Main Page | Month Archive | Email Updates | RSS Feed | Print Version

John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press & Blog Review Archive is an aggregation of public diplomacy related news, including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad between January 2004 and February 2008.

PDPBR FOR JUNE 12-13, 2007
by John H. Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS AND BLOG REVIEW, JUNE 12-13

“George W. Bush, Hero of Albania!”

--Lead sentence in Eugene Robinson, “Fleeting Glory in Albania” (Washington Post, June 12)
LINK

“The Tyrant Visits Tirana”

--Headline of an editorial by Fidel Castro; cited in Manuel Roig-Franzia, “Castro Mocks Bush Visits To Albania And Bulgaria” (Washington Post, June 13)
LINK

VIDEO

Bush Watch Stolen in Albania? (Breitbart TV)
LINK

IMAGES

State Department in S[econd]L[ife] - (Flickr)
LINK
Courtesy Joshua Fouts

A) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY (1-30)

1. NEW STATE DEPARTMENT CENTER AIMS TO COUNTER TERRORISTS’ MESSAGES - WARREN P. STROBEL, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS (FORT WAYNE NEWS SENTINEL, IN, JUNE 12): A long-awaited Bush administration public diplomacy strategy, intended to counter the steep decline in America’s global image, calls for the creation of a new State Department center aimed solely at countering the spread of terrorist ideology. Critics say better diplomatic public relations is unlikely to change the low global opinion of the United States.
LINK
SEE ALSO
LINK

2. STATE DEPARTMENT GETS NEW PUBLIC DIPLOMACY STRATEGY – TOM REGAN NPR (JUNE 12): It took 18 months and some prodding from other agencies, but the State Department finally has a new strategy for communications and public diplomacy. The new plan is intended to help State Department diplomats around the world provide a unified message about U.S. policies and programs, something critics say has been lacking.
LINK

3. NEW PD STRATEGY - (IRC WORLD, OSLO, JUNE 12): The public diplomacy plan is a result of more than a year of effort by Hughes and her staff, and is considered the first comprehensive national strategy ever developed for public diplomacy. Strangely, the document is not to be found on the state.gov or usinfo.state.gov sites—even the public diplomacy and public affairs page at State, and its “public diplomacy update” section, fail to mention it.
LINK

4. ILLIBERAL MODERATES: THE GLOBAL SWING VOTE - AMITAI ETZIONI| (HUFFINTON POST, JUNE 12): Public Diplomacy must be refocused to promote norms and alliances that reject the use of force, rather than promote democracy and human rights.
LINK

5. WINNING THE WAR OF IDEAS - ROBERT R. REILLY (CLAREMONT REVIEW OF BOOKS, SUMMER 2007): American public diplomacy is in disarray. We need a central U.S. government institution within which policy, personnel, and budget can be deployed coherently to implement a multifaceted strategy to fight the war of ideas over an extended period of time.
LINK
PAID SUBSCRIPTION
Courtesy Len Baldyga

6. HEARTS, MINDS, AND THE HOMELAND - JONAH CZERWINSKI (HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH, JUNE 11): “Ever wonder what happened to public diplomacy? ‘Hearts’ and ‘minds’ clogged the talk shows’ airwaves and pundits pontificated about soft power until an Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy was finally appointed in July 2005. I think they still hate us out there, but the closest Washington gets to public diplomacy nowadays is proclaiming the limits of a ‘military solution.’”
LINK

7. UNWARRANTED ATTACK ON PETRAEUS AIDE (SWJ BLOG) – (MONTAIN RUNNER, JUNE 12): Sweeping generalizations abound in domestic and foreign information operations, public affairs, press relations, public diplomacy, whatever you want to call it.
LINK

8. DEMOCRATS’ DIPLOMACY TALK DOESN’T MATCH DEEDS - OLIVIA ALBRECHT (BALTIMORE SUN, JUNE 10): With little fanfare, Congress slashed $1.2 billion from the already paltry international affairs budget, which funds the soft power of diplomacy, including the State Department budget, the Peace Corps, peacekeeping efforts in war-ravaged countries such as Sudan, AIDS prevention, development assistance for Third World countries, and much more.
LINK

