Sunday, January 1, 2012

January 1


“Chimpanzees and orangutans (and college students) have been taught to do it.”

--Scholars Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge, referring to a chipping technique, known as knapping, which the Neanderthals used to create the spearhead; Neanderthal image from The Guardian, under the headline: "How Neanderthals met a grisly fate: devoured by humans: A fossil discovery bears marks of butchering similar to those made when cutting up a deer" by Robin McKie

"The chimpanzees in the zoos do it,
Some courageous kangaroos do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love."


--Cole Porter song

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

U.S. propaganda effort fights words with words: The new unit is trying to keep a low profile to protect moderates working with them - Sebastian Abbot, The Associated Press, pressherald.com: "OKARA, Pakistan ... The U.S. has created a new unit in Pakistan that aims to ... [work] with local moderates to counter violent extremism -- the first of its kind set up by an American embassy anywhere in the world, according to U.S. officials here. The existence of the unit has never before been reported. ... [C]lerics attempting to challenge extremism in Pakistan recently met with U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter in Islamabad. ... The U.S. chose Pakistan as the site for its new venture because it is home to a vast network of Islamist militants who have been fighting U.S.-led troops in neighboring Afghanistan for more than a decade and have even organized attacks on American soil. The three-person unit in the U.S. Embassy public affairs section was established in July. It plans to work with local partners, including moderate religious leaders, to project their counter-extremist messages and push back against the militants' extensive propaganda machine, said U.S. officials. It will use TV shows, documentaries, radio programs and posters. It also intends to ramp up exchange programs for religious leaders and public outreach to conservative Muslims who previously had little contact with American officials. 'There are a lot of courageous voices speaking out against extremism here in Pakistan,' said Tom Miller, head of public affairs at the U.S. Embassy. 'Our job is to find out how we can amplify those narratives.'

The unit is just now ramping up operations, said officials. It was funded with an initial budget of $5 million that officials hope will grow. Officials declined to provide details on specific programs they are funding or plan to fund, for fear that publicly acknowledging U.S. involvement would discredit their partners. ... Islamic clerics who have met with the U.S. ambassador recently expressed hope they could steer Pakistanis away from militancy by explaining when holy war is justified. But they also disagreed on when that's the case." Munter image from

Academics Suggest Science Diplomacy Strategy with North Korea - Stuart Thorson and Hyunjin Seo, blog.psaonline.org: "We must recognize that even in places such as North Korea the future doesn’t simply happen. Rather, the future there as elsewhere is, to a significant degree, the result of a complex interplay of ideas and action. U.S. history provides a clear demonstration that among the most powerful of those ideas are notions of widely available education and open scientific inquiry. One need look only to the actions associated with U.S. support for these ideas in the countries of Western Europe following the Second World War. Or perhaps even more relevantly, consider programs such as the U.S. State Department funded Minnesota Project which developed sustained medical, engineering, and agricultural support to a South Korea suffering from the consequences of the Korean Conflict. Or the Fulbright Program which has served to help in the transformation of higher education throughout much of the world. Nor have U.S. collaborative science and education programs been limited to countries with which it has enjoyed easy relations.

Scientific engagement and exchanges with the Soviet Union went on throughout much of the Cold War and these were thought to be an important precursor to arms limitations treaties that followed. ... [W]e urge that the U.S. once again consider trusting in the power of the great ideas that have helped to fashion increased opportunity and development in the past century and move to work with the new leadership in North Korea to open up bi-lateral educational and scientific engagement opportunities between the U.S. and North Korea. Through such exchanges we can learn from one another and, in so doing, build the trust and shared institutions that are so essential to building a more peaceful world." Image from

The US Engineered "Arab Spring": The NGO Raids in Egypt - Tony Cartalucci, globalresearch.ca: "In 2008, Egyptian activists from the now infamous April 6 movement were in New York City for the inaugural Alliance of Youth Movements (AYM) summit, also known as Movements.org. There, they received training, networking opportunities, and support from AYM's various corporate and US governmental sponsors, including the US State Department itself. The AYM 2008 summit report ... states that the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, James Glassman attended, as did Jared Cohen who sits on the policy planning staff of the Office of the Secretary of State. Six other State Department staff members and advisers would also attend the summit along with an immense list of corporate, media, and institutional representatives."

