"Surely the arts are neither soft, nor about power: they are about transforming lives, and, even at their most assertive, about creating benign and inspiring influence."
--Graham Sheffield, Director Arts, British Council; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Mrs. Clinton and Kolkata’s youth: Public diplomacy at its best - B. Raman, srilankaguardian.org: Thousands of TV viewers in India-and possibly in the US too-watched enthralled on the morning of May 7,2012, what the Americans describe as a Town Hall meeting between Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State who was on a visit to Kolkata, and some youth of the city in a historic local school moderated by Barkha Dutt, India’s well-known TV journalist. ... It was an exercise
in grass-roots democracy in which sections of the public have an opportunity of questioning a political leader in public about issues of interest and concern to them. It was also an exercise in public diplomacy in which a political leader takes advantage of the opportunity provided by such interactions to explain his or her thinking and views on issues of public concern. ... The success of a Town Hall gathering as an exercise in grass-roots democracy and public diplomacy depends on the self-confidence of the leader, who chooses to expose himself or herself to the Town Hall, as well as of the moderator. Without a skillful moderator, who prepares himself or herself well for the interaction and who does not allow himself or herself to be overawed by the occasion, Town Hall meetings can prove to be damp squibs." Clinton image from article
Propaganda, Inc.: The State-Corporate Nexus and US Democracy Manipulation - John Brissenden, newleftproject.org: "The increasingly close relationship between Google and the US 'democracy promotion' apparatus recently took a new turn with the launch of a new, private, non-profit organisation designed to leverage the resources of major US corporations in manipulating democratic movements in (initially) four nations: Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Russia. ... Strengthening America’s Global Engagement (SAGE) marks the latest permutation of the long-established nexus of US foreign policy and the interests of capital. It represents a new blueprint for US 'strategic communication' which promises to create a new arm for US propaganda, able to do things that traditional government-led operations can’t, to work more quickly, and to insulate propaganda efforts from partisan wrangling, budget cuts and elections. In the words of the SAGE business plan, as a 5013c non profit private corporation, 'SAGE will be independent of government, nonpartisan, and will transcend presidential administrations'. Not necessarily. The Executive Board and
the SAGE Public Diplomacy Initiative Working Group represent a high-powered mix of the usual suspects (the Washington defence and foreign policy establishment, well-connected academics, think tanks, foundations, NED., etc.) and leaders from advertising and PR agencies, as well as media organisations. Google is represented on the Markets, Countries and Networks Subcommittee by Scott Carpenter, Principal at the company’s 'think-do tank', Google Ideas. The plan, released late last month, is remarkably candid. Describing SAGE as 'primarily...a grant-making organization', it promises to 'leverage the power of the private sector – where the bulk of American ingenuity, creativity, technological innovation and resources rest – to strengthen communications with foreign publics, in support of U.S. national interests.' That strengthening will include promoting 'moderate voices to counter violent extremism and ideologies'; 'sustainable independent media entities in the developing world'; 'the application of new technology for public diplomacy purposes'; and 'public-private partnerships and the free exchange of ideas and information'. The initial funding is tiny - $10m - but the intended reach of the scheme is extensive and ... shows characteristically scant regard for national sovereignty or self-determination in the target countries." Image from
2012 PDAA Awards Recognize Public Diplomacy Excellence: Public Diplomacy Alumni Association highlights achievements by professionals in Zimbabwe, Okinawa, and Washington, DC - publicdiplomacy.org:
Image from article, with caption: (L-R) Larry Schwartz, Jean Manes, Heather Eaton, Rob Nevitt, Lynn Roche. Jean Manes and Heather Eaton are 2012 achievement award winners. Lynne Roche, of State Department's Africa bureau, accepted the award for Sharon Hudson-Dean. Larry Schwartz nominated Jean Manes. Rob Nevitt chairs the PDAA awards committee. Via AK
Cold War Era Agencies: Records of the U.S. Information Agency (RG 306) - John Brown, Notes and Essays
RFA interviews Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng by telephone. VOA interviews Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng by telephone - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International broadcasting. Elliott comments: So, when Chen Guangcheng comes to the United States, will he be a contributor to RFA Mandarin? Or to VOA Mandarin? Or to both? He could say basically the same thing on RFA and on VOA, and be paid twice. Is this a great country or what?
