Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
June 13, 2005

Blowback

by Billmon
For some time now, one of my pet suspicions has been that the Pentagon's psywar budget is also a hidden piggy bank and an R&D laboratory for the GOP's own political propaganda operations.

Blowback

Posted by b on June 13, 2005 at 10:04 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Also check Truth from These Podia - Summary of a Study of Strategic Influence, Perception Management, Strategic Information Warfare and Strategic Psychological Operations in Gulf II - Sam Gardiner - Colonel, USAF (Retired)

The United States (and UK) conducted a strategic influence campaign that:
• distorted perceptions of the situation both before and during the conflict.
• caused misdirection of portions of the military operation.
• was irresponsible in parts.
• might have been illegal in some ways.
• cost big bucks.
• will be even more serious in the future.

...

Another way to summarize the study:
• Clearly, the assumption of some in the government is the people of the United States and the United Kingdom will come to a wrong decision if they are the given truth.
• We probably have taken “Information Warfare” too far.
• We allowed strategic psychological operations to become part of public affairs.
• We failed to make adequate distinction between strategic influence stuff and intelligence.
• Message became more important than performance.


The author shows that the campaign was announced and for a domestic audience
Announcing the Effort
• “And then there was the Office of Strategic Influence. You may recall that. And ‘oh my goodness gracious isn't that terrible, Henny Penny the sky is going to fall.’ I went down that next day and said fine, if you want to savage this thing fine I'll give you the corpse. There's the name. You can have the name, but I'm gonna keep doing every single thing that needs to be done and I have.” Rumsfeld, November 18, 2002
• From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August," White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. told the New York Times in September. Card was explaining what the Times characterized as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein."
• It would cost over $200 million. Times of London, 9/17/02
It is quite long, but well worth the study.

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 10:31 utc | 1

From The Lincoln Group website:

Competitive Internet Strategy

Our client faced a growing number of competitors who used web sites, BLOGs and other online tools to develop false and inflated stories which harmed the client’s reputation. Our analysts and media experts developed recommendations to counter the online threat and continued to monitor the internet for new messages. Our development team developed a professional online resource which effectively conveyed our client’s message and countered false rumors and stories posted by the competition.

Bring it on!

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 10:47 utc | 2

The WayBackMachine has copies of the old Lincoln Corp website">http://lincolncorp.com/">website

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 11:02 utc | 3

"That bastard the American Minister of Defense Rumsfeld, and I won't say shamelessly, because they don't know what shame means. These are criminals. The whole world can hear the warning sirens. This criminal sitting in the White House is a pathetic criminal and his Defense Minister deserves to be beaten. These criminals lie to the world because they are criminals by nature and conditioning. They consider this a military site! Shame on you! You will forever be shamed! You have ruined the reputation of the American people in the most terrible way! Shame on you! And we will destroy you!"

-"Baghdad Bob," 2,003

Posted by: steve expat | Jun 13 2005 11:12 utc | 4

Well we knew it was coming didn't we? I mean if you take the techniques that started in Singapore and have been refined in China. That is heavy monitoring of chat rooms and frequent pushing the party line when 'controversy' stats up then you try and put some sort of corporate order to it you end up with some weird constructs and silly jargon eg:
"All of the information that resides within reports, news, books, and other media is Free Text, also known as unstructured data. Unlike structured data which includes databases and spreadsheets, free text is notoriously difficult to exploit.

More than 75% of our valuable information is tied up in free text. With audio conversion and scene transformation, conversations and video are also becoming available as free text.

Lincoln has experience in the exploitation of free text data and continues to engage in research and partner with companies whose technologies offer new solutions to this emerging challenge."

I know I've been thinking about this for a while firstly from the point of view of organisations wanting to know what is being said about them on the usenet or at slashdot and secondly how a few dedicated campaigns by determined individuals have cost some pitches millions.
Last year when the first really intrusive 'copy protection' was intoduced to games cd's just one bloke managed to get a game that had been launched as a blockbuster retailing at $60 remainered by the chainstores (EB etc) to $15 within days of the launch. The game wouldn't work on particular brands of CD rom that the software industry had determined could play copied versions of the cd. They did some number crunching and probably worked out that about 10% of potential customers wouldn't be able to play but what the hell they won't get a refund cause you can't on games and anyway who would listen to their moans in the face of the huge marketing campaign at game launch.

The guy who owned just such a cd rom and couldn't play the game, put his head down and destroyed the launch by a series of well targetted posts into games forums.

So obviously the solution for most, that is don't sell products that are designed to be faulty, wouldn't necessarily appeal to greedheads dermined to exploit their god given right to make a buck.

So one of the techniques that Rummy and the gang is funding will be an early warning system to detect potential brushfires in the blogsphere, usenet and chat rooms then launch a co-ordinated response.
Because the data collection is going to be labour intensive and analysis difficult to automate they are going to go for low cost out-workers. That could be problematic as getting people smart enough to do the job and who are also sufficient net heads to put in the hours could uneccessarily give the game away hence:
"Collaborative Human Understanding of Networked Knowledge (CHUNK)

Lincoln has been pursuing research into the analysis of sensitive information through the use of networked information workers. Developed in 2001, the concept allows for the fusion and analysis of sensitive information through the atomization of key information while maintaining the anonymity and integrity of the source data. Atomization of the data allows for sanitized channels to distribute the analysis of complex data sets to less capable and anonymous workers for parsing and initial review. The data is then recombined in a CHUNK server which aggregates and benchmarks the data in order to provide a unified understanding of the distributed analysis.

CHUNK will eventually develop into a core service of Lincoln Alliance and will be available to corporations and organizations faced with sensitive information challenges who are willing to engage distributed work forces for these tasks."

It's gonna be a drag whatever form it takes and I'm sure that in the time honoured tradition of such things it will be lame and rather predictable but will increase both trolls and paranoia.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Jun 13 2005 11:51 utc | 5

Great work, Billmon. I wish you were paid to do more investigative work that would not have to pass thru the corporate filter in mainstream presses.

This definitely sounds like one of those CIA front organizations set up to funnel money for dirty jobs...but in this case the dirty jobs include GOP candiate goals?

Maybe they were the ones who broke into Dem offices and stole computers and then broke into repub offices to provide duck and cover.

...I wonder how many of them are the sons and daughters of the bay of piggies ops? ...just kidding, sort of...

Sometimes I think my entire life has been lived as a right wing cabal, with ties to the CIA, ala Bush Sr, Nixon goons like Rumsfield and Cheney, Goss-era bay of piggers, Ollie North and the whole Iran-Contra crew..now in some of the highest offices of power, now transformed into the "neocons," has played out its right wing rollback of any social democracy in the US while holding out a flag saying "look over here!"

How many levels of "reality" are there in the US political/war machines?

Posted by: fauxreal | Jun 13 2005 12:31 utc | 6

This kind of shenanigans (am I the only one not at all surprised by this?) is the reason why some of us, like Billmon, and certainly myself, think America's democracy will *not* recover in our lifetime.

Their side cannot accept the idea of losing control, and I think at one point, our side will be forced to push back, hard. Or surrender.

