Friday, February 27, 2009
Twist and Turn
Every day, I hear something new.
I can't spill all of the details, but if what I was told the other day is true on the whole mess I've written about, it means that THREE of my cases are being messed with. Lucky for me I have complete transcripts of many my meetings which are all completely on the record. As you can see, one such transcript is below. That one is from May 30, 2007 and I am STILL working on that same case!
I can't spill all of the details, but if what I was told the other day is true on the whole mess I've written about, it means that THREE of my cases are being messed with. Lucky for me I have complete transcripts of many my meetings which are all completely on the record. As you can see, one such transcript is below. That one is from May 30, 2007 and I am STILL working on that same case!
Won't be needing these!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Freudian slip?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Change I can believe in...
Yeah, there are changes that are not coming fast enough. All that aside, this is the kind of change I'm into...
Then...
Now...
Then...
Now...
Caption this...
Monday, February 23, 2009
An update
There seems to be, based on recent email and comments, confusion over what is exactly happening on the site recently. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about how this site was not the place to read about every sex scandal related to politicians. There are lots of folks who do that, and very well (one of them is another site of mine, another is run by a close friend). When I posted at that time, I didn't write more about what the purpose of BlogActive is.
More than anything else, this site is a tool in a toolbox.
That's no photo from stock.xchng. It's not lifted from some other site. It's my picture and that workshop is in my apartment. I know it's a little different to have a workshop in a city apartment, but I like tinkering and doing "workshop things." I even built a wooden "deck" and furniture on my 10th floor balcony:
It took a bunch of different tools to build a "deck" like that: saws, hammers, drills, screwdrivers and a lot more. It also takes a lot of tools to do the work of outing anti-gay politicians. This site is one of those tools, BlogActive.com.
Unlike many other politically oriented blogs, the goal of BlogActive has never to post every day and build traffic each month. I can't remember the last time I looked at the daily traffic and referrals to the site. Since it's not about traffic, here are just a sample of the things I use the site for:
Like the Virgil Goode story, I've worked with others on joint projects. Such partnerships have resulted in the breaking of a number of stories. In some cases the work is done with other journalists who cannot be tied to the outing of anti-gay politicians. And in some cases the partnerships are sensitive, so they cannot be discussed. In the case I've referenced there were meetings I had that were, with the source's permission, taped. I asked the source a number of times if he wanted to enter into a confidentiality agreement regarding the work. He did not. That ended up being a good thing. Because not only did the source and project partners shaft me, but since my meetings were recorded, I have my transcripts documenting my meeting with him.
So, it came to my attention that others in the conversation were trying to shaft me. I reached out and when it became obvious that they were not responding, I decided to educate a third individual about the matter by showing a part of the transcript (that is one of the things I can't get into the specifics of). Let's just say this guy I met with in the subject's state (he has since moved east) and has put at least one source at serious risk of his identity becoming public. The crazy thing was this: I gave the guy a chance to enter into a confidentiality agreement. He basically said "no thanks."
As you can imagine, it's quite tempting to report on information a source has not requested me to hold back with. At the moment, I'm leaving it up to the lawyers... Confusing? I know... Important? Yes.
So where is the work? I continue, at my own expense, to do the investigation work. Unfortunately, the folks I was involved in manipulated me and convinced me to delay approaching certain sources to the point where they delayed my work and in addition to putting a source at work, may have ruined the chance to gain important evidence. In one case, I was misled into believing that someone was working on my behalf to obtain records located in the middle of America. Not only was I purposefully delayed, I was misled as well. It's a bummer, but by no means does it mean my work will stop and if the time is right, I'll have no other option but to expose those that have done this to me.
I hope this opens readers' eyes a bit as to why you may not always understand every post here. I assure you, I am working on cases as fast as I can... I won't let a handful of people stand in my way.
For those of you that expect me to deliver a certain number of cases in a certain amount of time, you're in the wrong place. I'm not a professional private investigator and no one out there is paying for the work. I have real work to do to pay the bills and since my former partners on the project cost me so many unanticipated expenses, I must work to cover all of them. For someone who's work has gone unsupported, I'm used to taking financial hits from folks who want to use my work to their advantage. (These people went so far as to use my twenty years of fundraising experience to convince folks to support them... Then they treated me poorly. )
I am working with a blogger at another gay site to hopefully begin post here regularly along with me. His site is known for direct actions tools also and I think he'd be a great addition to the site. I'll keep you updated on that as it moves along.
Mike
More than anything else, this site is a tool in a toolbox.
That's no photo from stock.xchng. It's not lifted from some other site. It's my picture and that workshop is in my apartment. I know it's a little different to have a workshop in a city apartment, but I like tinkering and doing "workshop things." I even built a wooden "deck" and furniture on my 10th floor balcony:
It took a bunch of different tools to build a "deck" like that: saws, hammers, drills, screwdrivers and a lot more. It also takes a lot of tools to do the work of outing anti-gay politicians. This site is one of those tools, BlogActive.com.
Unlike many other politically oriented blogs, the goal of BlogActive has never to post every day and build traffic each month. I can't remember the last time I looked at the daily traffic and referrals to the site. Since it's not about traffic, here are just a sample of the things I use the site for:
When I need to move stories of anti-gay closeted politicians, this is one of the great places to do it. I'll tell the story here, where people have come to expect it. (When stories are here, the site gets linked enough for people to read it, trust me.)Of late, readers have seen some of the communication I have made with folks I was working in partnership on a project with. I was working on a project of joint research in conjunction with a "team" of others who duped and then continued to misled me into a project. There are a number of legal issues and I was forced to act to protect my rights. The letter of retainer with my attorney is here. The letter means I cannot talk much about the specifics, but I can clarify some of what you have seen here.
