one email, two replies
in a land of spin, the gyroscope is
king
well, we are going to put this baby to
rest, first with my "olive branch" letter, and then with the replies that it
generated, in the sequence that i received the
replies...
dave...
isn't it possible that al, in his own obnoxious chip on his shoulder way, is just trying to engage you in a conversation about journalistic ethics? i think you are missing an opportunity here to open up a dialog with a valuable ally...maybe al is a loose cannon...he get's a lot done, though, and he inspires people, and he will keep you honest (who couldn't use that?)...approach the thing with deep breathing and the sort of open-mindedness you have show in our correspondence...it's all about the olive branch, baby.
just a thought...
peace in chaos,
chas
"the worst thing is to be a charlatan yoga teacher"
http://homepage.mac.com/chasbaudelaire/iblog/B1541229392/index.html
leave the machine.
next up al, responding to my letter directly below :
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your good faith efforts to shine more light on this story.
Of course, if you feel that any of Mr. Borden's protestations have merit,
you already have your Narco News copublisher account, in which you can
post your comments freely and without censorship on Narco News. But you
know that already. From our end, we favor full, but fair, discussion of
all points of contention that naturally erupt when there are real stakes -
such as victory or defeat in our common cause to repeal US-imposed drug
prohibition in our hemisphere.
I always feel that sunlight is the best disinfectant (as, obviously, you
do, too). I congratulate you for, first, highlighting the victory in
Brazil - where drug users will no longer be prosecuted - as I did because
that is the only real news story here.
As for Mr. Borden's ravings that "you should know that Al Giordano hates
us," he has an exaggerated view of himself. First, because my passions -
which are evident to all my readers - include neither love nor hate for
mosquitos nor for Mr. Borden's ravings: except when he unfairly attacks a
great man like Fabio Mesquita, who founded the Harm Reduction movement in
our hemisphere at great personal sacrifice 13 years ago.
Second, because there is no "us" over there at his newsletter: there is
only Mr. Borden and whomever he pays money. My passions simply don't exist
in the extremities of love or hate regarding his organization, which,
despite its unsubstantiated claims, has a much smaller readership than
most drug policy newsletters, as can be documented here:
http://drcnet.org/stats/
That's a far cry from its claims of being "the biggest" drug policy
newsletter on earth, with an alleged, but never documented, "25,000
subscribers." But the group's own statistics on "unique visitors" show
only a fraction - at best, four percent - of that. There are at least a
half-dozen, including Narco News, which is journalism, and also including
activist websites like those of the Drug Policy Alliance, the Media
Awareness Project, the Marijuana Policy Project, NORML,
CannabisCulture.com, among others, who have won, in shorter time, more
readers and more trust and confidence from those readers than that
one-person show.
His claims about Narco News and those who daily work with us are daily
disproved by the volume of online, interactive, participation of Narco
News reborn and the all-new "Narcosphere," of which you are one of the
original participants. It's only a week or so old, but it already has a
wider and more impressive array of voices and collaborators... more than
the individual who claims that that our "list" of collaborators "grows
short."
I do believe in fairness, though, and you may extend Mr. Borden this
invitation through your excellent weblog: That if he truly believes his
reports are accurate, and mine are not, I offer him a free Narco News
copublisher account to air his grievances, without censorship, to all of
our readers. That's how confident I am in the facts of our Authentic
Journalism. And let the people decide!
If Mr. Borden seriously believes he is correct in his claims, he can get
much greater access to a much wider audience than his own newsletter
affords, as my treat to him, and he may argue his case in the sunlight,
where everyone else can comment, too.
I think that's a gracious offer. Feel free to broker it via the
chasbaudelair weblog.
Or, as the original Charles Baudelaire (to whom I'm particularly fond, in
part, because he translated my fellow Bronx citizen Edgar Allen Poe), once
writ, in prophecy of this exact kind of situation:
Stupidity, delusion, selfishness and lust
torment our bodies and possess our minds,
and we sustain our affable remorse
the way a beggar nourishes his lice
Our sins are stubborn, our contrition lame;
we want our scruples to be worth our while-
how cheerfully we crawl back to the mire:
with few cheap tears washing our stains away!
How sad that Mr. Borden isn't big enough to offer an immediate apology to
a leader as great and as honest as Fabio Mesquita. Baudelaire had that
kind of behavior well explained a long, long, time ago. But, alas, human
beings don't change much, do they?
Until the victory, always...
Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/
publisher@narconews.com
and now dave borden responding to my appeal for communication and olive-branching:
Chas,
I've known and have been dealing with Al Giordano for a long time. I once considered him a friend and ally. Now I consider him dangerous and someone who does more harm than good. I could be wrong about that. But no, I don't consider it possible that he is attempting to engage us in a conversation about journalistic ethics. Giordano has a years long history of disgusting, distorted attacks on good activists. Sometimes they had made missteps, sometimes he distorted things to the point of fabrication. I don't consider him a good person, and I do consider both his reporting and his attacks on others to lack credibility. There is no good that can come from any dialogue we could have with him, and dialogue is not the word that would likely apply to what would come out of his mouth.
You don't have to see it this way, but you have to understand, I've worked with him, my viewpoint is based on hard and distasteful experience. I will send no olive branch to him, nor will I throw sticks and stones. I just want to forget he exists, and so does everyone else here.