The societal consensus of fair elections and alternance is dead. What remains is the unbridled desire for power and control.

I have a glimmer of the fascists' mindset: for some we're Satan, for others we're weaklings to be culled, and then there are the pigs at the through.

There is no possible compromise. We face the choices the Germans or the Russians once faced (when they had a choice)

Brezhnev (a better parallel than Hitler) ran the USSR for the greater benefit of -- how many? -- 1000? 2000? people? It is alays so with Empires, snd it is the same in America today.

In fact, I'd argue it is much worse: whereas the average Russians knew their Government was corrupt and lied to them (even when they told the truth, they thought they lied; I knew a Russian who was amazed to discover we really had ghettos; he thought they were an exaggeration of Soviet propaganda), our own population is generally clueless and ill-informed - and kept in fear, which makes it viscerally reject any attempt at enlightnening it.


Posted by: Lupin | Jun 13 2005 14:10 utc | 7

great post, Billmon.

This stuff you know is going on... you can feel it in the air, but rarely get a glimpse of the source.

I wonder if anyone's asked Dick Cheney about this? (eg)

Posted by: JDMcKay | Jun 13 2005 14:13 utc | 8

Great work, Billmon. I hope this makes it into the MSM.

Posted by: Gabby | Jun 13 2005 14:20 utc | 9

Small point on this $300 million outsource contract. Does even one of the GOP PR-hacks at this outfit speak or reads Arabic? Just askin', seein' how the mission is to influence Arab media and opinion and all it might be a logical basic requirement. I bet not a single indivdual running the show is romotely qualified.

Posted by: DC | Jun 13 2005 14:32 utc | 10

After putting Sibel Edmonds and Lincoln group in Google here's what comes out:

Lincoln Laboratories/ Mitre Corp.MIT's Lincoln Laboratories, the parent of MITRE. Because Mitre Corp. operates three federally funded research and development centers, commonly known as FFRDCs, it is directly assigned the contracts and work orders it fulfills. "MITRE" is a nonprofit corporation providing engineering and information technology research to the Pentagon, as well as to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Since its formation in 1958, defense research has always been the heart of its operations. "Mitre is very unusual. We're not-for-profit, so we're not driven by size or [earnings]," Faga said. "Each project in which we're involved pays its own way. Being fully funded depends on being valuable.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 13 2005 14:48 utc | 11

Anybody else here see the thread that runs through these orgs? In that they are not so much interested in money as w/ideology? or am I being obtuse? B-team anyone?

Posted by: | Jun 13 2005 15:12 utc | 12

Operation Mass Appeal

Posted by: John | Jun 13 2005 15:32 utc | 13

A Christian Bailey sighting (scroll down) --

http://www.lead21.org/page6.html

Who would've guessed he'd turn up on the Board of Directors of a GOP fundraising operation?

Posted by: Heff | Jun 13 2005 16:01 utc | 14

With apparently some ties to this California politico operation:

https://www.completecampaigns.com/public.asp?name=nclc&page=1

Posted by: Heff | Jun 13 2005 16:10 utc | 15

I googled the Washington address you listed and came up with something interesting. It looks like Lincoln Alliance is the go to entity for business interests in Iraq:

Vetting and Due Diligence Services in Iraq

Lincoln Alliance Corporation
Headquarters:

1130 17th St NW Suite 400
Washington DC 20036
Tel: (202) 595 - 1350
Fax: (202) 595 - 0208
Website: www.lincolncorp.com
Email: [email protected]
Contact for Iraq:

Sector 222, 34th St, Bldg 5
Karatet Mariam, Baghdad
Iraq

Lincoln is working with US and overseas corporations and organizations to develop an in-country capability in Baghdad and Basra. Located both at the center of power and the commercial gateway of the country, Lincoln will act as a central clearinghouse for businesses seeking to do business in Iraq. Lincoln will provide the information, research, and contacts necessary to develop and grow business within the country. Lincoln will also provide a threat and risk assessment service through its ASP service, allowing clients to understand and mitigate the perceived security risk and dangers present in country.


Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 16:19 utc | 16

And Lead21, of which Christian Bailey is or was a Board Member is chaird by an estimable sycophant by the name of Auren Hoffman.

http://www.summation.net/hoffmanphotos.html

Posted by: Heff | Jun 13 2005 16:20 utc | 17

Will there be a connection between groups like Lincoln and the emerging Israeli trojan horse software scandal? The bits Billmon cites seem to suggest selective corporate espionage would be a great way to finance these operations.

Posted by: biklett | Jun 13 2005 16:46 utc | 18

A very tiny bit of searching on the web links Christian Bailey, via email, to Nick Confessore (!) and Price Roe, a guy I'd never heard of, but described as a Houston resident with a BA in History from Colgate and an MBA from Harvard in 2000. Roe worked for Rove in 2000, doing outreach and e-campaigning for Bush.

http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200406/msg00206.html

http://www.summation.net/push0209.html

Posted by: thinkanddo | Jun 13 2005 16:54 utc | 19

Great work, Billmon. I hope this makes it into the MSM.

Fat chance. We control the vertical. We control the horizontal. All your TV belong to us.

Posted by: MSM | Jun 13 2005 17:19 utc | 20

You'd think you guys could afford editors. Sheesh!

All your TV arebelong to us.

Posted by: citizen | Jun 13 2005 17:28 utc | 21


Shoot, I should have read more carefully. You already have the info I posted above.

Uh....never mind :o)

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 17:41 utc | 22

I can confirm a connection from Christian Bailey of Iraqex to Price Roe, now in the Justice Department

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 17:45 utc | 23

Billmon has two updates.

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 17:57 utc | 24

One of which is a link to Xan's post at Corrente which is very good.

Posted by: RossK | Jun 13 2005 18:49 utc | 25

Lincoln Alliance Corp. shares the address: 1130 17th St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC. 20036 with at least two law firms.
Reuss & Miller
Bisceglie & Walsh
Their phone numbers are 6 digits apart, but they share a fax line.
Bisceglie & Walsh have been the attorneys for David Kaczynski (brother of the unabomber) and for the scientologists.
In 2003, The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan retained Bisceglie & Walsh to help put its house back in order in the wake of the collapse of the Taliban regime.

Posted by: wolf | Jun 13 2005 18:51 utc | 26

With the Thought's I'd Be Thinking I Could Be Another Lincoln . . .

I couldn't figure out why the 'Lincoln' name rang a bell until I remembered that the "Abraham Lincoln Foundation" was one of the 501(c)(3) (charitable) organizations cited by House ethics investigators as a front for Newt Gingrich's diversion of tax-exempt money to political organizations. link

So I went back and did some digging:

The Lincoln Foundation was formed by Howard 'Bo' Callaway. Callaway was Chairman of GOPAC from 1987-1993 during Newt's rise. link

Callaway was also Secretary of the Army when Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense (Callaway's term: 1973-75). (Callaway is probably best known for reducing the sentence of Tiger Force soldier William Calley to ten years and then paroling him him a year after sentencing, but that's not the important part.)