Turning a Consulate into an Embassy: Embassy Kiev, Ukraine - Mary Kruger, Foreign Service Journal (December 2011), pp. 54-55: "The year 1991 was a roller coaster. When the attempted putsch in Moscow began in August, I was sure that my impending assignment to Kiev (now Kyiv) was doomed. Within days, though, the situation turned around, and Ukraine took its first steps toward independence. Several months later, I arrived there to help open our small consulate — only to see the USSR disintegrate and our fledgling post become an embassy in a brand-new country. ... On the diplomatic front, Ukraine suddenly emerged as a priority state. Secretary of State James Baker made an immediate visit to assess stability in the nuclear-armed nation. As a newly arrived public affairs officer with no staff, I mobilized two volunteer expatriates and set up a makeshift press center for the media entourage, including Wolf Blitzer and Tom Friedman. Meanwhile, Ukrainians were clamoring for contact with the United States. I literally received my first official call within an hour of stepping on Ukrainian soil, and the minister of culture telephoned me at home a few days later to introduce herself. How on earth did she find me in a country with no phone book and no

public information, I wondered? Answer: an amazingly efficient grapevine, a resource that I soon learned to use to good advantage. While opportunities to build public diplomacy programs seemed boundless, working and living conditions absorbed a great deal of energy. ... Our public diplomacy work took off with the announcement of major new educational exchange programs. As the public affairs officer, I had the pleasure of negotiating the details with an old-school deputy minister, who invariably began our talks with a bottle of cognac. How many toasts did I drink in the service of my country? Suffice it to say that fending off his suggestions to circumvent merit-based selection principles and clearing away bureaucratic obstacles required persistence and a few unorthodox maneuvers on my part." Image from

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
(Note: Other cultural-diplomacy items appeared in PDPBR Dec. 26-31)

Cultural Diplomacy In The Cold war: Three Decades of U.S.-Soviet Cultural Exchanges Helped Pave The Way For The End Of The Cold War - Yale Richmond, Foreign Service Journal (December 2011), pp.42-45: "The end of the Cold War and collapse of communism came after more than 30 years of exchanges between the West and the Soviet Union. The Soviet elite who traveled to the West, as well as many who remained at home, came to realize how far behind their country lagged and how Marxism-Leninism had failed them, and they began to expect more than the communist system could provide.

The resulting widespread discontent provided fuel for Gorbachev’s reforms, the eventual rejection of the Soviet system, and the end of the Cold War. It is worth noting that the cost of those exchanges was minuscule in comparison with U.S. expenditures for defense and intelligence over the same period." Image from

Scoring a new high... - Sandeep Singh Grewal, gulf-daily-news.com: "It is not often that you see diplomats displaying their talents in public, but there are reasons that drive some of them to chase their dreams buried under daily chores. Bahrain's Ambassador to Pakistan [sic] Jauhar Saleem

believes in music and cultural diplomacy. He has taken this belief to another level by recording a piano rendition - An Ode to a Lost Love... Aaj Nazar Aye Ho (I have seen you today). The diplomat is narrating a self-composed Urdu poetry in a video shot earlier this month in Bahrain. 'We recorded the musical rendition in a private studio in Janabiya. Basically, I am narrating an Urdu poetry about love and longing which I wrote a few years back.' Mr Saleem is seen in the YouTube video jamming with pianist and friend Qamar Saleem. The cinematography is done by Sheharyar Sarwar. The video has been viewed by close to 1,000 visitors, who have all praised the diplomat in their comments for his poetic sense." VIDEO: Aaj Nazar Aye Ho - Piano Rendition [HD]. Saleem image from, with caption: Jauhar Saleem Pakistan's Ambassador in Bahrain

China says to stick to peaceful development: FM spokesman - "Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei on Friday summed up China's diplomatic achievements in 2011, and said China will adhere to the path of peaceful development. ... China consolidated and enhanced its traditional friendships with developing countries and engaged in the reform of international systems in a pro-active manner, he noted. China safeguarded the security and rights of Chinese nationals and juridical persons living abroad and carried out public and cultural diplomacy, took comprehensive preventive measures against external economic risks, and defended its national sovereignty, security and development interests, he said.