9. 2008 SPENDING BILLS ON THE MOVE: 3.5 PERCENT RAISE PROPOSED FOR FEDERAL WORKERS – AMY DOOLITTLE (FEDERAL TIMES, JUNE 11): The House began tackling the spending bills last week, moving three to the floor and preparing another five for votes in the full committee. Among the highlights: Financial Services and General Government bill includes $4.7 billion for the State Department, including $365 million for public diplomacy efforts and $501 million for cultural and democracy exchange programs.
LINK

10. HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE RESTORES VOA GREEK SERVICE FUNDING – (GREEK NEWS, JUNE 11)
LINK

11. US CONGRESS TO REDUCE ASSISTANCE FOR ARMENIA – PRAVO VYBORA (AZERBAIJAN, JUNE 12): “Congress members decided to allot 4,7 bn. US dollars for increase of security of diplomatic corps of USA for fiscal year 2008, 365 mln. US dollars for efforts of the Department of State in the field of public diplomacy, and 501 mln. dollars for international programs and cultural exchange.”
LINK

12. ANALYSIS: VOINOVICH URGES VISA WAIVERS - LEANDER SCHAERLAECKENS (POST CHRONICLE, JUNE 11): Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, has called for the expansion of the Visa Waiver Program to improve homeland security and increase the United States’ popularity in Eastern Europe. “The Visa Waiver Program is an important tool that we can use to modernize and improve homeland security, public diplomacy and economic competitiveness,” he said. The VWP, which was introduced in 1986, allows citizens of 27 rich and developed countries to travel to the United States for 90 days without a visa.
LINK

13. GROWING PAINS AT THE ‘NEW ALHURRA’ - ALVIN SNYDER (PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BLOG, USC CENTER ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, JUNE 11): Most broadcasters still follow the dictates of a now defunct regulation that “required” U.S. broadcasters “to present controversial issues of public importance in an honest, equal and balanced manner” over time.
LINK

14. JOEL MOWBRAY REPORTS: ANATOMY OF A “RESIGNATION” – (POWER LINE, JUNE 11): Joel Mowbray follows up his series of reports on the government funded Al Hurra television network with analysis of the resignation of news director Larry Register.
LINK
SEE ALSO
LINK

15. REGISTER CHECKS OUT – AL KAMEN (IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 13): Register has been replaced by Daniel Nassif, Radio Sawa’s managing director and a native Arabic speaker.
LINK (scroll down link for item)

16. KAREN HUGHES - STEP DOWN! – (ATLAS SHRUGS, JUNE 12): Ken Tomlinson, former head of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, who set up Al Hurra to be an alternative to Al Jazeera and a pro-America, voice of freedom in the Middle East calls on Karen Hughes to step down in interview set to air on Special Report With Brit Hume.
LINK

17. IN THE MIX… ROAD PICTURE: A REALITY SHOW THAT TOOK ARABS ACROSS AMERICA GAVE PARTICIPANTS—AND AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF VIEWERS—A FULLER PICTURE OF LIFE IN THE U.S. - ANN FARMER (EMMY, ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES, ISSUE NO. 3, 2007, VOL. XXIX. PAGE 90): It’s impossible to determine how many Middle Eastern viewers tuned in to the twelve-part reality series, On the Road in America. Produced for Arab-speaking audiences by the Washington, D.C., nonprofit group Layalina Productions, in conjunction with Visionaire Media of Los Angeles, the series aired on satellite television across the Middle East earlier this year.
LINK

18. (KIM ANDREW ELLIOTT DISCUSSING INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY), latest edition.
LINK

19. US EMBASSY REACHES OUT TO STUDENTS, JOURNALISTS - MUSTAPHA SHEHU (THIS DAY, NIGERIA, JUNE 12): The American Corners, according to information available on the website of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Nigeria, are a distribution site for public diplomacy materials and poster exhibits, and a venue for speakers and local alumni group meetings.
LINK

