"When far too much information gets classified, nothing is really classified."
--New York Times Washington correspondent David E. Sanger; image from
"when a government agency can monitor everyone's phone calls, we have all become suspects."
--Lewis Beale, who writes about culture and film; via FW
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
The Iran Culture Opportunity - Ramin Asgard, Barbara Slavin, nationalinterest.org: "The
In fact, it was during Ahmadinejad’s tenure that U.S.-Iranian official exchanges restarted in 2006, after a twenty-seven-year hiatus. Programs such as the State Department’s flagship International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), are the centerpiece of official exchanges, and can and should grow. The Atlantic Council report recommends creating a non- or quasi-official U.S.-Iranian Cultural Exchanges Working Group comprised of distinguished representatives from the American academic, artistic, athletic, professional, and scientific communities and Iranian counterparts. The Working Group’s focus should be to help coordinate exchange activity and guide and support the delicate, logistically complex work of official and unofficial cultural exchanges. While the State Department leads the official side of these exchanges, in coordination with many U.S.-based institutions dedicated to global cultural exchange, the Working Group aims to support this critical mission. The Obama administration should also seek to station American diplomats at a U.S. Interests Section in
Humans of Iran and US - Persian Paradox: Massoumeh Ebtekar's Official Blog: "There were two events last week which indicated how important public diplomacy can be when dealing with relationships between countries. After visiting Iran, a New York based photographer, Brandon Staton has posted pictures about people in Iran on his blog http://www.humansofnewyork.com/. His posts have been well received by both Iranians and Americans. This is how he begins his part on Iran: 'The US Government has a lengthy travel warning for Iran. While not advising you to ignore this warning, I do advise that you balance it with direct accounts of Americans who have recently visited the country. These accounts are generally filled with superlatives— the country is beautiful, the history is rich, and the people are eager to demonstrate their almost-sacred commitment to hospitality.' The captions under the pictures are both meaningful and inspiring: 'Curves are everywhere in Eastern culture: our writing, our architecture, our instruments, the way we dance, even the tone of our language is curved. The West was built on angles. The East was built on curves.' More interesting are the ... readers’ comments which are eye opening. Many express the fact that they did not believe they could find such scenes in Iran , many have said that they enjoy seeing the pictures of Iranians. Some said that the human connection in these pictures have helped them see a different image from that portrayed by the mainstream media in the US. While the US administration is preparing the public opinion for a confrontational approach, people are attempting to open new vistas for friendship and cooperation for peace. In a more heartwarming but ultimately tragic story, many in Iran and in the mountain-climbing community worldwide were transfixed by the story of
three Iranian mountaineers, Aydin Bozorgi, Pouya Keyvan and Mojtaba Jarahi who went missing after completing a daring new ascent of Pakistan’s daunting Broad Peak (8047m). The team had fixed the Iranian flag at the summit to open a new path in the name of Iran but while descending they had lost contact and went missing. In spite of the rescue attempts the missing mountaineers were never found. This created a huge social media campaign in Iran. The most interesting point in this tragic story was that an American climber named Scott Powrie, who hiked alongside the Iranian climbers, memorialized their generosity and Iranian hospitality in a moving personal blog post: http://highaltitudescott.blogspot.com/2013/07/bittersweet-homecoming.html . ... As reports of the unsuccessful rescue attempts were verified, news agencies reported that sanctions restrictions had impeded the flow of information on the location of the mountaineers using Thuraya cellphones. These sanctions are taking many lives ... . [T]he Iranian nation had delivered a clear message by electing Rouhani and they expected to hear a rational response to this decision, but it seems that this clear signal has fallen on deaf ears and that radical elements on both sides wish to aggravate the situation. There is no question that the powerful Zionist lobby in the congress and senate are pushing for a confrontational approach against Iran. Their existence depends on escalation of conflict between the US and Iran. Civil society groups, Iranians residing in the US and political activists should all engage in a serious effort to bring to light the aspirations of the people to connect and mend ties in a spirit of just and balanced relations. Now that the Iranians have made their selection, it is upon the American society to take action to prevent the neocon and Zionist Christian lobby from taking affairs in their hands." Image from entry
Kerry: "Military restored democracy in Egypt" - So was in Sri Lanka - Daya Gamage, asiantribune.com: "John Kerry says the Egyptian military did not take over but instead was "restoring democracy" in Egypt when he spoke during an interview with Geo TV in Pakistan, where he is making his first visit as secretary of state. Kerry says millions of people asked the military to intervene because they were afraid the country would descend into violence. The handlers of external affairs in Sri Lanka who normally fail in their public diplomacy, strategic communication and analytical effort, could now be in a position to use Mr. Kerry's declaration to justify the presence of the military in the north-eastern region of the country to answer the 'Global Critics', if they choose to do so."