RELATED ITEMS

U.S. Ambassador To Azerbaijan Leaving Post - Richard Solash, RFE/RL: The U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan is heading back to Washington in the wake of the U.S. Senate's decision to go into recess without voting on his appointment. Career diplomat Matthew Bryza's departure from Baku comes one year after U.S. President Barack Obama bypassed lawmakers and temporarily installed him in the post in a recess appointment.

The White House's 2010 nomination of Bryza was opposed by Armenian-American lobbying groups and several senators, who accused Bryza of having a pro-Azerbaijani bias and questionable ties to Azerbaijani officials. Via. Bryza image from article

Afghan president welcomes U.S. remarks on Taliban - Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press, Washington Times: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday welcomed remarks from the Obama administration that the Taliban were not necessarily America’s enemies. Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Islamist militants did not represent a threat to U.S. interests unless they continued to shelter al Qaeda. “Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That’s critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests,” Biden was quoted as saying by Newsweek.

Taliban mastering modern technology to circulate message - Zeeshan Haider, thenational.ae: The Taliban is aggressively employing sophisticated communication techniques ranging from the internet and text messages to social media such as Facebook and Twitter to spread their message. "We are using modern techniques of communication because we want our voice to be heard all over," Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, said in email. "You can't win war without this. It's key to victory." The militants, operating on both sides

of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, have launched robust public-relations campaigns in both countries, which is making it difficult for two governments and their international allies to win the war of words with the Taliban.Despite the extensive use of modern technology, the militants still rely heavily on traditional methods of disseminating information, such as handouts, flyers and leaflets thrown on to the streets at night with warnings in areas where internet is not available. Image from, with caption: Social media now serve as the Taliban's communication centers while also helping them reach foreign financiers and sympathisers.

Obama Administration Considers Censoring Twitter – OpEd, twittersme.com: The problem the Obama administration is up against is not the threat posed by its adversaries on Twitter; it is that its own ventures into social media are predictably inept. Official tweets lack wit and tend to sound like the clumsy propaganda. but when losing an argument, the solution is not to look for ways to gag your opponent — that’s how dictators operate. The Pentagon prides itself on its smart bombs. Can’t it come up with a few smart tweets?

Egyptian Anarchists and Revolutionary Socialists under attack - anarchistnews.org: For weeks, several internet sites, and facebook pages that belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, either officially or administered by its members, launched an attack against Anarchists and Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt trying to single them out as inciters of violence and propagandists of state demolition.

Imperialism and the “Anti-Imperialism of the Fools” - James Petras, nsnbc.wordpress.com: The New Cold War launched by Obama against China and Russia, the hot war brewing in the Gulf

over Iran’s alleged military threat, the interventionist threat against Venezuela’s “drug-networks”,and Syria’s “bloodbath” are part and parcel of the use and abuse of “anti-imperialism” to prop up a declining empire. Petras image from article

Remembering Richard Holbrooke [Review of The Unquiet American: Richard Holbrooke in the World Edited by Derek Chollet and Samantha Power Illustrated. 383 pp. Public Affairs. $29.99] - Jacob Heilbrunn, New York Times: Holbrooke could never stop talking about what was wrong in the world and how it could be fixed, preferably by himself. Holbrooke had no hesitation about supporting military action in the Balkans. What none of the contributors to this volume mention, however, is that the efficacy of air power in the Balkans led inexorably to the delusive belief that it would be a simple matter to wage war in Iraq.