20. AMERICAN VOICES TO UNITE FIVE IRAQI ORCHESTRAS ON ONE STAGE, AS PART OF LANDMARK SUMMER PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY –AMERICAN VOICES TO UNITE FIVE IRAQI ORCHESTRAS AS PART OF LANDMARK SUMMER PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY – (ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM, JUNE 12) The first project of its kind in the history of Iraq. Classical, Jazz, Theater, Dance, Hip Hop—Cultural Diplomacy Comes to the War Zone, as Free Educational Curriculum is Confirmed for July. American Voices is a Houston, Texas-based not-for-profit company, created in 1993 by Executive Director John Ferguson.
LINK

21. WESTERN JAZZ QUARTET COMPLETES STATE DEPARTMENT TOUR - WMU NEWS (JUNE 12): The Western Jazz Quartet, Western Michigan University’s faculty jazz ensemble, recently returned from a two-week artist ambassador tour in Slovenia and Croatia.
LINK

22. EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS BUREAU SENDS AMERICAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ENVOY MICHELLE KWAN TO RUSSIA - MEDIA NOTE (OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 12): Michelle Kwan, the first U.S. Department of State American Public Diplomacy Envoy, will depart June 13 for Russia to visit Moscow, Volgograd, and Elista. This is the figure skating champion’s second trip as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy under the auspices of the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs following her highly successful trip to China in January 2007.
LINK
SEE ALSO
LINK
LINK

23. VIDEOGAME PER COMBATTERE LE MALATTIE – (LORECALLE, JUNE 12): PeaceMaker, vincitore del Games and Public Diplomacy Contest organizzato dall’Università della California del Sud, permette a chiunque di vincere una sfida sinora sfuggita a molti: portare la pace tra israeliani e palestinesi.
LINK

24. SOFT POWER AND U.S. HEALTH CARE REVISITED - FRED FORTIN (WORLD HEALTH CARE BLOG, JUNE 12): What the world needs now from American health care is not a withdrawal but a more powerful engagement especially with developing countries, and multi-national health organizations; an engagement that reflects the best in both public diplomacy and health policy that we have to offer.
LINK

25. MARKETING AN INVASION: HOW TO SELL A WAR - JEFFREY ST. CLAIR (COUNTERPUNCH, JUNE 12): Public diplomacy, as defined by former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Charlotte Beers, is a one-way street, a unilateral broadcast of American propaganda directly to the public, domestic and international, a kind of informational carpet-bombing.
LINK

26. PRANAB TO EXPLAIN INDIA’S LOOK EAST POLICY TO NORTHEAST - SEEMA GUHA (DNAINDIA.COM, JUNE 12): “[E]xternal affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is going all the way to Shillong in Meghalaya, to explain India’s “look east policy” to the people of the region who will benefit the most if the Prime Minister’s vision of connectivity with ASEAN and India’s north eastern states take off. The newly-created division of public diplomacy, within the foreign ministry is organising the meet. The idea of public diplomacy, borrowed from the US system, is to give people of the country an idea of why government takes certain policies.”
LINK

27. PORTUGAL WANTS TO KEEP NEGOTIATIONS WITH TURKEY ON TRACK - CANSU ÇAMLIBEL (TURKISH DAILY NEWS, JUNE 12): Portuguese Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Alvaro de Mendoca E Moura: “If the Germans [currently holding the EU presidency] hand over the regulation [direct trade regulation for northern Cyprus] to us [the Portuguese, who will be holding the EU presidency], it means they have failed to find a solution. Then first we will have to explore the reasons why so many presidencies in the past three years failed to facilitate the direct trade. We will try to push this regulation if it is left in our hands. However we will not make any kind of public diplomacy. We will try to see if there is a chance to succeed. I cannot promise results but we will honestly try.”
LINK