As Secretary of the Army, Callaway establishes the Department of the Army Domestic Action Program (DADAP):

"In 1975, the Army . . . sought to formally venture into the realm of civil-military projects. In that year, under the leadership of Secretary Howard “Bo” Callaway, the Army established the Department of the Army Domestic Action Program (DADAP), and issued Army Regulation (AR) 28-19 to govern its implementation.

"The DADAP was viewed as “[a]n aggregation of coordinated domestic action activities conducted by all [Army] components to assist local, State, and Federal agencies in the continued improvement and development of society." https://134.11.61.26/CD1/Publications/JA/TAL/TAL%2027-50-344%2020010701.pdf>link

Perhaps not unrelated to this program, Secretary Callaway also admits that during his tenure the Army violated a DoD directive in retaining microfilm files containing substantial information on the political activities of persons and organizations unaffiliated with the Department of Defense, and that they should have been destroyed.

"Subsequent investigation by DOD disclosed that the microfilm contained 160,000 documents, 24,000 of which were added since March 1, 1971, the date of the departmental directive. Of the 136,000 documents dated prior to the directive, approximately 6,900 were found to be held in violation of the directive's retention criteria. Of those 24,000 added after the date of the departmental directive, 175 were identified in a preliminarily screening as being in possible violation of the directive. Twenty-three were then determined by DOD to be in definite violation of its directive." link

For his efforts as Secretary of the Army, Callaway is awarded the Medal of Distinguished Public Service in 1975.link

Callaway resigns from his post in June 1975 to become chairman of President Ford's campaign organization, the President Ford Committee (PFC). Callaway heads the PFC for nine months, overseeing the recruitment of personnel, the development of its organizational structure, and, in conjunction with the White House, the implementation of political strategies.link

While campaign chair, Callaway is accused by Nelson Rockefeller of orchestrating a subversive campaign - included a series of uncomplimentary White House leaks - to erode Rockefeller's political base during the primary.

"Rumsfeld, who hoped in 1974 that he would be Mr. Ford's choice for appointment to the vice presidency, professes to hold Nelson Rockefeller in the highest esteem and to have no designs on the 1976 nomination [but] Rockefeller and his principal assistants are aware that Rumsfeld and his deputy Richard Cheney are actually running the President's pre-nomination campaign and that Callaway gets most of his orders from them".link

So here we have a former Secretary of the Army who during his time not only establishes a domestic military program but also admits to spying on Americans. He then runs Ford's Presidential campaign where he is accused of dirty tricks. All of this occurs under the tutalage of Rummy and Cheney. Later he starts a sham non-profit that funnels charitable donations to GOP political campaigns.

I don't have any proof of a connection between The Lincoln Alliance and Lincoln Foundation, but I'd bet dollars to donuts Callaway is involved with both. If so, his participation and resume would certainly support Billmon's thesis that the Pentagon information agencies have become wholly owned subsidiaries of GOP Agit-Prop Inc.

______

Notes of interest:

In 2004, the Internal Revenue Service restored the tax-exempt status of the Lincoln Foundation - a step that some tax and election law experts say was highly unusual. link

Callaway is a member of the shadowy GOP group 'The Council for National Policy'(CNP)link.

Here's the Lincoln Group DoD Contract info:

Lincoln Group of Washington, DC is being awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, with a potential maximum value of $100,000,000, for media approach planning, prototype product development, commercial quality product development, product distribution and dissemination, and media effects analysis for the Joint Psychological Operations Support element and other government agencies. The work will be performed CONUS and OCONUS and task orders may be issued from June 7, 2005 - June 6, 2010. This contract was awarded on a competitive basis pursuant to FAR 6.102. The contract number is H92222-05-D-1010. link

Posted by: Night Owl | Jun 13 2005 18:53 utc | 27

A few tidbits on Christian Bailey's education.

From what I could find Christian Baily attended St. Bede's College, a Catholic school in Manchester, and was accepted to Oxford's Hertford College in 1999. This page makes reference to a cricket match between Lincoln and Hertford and mentions Bailey as a fielder for Hertford. The match looks to have been played the same month Bailey says he started Iraqex.

Both Lincoln College and Hertford College are constituencies of Oxford.

According to Billmon's Oxford link, Baily lists himself as an alumni of Lincoln. The name connection between Oxford's Lincoln College and Lincoln Alliance is creepy. It wouldn't be surpising to find a skull and bonesesqe connection here.

This information doesn't really add to the meat of the story, but I thought it interesting background.

Posted by: Acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 19:11 utc | 28

Any 'Penetration Testers' or google geeks in the bar? It'd be interesting to see what our friends at say, Lead21.org or lincolngroup.com have open and free to the public... I'll buy a scotch and soda to the first barfly who looks behind the door.
"...Google Hacking exposes those with their pants down, so the whole Internet can see their skivvies."—Adrian Lamo

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 13 2005 19:36 utc | 29

Interesting. The address, "1130 17th St NW Suite 400", is within walking distance of the White House.

Also houses some other organizations that seem to be an odd coupling -- like National Parent Network on Disabilities (npnd.org), whose domain ownership seems rather, umm, vaporous...I could be wrong, but all the affiliated names and phone numbers lead to weird places.

Hmm. The phone number given, 202-595-1350, also pulls up odd things. Like membership in the North Virginia Technology Council, co-located with other organizations that match businesses with opportunities (like the vetting & due diligence work mentioned above?). Or the Iraq Business Journal - why would a business journal publish a cell phone number? Who's got the cell phone?

Posted by: Rayne | Jun 13 2005 19:39 utc | 30

ROGUE sounded "interesting"...wonder if it's at all related to the US Army's propaganda game/tool 'America's Army'?

http://www.americasarmy.com

Posted by: ass clown | Jun 13 2005 19:42 utc | 31

Why ONE must join the Oxonian Society:

The Oxonian Society offers its members the amazing opportunity to hear world-class speakers on a regular basis and to mingle with graduates from Oxford, Cambridge, the Ivy League, and other great New York area universities. Already in 2002 we have hosted more great speakers than we have room to list – Earl Spencer, brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales; both British Ambassadors, to the US and UN; the Israeli Consul General; business leaders like Sean Maloney of Intel; Director Woolsey of the CIA; and most recently a packed house got to hear another great Oxonian, His Royal Highness Prince Hassan of Jordan. Our speakers have covered everything from the Middle East to great art, from the War on Terror to the Special Relationship, and our members get to hear them in a small private setting, and ask them questions directly. What kind of venues? Always central Manhattan – the Yale Club, the Princeton Club, the 3 West Club, the English Speaking Union, and Columbia University are some examples. Wine is often served. As well as our own events, our members are invited by the other prestigious bodies we have links to to attend their events and parties – a Jubilee Ball, lunch with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and an evening with a Pulitzer Prize winning author, for example. We host speaker meetings, social events and parties, too — and all this for less than the price of dinner for two in Manhattan!

