Political Challenges - The Art of the Prank

August 13, 2008January 15, 2019

CMD Cracks Open the Pentagon Propaganda Documents

From the Center for Media and Democracy PRWatch.org, August 12, 2008

Dear Friend of CMD:

Today, we struck a blow against propaganda, and for transparency and accountability.

In early 2002, the Pentagon began cultivating retired military officers who frequently serve as media commentators to help make the case for invading Iraq. The pundit program continued — promoting the Bush administration’s stance on the Guantanamo Bay detention center, warrantless wiretapping and other controversial issues — until New York Times reporter David Barstow exposed its existence in April 2008.

Thanks to Blake Hall of our IT staff and senior researcher Diane Farsetta, now you and anyone with web access can search the massive cache of military documents detailing the Pentagon’s illegal attempts to shape U.S. public opinion. The New York Times first obtained the documents. After the Times reported on the covert pundit program, the Pentagon posted the documents online in a desperate attempt at damage control. But the documents weren’t text searchable, making systematic analysis of this important information nearly impossible.

But we’ve now cracked the Pentagon’s code and made the 8,000 pages of Pentagon documents fully text searchable, posting them all on our SourceWatch website, for journalists, researchers and concerned citizens. Continue reading “CMD Cracks Open the Pentagon Propaganda Documents”

August 13, 2008January 15, 2019

Cyberwar: Russians Hack Georgians

Russian hacker ‘militia’ mobilizes to attack Georgia
by Gregg Keizer
Computerworld.com
August 12, 2008

Volunteers, botnet owners join forces to knock sites offline, say researchers

Security researchers today disputed claims that a well-known Russian hacker-hosting network is responsible for cyberattacks against sites belonging to Georgia, the former Soviet republic that has been battling Russian military forces since Friday.

Rather than blame the notorious Russian Business Network — as researcher Jart Armin did over the weekend — other researchers said today that it appears that the attacks originated from a “hacker militia” of Russian botnet herders and volunteers.

“They mobilize themselves without a need for a central location to do so, distribute the targets, discuss the attack approaches, come up with a plan on the coordination, and you have everyone participating,” Bulgarian security researcher Dancho Danchev said in an instant messaging interview early today. Continue reading “Cyberwar: Russians Hack Georgians”

August 5, 2008January 15, 2019

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Author and Activist, R.I.P.

Solzhenitsyn, Literary Giant Who Defied Soviets, Dies at 89
by Michael T. Kaufman
The New York Times
August 4, 2008

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose stubborn, lonely and combative literary struggles gained the force of prophecy as he revealed the heavy afflictions of Soviet Communism in some of the most powerful works of the 20th century, died late on Sunday at the age of 89 in Moscow.

His son Yermolai said the cause was a heart ailment.

Mr. Solzhenitsyn outlived by nearly 17 years the Soviet state and system he had battled through years of imprisonment, ostracism and exile.

Mr. Solzhenitsyn had been an obscure, middle-aged, unpublished high school science teacher in a provincial Russian town when he burst onto the literary stage in 1962 with “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” The book, a mold-breaking novel about a prison camp inmate, was a sensation. Suddenly he was being compared to giants of Russian literature like Tolstoy, Dostoyevski and Chekhov. Continue reading “Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Author and Activist, R.I.P.”

July 27, 2008January 15, 2019

Chinese Nationalist Activists Decry Media Bias

Letter from China: Angry Youth
The new generation”s neocon nationalists.
by Evan Osnos
The New Yorker
July 28, 2008

On the morning of April 15th, a short video entitled “2008 China Stand Up!” appeared on Sina, a Chinese Web site. The video”s origin was a mystery: unlike the usual YouTube-style clips, it had no host, no narrator, and no signature except the initials “CTGZ.” [The video is embedded at the end of this post.]

It was a homespun documentary, and it opened with a Technicolor portrait of Chairman Mao, sunbeams radiating from his head. Out of silence came an orchestral piece, thundering with drums, as a black screen flashed, in both Chinese and English, one of Mao”s mantras: “Imperialism will never abandon its intention to destroy us.” Then a cut to present-day photographs and news footage, and a fevered sprint through conspiracies and betrayals””the “farces, schemes, and disasters” confronting China today. The sinking Chinese stock market (the work of foreign speculators who “wildly manipulated” Chinese stock prices and lured rookie investors to lose their fortunes). Shoppers beset by inflation, a butcher counter where “even pork has become a luxury.” And a warning: this is the dawn of a global “currency war,” and the West intends to “make Chinese people foot the bill” for America”s financial woes. Continue reading “Chinese Nationalist Activists Decry Media Bias”

June 4, 2008January 15, 2019

Camp for Climate Action

Posted by André Gattolin:

John Jordan sent me this note this morning. It smells like a May 68 spirit, revisited at the time of climate apocalypse:

Dear creative resisters, art activists, rebel dreamers, climate crime busters and caravaners,

The Future is Not What It Used to Be – A weekend of Creative Construction for the Camp for Climate Action Caravan – East London 14th-15th June.

From Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th June, we are holding a weekend workshop to begin the process of building the creative elements of the Camp for Climate Action’s Caravan.

The Caravan (27th July – 3rd August) is part of the build up to this year’s Climate Camp and will be traveling by foot, sea and bike from Heathrow Airport to Kingsnorth power station where the Camp will be set up.

Invitation to the Camp for Climate Action at Kingsnorth Power Station
August 3-11 2008

Continue reading “Camp for Climate Action”