Sixtieth anniversary of the start of Radio Free Europe's Polish Service -- which closed 18 years ago - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International broadcasting.
Titles on communications presented at TIBF - Iran Book News Agency: "Simaye Shargh Publications has presented 13 titles on communications, media and public relations at the 25th Tehran International Book Fair. ... [Among them] Modern Public Diplomacy by Mohammad Soltanifar."
Public Diplomacy vs Nation Branding - Madhurjya Kotoky, publicdiplomacyblog.com: "'Incredible India', is more of a nation branding campaign while the distinguished lecture series organized by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is more of a PD exercise. PD as a practice has recently been growing and one of the primary reason is the media proliferation and information revolution ... . That's the reason why strategic communications form the core of PD."
Article review - modmeducu, Public and Cultural Diplomacy 2: A group blog by students at London Metropolitan University: “A SMARTER, MORE SECURE AMERICA“ (http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/071106_csissmartpowerreport.pdf) ... With the universal changes that have revolutionized the world of politics, and with new rising powers, America’s supremacy is constantly challenged. In this vein, the article revolves around issues such as: global development, technological innovation, economic integration, and ultimately around public diplomacy, and the combination between hard power and soft power: namely smart power."
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
Harlem Quartet: The soft power of two violins, a viola and a cello - J Brooks Spector, dailymaverick.co.za: "Say what you will about the half-forgotten Cold War, what with threats of global destruction and those eyeball-to-eyeball military confrontations over Berlin and the like, at least this East-West competition paid for some hefty cultural diplomacy as the Russians and Americans tried to outshine each other with travelling ballets, jazz and orchestral tours. And this was before Harvard professor Joseph Nye had even coined the term 'soft power'. Gone now are the resources – and political will – for a US government-funded Louis Armstrong big band tour through a half-dozen Eastern European nations, conductor Leonard Bernstein and the whole New York Philharmonic in concert in Leningrad, or a month-long odyssey by a 45-strong Martha Graham Dance Company tour through Southeast Asia. ... Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never ever end… except that they eventually did. Cultural exchanges now take on a more modest character, consistent with the straitened financial circumstances of sponsoring governments.
More modest, yes, but not necessarily lesser quality. Visiting South Africa at the moment is a new chamber group from America, the Harlem Quartet. The Sphinx Organization, a non-profit group dedicated to improving the ethnic diversity in America’s classical music world, established the group in 2006. Bringing together four young, immaculately trained African American and Hispanic musicians, they play the standard classical chamber repertoire, as well as pieces like Joaquin Turina’s La Oracion del Toreo, compositions by contemporary jazz legends like Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis, and classic pieces by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, now arranged for string quartet." Image from article
Interaction between development and diplomacy in China - Andrestinos N. Papadopoulos, Financial Mirror: "On the basis of the formidable economic growth of the past and the new blueprint for China’s economic and social development, the Chinese diplomacy improved its structure and activities through a better understanding of the interaction between domestic politics and diplomacy. The list of its achievements ensuring a favourable external environment for its development is long. Good examples are the participation in Summits by President Hu Jintao, premier Wen Jiabao and other leaders with a view to actively guiding the reform of the global economic governance mechanism; efforts to ensure stability, promote development and restructure the economy so as to serve domestic economic and social development; enhancement of friendship and cooperation with major powers (USA-Russia-EU), neighbouring countries (APEC, ASEAN), and developing countries (BRIC, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China-Arab Cooperation Forum); people-oriented diplomacy with a view to actively protecting China’s lawful rights and overseas interests; public and cultural diplomacy (Shanghai World Expo, Guangzhou Asian Games, Asian Para Games), etc."
Building Cultural Links With the Gulf, Lahore and Delhi - Graham Sheffield, Huffington Post UK: "Should one be surprised to hear the Ambassador of the United States [unnamed in article]telling an audience of students and influential Abu Dhabi elite that his country needed to raise its game and change their narrative in the region? I [Director Arts, British Council] paraphrase, but he remarked that people in the Gulf thought of the USA in military terms. He would like to see a very different story emerging - one that focussed on the strength of US culture, of its diversity and its entrepreneurial spirit. At a session on Cultural Diplomacy, I shared the panel with him and HE Lakhdar Brahimi (Member of the Elders and the ex-foreign minister of Algeria), who robustly told the same audience that the Arab world should get its act together and collaborate to ensure the rest of the world understood its rich and rewarding culture better. It wasn't long before the emerging cliché of the arts as 'soft power' was spoken.