So have you missed the boat? Not at all! Joining the Society now will give Oxonians and other supporters of Oxford University the chance to hear some outstanding statesmen and business leaders. How about the Rt. Hon Chris Patten MP (Balliol) last Governor General of Hong Kong and currently External Affairs Commissioner of the E.U.? Or Shlomo Ben-Ami, a Foreign Minister of Israel, as the Middle East crisis continues? Sir Howard Stringer (Merton) is head of the entire Sony Corporation of America – he will tell us how Sony has managed gangbuster success with films like ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Men in Black II’ during a tough recession; and we have the great honour of hosting His Royal Highness Prince Zeid of Jordan, Jordan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, on how our moderate Arab allies are helping in the War on Terror. Plus, joining the Society enables Oxonians to mix with the crème de la crème, both before and after speaker meetings and at our social events. We have links with the Rhodes Scholars, the White House Fellows, and other prestigious organizations such as the Oxford Union just to name a few. Don’t miss out! These are just some of our outstanding evenings planned for Autumn; new confirmations will happen all the time. Do check out the Society’s website at www.oxoniansociety.com for more info. So join up today and take advantage of these incredible events!

Posted by: Friendly Fire | Jun 13 2005 19:48 utc | 32

The name connection between Oxford's Lincoln College and Lincoln Alliance is creepy

That's actually pretty interesting. I had assumed the "Lincoln" in the name was a GOP thing. But maybe it really is just named after Bailey's alma mater. I'm coming across additional signs that Lincoln Alliance may itself be a shell corporation.

Posted by: Billmon | Jun 13 2005 20:26 utc | 33

From the Arab Bankers Association of North America, an Iraqex job opportunity which offers a little more perspective on the origins of the company:

Due to corporate expansion, Iraqex is in immediate need of a Controller based at its Washington, DC headquarters to manage accounting and financial control for all company operations, and oversee its international investment and contracting businesses.

About the Company

Iraqex was formed with the backing of Lincoln Asset Management Group with the assistance of a cadre of investors, to pursue private sector opportunities in Iraq. Iraqex brings a unique combination of expertise in collecting and exploiting information; structuring transactions; and mitigating risks through due diligence, legal strategies and security. Iraqex has developed subsidiaries and private equity investments in Iraq spanning commercial real estate, manufacturing, metals, transportation, and communications.

snip

Iraqex benefits from strong relationships in Iraq, the U.S. and internationally. In Iraq, it has cultivated relationships with the Iraqi national government, municipalities, tribal leaders, prominent families, and the business community. Iraqex has a thriving network of offices from Basra in the South to Zakho in the North and employs over 300 Iraqis. In the U.S., Iraqex enjoys select relationships in Congress, the Administration, OPIC, ExIm Bank, and the U.S. Department of State.

Huh.

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 20:32 utc | 34

Good find acuppajo - confirmation:

Dali & Associates - Administrative Recruiting and Consulting Specialists - What our clients have to say about us:

Express Action

"Dali and Associates were a phenomenal resource in our search for both an office manager and a personal assistant to the CEO. Every candidate they sent was outstanding and we filled both positions after just two or three interviews."

Christian Bailey, former CEO of ExpressAction, now at Lincoln Asset Management Group LLC

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 20:37 utc | 35

I'm getting more results by searching Lincoln Asset Management Group LLC as mentioned in the above post. Lookee here:

More stuff from Dali & Associates

Express Action

"Dali and Associates were a phenomenal resource in our search for both an office manager and a personal assistant to the CEO. Every candidate they sent was outstanding and we filled both positions after just two or three interviews."

Christian Bailey, former CEO of ExpressAction, now at Lincoln Asset Management Group LLC

Express Action?

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 20:42 utc | 36

Damn. Dueling keyboards and I lost. :o)

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 20:45 utc | 37

The webpage of Lincoln Asset Management Group LLC is about as closed up as it gets. It is supposed to look like a hedge fund but there is nothing in real information without a Login, which requires to be an accredited invester i.e. $1,000,000 and change). No product information, no personal information, a New York 5th Avenue suite addresse and thats it.

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 20:48 utc | 38

The only product information I could come up with for Lincoln Asset Management Group was using the Wayback.

There was one fund in their products section, just one, called the Lincoln Vector Fund.

A Google of that fund name lead to another brick wall by the name of Formational Ventures

According to FM's site:

Formational Ventures was established in October, 1999 with the intent to serve a growing but exclusive set of members. As such, we are a service company that is dedicated to its members and passionate about building new companies. Individual investors who do not have special relationships with investment banks or venture capital funds remain "locked-out" from participating in the building of new businesses before these businesses become public companies via initial public offerings. Often, substantial value is created by private companies who themselves are purchased by public companies, providing substantial returns to their investors. Our founders recognized the value of building a global community of accomplished and accredited investors who seek to participate in the creation of new businesses while simultaneously helping entrepreneurs build lasting value. We are dedicated to our member subscribers as we continue to provide them information, executive access and the ability to conveniently invest in a variety of exciting companies in a variety of high-growth industries.

This is starting to read like a John le Carré book.

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 21:09 utc | 39

Whois lookup for the domainnames sorted by day of creation

lincolnam.com - Lincoln Asset Management
Registrant:
Russell Williams
660 4th St, Suite 160
San Francisco CA 94107
US
Domain Management Services
[email protected]
+1-760-923-8140

Domain Name Created On: 2001-06-19 16:00:00.0
Domain Name Expires On: 2007-07-05 00:00:00.0
-----------------------------
lincolngroup.com
Registrant:
lincolngroup.com
1130 17th St NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
US

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
lincolngroup.com
Christian Bailey
1130 17th St NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
US
760-923-8140
661-760-8648 [fax]
[email protected]
Domain created on 18-Jul-2002
Domain expires on 19-Jul-2006
Last updated on 05-May-2005
------------------------
lincolncorp.com
Registrant:
Russell Williams
660 4th St, Suite 160
San Francisco CA 94107
US
Domain Management Services
[email protected]
+1-760-923-8140

Domain Name Created On: 2003-10-22 17:10:00.0
Domain Name Expires On: 2006-10-22 00:00:00.0
-----------------------------------------
iraqex.com
Registrant:
Russell Williams
660 4th St, Suite 160
San Francisco CA 94107
US
Domain Management Services
[email protected]
+1-760-923-8140

Domain Name Created On: 2003-11-04 09:32:00.0
Domain Name Expires On: 2006-11-03 23:00:00.0
------------------------------------
----

I can´t find anything on a related Russell Williams yet.

Note that in an email exchange documented under www.interesting-people.org Christian Bailey does use the email address [email protected] - also used for domain registration by Russell Williams.

The domain that has been updated is lincolngroup.com and only there Christian Bailey is named. Maybe some R.Williams left the company association and the email account? Don't know - keep hunting.

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 21:14 utc | 40

"This is starting to read like a John le Carré book."

Or, maybe Three Days of the Condor, or The Parallax View?

Actually, in a weird way it kind of reminds me of the day that Billmon and Bernhard broke the Stefanowicz thing.....

Posted by: RossK | Jun 13 2005 21:52 utc | 41

More at corrente, this time from the farmer.

Posted by: RossK | Jun 13 2005 22:06 utc | 42

b,

The phone number on your Whois for LAM, Lincoln Group, Lincolncorp and Iraqex, 760-923-8140, is listed for both Bailey and Russel. The area code is Mammoth Lakes, CA, just southeast of Yosimite.

