September 21

"'We do not want to deprive Jews of their civil rights, but merely give them special rights as visitors,' because only a 'clean separation' from Jews would leave Germans with a clear conscience."

--Citation from, and a recapitulation of, a statement by Theodor Puel in his Anti-Semitism in Words and Images: The World-Wide Debate about the Jewish Question (1936); from Claudia Koonz, The Nazi Conscience (2003), p. 210; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

International Information Programs Coordinator Dawn L. McCall Travels to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, California September 20-22 - Media Note, Office of the Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State: "The U.S. Department of State’s Coordinator for the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) Dawn L. McCall is traveling to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, California from September 20-22 to meet with communications and technology industry executives for consultations on the latest developments in connective communication technology.

Discussions will focus on identifying potential pilot projects and partnership opportunities to expand IIP’s innovative Public Diplomacy toolset to help our embassies and consulates inform and engage international audiences." Image from

House bill would allow US to issue no more visas to Chinese "state-media workers" than China issues to BBG (updated) - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

BBG’s Michael Meehan: charges of censorship against me are unfair - BBG Watch.

Meehan image from article

Former Ukrainian president is also a former VOA listener. "It really made a major impact on me" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

China plays hardball with EU‎ - Khaleej Times: "China has excelled in public diplomacy of vague assurances designed to leverage its partners,

accompanied by hard deals and asset purchases rather than gifts." Image from

Tourism Ministry Investing NIS 40 Million to Market Israel - Diamond Portal, israelidiamond.co.il:  "The Tourism Ministry is planning to spend NIS 40 million on a marketing campaign that will present Israel as an attractive vacation destination for the autumn and winter months. According to the ministry, this is not a public diplomacy effort but part of the 2011 work plan. The latest campaign is slated to include print advertising, including billboards and magazine ads; exposure in trade publications; radio and TV ads; and exposure on the Internet and social media sites."

Iran adopts consular services to facilitate tourist visa issuance‎ - Islamic Republic News Agency: "Foreign Ministry adopted consular services to facilitate visa issuance for foreign tourists, Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Hassan Qashqavi said on Tuesday.

Speaking in the 6th joint session of Iran-Kyrgyzstan consular affairs, he noted that the facilitation of tourist visa between the two countries would help strengthen the cultural relations. He said that development of tourism is part of public diplomacy in addition to its positive economic benefits." Uncaptioned image, presumably of Qashqavi, from article

[CAT] public diplomacy and collective commitment - Diari de Washington Washington Journal: The bloc[g] Gustavus Alegret - articles, interviews and personal notes from America: "[Google translation from Catalan:] The globalized world that we live can be a threat to our identity, but can also be an opportunity to encourage us. Explicar què som i com som no depèn de ningú més que de nosaltres, cadascú amb la seva responsabilitat: els catalans presentant el nostre origen amb orgull; el sector privat destacant des d'on exporten; i el Govern i els partits polítics pactant i reforçant una estratègia de diplomàcia pública de país.

Explain what we are and how we are not dependent on anyone but us, each with responsibility: the Catalans proudly presenting our origin, the private sector where emphasizing exports, and government and political parties agreeing and reinforcing a public diplomacy strategy for the country. Així no hi haurà diplomàcia oficial que ens aturi. So there will be no official diplomacy that we stop." Gustau Alegret image from his blog

Career Exploration Talk - U.S. Department of State - Ivy Pelletier, bowdoin.edu: "Would you be interested in a job or internship working for the US Department of State? If so, please come to meet Diplomat in Residence Mary Thompson- Jones and learn about careers in the US State Department. She is a Senior Foreign Service Officer specializing in public diplomacy. ... She was recently promoted to the rank of Minister-Counselor."

RELATED ITEMS

American Is to Join the Bolshoi Ballet - Alastair Macaulay and Daniel J. Wakin, New York Times: Exactly 50 years after Rudolf Nureyev grabbed the world’s attention as the first major Soviet dancer to defect to the West, another symbolic journey is taking place — this time in reverse. David Hallberg,

a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater, is becoming the first American star to enlist permanently with the fabled Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow. Mr. Hallberg, 29, who was born in Rapid City, S.D., will hold the coveted status of premier, the Bolshoi term for principal dancer, even as he continues performing with Ballet Theater. Hallberg image from article

Hip hop's global pull - Linda Constant, balanceofculture.com: "Though originating from the United States, globalization has allowed hip hop to be adopted despite boundaries once thought to be iron blocks of communication. ... It's amazing how music from impoverished America has infiltrated and given meaning to individuals in completely foreign lands and contexts.