I've also used BlogActive to report on stories that I've broken in partnership with others. The story of Virgil Goode and his earmarks is a good example of that.
The site is also a great tool for receiving tips. Almost every story I have ever reported on started with a tip sent to me via this site. I've met tipsters here who have used the tips email to provide me with information on some of my best known cases.
I've used the site to communicate with sources and to send messages to folks I've met who prefer for me to communicate that way.
Like the Virgil Goode story, I've worked with others on joint projects. Such partnerships have resulted in the breaking of a number of stories. In some cases the work is done with other journalists who cannot be tied to the outing of anti-gay politicians. And in some cases the partnerships are sensitive, so they cannot be discussed. In the case I've referenced there were meetings I had that were, with the source's permission, taped. I asked the source a number of times if he wanted to enter into a confidentiality agreement regarding the work. He did not. That ended up being a good thing. Because not only did the source and project partners shaft me, but since my meetings were recorded, I have my transcripts documenting my meeting with him.
So, it came to my attention that others in the conversation were trying to shaft me. I reached out and when it became obvious that they were not responding, I decided to educate a third individual about the matter by showing a part of the transcript (that is one of the things I can't get into the specifics of). Let's just say this guy I met with in the subject's state (he has since moved east) and has put at least one source at serious risk of his identity becoming public. The crazy thing was this: I gave the guy a chance to enter into a confidentiality agreement. He basically said "no thanks."
As you can imagine, it's quite tempting to report on information a source has not requested me to hold back with. At the moment, I'm leaving it up to the lawyers... Confusing? I know... Important? Yes.
So where is the work? I continue, at my own expense, to do the investigation work. Unfortunately, the folks I was involved in manipulated me and convinced me to delay approaching certain sources to the point where they delayed my work and in addition to putting a source at work, may have ruined the chance to gain important evidence. In one case, I was misled into believing that someone was working on my behalf to obtain records located in the middle of America. Not only was I purposefully delayed, I was misled as well. It's a bummer, but by no means does it mean my work will stop and if the time is right, I'll have no other option but to expose those that have done this to me.
I hope this opens readers' eyes a bit as to why you may not always understand every post here. I assure you, I am working on cases as fast as I can... I won't let a handful of people stand in my way.
For those of you that expect me to deliver a certain number of cases in a certain amount of time, you're in the wrong place. I'm not a professional private investigator and no one out there is paying for the work. I have real work to do to pay the bills and since my former partners on the project cost me so many unanticipated expenses, I must work to cover all of them. For someone who's work has gone unsupported, I'm used to taking financial hits from folks who want to use my work to their advantage. (These people went so far as to use my twenty years of fundraising experience to convince folks to support them... Then they treated me poorly. )
I am working with a blogger at another gay site to hopefully begin post here regularly along with me. His site is known for direct actions tools also and I think he'd be a great addition to the site. I'll keep you updated on that as it moves along.
Mike
Friday, February 20, 2009
Just arrived
I've been working on getting one of these for a while. It arrived at 8:30 this morning.
That other update is coming this weekend.
That other update is coming this weekend.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
The Glass Closet
I was thinking a bit about the Glass Closet project I wrote about below. After a bit of thought, it dawned on me that this is not about glass closets, it's about shattering them!I've got a lot of cool domain names... pointingleft.com, pointingright.com, americastanding.com and some others. I was reviewing and purchasing a couple of new ones when I decided to grab shatterglassclosets.com and shattertheglasscloset.com locked down.
In some cases it's just a good policy to hold onto names in case they are needed for the future.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Away
I have a draft post in the system that explains a little more about what is going on. Part of what you have read so far is a demonstration of how BlogActive sometimes needs to communicate with folks reading the site.
I'm sending off some letters this week and once the lawyer gives the go ahead, I'll print parts of them here.
Oh, I'm in Miami for a few days of R&R.
I'm sending off some letters this week and once the lawyer gives the go ahead, I'll print parts of them here.
Oh, I'm in Miami for a few days of R&R.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
I have a feeling...
People who do nasty things should be more careful than to leave forty-five files of notes (some over 100 pages) on my computer. Since the folks who shafted me, however, did not secure a confidentiality agreement, I am under no obligation to not use the notes.
Since they have refused to make so much as an effort, soon it will be the time for me to contact folks in the notes to let them know that not only have these folks hurt my work, but to ask them if they are aware that such extensive notes on them were left on a computer accidentally. With carelessness like this, these people have a right to know this information and I'm going to see to it that they get it. And with notes from coast to coast, there are LOTS of people to contact.
If someone is so careless as to not maintain control of such crucial notes, you have to wonder where else they left them. This is not a simple matter. It is gross negligence and if it continues to go unanswered, I will do what I feel is appropriate.
Here's another example of the notes:
If there is one thing I have learned it's that building trust between a source and reporter are key. Doing extensive research on the source's sex life is just not cool. It's not something I've ever done and, unless we're able to work out this matter, something I need to contact that individual about. The lack of integrity is simply astonishing.
Lawyers are expensive, but if things don't move ahead, I will continue to press my case forward.
I'm trying, I really am. After all, as soon as we get this settled everyone can move on.
Tomorrow, I have three meetings about this. Based on your emails, I know the vast majority of you are willing to be patient as I work this out. Trust me, it may be as interesting as any outing.