It's a phrase much loved by politicians and diplomats, but it troubles me in an artistic context. Surely the arts are neither soft, nor about power: they are about transforming lives, and, even at their most assertive, about creating benign and inspiring influence. The arts can influence many agendas: urban regeneration, social inclusion, youth engagement, the environment, and increasingly economic regeneration through skills, entrepreneurship and new media. I was in Abu Dhabi as a guest of the pioneering arts festival, master-minded by the indomitable and charming Mrs Hoda Kanoo. She runs the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and within a few years has built a remarkably diverse programme of high-level events (on the Thursday night I arrived it was the St Petersburg Philharmonic with Vengerov) as well as a ground-breaking programme of education and community work unique in the region. The festival spirit is certainly there and in a few years it could become a leader in its field and the region." Sheffield image from article
It was tough being a Nigerian in Kenya–Anoke, M-Tech East Africa boss - Christy Anyanmu, sunnewsonline.com: Ikechukwu Arthur Anoke has cut his name in gold. At just 27 years, he is blazing a trail in the information technology world. His company, M-Tech, a mobile content solutions provider, now operates in 14 African countries. ... In this interview, he talks about the challenges of doing business in Nairobi as a Nigerian, and how he surmounted the negative perception of Kenyans about Nigerians. Excerpts… [']I started something called Naija Night. It happened to be the biggest cultural night in East Africa. We did what we call cultural diplomacy, and started introducing
Nigerian music here. We brought Bracket, P-Square, D.Banj, Flavor, and before you knew it, the idea exploded. It became big and two years ago, DBanj, during the 50th Independence anniversary of our country, the Prime Minister of Kenya came here uninvited and was dancing on the same stage with DBanj. That is to show you what cultural diplomacy can do. Can you imagine the Prime Minister of Kenya coming on stage with a Nigerian musician, dancing and hugging him? It was very symbolic. It was social integration. If he had hugged the Nigerian president, one would have said he did so for diplomatic reasons. He did not hug the richest man in Nigeria, but rather he hugged a Nigerian music star. This was a close cultural synergy; when he hugged DBanj it was like the Prime Minister was saying, 'Kari bu Kenya, welcome to Kenya.' It was the hallmark of the effort we have made in terms of cultural integration. Three years ago, if a Nigerian applied for visa to visit Kenya, your application would be sent to Nairobi for vetting before you could be issued a visa. Today, Nigerians get visa on entry. Three years ago, it was almost impossible for a Nigerian to get a work permit here. Today it is a different ball game. This is to show you what cultural diplomacy can do. What politics was unable to do, music, food, clothing, movies did for us..[']" Anoke image from article
Pak for Cultural rapprochement with India - Sana Jamal, pakobserver.net: "Pakistan intends to take a new initiative of peace through art and culture with neighbouring India and wish to materialize into a reality an agreement that was already reached upon long ago but failed to sign due to tense relationship between the two countries. Pakistan’s new cultural diplomacy was set off few days earlier when Director General of Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Tauqir Nasir visited India and held useful talk with his Indian counterparts to take up the thread where it was left six years ago. India-Pakistan pact for exchange in music, dance, theatre and visual arts could become reality next year with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) renewing a dialogue with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), affirmed the DG of PNCA. Talking to Pakistan Observer, Tauqir Nasir stressed the need for concerted efforts to push the peace process. 'The cultural exchange between Pakistan and India can be a major step forward in the peace process,' believed Nasir. Exchange of art and culture can help promote people-to-people contacts. He regretted that the last cultural pact could not see the light of the day. 'The two countries decided to sign an MoU six year ago but it could not be materialized.' However, the DG of PNCA seemed confident about the current pledge. 'We wish to continue the recent MoU forward to promote people-to-people contact. Pakistanis are eagerly looking forward for cultural exchange,' he said, adding that 'India should also open the door of their hearts for Pakistani artists.' Pakistani artists believe that it is only by opening the India-Pakistan border to each other’s artists and cultural troupes, that the officials can in fact reduce political tensions between the two countries."