Beyond the Hysteria - Emily Metzgar, Communication and Commentary: “Old canards about ‘government propaganda’ have reappeared as U.S. media coverage begins to catch up with the end of the domestic dissemination ban on U.S. international broadcasting (USIB) content. Much of the current commentary resembles what appeared a year ago when the implications of modernizing the Smith-Mundt Act first hit the mainstream. Unlike last time, however, the alarm is appearing in a post-Snowden context, with all the attendant concerns about privacy in the face of public naiveté and government overreach. Still, when interviewed recently about improved domestic access to USIB content as a result of the legislative change, I said I was not especially concerned about government propaganda.
Some responded to that statement with horror, suggesting I was either a propagandist myself, or at least an Orwellian sympathizer eager to facilitate the spread of 21st century groupthink. Alas, the reality is more mundane. Look to history of the Smith-Mundt Act and U.S. international broadcasting. When passing the legislation in 1948, Congress believed it was necessary for theUnited States to speak for itself in a postwar world where the Soviet Union was growing in strength and international opinion was not guaranteed to remain pro-American. Contrary to modern conventional wisdom that USIB content was banned domestically to protect the American public from government propaganda, the historical record instead suggests limitations were imposed to protect the fledgling U.S. broadcast industry from unfair government competition. Understood in this context, the increased domestic availability of USIB content today appears far less ominous. Now is a good time for the American public to have improved access to the content of the five government-sponsored broadcasters. At a minimum, taxpayers now have easier access to the content being produced and distributed worldwide in their name. It may be easy to dismiss the content as propaganda, but it is difficult to find hard evidence of that since few serious studies have actually considered the nature of these broadcasts. Increased access to the content will make it easier for Americans to make those judgments for themselves. The real outrage is that until now, such independent evaluation has not been possible. American media consumers make judgments all the time about what they like and what they don’t. Now we just get to add USIB to the list of content that we’re evaluating. Surely a thinking public can assess the quality of media content for itself." Image from
Some responded to that statement with horror, suggesting I was either a propagandist myself, or at least an Orwellian sympathizer eager to facilitate the spread of 21st century groupthink. Alas, the reality is more mundane. Look to history of the Smith-Mundt Act and U.S. international broadcasting. When passing the legislation in 1948, Congress believed it was necessary for the
Pessimistic media portrayal of Beijing mirrors national sensitivities in West - George N. Tzogopoulos, Global Times: "Irrespective of their deeper motivations, Western media do systematically construct the image of China as that of a country faced with important difficulties and obstacles, gradually losing the strength of previous years and facing the risk of a full-fledged crisis. Chinese policymakers should not be surprised. Public diplomacy and communication strategy are useful tools as long as the antagonism between Beijing and Washington becomes more apparent in international politics.
Maybe the best way to respond is by employing the same method. Within the framework of a lively and flourishing debate where different views are democratically presented and promoted, China can emphasize more carefully the spread of its ideas worldwide. The rise of Chinese media branches abroad, for instance, demonstrates a significant step in China's will to play a bigger role in the global media environment. The negative construction of its image following the recent announcement of its growth can actually lead to a chorus promoting additional initiatives and the formation of a more active communications strategy." Image from article
Taiwan's legislatures need to remember Actions Speak Louder Than Words - Public Diplomacy and International Communications: Thoughts and comments about public diplomacy, soft power and international communications by Gary Rawnsley: "Taiwan is in the international news, and again it is for the wrong reasons. Members of Taiwan's Parliament, the Legislative Yuan, have once more been filmed fighting among themselves ahead of an important vote on the future of the island's nuclear industry. ... At a time when Taiwan remains the first Chinese democracy, such behaviour reinforces the unreasonable idea that perhaps the Asian Values thesis is right after all. More importantly for Taiwan, fighting in the Legislative Yuan sends a very clear signal to the People's Republic of China and strengthens its propaganda: This is what happens in a so-called multi-party democratic political system; this is what we are protecting you from."
