Make your decision after reading this blog . . . and vote in the poll below. (Click on poll to see the result right away.)
The reason I'm asking this question is that I've been taking a more careful look at who reads my blog over the past week.
And there are tons of regular people that I don't have to worry about, but then there are also quite a few not so regular people. People and organizations I absolutely didn't expect to read this blog.
The scariest group reading my blog may be THE RENDON GROUP. And they keep coming back, over and over again. Here's what SourceWatch writes about this organization:
"The RENDON GROUP is a secretive public relations firm that has assisted a number of U.S. military interventions in nations including Argentina, Colombia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Panama and Zimbabwe. Rendon's activities include organizing the Iraqi National Congress, a PR front group designed to foment the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
So why are these people reading my blog so religiously? I mean, they can't very well prepare to invade my backyard. Or can they? Or worse?
In a 1998 speech to the National Security Conference (NSC), company founder John Rendon described himself as "an information warrior, and a perception manager."
And this is what the company writes on their website: "The RENDON GROUP office in Washington, DC, operates a 24/7 media monitoring watch-center in support of both clients and The RENDON GROUP personnel working on location worldwide."
Now why the heck does such a group keep coming back to my blog?
According to the RENDON GROUP website they provide, among other things:
Early Warning Radar (EWR)The Rendon Group recognizes the value of precise situational awareness as the foundation for attuned message development and focused rapid response.
Crisis ManagementThe Rendon Group helps clients prepare for potential crises and respond when they occur.
Hepp. I wonder if my blog about Pfizer's two vice chairmen fighting for the top job has anything to do with the RENDON GROUP's sudden interest in my blog? Or do they simply read it because of its literary qualities?
And it gets more interesting. Clients of the RENDON GROUP have included a number of foreign nations, as well as major corporations. Known specific clients have included the Colombian army, Indonesia, Kuwait, Monsanto Chemical Company, Russia, U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), U.S. Pentagon, and even Uzbekistan.
I didn't find Pfizer on their client list, but wouldn't be surprised if the company has a relationship with these people.
And there is more info on this group. The RENDON GROUP has been called "The guerilla marketing and PR firm that brought us Ahmad Chalabi, created the Iraqi National Congress, pushed 'bad intelligence' about Iraqi WMDs to the Media, US State Department, and DoD, and staged PR events, like the fall of Hussein's statue, for the US media enclave that was confined at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad."
Funny thing, a lot of people on the Huffington Post blog about Iraq and all that stuff, but I don't think I've ever done that, yet. So why is the RENDON GROUP so interested in me?
Why is my little blog in the cross hairs of the RENDON GROUP?
I mean, maybe they work for some group that really likes my blog, and wants to keep them up to date on what I blog about, but I think we can all agree that it is far more likely that they work for someone who wants to shut me up. Usually before a war you see troop buildups. Same thing is true in a PR war. What are Pfizer and their allies at PhRMA planning for?
And why are all those other PR firms suddenly visiting this blog? The RENDON GROUP is not the only one with a keen interest in what I'm writing. Several new PR firms are visiting, such as BOOZ ALLEN AND HAMILTON, LALLY MCFARLAND & PANTELLO, LEO BURNETT PUBLICISE GROUP, YOUNG & RUBICAM-MEDIA EDGE, OGILVY & MATHER, FOOTE CONE & BELDING COMMUNICATIONS INC, DORLAND SWEENEY JONES, WIEDEN & KENNEDY and DEUTSCH INC.
And some of the same PR firms keep coming back, such as D'ARCY MASIUS BENTON & BOWLES, EDELMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS, JOELE FRANK WILKINSON BRIM, the COONEY WATERS GROUP, and the WPP GROUP.
What's going on here? Am I becoming the internal showcase for what one employee who wants to speak the truth can do and they're all adding a paragraph about my case in their crisis manuals for Big Corporations? Or is it simply my crazy and sometimes sensual images, like the one below, attracting these PR and advertising individuals?
Could be. But I don't buy that.
There is clearly some kind of PR buildup going on, so if you suddenly see some big headlines about me and how I'm really an alien from Mars or an escaped mental patient, don't believe them!
But all these PR agencies are not the only ones suddenly interested in what I blog about.
I also got several visits from the U.S DEPARTMENT OF STATE, and from ARMY INFORMATION SYSTEMS COMMAND-PENTAGON, although I guess that may have been a fluke. I mean, I am a loyal US citizen, and I am certifiably non-violent. That's something my prior employer's detectives confirmed when they checked if I had purchased a weapon in New Jersey or if I had a gun permit.
There's also another, much bigger group interested in reading my blog, and this has surprised me even more. Initially I thought it was all of Pfizer's law firms taking a look at what I'm writing, but the number of law firms reading this blog have multiplied like rabbits and I simply can't believe they all work for Pfizer.
Perhaps they too, just like the PR agencies, are taking a closer look at how many revealing truths can come from a single fired ex-executive, perhaps they are also updating their legal manuals, to prepare for what the era of blogging will mean to them. You see the problem with blogs is that they can't really complain. This is not a one voice newspaper; everyone is free to comment, just like any open discussion. I don't censor my blog. So if the lawyers disagree with anything I write, they can reply. But of course they don't want to do that, it's much more fun to run to the judge and complain and pretend they've been violated. And if they responded on this blog, that would mean that they actually admitted that they read my blog. And of course they don't want to do that.