I'm not familiar with the area but that seems pretty far out in the sticks...albeit beautiful sticks.

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 22:37 utc | 43

According to ABI/INFORM, back in September of 2000:

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article is adapted from a seminar presented by Christian Bailey, GEO, Express Action at The DMA Catalog Conference last June.

Abstract (Document Summary)

Some of the problems that online catalogs like Amazon.com are experiencing with overseas shipping are explored, such as the variety of taxes and charges that get added to shipments, taxes and charges that vary by country.

FOR INFORMATION
Christian Bailey ACTION EXPRESS, INC. 119 University Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 330-8900 Fax: (650) 330-2889

Interesting fellow.

Posted by: roamsedge | Jun 13 2005 22:54 utc | 44

From what corrente has found Christian Bailey say he was with Lincoln Capital. Lots of companies under that name ...

760-923-8140, is listed for both Bailey and Russel

interesting - (could you please provide links? in hunts like these we always have to double check and SAVE any information. They will start to clean their records tomorrow. I have seen this before, so please make the URLs public and take screenshoots.)

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 22:58 utc | 45

More:

Alternative Investment News, March 2003 v4 i3 p12(1)

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2003 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
Lincoln Asset Management Group, a New York-based hedge fund firm, has launched a leveraged buyout fund focusing on the defense and intelligence sectors. The firm rolled out the Lincoln Orion Fund this month, said Christian Bailey, managing director. Lincoln had been pre-marketing the fund and has obtained commitments of $100 million from six institutional investors, whom Bailey declined to name. The investors include two private equity funds of funds, three corporations and one foreign investor, he said. The fund will be capped at $300 million.

The fund will buy companies in the defense and national security industries in the U.S., Bailey said. "Timing is extremely good to look at defense companies. There is huge demand from the Department of Defense and the intelligence community," he noted.

The minimum for investment is $1 million with a 1% management fee and 20% performance fee. Lincoln manages $100 million in assets in a global macro hedge fund and a macro fund of funds.



Alternative Investment News, Dec 2001 v2 i12 p8(1)

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
Lincoln Asset Management Group is gearing up to launch an offshore version of its global macro hedge fund and at the same time, has plans to open a Boston office and hire additional senior-level executives. Christian Bailey, president of the San Francisco-based firm, said it is planning to launch an offshore version of its recently launched Lincoln Vector Fund by March of next year. He added that the firm plans to have the Boston office open by February, noting that new staff will be added both in Boston and San Francisco.

The Lincoln Vector Fund carries a 2% management fee and a 20% performance fee and has a minimum for investment of $100,000. Bailey said the offshore fund would be structured the same way, adding the firm is actively seeking another senior-level investment professional as well as an executive to head up its marketing effort. The firm has $7 million in assets under management, and its prime broker is Bear Stearns. "Global macro funds do well in turbulent markets because they can play on the long and short side of stock indices, currencies or fixed-income interest rates," Bailey said.

Posted by: roamsedge | Jun 13 2005 23:00 utc | 46

On some of my more paranoid nights spent doing things like googling "black ops" and reading everything, I've found gaming sites that I didn't think were really gaming sites. Maybe this way of encoding information isn't so unusual.

Posted by: Scared Shitless | Jun 13 2005 23:10 utc | 47

something is wrong here - the photo Billmon linked to shows some guy in the early 20th. But christianbailey.com via WayBack linked above says

He had been previously been working actively with the Internet since 1991 and acted as an advisor to several of the earliest European e-businesses.

What are we missing?

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 23:10 utc | 48


interesting - (could you please provide links?

You already have b. My apologies, I should have been clearer. The phone number is from your Whois lookup posted above.

Russell Williams registered lincolnam.com, lincolncorp.com and Iraqex.com. He lists his contact number as 760-923-8140.

Lincolngroup registered lincolngroup.com listing Christian Bailey as the administrative contact with a Washington DC addy but also using the Mammoth Lakes 760-923-8140 phone number.

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 23:19 utc | 49


something is wrong here - the photo Billmon linked to shows some guy in the early 20th. But christianbailey.com via WayBack linked above says

He had been previously been working actively with the Internet since 1991 and acted as an advisor to several of the earliest European e-businesses.

What are we missing?

You are right, the timing doesn't fit.

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 13 2005 23:22 utc | 50

Anybody else notice the caps on Christian Bailey's hedge fund exactly matched the number the Pentagon is spending- $300 million?

Posted by: kelley b. | Jun 13 2005 23:47 utc | 51

And Heff, sycophant Auren is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations (Yikes! is there a Godwin's equivalent for a CFR appearance in a thread?).

http://www.stonedata.com/about.html

Posted by: thinkanddo | Jun 14 2005 1:33 utc | 52

Fat chance. We control the vertical. We control the horizontal. All your TV belong to us.

How refreshingly candid of you, MSM!

Posted by: Gabby | Jun 14 2005 2:03 utc | 53

Denial is Some Place in Egypt

Well, it's baffling.

Could have sworn the Seattle P-I story of Marine recruiters
showing up at a 17-year old's job, kidnapping a minor, and
driving him to another city, forcing him to enlist, then even
when his mother tracked him down, tney tried to spirit the
kid away in a van, I thought, that'd blow across the Sunday
telescreen in letters 6" deep, parents with placards circling
the recruitment centers, shaking their fists at the militias,
a national televised apology by Rumsfeld and an appeal
for clemency, from life to a 20-year sentence for the perps.

Nothing.

But not quite. Not quite. You could see the cold spittle on the
edge of Brit Hume's mouth as he stiff-armed Guantanamo,
"They are all illegal combatants and subject to no law", your
basic third-world sub-fiends in a Hume-ian Universe of One.
But it wasn't about Guantanamo at all! They were petrified!
You could smell it, like the rank musk of an off-work preacher.
What if the USMC kidnapping recruitors story broke national?!
A decade of planning and five years of execution, up in smoke.

Even if it had, we're too late now.

We know we're past the denial stage. Abu Ghraib put an
end to that. And the bargaining stage flew by like a puff
of smoke from an M-1 tank dusting a refugee tent camp.
Every picture told a story. Bargaining was not an option.
Now, however, we're at the anger stage. You can hear it
in the clipped repetition of trite pre-programmed phrases,
cutting each other off everytime someone drifts over the
line of patriotic pendantism, or hesitates at a "what if?"

Toe the line! Lick the boot! Circle the wagons!

With anger, comes silence. Those Rightists who only
weeks ago were starting to open up, to offer up other
plausible causes, argue, to throw out heroic jabs with less
and less uumph, to talk in tongues and wring their hands,
they, those Rightists, have gone silent. Silent and angry.

The next stage will not be pretty, if that stage comes at all.

When Rumsfeld opined that Iraq would become a lightning
rod for terrorists from across the Middle East, and Bush, like
a buffoon, stammered, "bring 'em on!", he missed the point.
The point was not to smoke out the terrorists and run them
to cover in their own lands, although that's the strategy that
Rumsfeld pablumed. No, the whole point was to make of Iraq,
to make of the Iraq invasion, a collective memory of terrorism
where there was none. To remake a kind and giving nation
ruled by one megalomaniac, into Ground Zero for Rabid Islam.