Seven Pinoy achievers feted in New Zealand - gmanetwork.com: Seven New Zealand-based Filipinos were feted for promoting the best of the Philippines at an event at the Philippine Embassy on April 13. Philippine Ambassador Virginia Benavidez hosted the event dubbed an 'Evening to Remember and Recognize Filipino Talents and Creativity' as part of the embassy’s cultural diplomacy. In a news release on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the event 'showcased the positive image of the Philippines as the home of world-class talents and raised the profile of the Filipino community as among the best immigrant groups who have integrated themselves well in the local communities throughout New Zealand.'”
RELATED ITEMS
Hail to the 'not now' president: On key foreign policy issues, from Iran to Syria, President Obama is opting for a cautious approach. And that's just fine - Aaron David Miller, latimes.com: If you're looking for a two-word summary of how the administration is approaching some key foreign policy issues, from Iran to Syria, there's no better description than "not now."
Barring some unexpected turn that forces the president's hand, there will be no October surprises. What you see now is what you're going to get through November: a cautious approach on the issues of the day that avoids bold, unilateral action. And that's just fine. The last thing America needs right now is an ill-advised diplomatic blunder or military intervention. In the world Barack Obama inherited, presidential discretion in foreign policy really is the better part of valor. Image from article
We’re Sorry: Six Afghans Dead, US Still Losing War it Fails to Understand - Peter Van Buren, We Meant Well: Since we said we’re sorry, this is OK, right? The New York Times tells us the American military expressed regret for an airstrike that mistakenly killed six members of a family in southwestern Afghanistan, Afghan and American military officials confirmed Monday. The victims included the family’s mother and five of her children, three girls and two boys, according to Afghan officials.
The American regional commander, Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus of the Marines apologized. It really should not be necessary to go over this again, but apparently some of you did not do the reading. So, when you are engaged in a counter insurgency struggle (COIN), the goal is to win the support of the people, in large part by protecting them from the other side, the Taliban in this case. If in fact you end up killing the people, they will not turn against the Taliban and will instead see you– US– as the problem, not the solution. Sure, in war, people make mistakes. That is true. It is also true that the side that keeps making the same mistakes over and over again loses. Image from entry
The KSM Trial Spectacle: Is it too much for Eric Holder to defend these prosecutions? - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: You don't have to be a mind reader to figure out the propaganda strategy of September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other terrorists who were arraigned Saturday in a 13-hour spectacle in Guantanamo Bay.
The idea is to use the open military trial to promote jihad and discredit American institutions, including the military system of justice. The real fault lies with the terrorists, who hope to put American justice on trial instead of themselves. Image from article: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Cross-Cultural Communication and Social Innovation, Part 3 - Jon Visaisouk, ANTVibes: In the past, cross-cultural communication has been somewhat limited due to location, language, time, technological, and cultural barriers. However, with the reach of global internet and mobile access broadening, working effectively across international borders is becoming less of a challenge. Social media websites, internet forums, blogs, emails, videos, chat rooms, and more all support global communication and prompt individuals to interact with each other. However, some barriers to cross-cultural
communication will always exist, and when interacting with a diverse group of people, it is important to be mindful of cultural differences. The way business is conducted varies from country to country, as do the tendencies, preferences, unspoken rules, and societal norms. It can be useful to embrace a global mindset and empathize with the differences of others. Fostering a high number of exchange students helps our own people by exposing them to different perspectives and worldly points of view that they may otherwise never be exposed to, and the same goes for the foreign student. There are multiple organizations operating exchange student programs, and if you would like to get involved, more information is available. ASF helps around 13,000 students per year travel abroad, and ISE is another organization dedicated to helping exchange students.Image from article
2010 Quality of Life Index: 194 Countries Ranked and Rated to Reveal the Best Places to Live - internationalliving.com: France is no. 1, U.S. no. 7. Via JB on facebook
China Expels Al Jazeera Channel - Michael Wines, New York Times: Al Jazeera, the satellite broadcasting network, was forced by the Chinese authorities to close its China news operations of its English-language channel on Monday, the first such action in almost 14 years and the strongest sign yet of fraying relations between the ruling Communist Party and the overseas journalists who cover it. Via ACP III on facebook.