An endless peace process is Israel's best propaganda weapon - Ahmed Moor, thenational.ae: "Myth and fantasy have played a role in the genesis of most national movements. But few continue to rely as completely on fantasy and propaganda as does Zionism, or Jewish nationalism in Palestine. For decades the myths of a barren desert made to flower, of military might and indomitability, of liberal democracy; and of 'chosenness' have contributed to the maintenance of Israel as a Jewish-majority state governed by Jews. But now as never before Israel's myths are being undermined - a necessary development in the struggle for justice for Palestinians. In Israel, mythmaking and government propaganda are called 'hasbara', literally Hebrew for 'explanation'. But hasbara is much more than that: it is a public-relations campaign, a one-time ploy, a lifelong undertaking energised by genuine conviction and zeal - and it can be all of those things at once. Yet today the effort to obfuscate the truth in service of apartheid and occupation is failing as never before. The European Union's decision to publish guidelines on the terms of any future cooperation with Israel - and to condition that cooperation on Israel's explicit recognition of its occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights - marks a nadir for that country's propaganda efforts. But while this single development serves to mark the dimunition of hasbara's effectiveness, the Israelis do continue to retain one effective propaganda tool: the 'negotiations process' with the Palestinians. ... The end of the 20th century marked more than just the end of the peace partnership - it marked the beginning of hasbara's terminal phase. The transformation of the information landscape enabled the emergence of a vast, decentralised network of citizen journalists and activists, all of whom interact directly with one another in real time. The claims of the Israeli foreign ministry would no sooner be issued than they were debunked - through video footage, archival research or documentary evidence. This is a fact that the Israeli leadership has been attuned to for some time, but its efforts at meeting the challenge have been clumsy and manipulative. Consider the recent buffoonish campaign to distract from apartheid with the claim that Israel is a haven for gay individuals. Last year, the Israeli army published a photo of two men holding hands.
The army encouraged Zionists to share the photo on social media - until it emerged that the picture had been staged; the men were not in fact a couple. The hasbara was consequently the subject of widespread mockery - and indeed did little to wipe the memories of recent onslaughts and massacres from the minds of publics around the world. A parallel hasbara campaign - Start-up Israel, aimed at promoting Israeli business - also recently faltered after a company at the heart of the campaign filed for bankruptcy. Activists have also succeeded in highlighting the fact that much of Israel's technological innovation emerges through the development of arms designed to pacify or intimidate the Palestinians. Despite its foundering public propaganda efforts, the government of Israel continues to successfully deepen and widen its apartheid in Palestine. And it does so even as growing numbers of people around the world are alerted to its human-rights abuses and fundamental opposition to equality. The paradox is explained mainly through a single factor: the so-called peace process. In reality, the face-to-face discussions that occur through the exercise of American power act mainly to insulate the Jewish-privilege state from the consequences of its repression. For so long as the Israelis can claim to pursue a resolution to the apartheid regime, the Europeans can claim to believe them and thereby avoid the costs of contending with yet another rogue state in the Middle East. Thus, Israeli propaganda's most useful, effective and devastating weapon is the one that requires the degrading and treacherous participation of some Palestinians at least. It is the one that requires a staggering degree of wilful self-deception on the part of the Europeans and Americans. And because of that, it is the one that will prove hardest to overcome." Image from article, with caption: André da Loba for The National
Why Was CAR [Central African republic] President Francois Bozizé Recently Deposed, and Why Now? - Bob Bahr, politicalviolenceataglance.org: "[T]he claim that popular momentum led to Bozizé’s ouster is dubious at best. Much clearer is the recent change in French military policy towards Bozizé’s late administration. 'This time the message was very clear, that ‘we are not here to save the regime’', explained Thierry Vircoulon, Central African director for the International Crisis Group. 'Paris is playing a new game in Africa now…and that is that the region is handling its own crises.' ... France’s unwillingness to intervene in support of Bozizé was also highly likely to have been precipitated by his involvement in bourgeoning Chinese-CAR relations. One needs to read no more than the title of a 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable exposed by Wikileaks to understand this relationship: 'Growing Chinese Influence in CAR Evident', writes former U.S. ambassador to CAR Frederick Cook, going on to catalogue China’s recent military cooperation, public diplomacy, and development efforts in the resource-rich nation. Most notable is Cook’s argument that China’s involvement in CAR is 'almost certainly to gain access to economic resources,' including 'uranium, gold, iron, diamonds, and possibly oil.' China, of course, has witnessed a meteoric rise in geopolitical stature over the past twenty years and is seen in the eyes of many to be a rival of the West — arguably lessening the French incentive to intervene on Bozizé’s behalf."