In short, to completely erase history and substitute an image.
Very much, very, very much, like the birth of Israeli Zionism.

And that's what I think will happen next. Angry, isolated and
thoroughly humiliated, the Rightists will go silent. They may
despair, but they will do so in silence. Never, and I mean
never, will they find acceptance, for acceptance means the
utter inversion of their whole lives, beliefs and faith system.

Instead, if we can judge from the past, some will become
violent. Pathologically violent, predatory, drive-by. Righting
their world one bullet at a time. Some will become devious,
cunning, a crack addict righting his mother's diamond ring.
They will create discord where there is none, confabulation,
and what they can't stir up and distort, they'll kidnap, rewrite
and shred all evidence. Black ops, dirty tricks. Read Billmon.

But the vast bulk of them will just go radio-silent. Drones,
kamakazi to the American Dream. Mindless, they will think
as they are told to think, and then vote as they are told to vote.
Iraq is Terrorism. War is Peace. Democracy is Republican.

And because there is no Bunker Hill, and no Mount Suribachi,
no Chosin Reservoir and no Sharia, then the Rightists' silence,
and the three-cornered Republican hat of American government,
will simply cast Iraq off from the shores of reality and our concern,
onto an infinite sea of purgatory. An endless hell, Palestine-ized,
on, and on, and on, ten, twenty, forty years on.

And decades and decades hence, as our children's children
fight these battles that we are losing now, the battles to bring
our American values back to American government, you know,
truth, justice, accountability, honesty, hard work ... I wonder
if the RIghtists will still be marching in their marches, and
parading in their parades, and singing Yankee Doodle Dandy?

Will some Sharonian general be running US in 2045, with his
radical, fanatical Rightist Gun-Lobby, KKK, John Birch Party of
the True Believers who foreswear, "We must secure the
existence of White people and a future for White children."
Because at its dark heart, that's what this is all about. Slavery.

And will those Rightists who went radio-silent and looked away,
then look back, wave their bloody red flags, and sigh in relief at
the legions and legions of privatized nations, all owned by USA.
Praise God-uh. Now the world is truly Safe for Democracy.

With the Right, the Left, gone to solipsism and self-indulgence?
Worse, sarcastic, cynical, Twain and Cervantes and Thompson?
"Ahh, Iraq", Leftists will sigh in some trendy updown Seattle cafe,
"The war so nice, they fought it twice," then fade into their dream.

Listen to, "The Dreamer That Remains", by Harry Partch.

"Primitive man as I imagine him...found magical sounds in the
materials around him—in a reed, a piece of bamboo,
a particular piece of wood held a certain way, or a skin stretched
over a gourd or a tortoise shell: some resonating body. He then
proceeded to make the object, the vehicle, the instrument, as
visually beautiful as he could. His last step was almost automatic:
the metamorphosis of the magical sounds and visual beauty into
something spiritual...These acts...became the trinity of this work:
magical sounds, visual form and beauty, experience-ritual."

What kind of percussive Ode to Maerica are we weaving in Iraq?

Posted by: tante aime | Jun 14 2005 3:40 utc | 54

something is wrong here - the photo Billmon linked to shows some guy in the early 20th. But christianbailey.com via WayBack linked above says he had been previously been working actively with the Internet since 1991 and acted as an advisor to several of the earliest European e-businesses.

What are we missing?

This is really bothering me, too -- that and the fact that Lincoln Alliance now appears to be just another of his shell companies.

Either Bailey was a child prodigy, or he's been padding his resume rather shamelessly, or the picture is just a very old one (OR it's not really a picture of him; maybe there was some sort of screw up and somebody grabbed a picture of the wrong Christian Bailey from somewhere.)

Or he's the real life version of Dorian Gray, and there's a picture of Christian Bailey sitting on a shelf somewhere gradually getting old.

The real puzzle, though, is Lincoln Alliance, which was incorporated in Delaware in 10/03 and had its registration in DC revoked just four months later, in Feb 04. So far, all I know about Lincoln Alliance and its supposed "business intelligence" and political campaign consulting projects is what's on its old web site -- which may just be a bunch of marketing bullshit.

It also means I still don't have a clue who Bailey's silent partners were/are. Did he put up the money to start Iraqex and open offices in Iraq out of his own pockets? If so, where did the money come from?

Despite all the talk in his bio about his successful hedge fund, I found out through Nexis that the fund was actually pretty small beer -- about $6 or 7 million under management (I left my notes at my office tonight) and an investment minimum of just $100k, which is downright retail. Nor does the firm appear to have much of a presence today. Maybe Bailey scored when he sold his Express Action start up (although it doesn't appear to be around today.) Or maybe Iraqex wasn't much to begin with -- again, despite the puffed up web site.

But, if Iraqex/Lincoln Alliance is more or less a one-man band, why did Bailey give himself a relatively minor title like "executive VP"? Why not CEO? -- unless maybe he knew he was too young or too unimpressive to be credible in those shoes.

In other words, there are a lot of odd things about Bailey and his business career. He strikes me as a bit of what they call in Yiddish a luftmensch -- an "air man," without much tangible substance behind his resume. I still think there are others behind him we can't see, although this may be more of a garden-variety grab for spoils, not a backdoor way to inject Pentagon funds and psywar techniques into the GOP propaganda machine -- although I'm still not ruling that out.

I'm going to pursue a few more leads tomorrow and then try to write some up for the Whiskey Bar. Beyond that, though, I'm not sure how much further I'll be able to take the story. But I'd like to thank everyone who pitched in and helped dig for information today. It was almost like old times.

Posted by: Billmon | Jun 14 2005 3:53 utc | 55

Well it would be good if someone in England could do some hands on spadework. As was commented on earlier a lot of the net stuff will be gone by tomorrow whereas school yearbooks, class lists and calendars persist. He may be a common or garden brit spook. They like to recruit them from Oxford no "commie gays" came out of there unlike Cambridge.
Some of the stuff may be 'legend' the rest could be standard upper middle class englishman on the make. Whoever mentioned Le Carre above will be aware that one of Cornwall's bugbears is that since Thatcher the security services have been 'soiling' their hands with filthy commerce.
Equally he could be what he appears to be just another ambitious over achiever with the scruples of a shark and the gift of the gab.

One of the best Guy Burgess stories:
Burgess had pretty much pushed his luck in England by the middle of WW2 so one of the 'old boys' thought that shipping him to the Washington embassy would keep his name out of London scandal. At his farewell party someone took Burgess aside and said "Guy old boy there's three things the yanks are serious about. The Negro question, communism, and homosexuality."

"Oh stop worrying" says Burgess "I won't bonk Paul Robeson."

You had to be there I spose.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Jun 14 2005 4:47 utc | 56

Billmon, why would an entity use a luftmensch?

Maybe there's a better word in English: spook.