28. PERES’S BIG DAY - CAROLINE GLICK (POSTED BY STAN L BOWMAN JR AT 7 YEARS PEACE TREATY SIGNING, JUNE 12): With Peres at the helm of the Foreign Ministry, Israel’s public diplomacy arm was summarily cancelled. Peres explained that Israel didn’t need to engage in public diplomacy because everyone would support Israel now it had embarked on a path to peace.
LINK

29. KEEPING UP WITH . . . – AL KAMEN (IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 13): Former State Department deputy spokesman Phil Reeker, who went off to be No. 2 in the embassy in Budapest, has just arrived in the Green Zone in Baghdad, a “must” stop for career foreign service folks who want eventual advancement, to be spokesman for Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Reeker’s wife, Solveig, also a foreign service officer, is also working for Crocker.
LINK (scroll down link for item)

30. RALPH H. VOGEL, SENIOR ADVISER – YVONNE SHINHOSTER LAMB (OBITUARY, WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 13): Ralph H. Vogel, 82, senior adviser of the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, died June 2. In 1965, Mr. Vogel was named staff director for the Board of Foreign Scholarship, where he was instrumental in the growth of the Fulbright program into a worldwide educational exchange. His article “The Making of the Fulbright Program” appeared in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in 1987.
LINK

B) RELATED ITEMS (Guantanamo, 31; Bush in Europe, 32-36; Iraq, 37-47; Iran, 48-49; Turkey, 50; Egypt, 51; Israel, 52; Mideast, 53; Russia, 54-58; Kosovo, 59; torture, 60; war on terror, jihad, 61-64; U.S. in world, 65-66; administration spinmeisters, 67)

31. STEP ONE: CLOSE GUANTANAMO—SHUTTING DOWN THE PRISON IS A GOOD WAY FOR CONGRESS TO START RESTORING AMERICAN VALUES AND INTERNATIONAL STANDING – EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JUNE 13)
LINK

32. IN PRAISE OF IMMIGRANT STUDENTS - ELLEN CHESLER (NATION, JUNE 11): Profiles of promising new immigrants to this country’s shore.
LINK

33. AT LEAST HE DIDN’T CALL HIM “PAL” - MICHAEL MCGOUGH (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JUNE 13): “I’m skeptical about news reports that Bush ‘drew gasps’ at the Vatican for addressing the pope as ‘Sir’ instead of ‘Your Holiness.’ The vaunted Vatican diplomatic corps must have prepared the pontiff for the president’s problems with protocol.”
LINK

34. IRONY OF BUSH’S TOUR - CLAUDE SALHANI (WASHINGTON TIMES, JUNE 12): Talk about the irony of ironies, on his European tour U.S. President George W. Bush was met with protests in Christian countries and greeted as a liberator in Europe’s largest Muslim nation. Albania, 95 percent Muslim, has become an island of staunch pro-Americanism in Europe.
LINK

35. WHY ALBANIANS LOVE AMERICA – REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, JUNE 12): Mr. Bush’s stand on behalf of a Kosovo’s right to self-determination and freedom is America at its best in Europe, pushing back against a Kremlin leader with neo-imperial designs on the Continent’s eastern half. It’s no surprise Mr. Bush got such a warm welcome in Prague, Warsaw and Tirana.
LINK
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

36. CASTRO MOCKS BUSH VISITS TO ALBANIA AND BULGARIA - MANUEL ROIG-FRANZIA (WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 13): Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday mocked President Bush’s trips to Albania and Bulgaria this week in an editorial headlined: “The Tyrant Visits Tirana,” a reference to the capital of Albania.
LINK

37. US CIVILIANS DRIVE IRAQ’S OTHER SURGE: TEAMS OF US EXPERTS IN LAW AND MANAGEMENT ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP GOVERNANCE BY THE RULE OF LAW IN NORTHERN IRAQ - HOWARD LAFRANCHI (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, JUNE 12): A key objective of a civilian reconstruction team is to develop modern local governance while breaking local leaders of a dependence on US forces.
LINK