So I'll do it for them. Here's an example of how much time just one lawyer, working for one of Pfizer's law firms spent over just three days, reading just one of my blogs (Imagine now all the lawyers, at all the Pfizer law firms):
Surprised?
You shouldn't be.
Here's the most recent list of legal readers. And since they're all reading like crazy, of course I can hardly keep up with them all:
ADMIN OFC US COURTS CA
AMERICAN LAWYER MEDIA
ANDREW SKURMAN
ARENT FOX KINTER PLOTKIN & KAHN
ARNOLD & PORTER
BRADFORD & BARTHEL
BRYAN CAVE MCPHEETERS & MCROBERTS
BUCHANAN ASSOCIATES
CARTER DELUCA FARELL & SCHMIDT
CHADBOURNE & PARKE
COOLEY MANION & JONES
COZEN & O'CONNOR
DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL
DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON
DEWEY BALLANTINE
DORSEY & WHITNEY
FAEGRE & BENSON
FOLEY & LARDNER
FOLEY HOAG & ELIOT
FORD AND HARRISON
GOLIN HARRIS
GRAHAM & JAMES RIDDELL WILLIAMS
GRANT & EISENHOFER
GRAVES DOUGHERTY HEARON & MOODY
GREENBAUM ROWE SMITH RAVIN DAVIS & HIMMEL
HAHN WALZ AND KNEPP
HANSON LULIC & KRALL
HARNESS DICKEY & PIERCE
HAYNES AND BOONE
HEIMBERG & ZOHAR
HOWREY & SIMON
HOWREY SIMON ARNOLD & WHITE
JACKSON & WALLACE
JENKENS & GILCHRIST
JONES DAY REAVIS & POGUE
KAYE SCHOLER FIERMAN HAYES AND HUDLER
KNAPE & VOGT
KRAMER LEVIN NAFTALIS NESSEN KAMIN & FRANKEL
LAWYERS TITLE INSURANCE CORP
LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS
LOPEZ HODES RESTAINO MILMAN
LOWIS & GELLEN
MARKOWITZ HERBOLD GLADE & MEHLHAF
MASLON BORMAN EDELMAN
MCCULLOUGH GOLDBERGER & STAUDT
MILLER CANFIELD PADDOCK & STONE
MOORE & VAN ALLEN
MORRISON & FOERSTER
MULDOON MURPHY & FAUCETTE
NEW YORK LAWYERS FOR PUBLIC INTEREST
NIXON PEABODY
NYS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
O'MELVENY & MYERS
ORRICK HERRINGTON & SUTCLIFFE
PADILLA SPEER BEARDSLEY
PAUL HASTINGS JANOFSKY & WALKER
PAUL WEISS RIFKIND WHARTON & GARRISON
PERKINS SMITH COHEN
PRESTON GATES ELLIS
RIKER DANZIG SCHERER HYLAND & PERRETTI
ROBINSON & LAWING
ROSENTHAL & OSHA
SCHWEGMAN LUNDBERG WOESSNER
SHEARMAN & STERLING
SOCHA PERCZAK SETTER & ANDERSON
SOLOMON FRIEDMAN
SPERLING & SLATER
STERNE KESSLER GOLDSTEIN & FOX
STRASBURGER & PRICE
TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE MAJORIE FIRM
US DEPT OF JUSTICE
US FEDERAL COURTS NEW YORK
WATERS MCPHERSON MCNEILL
WILMER CUTLER & PICKERING
WINSTON & STRAWN
WOLF HALDENSTEIN
WOLLMUTH MAHER & DEUTSCH
If any of those firms want a private consultation, please contact me on my e-mail! My unemployment just ran out and I really need a job.
Perhaps the most notable new law firm reader is white-shoe law firm Arnold & Porter. They work for lots of big corporations and it is an honor to have them perusing my simple musings.
I should also not forget welcoming the NYS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL or Eliot Spitzer, nor the fact that the person in US FEDERAL COURT NEW YORK may be the judge presiding over my legal case. If so, I'm really honored.
So what's going on here, am I being stalked or am I crazy?
UPDATE
I have received a number of personal e-mails based on this blog. Basically there are three messages:
1. "IMHO you ARE NOT paranoid......watch your back day and night."
2. "I would be absolutely freaked if I found out the Rendon group was watching me."
3. "I like your writing, but I'd just as soon not have my employers know that I check out blogs at work. So could you stop with the listing?"
Link to my daily blog with more information and more posts. (Sorry about the fact that the blogger server has had some problems.)
Recent posts:
Hope You Have a Terrific Lawyer . . .
Ann Coulter is Laughing Her Head Off
The Baby Bird is Dead
How to Predict the Future
Lawyer's World Cup
My Blog in the News
The Baby Bird - 4
Big Brother is Reading Your E-Mail
Rotten to the Core
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IMPORTANT LEGAL DISCLAIMER HERE