It is an unfortunate omission. Holbrooke was quite explicit in arguing during the run-up to the war that while Saddam Hussein should be removed by a coalition of powers, George W. Bush was essentially on the right path. See also John Brown, "Richard Holbrooke's Public Diplomacy: "The Case of the US Cultural Center in Belgrade," Huffington Post (December 22, 2010); "Strategic Communications and the Graveyard of Empires," Huffington Post (August 29, 2009); "Richard Holbrooke: Able and Insufferable," Huffington Post (May 13, 2009). Image from

The truth is the best bullshit - Rob Beschizza, Boing Boing: Instapaper developer Marco Arment nails three companies -- Apple, Google and Facebook -- for spreading bullshit. "Everyone has their bullshit," he writes. "You can simply decide whose you’re willing to tolerate."

Bullshit creates a particular impression regardless of the truth, whereas lies are explicitly untrue. Image from article

Fighting the New Propaganda - Jay Nelson, renegadecatholic.com: The Catholic Church sure didn’t invent propaganda, but they are responsible for the word. It was long enshrined in the Vatican in the very name of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, the Church’s missionary arm (now called the “Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples” doubtless

because the previous title sounded like they wanted to take over the world. Lesson 1: Not good propaganda to admit what your intention really is!) “Propaganda” means communications designed to influence members of a community. And of course the Catholic Church are masters of the craft, and have been since the apostles. And now they’re at it again. A new advertising campaign hit the airwaves just before Christmas. CATHOLICS COME HOME features slick ads, all done in slow-mo, full of happy people, and overflowing with nostalgia. Looking at them, one would think there was no crisis in the Church. One would never imagine clergy abuse, the Inquisition, suppression of women, the Crusades, or the Reformation. (Lesson 2: Never admit your faults. Lesson 3: Keep it emotional – don’t get them thinking.) Image from

AMERICANA

Grant Barrett, "Which Words Will Live On?," New York Times:

Collecting the past year’s words is like sifting one’s pockets at the end of a trip. Some things you’ll keep, some you’ll discard — the dinner receipt for the expense-account meal vs. the one-peso coin. Each is a reminder of what you did, where you went and whom you were with.

In 10 years, some of last year’s words will be relics. We’ll think of them the way we now think of the decades-old phrase “gag me with a spoon.”

Others have already proved their staying power. Who could argue that the new sense of “occupy” isn’t already a keeper, even starting as it did late in the third quarter of 2011? A movement so well labeled, if not cohesive in thought and action, that its name instantly lent itself to variation and satire.

We create all this new language, political and otherwise, for a lot of reasons. We’re school-yard taunters, looking for the joke, the riff or the gag that will stick. We’re novelty-shop fanatics, spending every paycheck in the House of Language on gewgaws and gimcracks and tchotchkes. Below are just a few of the catchwords I’ve snagged during the last 12 months: Some are oldies that have resurfaced and taken on new life.

53 PERCENTER An American in a household that pays income tax. Coined by conservatives who believe that the economy would improve if those who do not pay income taxes did.

99 PERCENT, 99 PERCENTERS People claimed by the Occupy movement to be at a financial or political disadvantage when compared with the 1 percenters, those who protesters say have too much money and too much political control.

9-9-9 PLAN The proposal by Herman Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate, for a 9 percent flat income tax, a 9 percent business flat tax and a 9 percent national sales tax.

ARAB SPRING Collectively, the popular revolts and protests in Middle Eastern and Arab countries, among them Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria. Less frequently called Arab Awakening.

AUSTERITY MEASURES Reductions or restrictions on government spending, meant to balance budgets, reduce deficits and meet standards set by intergovernmental lenders.

BASKETBRAWL The fight that broke out between members of the Georgetown Hoyas and the Bayi Rockets during an exhibition basketball game in Beijing.

BATH SALTS The street name for a group of stimulants made illegal this year.

BRONY A man who is a fan of the television cartoon “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.” Formed from “bro,” brother or male friend, and pony.

BUFFETT TAX A proposal that people making more than $1 million a year pay a higher rate of income tax than they do now and more than those who make less. Named for the investor Warren Buffett, who advocates the approach. Also called the Buffett rule.