38. IRAQI REFUGEES’ PLIGHT GROWS AS U.S. DAWDLES - BILL FRELICK, REFUGEE POLICY DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, WASHINGTON (LETTER TO THE EDITOR, WALL STREET JOURNAL, JUNE 12)
LINK
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

39. BUSH SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IRAQI REFUGEES – IVAN ELAND (ANTIWAR.COM, JUNE 12)
LINK

40. IN IRAQ, MARINES’ MORALE UNSHAKEN - TONY PERRY (BALTIMORE SUN, JUNE 10)
LINK

41. US SIGNALS PERMANENT STAY IN IRAQ: CRITICS SAY A LONG-TERM US MILITARY PRESENCE MAY PROVOKE GREATER IRAQI RESISTANCE OF THE ‘OCCUPIER’ - HOWARD LAFRANCHI (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, JUNE 12)
LINK

42. OUR COMMON STRUGGLE: AMERICA HAD ITS CIVIL WAR. WHY EXPECT FREEDOM TO COME EASY TO IRAQ? - NOURI AL-MALIKI (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, JUNE 13): Mr. Maliki is prime minister of Iraq.
LINK

43. AL-QAIDA VERSUS THE ISLAMIC ARMY: INSURGENTS IN IRAQ TURN ON EACH OTHER - BERNHARD ZAND (SPIEGEL INTERNATIONAL, JUNE 12)
LINK

44. ARMING A CIVIL WAR – EDITORIAL (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, JUNE 12): It’s a risky strategy U.S. commanders are following in arming Sunni fighters who pledge to hunt down al Qaeda guerrillas in Iraq.
LINK

45. PEACE TALKS NOW: WITH NO EVIDENCE THAT THE SURGE IS SUCCEEDING, IT IS TIME TO TRY FOR A CEASE-FIRE IN IRAQ. THE U.N. CAN HELP – EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JUNE 12)
LINK

46. POST-TRAUMATIC IRAQ SYNDROME: THE WAR IS LOST. AMERICANS SHOULD BEGIN TO DEAL WITH WHAT THAT MEANS - CHRISTOPHER J. FETTWEIS (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JUNE 12): Were our founding fathers here, they would surely look on Iraq with horror and judge that the nation they created had fundamentally lost its way.
LINK

47. IRAQ: THE MESS THAT WAS TO BE - PAUL R PILLAR (ASIA TIMES, JUNE 12): For all members of Congress who supported the war, the assessments about postwar consequences are an inconvenient reminder of how they bought into the administration’s false equation of a presumed weapons program with the need to invade, and how, in trying to protect themselves against charges of being soft on national security, they failed to consider all of the factors that should have influenced their votes.
LINK

48. IRANIAN MEDIA ON IRAQ & THE US – JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, JUNE 12)
LINK

49. IRAN: PAST THE PARANOIA; AT ONCE THEOCRATIC, SECULAR, HOSTILE, AND MODERN, IRAN IS NOT AMERICA’S NATURAL ENEMY - PETER HITCHENS (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, JUNE 4)
LINK

50. THREE-WAY TIES - TULIN DALOGLU (WASHINGTON TIMES, JUNE 12): Many Turks perceive the U.S. motive in the region to be the weakening of nation states through highlighting ethnic and sectarian differences among people.
LINK

51. A MUBARAK DYNASTY? IT’S LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKELY. BUT THE UNITED STATES CAN STILL PUSH FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS - JEFFREY AZARVA (WEEKLY STANDARD, JUNE 13)
LINK

52. ANTI-ISRAEL JEWISH ACADEMIC PUNISHED - (ISLAMONLINE.COM, JUNE 12): A top American university has denied tenure to a prominent Jewish academic who for his outspoken criticism of Israel and support for the Palestinian cause. “I met the standards of tenure DePaul required, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the political opposition to my speaking out on the Israel-Palestine conflict,” said Norman Finkelstein, an assistant political science professor.
LINK

