My take on it is "beanie babies." Any money he throws towards philanthropy and journalism is found money. This isn't a guy who set out to be a venture capitalist, like Elon Musk. This isn't a guy with a deeply philosophical bent towards democracy, like George Soros. This isn't somebody who made their stake through liberal gadflyism, like Ariana Huffington. This is a guy who struck it mega-rich on beanie babies. NSFWCorp are proud, petulant and pugilistic. They remind me a lot of The Stranger back before Dan Savage settled down. I wish them all the luck in the world. At the same time, I'm not about to pretend they're fair and balanced. In reading a lot of Yasha Levine, I get the distinct sense that his life would be easier if he were less of a dick. In reading a lot of Mark Ames, I get the distinct sense that he's butt-hurt nobody paid enough attention to him back when he was in Russia. That's fine. Everybody's got baggage. "Baggage" should not be confused with "news" though.