Busted: Iran's Jarring Photoshopped Missile Test Image - John Hudson, theatlanticwire.com: Remember back in 2008, when Iran Photoshopped an extra missile into a photograph of its missile test? Turns out, bad habits die hard. The Atlantic Wire has caught
After downloading the image and uploading it into a Google Image search, we've identified the image
According to a Google search, that image first appeared on the Internet on July 9, 2008 on a Word Press site called "What the Crap?" That time stamp would've been just after Iran was originally busted for Photoshopping an image of its missile test. During that time, a number of clever news watchers produced a series of prank versions of the
Obviously, we can't think of anything dumber than using an image from a meme created to mock your regime in a real-life news story. Then again, this is
Kazakh Analyst Surprised at Differences between Western Propaganda, Realities in Iran
- farsnews.com: A senior Kazakh political analyst who is on a visit to Iran said she was strongly surprised
to see that all the negative propaganda of the western media about Iran was just a lie. Uncaptioned image from article
The Hasbara – World’s worst propaganda – photoshopping the evidence from Mavi Marmara? [video[ - talknic.wordpress.com: You decide.
Elderly Cubans Thank Castro for Keeping Them Alive - John Hudson, theatlanticwire.com: In today's tour of worldwide propaganda, Cuba's elderly thank Castro for their longevity, Syria's elections are a huge success and "gay propaganda" in Russia receives its first fine.
We begin in Havana. Image from article
Sudan’s anti-government figures slam government propaganda over border fighting - sudantribune.com: A group of Sudanese rebels and disaffected opposition members met in London on Monday and declared rejection to violence between their country and neighboring South Sudan as well as to the jingoism invoked by the government of president Al-Bashir in the wake of Heglig fighting. In a statement released to the media, the opposition figures condemned any resort to violence by Sudan or South Sudan in settling border disputes, calling on both sides to seek international arbitration to address border issues.
They also condemned in the strongest terms the exploitation by the Khartoum government of the incident of South South’s brief occupation of Heglig disputed oil area last month to mobilize Sudanese people under the slogans of racial hatred and through the use of vile language. They accused Khartoum of using Heglig to operate a propaganda machine on full-swing, silence dissent and intimidate opponents through charges of treachery. Image from article, with caption: Malik Agar (C), leader of the SPLM-N with Major General Ahmed Omda Buday (R) and Brigadier General Stephen Amad
N. Korea faxes propaganda messages to S. Korean groups - Yonhap: North Korea has sent faxed messages to 13 South Korean civic and religious organizations in recent weeks to criticize South Korea's alleged insult to the North's dignity, an official said Tuesday.
British Council asks Capital residents to identify people in 1943 film - scotsman.com: They are the picture of innocence – two unknown Edinburgh boys playing in Riddle’s Close. Yet, unwittingly, they are also part of a sophisticated propaganda effort designed to aid their country as it fought for survival against Nazi Germany.
The boys are among dozens of Edinburgh residents who appear in The Royal Mile – a film shot in 1943 and commissioned by the British Council to project the best of the Capital as the Second World War raged. The film – now digitised – was made available to the public for the first time last week and its makers are calling for residents of today’s Edinburgh to help identify and share the stories of the people portrayed. Briony Hanson, director of film at the British Council, said she and her colleagues wanted to use The Royal Mile to start an “intergenerational conversation”. She said: “People are coming forward already, so we are inviting people to e-mail us their stories." Film was recognised as a powerful propaganda tool by all of the main combatants in the Second World War. In Germany, Hitler created the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1933, and charged Dr Joseph Goebbels with controlling all film content. Hollywood movies during the Second World War such as Casablanca – set in the eponymous Vichy-controlled city – helped the war effort by underlining the evils of fascism, while in Britain propaganda films by the likes of Humphrey Jennings were marked by their documentary character. Image from article, with caption: Two boys play in Riddles Close in 1943 film
Hitler, Ian Kershaw (Part 2) - Reggie's Blog: Once Hitler was safely installed in the Reich Chancellor's office, the SA unleashed a reign of terror on Germany's streets, while the Nazis in the Reichstag tore up what was left of the Weimar constitution. The DNVP, far from being the tail that wagged the dog, was bullied into dissolving itself as early as June 1933. The last remaining independent political party, the Catholic Zentrumspartei, clung on a little longer, until July. The church decided to abandon the Zentrum and put its trust in a new Concordat with history's most famous lapsed Catholic (which turned out not to be worth the paper it was written on). The Fuehrer-cult now exploded into mainstream German society. "Adolf Hitler Streets" and "Adolf Hitler Squares" sprang up all over Germany, and manufacturers of fancy goods enterprisingly switched their factories to producing Hitler-themed tat. The wave of pro-Hitler enthusiasm seems to have caught up even previously sceptical members of the population. There was no real precedent for this in Germany history - even the Bismarck cult had been more restrained than that of the Fuehrer. Even more dangerously, Hitler himself seems to have begun to believe his own propaganda. Hitler, for all his murderous ruthlessness, remained at bottom what he had always been - a terminally lazy failed artist. Scholars have recognised for years that he was an ineffectual and incompetent administrator. He was content for the party and state bureaucracy to subsist in a constant state of disorder and internal conflict while his underlings sought to "work towards the Fuehrer" rather than carrying out detailed orders from above.