53. ANALYSTS FAVOR U.S. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDEAST - BY MOHAMED ELSHINNAWI (VOA, JUNE 12): A recent forum convened by the same National Endowment for Democracy, a panel of experts warned that the U.S. drive for democracy in the Middle East is losing, not gaining ground.
LINK

54. PUTIN’S MISSILE GAMBIT – REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, JUNE 12): The US Missile Defense Agency will spend the summer evaluating the Russian offer, and there’s a possibility there will be a useful way to integrate the Azerbaijan radar into the U.S. global system. It’s not, however, a substitute for the necessary facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
LINK

55. PUTIN’S MISSILE-DEFENSE GAMBIT - HARLAN ULLMAN (WASHINGTON TIMES, JUNE 13): The intellectual and psychological challenge is for the White House to understand that in many ways, the United States needs partners more than Russia does.
LINK

56. BEAR BAITING - PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, JUNE 4): A first order of business of the next president should be to repair the damage done to Russian relations. And the way to begin is by getting NATO out of Russia’s front yard. Respect Russia’s turf, as we would like her to respect ours.
LINK

57. HUNTING THE RUSSIAN BEAR : WHY THEY’RE AFTER PUTIN – JUSTIN RAIMONDO (ANTIWAR.COM, JUNE 11): There seems little doubt the color-coded “revolutions,” with Western material and moral support, targeted the former Soviet “near abroad” and aimed at reducing Russian influence and putting Putin on the defensive. The construction of a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe was the last straw. What had been primarily a propaganda campaign aimed at the Kremlin has now taken a decidedly military turn, one that bodes ill for the future and the cause of peace.
LINK

58. JUNGLE LAW AND DIFFICULT US-RUSSIA TIES - CHEN HU (PEOPLE’S DAILY, JUNE 13; FIRST POSTED MAY 23): Judging from the current state of US-Russia relations, the assertion of a new cold war is more or less an exaggeration, for the tensions will not reach such a level. However, what is certain is that the “jungle law” still plays a role in the management of international affairs. Doesn’t this reveal that the self-proclaimed democracy by some powers is in fact a crippled democracy?
LINK

59. THE NEXT BATTLE FOR KOSOVO : BUSH AND PUTIN SQUARE OFF OVER THE QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE - STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (WEEKLY STANDARD, JUNE 11): The Kosovo issue intersects with several areas of concern for the Bush administration and for American interests. While Putin and his Serbian companions in provocation remain an immediate challenge, Kosovo also offers potential for success in the global perspective of democratization, to which the president remains committed.
LINK

60. THE CIA’S FAVORITE FORM OF TORTURE GOES ON: A NEW EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION SHOWS THE CIA USED “EXTREME SENSORY DEPRIVATION” ON AL-QAIDA TYPES (SALON, JUNE 11)
LINK

61. BETWEEN DUST AND DELIVERANCE - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, JUNE 13): Bin Ladenism, and its various jihadist offshoots, has died in Iraq. Yes, it will still have adherents, but it has lost its revolutionary shine, because it has turned out to be nothing more than a death cult.
LINK
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

62. COURTING THE ENEMY – EDITORS (NATIONAL REVIEW, JUNE 12): The United States is not at war with the uniformed army of a sovereign nation like Germany or Japan. But we are still at war—with a transnational terror network, whose jihadist operatives are often, but not always, abetted by enemy nations.
LINK

63. FLEETING GLORY IN ALBANIA - EUGENE ROBINSON (WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 12): We will remember this whole misguided administration for deciding to wage the fight against terrorism in a manner that not only mocks our nation’s values but also draws new recruits to the anti-American cause. We will remember this White House for unwittingly helping the terrorist cause perpetuate itself.
LINK

64. LAWRENCE WRIGHT’S TRIP TO AL-QAEDA - SUZANNE CHARLE (AMERICAN PROSPECT, JUNE 8): The “Looming Tower” author has turned his extensive journalistic investigations of terrorism and radical Islam into a powerful stage play.
LINK

