propaganda

March 1, 2011

Rolling Stone has done it again with another scoop by Michael Hastings showing the U.S. military's manipulation of public opinion and wanton disregard for civilian leadership. The article, "Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators," is another example of an officer corps run amok...

U.S. military psychological operations (PSYOP or psy-ops) and information operations (IO) are supposed to be directed to local and enemy populations in overseas "theaters," specific geographical areas of armed conflict, not where you watch Auntie Mame perform.

Seoul is using an old-school method — leaflet bombing — to tell its northern neighbors about events in the Middle East. As part of its ongoing campaign to win over North Koreans, South Korea has once again turned to "balloon diplomacy," sending gas-filled balloons skyward with messages and goodies in tow.

February 2, 2011

As darkness fell on Tahrir Square the night of Feb. 1, a giant makeshift TV screen broadcast Al Jazeera's live coverage of the Egyptian uprising to the enthusiastic crowd.

The Peace Corps has endured a rough month. On Jan. 18, the Corps lost Sargent Shriver, its charismatic architect and first leader. The previous Friday, ABC News ran a grizzly story on violence against Peace Corps volunteers.

January 29, 2011

On India’s Republic Day in Beijing, the Chinese assistant foreign affairs minister Hu Zhengyue was riveted to an energetic 40-minute performance by Kathak dancers flown from India for the occasion. As he clapped, Hu was heard asking if the dancers were not dizzy from spinning on the stage.

The face in the painting is North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's, smiling beneath his trademark sunglasses and wall of black hair. But the body is Marilyn Monroe's, pushing down her white dress in an updraft.

Films commissioned more than 50 years ago by the British Council to showcase the best of Britain to the rest of the world – whether that was a sense of fair play, cricket or the joys of congregated drinking in places "called 'public' houses" – have been digitised and are being released online for the first time.

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