As the years passed, Hitler became less willing to invest time and effort in his political responsibilities - though he continued to give close attention to his speeches. For Hitler, politics and propaganda were very nearly the same thing. He was not a fanatical, obsessive evil genius, working day and night like a Bond villain to realise his master-plan for genocide and world domination. To believe this is to come close to believing the Nazis' own propaganda. The real Hitler was a mass of human flaws and contradictions. He was ruthless - trusting anything that he said could be literally a fatal mistake - but he was also tactically astute, even soft-pedalling his virulent antisemitism and talking like a peacemaker when required. He spoke of "struggle" and "will", but he was notoriously lazy. He hated taking decisions, but he committed himself utterly to a decision once he had taken it. If it had not been for the outstanding success of his propaganda in the peculiar circumstances of Depression-hit Germany, and the machinations and miscalculations of the ruling élite, he would be no more remembered than other far-right leaders of the time. Image from
Reclaiming Rhetoric For The Modern Age - Stuart Kaffman, NPR: We now think of rhetoric as, essentially, propaganda. Rhetoric is used to overstate and, often, misrepresent a case. In ancient Greece the meaning of rhetoric — and the reason it was taught widely in Greece and the Roman Empire — was quite different. Citizens found themselves confronted with practical, real-life choices, where they did not have access to "all the facts," yet had to make a real decision in face of uncertainty. Rhetoric evolved as the "art" of reasonably persuading one's peers of a course of action in the face of uncertainty. why do we not teach rhetoric in the ancient sense now? I suspect the answer is the role of science since Newton. We truly believe that science will know .Rhetoric, in this worldview, has no civil job to do; just the facts, please. But I think this view mistakes our real world today. We, like the ancient Greeks, often do not know "the facts" as they stand, or those that may become relevant. Then, in face of this uncertainty, we, like the Greeks, still have to decide. If so, it seems to me that rhetoric — in the sense of the ancient world — remains honorable and is part of our civic duty.
AMERICANA
42% of American adults will be obese by 2030, study says: Though the rate of the last 30 years has slowed, it's far from leveling off, and it's going to get expensive, say experts at the Weight of the Nation conference in Washington - Melissa Healy, latimes.com.
Image from article
Long Island 'hooker' accused of selling sex out of hot-dog truck -- again: Seller’s ‘quickie’ side dish: She loves those dirty dogs! - Kieran Crowley, Jennifer Bain and Selim Algar, New York Post: A Long Island hooker sold more than just sausage at her roadside hot-dog truck — using the truck to peddle her own flesh even though she’d been busted on the same rap eight years ago, cops said yesterday.
Catherine Scalia, 45, was arrested Thursday night when she offered the off-menu special to an undercover cop and took him back to her East Rockaway pad for some home cooking. The mother of four pleaded not guilty to a prostitution charge and was held on $2,000 bail. Image from article; via JJ on facebook
MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY
"It can judge whether a sentence is complete, but not whether the sentence says anything worth a damn."
--Karin Klein, commenting in the Los Angeles Times on software designed to teach students better writing skills
--"Audible Name Tags [ANTs] offer cross-cultural communicators a simple yet fundamental tool to pronounce their names correctly. ANTs
are virtual business cards which contain an array of information including a photo, contact info, and social media links. Most importantly, they pronounce your name in your own voice"; from Jon Visaisouk, "Cross-Cultural Communication and Social Innovation, Part 3" ANTVibes. Image from
RUSSICA IMAGES
--Fascist prisoners, 1945, Moscow. Via AL on facebook
--From OR on facebook
"Medvedev is the first lady."
Julia Ioffe, "Putin's Inauguration: Satire and Violence," New Yorker, citing a member of a Russian satirical group
No comments:
Post a Comment