65. GATES OVERHAULS RUMSFELD’S PENTAGON - JIM LOBE (ANTIWAR.COM): In the less than seven months since Gates himself replaced Rumsfeld, the former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief has played a key, if largely quiet, role in steering U.S. policy in a more “realist” direction, promoted as well by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her State Department colleagues, according to observers here.
LINK

66. BUSHED ARMY: OUR FORCES STRAIN UNDER A SURGE OF NEW MISSIONS - ANDREW J. BACEVICH (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, JUNE 4): President Bush has nickeled and dimed the nation’s fighting forces to the verge of collapse. Even today he remains oblivious to the basic problem that his administration has confronted for the past four years—too much war and too few soldiers.
LINK

67. AN 11-QUOTE QUIZ ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S WAR OF WORDS - TOM ENGELHARDT AND NICK TURSE (TOMDISPATCH, JUNE 12): In recent months, backs against the verbal wall, administration spinmeisters have begun spinning ever more wildly—mixing metaphors, grasping at rhetorical straws, and stretching credulity at every turn, if not turning point.
LINK

C) ONLY IN AMERICA?

68. ELDERLY PA. WOMEN POSE FOR RISQUE PHOTOS – (AP, JUNE 12): Giving sultry looks and sexy smiles to the camera, 12 Pittsburgh-area women recently posed at Monongahela historical sites, baring it all—or almost all—to create a charity-driven calendar. The catch? The nearly nude ladies are all in their 70s and 80s, driven to adventure by a desire to raise money for a historical society in Monongahela, a small community 17 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
LINK

69. IT’S NOT A HAND GUN, IT’S MILITARY: FLEET WEEK #3 – BAGNEWSNOTES (JUNE 13): “Today, I offer the last in a series of posts featuring images by photojournalist Nina Berman of this year’s Fleet Week naval extravaganza in NYC.”
LINK

D) MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

“Axis of blondes”

--Heading of letter to the editor by San Francisco Chronicle reader Shari Prange (Bonny Doon, Santa Cruz County), noting that “Editor—Could you please gather all the vital news flashes and in-depth analysis of Paris, Britney, Lindsay and Nicole into one (easily disposable) section?” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 12)
LINK

“good pictures and images. Well-choreographed pictures and images convey emotion and/or action as well as a convincing story.

Suggestions:

-- Before any event, think through a desired picture that would best capture and tell the story of the event.
޴-- Where should the photo be taken—what is the background? The background should help convey where you are—the country, the city, the building, the environment. Should there be a flag in the background? Is there a banner behind or in front of the podium? Is a recognizable part of the building visible? What part of the building is recognizable? E.g., capture I.M. Pei’s Pyramid as your background for an event at the Louvre rather than an unrecognizable column inside.
-- Who should be in the picture? The principal along with those who are the focus of the event should be in the picture to help convey the story. Musicians? Youth? Government officials? E.g., if the Ambassador and State Minister for Education are speaking at a Fulbright event, make sure to get shots not just of the officials speaking but with Fulbright grantees in the photo.
޴-- What is the action or the emotion? Are they dancing? Talking? Listening? Learning? Enthusiastic? Include props if that helps convey the story. E.g., if the Ambassador is meeting with 4th graders to give out books, the photo should include students holding the books, youth reading, pointing to a picture in the book, etc.
޴-- The photographer should think through the location for the photo with all of the technical considerations in mind—not shooting into the sun, not in front of reflective glass or a mirror, not in shade or shadows, etc. The key people who need to be included in the shot should be identified.-- Look for the action or emotion. For action shots, get a tight shot rather than wide. A tight shot will convey more emotion in addition to the story. E.g., for a U.S. military big band in town with swing dancers, rather than capturing the whole crowd, pick out one couple in full enthusiastic swing dancing in front of a large U.S. flag and banner of the event so the country and occasion are conveyed.”

--Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC): U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, p. 26
LINK