Food Matters | A Meeting of the United Nations of Gastronomy - Amy Perry, New York Times:
"Last weekend, 20 members of the Club des Chefs des Chefs, an international organization made up entirely of personal chefs to heads of states, gathered in New York City for their annual epicurean summit. Their host was Gilles Bragard, a Frenchman who founded the organization in 1977 after making his fortune in service-industry uniforms.
Their guide was Cristeta Comerford, the White House’s executive chef, who would lead them on farm visits inWestchester County and Pennsylvania , and in meetings in New York and Washington , D.C. West 16th Street , where they fed lunch to the hungry. ... ‘Diplomacy through gastronomy — first I thought this was a gimmicky concept, and I was skeptical,’ said Cassandra Agredo, the Mission ’s executive director. 'But one in five New Yorkers doesn’t have enough to eat. You can’t educate hungry children. You can’t have peace or security without food. So they might have the right idea.'” Via PR; image from article, with caption: A Meeting of the United Nations of Gastronomy The U.N. of Gastronomy The Club des Chefs des Chefs, an organization composed entirely of chefs who serve international heads of state, kicked off its fun-loving annual summit in New York last weekend.
Their guide was Cristeta Comerford, the White House’s executive chef, who would lead them on farm visits in
Full-time Internal/External Communication Specialist at US Embassy - africa.jobistan.co: "Location: Dar es Salaam ... The US Embassy is seeking an individual for the position of Internal/External Communication Specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: ... Work with Public Affairs colleagues and the Office of the PEPFAR Coordinator to leverage interagency opportunities such as the new PEPFAR Tanzania Voluntary Visitor Program, Ambassador’s Small Grants Programs, U.S. Guest Speaker program, the Performing Arts Initiative and the sports Envoy Program. Liaise with Embassy Public Affairs Office to research proper legal protocol and local Tanzania customs for taking and using photographs in publications; with specific attention to situations involving people being supported by public health programs. ... Attend Public Affairs/Public Diplomacy weekly staff meetings and participate in other interagency processes involving communication issues."
RELATED ITEMS
Pentagon: Guantanamo tab $5.2 billion and counting - Carol Rosenberg, mcclatchydc.com: New number-crunching by Democrats campaigning for Guantanamo's closure says the Pentagon spends nearly a half-billion dollars a year - a whopping $2.7 million per prisoner - to operate its offshore prison complex in southeast Cuba.
The figure is by far the largest per-prisoner cost ever calculated and apparently, for the first time, includes troop costs. The ostensibly temporary Pentagon prison has, since it opened in 2002, been staffed largely by troops trained up on their way to Guantanamo for rotations of nine months to a year. The cost for this year - $454.1 million to operate, staff and build at the prison complex - comes from a report by the Defense Department's Office of the Comptroller. Image from article, with caption: An Army guard walks the hallway in Camp 5 at U.S. Navy base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Counterinsurgency: The Graduate Level of War or Pure Hokum? - Gian Gentile, e-ir.info: The hokum of enlightened counterinsurgency generals who turn failed wars around by making their armies fight them better simply won’t go away. The hokum helps to prolong the fantasy that American wars in foreign lands can always be made to work as long as the “professors of war” at the graduate level are put in charge. Sadly this is a recipe for perpetual conflict.
Samantha Power, new U.N. ambassador, has learned to bite her tongue: Those close to U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power say she wanted to influence the nation's choices and was willing to become a bureaucrat to do it - Christi Parsons, latimes.com: Power, 42, a journalist and activist before Obama drew her into government eight years ago, said she would try to "do what America does best: stand up against repressive regimes and promote human rights." Critics question whether Power has tamed her ideas to work with Obama.
But those close to her put it differently: She wanted to influence the nation's choices and was willing to become a bureaucrat to do it. Image from article, with caption: Before Samantha Power joined President Obama’s election campaign, she was a journalist and a human rights advocate.
State Department warns travelers to ‘adopt appropriate safety measures - Todd DeFeo, Washington Times: The Department of State is warning Americans to remain vigilant for possible al Qaida terrorist attacks in the Middle East and North Africa and issued a global travel warning to Americans asking them “adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling.” Concurrently, the State Department closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend.