My guess is that the scale of hip hop's worldwide growth actually trumps many other types of music genres -- the representation of class/racial marginalization is something that people in all parts of the world understand." Image from article

Changing the direction of U.S.-Pakistan relations: Until now, the United States has treated Pakistan as an instrument for fighting or spying on territory around Pakistan. That has to change - George Perkovich, latimes.com: Achieving the United States' interests in Pakistan ultimately depends on one thing: the security of Pakistanis. And the key to Pakistanis' security is internal reform. If Pakistanis are more justly governed, more educated, more employed and therefore more able to define and pursue a constructive national identity and interest, they will expunge terrorists to secure themselves. Getting from here to there may be impossible, but it certainly will not happen if the United States continues to treat Pakistan as it has until now: mainly as an instrument for fighting or spying on territory around Pakistan. Washington would serve American and Pakistani interests by acknowledging that well-intentioned civilian development and assistance programs — Congress authorized $7.5 billion for these purposes in 2009 — are not working as intended. There is enough money, but there are so many restrictions on it, and program administrators are rotated in and out of Pakistan so frequently, that it makes the British empire look positively sensitive and innovative by comparison.

Facebook Moves to Propaganda - thechristianrepublic.com: When a government or a company directs the information flow it is no longer information it is propaganda…period.

China Looks at Baidu - Loretta Chao and Owen Fletcher, Wall Street Journal: Chinese Internet-search company Baidu Inc. said Chief Executive Robin Li met recently with two senior Chinese officials, the latest in a series of high-level official visits with Web companies as the government tries to tighten control of the sector.

Image from article, with caption:  Baidu said Chief Executive Robin Li was visited recently by two senior Chinese officials.

Iran disbands BBC-linked 'illegal' network - Press TV: Iran's Intelligence Ministry has arrested members of an illegal network charged with feeding the UK information under the guise of working for state-run BBC staff.

The members of the network provided BBC with propaganda subjects to be exploited in psychological warfare by the enemies of Iran and Islam, Intelligence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Image from article, with caption: Iran's Intelligence Ministry emblem

Turkey warns PKK in Europe should not be tolerated - Today's Zaman: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said the elaborate activities of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in numerous countries, particularly in Europe, from where it continues financing terrorism, recruiting, spreading propaganda and trafficking drugs, should not be tolerated.

German Nazi compensation fund recipient produces anti-Semitic booklet - Jewish Telegraphic Agency: A German fund established to compensate victims of forced labor under the Nazis sponsored a project that produced anti-Semitic propaganda. The Memory, Responsibility and Future Fund, which was established 11 years ago, sponsored a student exchange program between high school students in Nazareth and eastern Germany. The students prepared a booklet full of anti-Semitic propaganda and drawings at the end of the program, the Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Achronot reported. The booklet was billed as an attempt to compare the educational rights of young Germans and Israeli Arabs. Instead, it questioned Israel's right to exist, according to the newspaper. The fund, a joint effort of German industry and government,

was established after international pressure forced large German industrial companies to agree to compensate Jewish and non-Jewish forced laborers during World War II. Image from, with text: Prominent figures from Germany and from all over the world who are professionally involved with the subject of “remembrance” describe a place of remembrance that they were particularly moved or impressed by.

Swiss decide not to ban Nazi symbols‎ - The Local Switzerland: For example, Nazi war flags cannot be confiscated at the Swiss border if the owner claims not to be spreading propaganda.

Bulgaria opens Socialist art museum‎ - Press TV: Bulgaria has opened its first museum displaying the country's state-sponsored propaganda art during its communist era, Press TV reported. The Museum of Socialist History and Totalitarian Art was established in Sofia on Monday, nearly 20 years after the country's communist era ended.

The museum displays a wide range of art works created between 1945 and 1989, when the Balkan country was under the rule of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP). “These are the greatest artists of their time,” said Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov during the museum's opening ceremony. “Either forcefully or ideologically they created masterpieces,” he added. “Let historians judge the rest.” Reuters image from Google

Porno propaganda for animal activists - AFP, nzherald.co.nz: Animal rights campaigners PETA will go wild later this year - with a pornography website. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has long deployed nearly-nude street activists to promote its campaign against the wearing of leather, fur, or make-up tested on animals. But a sex site called peta.xxx, due to be launched sometime between November and December, will finally show campaigners in their entire natural glory, says associate director of campaigns Lindsay Rajit.

"We get as naked as we're able to legally. In most cities and states that means you still have to wear pasties and some coverage on the bottom," Rajit explained. "With the triple-x domain you won't have those limitations." However, viewers will also be confronted by the naked truth of cruelty to animals, Rajit added. "As soon as people land on the site they'll see some tantalising images.... But we will also have graphic images that people are not necessarily looking for." Image from article with caption: Tattooed model and PETA supporter Dani Lugosi protests against the wearing of wear with a sign saying 'Ink Not Mink'. The organisation now plans a porn site.

AMERICANA

--Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., looks at hanging beef carcasses during a plant tour at Amend Packing Co., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. From Princess Sparkle Pony’s Photoblog, under the headline: Quickie: Michele Bachmann Locates Core Constituency

IMAGE (via SL)

--Stone House (Guimarães, Portugal)