Posted by: Rayne | Jun 14 2005 12:19 utc | 57

another bit: In 2002 one Christian Bailey was finance director, in 2003 treasurer of the Oxonian club. Very well connected people. One of the honorary board includes James Woolsey, Former Director of the CIA pdf. Also here

Another photo of Bailey from 2001 on page 15 of this PDF

Still woried about the timeline/age.

Posted by: b | Jun 14 2005 14:02 utc | 58

Well, I clicked on Billmon's link to Andy Forbes's interviews to see Christian Bailey's pic.

It's not in the list of interviews. Hmm.

I googled Christian Bailey, and got a link back to that same page-- Andy Forbes's interviews, again minus Christian Bailey. But there was a "cached" link under that link, to a May 29 cache of that Andy Forbes page.
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:R25FOaAPqZoJ:www.earlystage.com/taff.htm+christian+bailey&hl=en


Guess what? Christian Bailey is listed as an interviewee. The photo is missing, however. You know how there's a little symbol to show that the image file specified is not available? Like what happens when the image file has been removed from the server? That's what's there instead of Mr. Bailey's photo. There's also a link to the interview itself. The link doesn't work.

This sure sounds like they couldn't fix the cached page, but they got rid of all the links, and they got rid of Mr. Bailey on the existing page.

Now why would Andy Forbes do this? It has to be his doing, right? I mean, Mr. Bailey couldn't get into Andy Forbes's server and remove the photo and interview, right?

So... why? Maybe I'll ask Mr. Forbes.

Posted by: an | Jun 14 2005 15:13 utc | 59

Okay, in the ten minutes it took me to type that and the letter to Mr. Forbes, suddenly Christian Bailey and the Forbes interview are not #1 on the Google list for "Christian Bailey". Now there's some irrelevant stuff about Christian dating, but finally this:

http://www.lead21.org/page4.html

Lead 21 is some organization for young business leaders. Christian Bailey is listed as the NYC chair. Guess what? No photo.

There's also this odd thread where he defends the Patriot Act, presumably in response to a Nick Confessore article in Wa Monthly.
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200406/msg00206.html

But anyway, someone has managed to get the page Billmon linked to scrubbed from Google, looks like... and in the last few minutes. If you google Christian Bailey Forbes, however, you still get the page. Anyone google-savvy enough to figure out what happened?

Posted by: an | Jun 14 2005 15:25 utc | 60

Sounds like we're getting a firsthand example of how Lincoln Alliance "counters) the online threat and continue(s) to monitor the internet for new messages." This is their specialty!

Posted by: Gabby | Jun 14 2005 15:49 utc | 61

Andrew Forbes responded quickly to my query and said that the many clicks on CB overloaded his bandwidth, so he's taken down the interview for a little while. Well, if nothing else, that's testament to Billmon's reach!

Posted by: an | Jun 14 2005 16:14 utc | 62

There is an article written by a "Christian Bailey" in the Yale Daily News:

Here is the URL from Google

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=26233

I got the first few lines of it.

Is freedom all it takes to qualify as great nation?

Reading George Bush's description of America as the greatest nation on the earth from the Republican National Convention, I was reminded of Olympic sprinter Maurice Greene's tattoo of a lion, underneath which are the letters "GOAT." These letters stand for Greatest Of All Time, as, no doubt, friends and fans could tell you. However, the rest of us wouldn't understand this image, which will remain indelible on Greene's arm even as his muscles start to shrivel. Similarly, I am not sure how meaningful the eulogy to the still-muscular American nation that Bush reaffirmed and that is as familiar to the

You try and open all of it.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Jun 14 2005 16:44 utc | 63

Cloned Poster, the wayback machine has the whole article. The end of the article goes like this:

" Christian Bailey is a second-year graduate student in the history department."

This from a column published on Sept. 16, 2004.

Same guy?

Posted by: Roamsedge | Jun 14 2005 16:55 utc | 64

Who the fuck knows Roamsedge, because a lot of Christian Bailey links I looked at yesterday, do not open.

luftmensch? via Billmon

Spook? via Rayne

Billmon probably knows all too well how "consultants" are put in business proposals/tenders without actually knowing they are in there.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Jun 14 2005 17:20 utc | 65

if anyone cares, here is a picture of young Christian Bailey which was on the Andy Forbes page before being removed.

lets see how long it lasts there.

Posted by: dan of steele | Jun 14 2005 18:25 utc | 66

Bailey had a weblog for awhile at christianbailey.com. It's no longer online, but some pages are archived: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.christianbailey.com

His bio is accessible from the first dated post. There's nothing much new after an update dated 4/4/03. Then there's a switch to Moveable Type and an 8/2/03 post that's the last update.

Posted by: Max | Jun 14 2005 18:36 utc | 67

I did a little connect the dots on the information on that Interesting People thread. First, this part of the thread made me curious:

From: Price Roe Date: June 27, 2004 11:52:10 PM EDT To: 'Christian Bailey' , 'Nick Confessore' Cc: [email protected], [email protected] Subject: RE: [IP] more on PATRIOT Act subpoenas (additional abuses) Reply-To: [email protected]

Who is Price Roe? I'll start with a little background:

Price Roe in 2002

Brian Frank, one of my venture capitalists at WR Hambrecht, likes to say that he will forever regret the day he introduced me to Price. Since we met in April 2001, Price and I have been a great team in San Francisco -- co-founding the New Century Leadership Circle (NCLC) together (more at http://www.newcenturycircle.org).

Price is one of the best story-tellers I have ever met. He's hilarious and can command a room.

Price is a native of Houston (he'll never let you forget that) and earned his B.A. degree in History from Colgate University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 2000.

He worked a long stint at Accenture (then Andersen Consulting) and Heidrick & Struggles. He also worked for the Bush 2000 presidential campaign in Karl Rove's "strategery" group on the e-campaign, helping direct and implement website, email, coalitions, and executive outreach strategies.

Right now, Price is the Assistant Campaign Manager for the Simon for Governor campaign out of Sacramento.

*Note - New Century Leadership Circle is now known as Lead 21. Sound familiar?

What is Price Roe doing today? According to this article, he's working for the Justice Department:

Using the name Sentinel “helps remove any confusion about what FICMS is and what the actual solution for the FBI will be,” said Price Roe, senior policy adviser for Justice’s CIO, Vance Hitch.

Interestingly, the name Lincoln pops up yet again here

I was lucky enough to meet Duf Sundheim about two years ago. Price Roe (see Sept 2002 Friend of Auren) and I just wrote a memo about the awesome gains of the Democratic Party in the San Francisco Bay Area -- particularly in the tech community. Duf read the article, latched onto it, and (along with Floyd Kvamme and Gregory Slayton) helped inspire Price and I to start Lead21 (formerly known as the New Century Leadership Circle) as a counterweight.

At the time, Duf was the Chairman of the Lincoln Club and did a great job taking that organization to the next level.

And to come around full circle, this all started when I googled the email address listed in the Whois above for Russell Williams, [email protected] The only link led to the Interesting People thread which listed the email from Christian Baily to Price Roe.

As I noted in an earlier post, the phone numbers on the Whois for both Baily and Williams is the same Mammoth Lakes number.

No smoking guns I admit but interesting people indeed.