- Dave
well there you have it...this is what we face in our efforts to change the world...
dave...
isn't it possible that al, in his own obnoxious chip on his shoulder way, is just trying to engage you in a conversation about journalistic ethics? i think you are missing an opportunity here to open up a dialog with a valuable ally...maybe al is a loose cannon...he get's a lot done, though, and he inspires people, and he will keep you honest (who couldn't use that?)...approach the thing with deep breathing and the sort of open-mindedness you have show in our correspondence...it's all about the olive branch, baby.
just a thought...
peace in chaos,
chas
"the worst thing is to be a charlatan yoga teacher"
http://homepage.mac.com/chasbaudelaire/iblog/B1541229392/index.html
leave the machine.
next up al, responding to my letter directly below :
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your good faith efforts to shine more light on this story.
Of course, if you feel that any of Mr. Borden's protestations have merit,
you already have your Narco News copublisher account, in which you can
post your comments freely and without censorship on Narco News. But you
know that already. From our end, we favor full, but fair, discussion of
all points of contention that naturally erupt when there are real stakes -
such as victory or defeat in our common cause to repeal US-imposed drug
prohibition in our hemisphere.
I always feel that sunlight is the best disinfectant (as, obviously, you
do, too). I congratulate you for, first, highlighting the victory in
Brazil - where drug users will no longer be prosecuted - as I did because
that is the only real news story here.
As for Mr. Borden's ravings that "you should know that Al Giordano hates
us," he has an exaggerated view of himself. First, because my passions -
which are evident to all my readers - include neither love nor hate for
mosquitos nor for Mr. Borden's ravings: except when he unfairly attacks a
great man like Fabio Mesquita, who founded the Harm Reduction movement in
our hemisphere at great personal sacrifice 13 years ago.
Second, because there is no "us" over there at his newsletter: there is
only Mr. Borden and whomever he pays money. My passions simply don't exist
in the extremities of love or hate regarding his organization, which,
despite its unsubstantiated claims, has a much smaller readership than
most drug policy newsletters, as can be documented here:
http://drcnet.org/stats/
That's a far cry from its claims of being "the biggest" drug policy
newsletter on earth, with an alleged, but never documented, "25,000
subscribers." But the group's own statistics on "unique visitors" show
only a fraction - at best, four percent - of that. There are at least a
half-dozen, including Narco News, which is journalism, and also including
activist websites like those of the Drug Policy Alliance, the Media
Awareness Project, the Marijuana Policy Project, NORML,
CannabisCulture.com, among others, who have won, in shorter time, more
readers and more trust and confidence from those readers than that
one-person show.
His claims about Narco News and those who daily work with us are daily
disproved by the volume of online, interactive, participation of Narco
News reborn and the all-new "Narcosphere," of which you are one of the
original participants. It's only a week or so old, but it already has a
wider and more impressive array of voices and collaborators... more than
the individual who claims that that our "list" of collaborators "grows
short."
I do believe in fairness, though, and you may extend Mr. Borden this
invitation through your excellent weblog: That if he truly believes his
reports are accurate, and mine are not, I offer him a free Narco News
copublisher account to air his grievances, without censorship, to all of
our readers. That's how confident I am in the facts of our Authentic
Journalism. And let the people decide!
If Mr. Borden seriously believes he is correct in his claims, he can get
much greater access to a much wider audience than his own newsletter
affords, as my treat to him, and he may argue his case in the sunlight,
where everyone else can comment, too.
I think that's a gracious offer. Feel free to broker it via the
chasbaudelair weblog.
Or, as the original Charles Baudelaire (to whom I'm particularly fond, in
part, because he translated my fellow Bronx citizen Edgar Allen Poe), once
writ, in prophecy of this exact kind of situation:
Stupidity, delusion, selfishness and lust
torment our bodies and possess our minds,
and we sustain our affable remorse
the way a beggar nourishes his lice
Our sins are stubborn, our contrition lame;
we want our scruples to be worth our while-
how cheerfully we crawl back to the mire:
with few cheap tears washing our stains away!
How sad that Mr. Borden isn't big enough to offer an immediate apology to
a leader as great and as honest as Fabio Mesquita. Baudelaire had that
kind of behavior well explained a long, long, time ago. But, alas, human
beings don't change much, do they?
Until the victory, always...
Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/
publisher@narconews.com
and now dave borden responding to my appeal for communication and olive-branching:
Chas,
I've known and have been dealing with Al Giordano for a long time. I once considered him a friend and ally. Now I consider him dangerous and someone who does more harm than good. I could be wrong about that. But no, I don't consider it possible that he is attempting to engage us in a conversation about journalistic ethics. Giordano has a years long history of disgusting, distorted attacks on good activists. Sometimes they had made missteps, sometimes he distorted things to the point of fabrication. I don't consider him a good person, and I do consider both his reporting and his attacks on others to lack credibility. There is no good that can come from any dialogue we could have with him, and dialogue is not the word that would likely apply to what would come out of his mouth.
You don't have to see it this way, but you have to understand, I've worked with him, my viewpoint is based on hard and distasteful experience. I will send no olive branch to him, nor will I throw sticks and stones. I just want to forget he exists, and so does everyone else here.
- Dave
well there you have it...this is what we face in our efforts to change the world...
Posted: Sun - February 22, 2004 at 11:52 PM
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