CLOUD MUSIC Personal digital music collections stored on remote servers so that they may be accessed by all of a person’s digital devices. Both Apple and Google introduced cloud music services this year.

CRANKSHAFT The code name used for Osama bin Laden by the Navy Seals team that killed him in Pakistan.

DARK SKY Designates a place free of nighttime light pollution. For example, the island of Sark in the English Channel is a dark-sky island.

DEATHER Someone who doubts that Osama bin Laden was killed by American troops.

DEBT CEILING Not a new term, but now familiar to all: the limit to the amount of money the federal government may borrow.

HUMAN MEGAPHONE A method of amplifying a speaker’s words in which everyone who hears them repeats them in unison. Used in the Occupy protests, though not invented there. Also called the people’s mike. To activate the human megaphone, a speaker will announce a mike check.

HUMBLEBRAG A complaint, wry remark or self-deprecation that also reveals how famous, rich or important the speaker or writer is. Popularized by the comedian Harris Wittels, a writer for the NBC series "Parks and Recreation.”

KARDASH A unit of time measuring 72 days. Coined by the musician Weird Al Yankovic in response to the 72-day marriage of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.

LEAP SMEAR Adding a few milliseconds each day to a computer’s time-keeping. Google’s solution for handling leap seconds, which are added to official world time to account for changes in the earth’s rotation.

LIKEJACKING Tricking users of a social media site, especially Facebook, into posting spammy content in their accounts or on their pages. Usually activated by clicking a “like,” “fave” or “thumbs up” button.

NYM WARS A public debate about the requirement by some Web sites, especially Google+, that users not use pseudonyms. From the suffix -nym, as used in pseudonym, ultimately from the Greek onuma, for name.

OCCUPY WALL STREET A left-leaning movement protesting wealth inequality and urging more government action against banks and corporations, which are seen by the protesters as being responsible for the current economic downturn. Abbreviated as O.W.S. or just Occupy and extended by replacing “Wall Street” with any place name, as in Occupy L.A. or Occupy Toronto. Occupy and occupation have been used in the context of political or labor protests since the 1920s.

PLANKING Posing for a photograph with the body in a stiff prone position, especially in odd situations or places. Similar popular pastimes this year include horsemaning, posing for a two-person picture that makes it look as though a supine headless body is holding a severed head, and Tebowing, kneeling as if praying in the manner of the Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, with one knee down and one up, and one’s head resting on one’s fist.

SUPER COMMITTEE A group of 12 lawmakers, 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans, 3 each from the House and the Senate, that tried to make a plan on how to reduce the deficit. Also, the Gang of Six, three Democratic and three Republican senators who worked on reducing the federal government’s debt.

TOT MOM Casey Anthony, acquitted of charges of killing her 2-year-old daughter. The term was largely popularized by Nancy Grace, host of her own HLN program.

TWINKLING Silently affirming a speaker by raising one’s hands, palms outward, and wiggling the hands and fingers. Similar to a gesture used in American Sign Language as the equivalent of applause. Brought to wider public attention by the Occupy movement (see human megaphone, above) but predates it by many years.

WINNING Used repeatedly and not ironically by the actor Charlie Sheen at the time of his tumultuous departure from “Two and a Half Men.” It was quickly taken up as a catchphrase. Related: tiger blood, which Mr. Sheen figuratively used to describe his motivations.

Grant Barrett is a lexicographer specializing in slang and new words. He is a host of the public radio program “A Way With Words” and a vice president of the American Dialect Society.

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"the Hampton County Watermelon Festival, the Junior National Team Handball Champions Recognition Ceremony, the South Carolina Subsection of the Society of American Foresters, the Lees-McRae Junior College Gymnasium Dedication, the Annual Installation of Officers of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce in Dallas, and a meeting of the National Soccer Coaches Association in New York."

--Among the places where Army Gen. William Westmoreland spoke after his retirement, preaching his view of what went wrong in Vietnam and trying to reclaim the reputation that had once made him Time magazine's man of the year; cited in 'Westmoreland' by Lewis Sorley, a book reviewed by Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times; image from article

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