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 14 2005 19:02 utc | 68

Regarding the confusion of the timeline, it seems that there are two Christian Baileys on the web, probably father and son, both of whom went to Oxford, though different colleges. The elder is the one who went to Lincoln, got his degree in Finance and Economics, and is on the masthad of the Oxonian. The younger is the one who went to Hertford College, and majored in history ( according to St. Bede site) and graduated in 1999. If you have a family school, it is pretty clear.
Where it gets weird is that the younger Bailey seems also to have gone to the Said Business School ( Oxford's MBA program) and is, it seems, part of "a thriving community of emerging Republican entrepreneurs and professionals in the blue state capitals of New York City and San Francisco" ( courtesy of Mahablog's cite of their site). Seems they like to ski, and there is a picture of Bailey the younger at http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/downloads/sbsnews6.pdf - which I downloaded just in case. Check out the people in the pictures. A couple of them have already gone pretty far.

Posted by: crixus | Jun 14 2005 19:04 utc | 69

there are two Christian Baileys on the web, probably father and son, both of whom went to Oxford, though different colleges.

I figured that much out already, although I'm not so sure they are related. Bailey is a fairly common name, after all.

My read of what I’ve found on the web is that the Christian Bailey who graduated from St. Bede didn't graduate from Oxford in 1999, but rather was admitted then. As of October 2003 he was still playing cricket for Hertford (http://cherwell.org/?print=536). So he’s clearly not OUR Christian Bailey.

On the other hand, the Hertford College Bailey DOES seem about the right age to be the Christian Bailey whose picture was shown on earlystage.com. But THAT Bailey also claimed to have done a lot of the stuff listed by Bailey the blogger in his on-line bio.

crixus -- Do you have any specific evidence that the Bailey who graduated from Hertford College is the same one that went on to the Said school and then moved into GOP circles in SF and New York?Couldn’t that have been the Lincoln College graduate? After all, Bailey the hedge fund manager turned Iraq contractor does seem to have a habit of naming his companies "Lincoln."

But it's quite a mystery and I have to say at this point I'm not really sure of anything.

Posted by: Billmon | Jun 15 2005 15:12 utc | 70

Billmon - nice to see that your post is linked to sourcewatch's entries for Lincoln Group and Iraqex

Posted by: b real | Jun 15 2005 15:22 utc | 71

OK, this is weird. Go to http://www.consummatewaiter.com

Posted by: acuppajo | Jun 16 2005 4:15 utc | 72

Paige Craig
Vice President of Iraqex
Westpoint USMA

See this news report:

http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=8741

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Monday, September 27, 2004
…..
Paige Craig, executive vice president of Iraqex, a U.S. firm involved in a range of activities from manufacturing construction materials to "providing logistics" for U.S. forces, disagreed with the general view that the security situation was deteriorating.
"People think it's getting worse because they only pay attention to foreigners (who are being taken hostage and often executed). But it's definitely more secure now than it was" a year ago, he said.
Craig said that in addition to using security guards, his firm's staff engaged in a series of diversionary tactics to ward off potential attackers.
"We keep a low profile, both in dressing and in acting. We change vehicles, switch locations," and run front offices staffed only by Iraqis, he said.
…….
By Lydia Georgi, Agence France Presse

also
http://www.iraqdirectory.com/files/articles/article158.htm

Posted by: | Jun 18 2005 22:11 utc | 73

I posted the Billmon's "Blowback" as well as this comments page on the Common Ground Common Sense forum where I'm a member. And all the posts mentioning Iraqex and Lincoln Alliance were delted. I've asked the administrator why they were deleted and have received no response.

Posted by: Gabby | Jun 19 2005 17:02 utc | 74

That is indeed Christian in the photos. I have met him.

Christian is 29. In 1991, he was 15 and well on his way to mastering the internet.

Posted by: anonymous | Aug 9 2005 22:37 utc | 75

I would guess that the Christian Bailey from St Bede's went to Hertford in '99, graduated in 2003 (playing cricket in his final term) and then went straight to Harvard to study history at a graduate level. I don't think he is of any interest.

I'm pretty sure the other Bailey went to the SBS but I'm trying to confirm that.

Posted by: denno | Dec 8 2005 13:37 utc | 76

I would guess that the Christian Bailey from St Bede's went to Hertford in '99, graduated in 2003 (playing cricket in his final term) and then went straight to Harvard to study history at a graduate level. I don't think he is of any interest.

I'm pretty sure the other Bailey went to the SBS but I'm trying to confirm that.

Thoughts?

Posted by: denno | Dec 8 2005 13:37 utc | 77

This somehow caught my eye this morning over coffee -- I have no time for this kind of research, as it doesn't fit the issue we are working on. However, the expressaction.com thing fits with its founder being a dot-com boomer/bomber. Some of those young guys did manage to waltz away with a hundred million or more.

I notice that at one point in the expressaction entity there was a fellow named Lee Williams, it's a common name but may lead to R. Williams.

Lee Williams—
Director of Strategic Alliances
Lee Williams is director of strategic alliances for Express Action. In this position, he is responsible for forging and maintaining strategic relationships with large exporters and importers.
Lee comes to Express Action from ClearCross (formerly Syntra Technologies), where he was sales and business development manager. In that position, Lee managed export and import compliance business development for the Southeast region of the U.S. and was responsible for sales and services of software to companies with revenues over $500 million. Prior to that, Lee was a regional sales manager with NextLinx Corporation, a provider of international trade logistics software solutions. Prior to that, Lee founded, built and sold a multi-million dollar mortgage wholesale business.
Lee holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of Mississippi.

ExpressAction.com was only around for about 2 years, right during the dot-com insanity, 1999-2001. It's first address was
Express Action, Inc.
1001 Bayhill Drive.
San Bruno, CA 94066-3062
Tel: 650.616.4060
Fax: 650.649.2889

In 2001 -- which would be at bust time if it was a dot-commer -- the address changed to:
Express Action, Inc.
20440 Town Center Lane, Suite #4A1
Cupertino, CA 95014
Tel: (408) 343-1037
Fax: (408) 343-1034

Here are more company names that tie with the founder of ExpressAction.com, Christian Bailey (who lists himself as founder/CEO)

Christian Bailey—
Founder and CEO
Christian Bailey is founder and CEO for Express Action, the leading provider of global e-commerce fulfillment solutions, responsible for the overall vision and direction of the company.
Prior to founding Express Action, Bailey led the Emerging Companies Group at LINCK CORPORATE FINANCE PLC, where he funded and helped develop high-growth technology companies. Before joining Linck, he founded and built CHAMELEON GROUP, an international training distributor with a global supply-chain which was acquired in 1998. He also worked at Kleinwort Benson before their acquisition by Dresdner Bank and in the International Corporate Group at Barclay's Bank.
Bailey has been active in the Internet dating back to 1991 and has acted as an advisor to several of the largest European e-businesses including AOL UK and VirginNET.
Bailey holds a B.A. and a M.A. in Economics and Management from Oxford University.

Posted by: Bev Harris | Jan 30 2006 15:40 utc | 78

The comments to this entry are closed.