Wednesday, April 28, 2010

On the bright side, at least these weirdos at MPRI don't know who we are

So apparently the U.S. Army pays contractors to surf the internet looking for blog entries that mention the service. (Because that's not creepy or anything.) If the government wasn't so damn stupid, they'd just have some E-5 reading Small Wars Journal.

Danger Room reports:
You’d think all the criticism from left-wing websites like the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Salon would royally piss off the Army. But at least one Army report finds the sites’ posts to be consistently “balanced.”

Every week, the defense contractor MPRI prepares for the brass a “Blogosphere and Social Media Report,” rounding up sites’ posts on military matters. It’s meant to be a single source for top officers to catch up on what’s being said online and in leading social media outlets. Items from about two dozen national security and political blogs are excerpted, and classified as “balanced,” “critical,” or “supportive.” The vast majority of the posts are considered “balanced” — even when they rip the Army a new one.
But let's get to the important part, and the question you're all asking yourselves: How often do they talk about Ink Spots?!

Well, never, now that you ask. And I don't mind telling you that I'm sort of pleased at that fact. Friends of the blog Abu Muqawama and Armchair Generalist aren't so lucky, nor are SWJ, Attackerman, Michael Yon, Blackfive, and some of your other standard big-timers. (Oh yeah, and Danger Room.) So just in case you think we've gotten too big for our britches, the Army is still blissfully unaware of our existence.

(OK, I'll admit it: me calling the government "stupid" is a really thinly-veiled effort to get included in the "Critical" section of the next one of these things.)

14 comments:

  1. Just wait till this report grows...I think they'll soon learn!

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  2. Difference between me and Herschel Smith (one of many): he actually seems annoyed that he's not included.

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  3. Agreed on hiring MPRI...actually seems like an intern job to me.

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  4. A similar story arose back in August. I repeat now what I say then: I did this in about 5 or 10 minutes per day. Now people are banking a bunch of money to do this as a job? Stupid.

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  5. "Friends of the blog Abu Muqawama and Armchair Generalist aren't so lucky"

    Wow, talk about a double-hitting jump-the-shark team.

    SNLII

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  6. Actually, I've been told that there actually is a "SNLII File."

    And, no, I'm not kidding.

    "(Real name), you've got to keep doing this because they really do listen. They don't like you, but they listen!"

    SNLII

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  7. Yon's Facebook page gets more scrutiny than his blog or Weekly Standard (or National Review, whatever) posts get.

    SNLII

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  8. I've been told that there actually is a "SNLII File."

    Then I guess they're aware that Carl Prine is a jackass.

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  9. The feud has been going on for years. They treat it as a joke.

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  10. ""Friends of the blog Abu Muqawama and Armchair Generalist aren't so lucky"

    Wow, talk about a double-hitting jump-the-shark team."

    Exqueeze me, what? Are you sniping me, SNLII? Explain, please. I hope that my blog has been more enjoyable and logical than Abu M's very mixed quality of discussions.

    Re: the failure to target InkSpots. I think the key is that you have to discuss specific Army generals or Army topics of interest. If you stay in the general area of defense issues without naming names, the MPRI doesn't pick you up on the radar. A bit shortsighted, but hey, I guess that's what the SOW called for.

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  11. Are you sniping me, SNLII? Explain, please.

    I've seen this episode before. Here's the script.

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  12. What I liked, Schmedlap, was the photo of the slick-sleeve clacking on his laptop, doing his part of the war effort.

    If he's about the rank of E-5, it means an inevitable Bronze Star at the end of his tour.

    Of course, if I had to read certain unnamed blogs all day I WOULD DESERVE A COMMENDATION, TOO!

    But I won't mention them because they puss up.

    SNLII

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  13. Listen, if you want to get on that stupid list, then cowboy up and start calling out some generals.

    It's apparently just a vanity project for them anyway.

    Bring back limericks and try to find something that rhymes with McChrystal or Eikenberry.

    This is so genius, I just blew your mind.

    SNLII

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  14. I, of course, a newcomer to this blog, but the author does not agree

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