, 2012
@raincoaster it's owned and operated by a semi-authoritarian government. It's always bad.—
Michael Roston (@michaelroston) January 25, 2012
@michaelroston Hahahahahahahaha, so is PBS.—
(@raincoaster) January 25, 2012
@michaelroston Ironically, Russia now has greater privacy protections than the US, especially online. Wikileaks uses .ru emails, for eg—
(@raincoaster) January 25, 2012
@raincoaster yet another American taken in by a Potemkin village—
Michael Roston (@michaelroston) January 25, 2012
Well, you KNOW there’s no way I’m taking THAT lying down.

Canuckistani Revolutionary
@michaelroston Didn't you used to be my boss? Don't you remember I'm not an American?—
(@raincoaster) January 25, 2012
@raincoaster I stand corrected. A Canadian taken in by a Potemkin village.—
Michael Roston (@michaelroston) January 25, 2012
@michaelroston I don't think so. I don't drink either US or Russian kool aid. Look at the privacy protections of Livejournal: pretty ace!—
(@raincoaster) January 25, 2012
@raincoaster Vladimir Putin is just fighting terrorists in Chechnya, and he also discovered many antique relics at the bottom of that lake—
Michael Roston (@michaelroston) January 25, 2012
@michaelroston it's understandable Assange would go with RT. a) who else would give him airtime? Murdoch? b) they've been good to him—
(@raincoaster) January 25, 2012
RT @JLLLOW: C'mon now, did u really think a US or UK television network would air Assange's show? They've been too busy making docos cri …—
WikiLeaksLover (@NOH8ER) January 25, 2012
@jessradio @jaraparilla You may not realise it yet, but it seems likely to me that Julian is using the Kremlin AT LEAST as much as they him.—
WikiLeaksLover (@NOH8ER) January 25, 2012