Russians welcome Edward Snowden, offered job in Russia - John Thomas Didymus, digitaljournal.com: NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, wanted on charges of leaking classified documents about US surveillance programs has been welcomed with messages posted online by Russian bloggers and activists. An online Russian company has offered him a job. Bloomberg notes that most Russians approve of President Vladimir Putin's decision to grant the former CIA employee asylum for a period of one year during which he is free to live and work in
Snowden could renew his refugee status after one year. His lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said he plans to apply for permanent residency. Although Russian bloggers praised him for summoning the courage to leak the
We're living '1984' today - Lewis Beale, CNN: It appears that the police now have a device that can read license plates and check if a car is unregistered, uninsured or stolen. We already know that the National Security Agency can dip into your Facebook page and Google searches. And it seems that almost every store we go into these days wants your home phone number and ZIP code as part of any transaction. So when Edward Snowden -- now cooling his heels in Russia -- revealed the extent to which the NSA is spying on Americans, collecting data on phone calls we make, it's not as if we should have been surprised. We live in a world that George Orwell predicted in "1984." And that realization has caused sales of the 1949, dystopian novel to spike dramatically upward recently -- a 9,000% increase at one point on Amazon.com. Comparisons between Orwell's novel about a tightly controlled totalitarian future ruled by the ubiquitous Big Brother and today are, in fact, quite apt. Here are a few of the most obvious ones. Telescreens -- in the novel, nearly all public and private places have large TV screens that broadcast government propaganda, news and approved entertainment.
But they are also two-way monitors that spy on citizens' private lives. Today websites like Facebook track our likes and dislikes, and governments and private individuals hack into our computers and find out what they want to know. Then there are the ever-present surveillance cameras that spy on the average person as they go about their daily routine. The endless war -- In Orwell's book, there's a global war that has been going on seemingly forever, and as the book's hero, Winston Smith, realizes, the enemy keeps changing. One week we're at war with Eastasia and buddies with Eurasia. The next week, it's just the opposite. There seems little to distinguish the two adversaries, and they are used primarily to keep the populace of Oceania, where Smith lives, in a constant state of fear, thereby making dissent unthinkable -- or punishable. Today we have the so-called war on terror, with no end in sight, a generalized societal fear, suspension of certain civil liberties, and an ill-defined enemy who could be anywhere, and anything. Doublethink -- Orwell's novel defines this as the act of accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct. It was exemplified by some of the key slogans used by the repressive government in the book: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. It has also been particularly useful to the activists who have been hard at work introducing legislation regulating abortion clinics. The claim is that these laws are only to protect women's health, but by forcing clinics to close because of stringent regulations, they are effectively shutting women off not only from abortion, but other health services. Newspeak -- the fictional, stripped down English language, used to limit free thought. OMG, RU serious? That's so FUBAR. LMAO. Memory hole -- this is the machine used in the book to alter or disappear incriminating or embarrassing documents. Paper shredders had been invented, but were hardly used when Orwell wrote his book, and the concept of wiping out a hard drive was years in the future. But the memory hole foretold both technologies. Anti-Sex League -- this was an organization set up to take the pleasure out of sex, and to make sure that it was a mechanical function used for procreation only. Organizations that promote abstinence-only sex education, or want to ban artificial birth control, are the modern versions of this. So what's it all mean? In 1984, Winston Smith, after an intense round of "behavior modification" -- read: torture -- learns to love Big Brother, and the harsh world he was born into. Jump forward to today, and it seems we've willingly given up all sorts of freedoms, and much of our right to privacy. Fears of terrorism have a lot to do with this, but dizzying advances in technology, and the ubiquity of social media, play a big part. There are those who say that if you don't have anything to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of. But the fact is, when a government agency can monitor everyone's phone calls, we have all become suspects. This is one of the most frightening aspects of our modern society. And even more frightening is the fact that we have gone so far down the road, there is probably no turning back. Unless you spend your life in a wilderness cabin, totally off the grid, there is simply no way the government won't have information about you stored away somewhere. What this means, unfortunately, is that we are all Winston Smith. And Big Brother is the modern surveillance state. Image from
SEXUALITY LESSONS
Porn vs. Real Sex: Video Compares Sex Fantasy With Reality - Emily Thomas, The Huffington Post
Image from article, with caption: Apricots depicting variations in vaginas.
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