Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
94 million registered users – many in their teens and 20s – use MySpace.Com as a way to connect with others with similar interests. The U.S. Marine Corps is hoping to tap into that pool of potential recruits through its own MySpace profile. According to Gunnery Sgt. Brian Lancioni, it’s “definitely the new wave.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Bill Berkowitz reports, " For years, U.S. neoconservatives have been ratcheting up the rhetoric -- mostly in small gatherings and on partisan web sites -- claiming that terrorist activities around the world constituted the initial stages of a new world war. But during the past week or so ...
Submitted by John Stauber on
"The U.S. military has removed two firms from a psychological operations contract aimed at influencing international public opinion," reports the Washington Post. "The firms, plus a third company (SYColeman) that will retain the contract, spent the past year developing prototypes for radio and television spots intended for use in Iraq and in other nations...
As a child I absolutely adored Cricket magazine, published by Carus Publishing. I now have a twelve-year old daughter who likewise enjoys their magazines for kids, but the May 2006 issue of Cobblestone Magazine floored me with its blatant pro-military marketing pitch to children.
Chances are, depending on your age, that either you or your children have read one of Carus’ publications at home, school, the library, or a doctor’s waiting room. For the smallest tykes—those under seven years old—they offer Ladybug, Babybug, and Click magazines. For six- to nine-year olds they put out Spider, Ask, and Appleseeds. And for the “tweens,” Calliope, Cobblestone, Cricket, Dig, Faces, Muse, Odyssey, and Cicada.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Geoff Gray writes, "what looks to be a 2006 version of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has formed.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"A lot of people talk about comparisons between the Iraq war and the Vietnam war," says the Gallup polling organization's Frank Newport. Since Gallup has been taking opinion polls throughout both wars, it is able to make some meaningful statistical comparisons between the two. Newport reviews the data and points out that in the case of Vietnam, it took three years for the majority of Americans to decide that the war was a mistake, whereas that point was reached in Iraq within less than a year and a half.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The U.S. military doesn't do all its public relations work overseas -- it's also investing in grass-roots efforts here at home," reports NPR's Martin Kaste. "The Pentagon's 'America Supports You' program employs Pentagon staff and private PR contractors to coordinate activities that support the armed forces. 'Freedom Walk' marches, letter-writing campaigns, even supplements in kids' Weekly Reader, are all paid for by the Pentagon itself.
As conditions in Iraq continue to deteriorate, supporters of the war are casting around for someone to blame, and journalists are becoming an increasingly popular scapegoat — an ironic turn of events, since the mainstream media's uncritical support for the war helped get us into this mess in the first place.
In his hippie youth as a Merry Prankster, Stewart Brand bounced around San Francisco in Ken Kesey's day-glo bus, dousing people with LSD-laced Kool-Aid at the legendary Acid Tests. Those were strange days, but his latest trip is also bizarre. Brand and his Long Now Foundation are bringing to San Francisco John Rendon, the elusive head of the Rendon Group, one of the CIA's favorite PR firms.
John Rendon is the self-described "information warrior” who, under contract with the CIA, named and nurtured the infamous Iraqi National Congress. INC leader Ahmed Chalabi was a Rendon protégé embraced by the Project for a New American Century and other advocates of war with Iraq. Rendon and Chalabi probably did as much as anyone to deceive the US into war.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In an interview with Foreign Policy, former Newsweek Baghdad bureau chief Rod Nordland said the situation in Iraq is "a lot worse ... than is reported. The administration does a great job of managing the news." He added, "The military has started censored many [embedded reporting] arrangements. Before a journalist is allowed to go on an embed now, [the military] check[s] the work you have done previously.
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