Because I'm such a C-Span geek, I watched a Q&A show Monday morning before Washington Journal airs at 7:00am. Brian Lamb interviewed Janks Morton about the making of his documentary film "What Black Men Think."
The story behind the making of this documentary film is as intriguing to me as the film itself. While I was amazed with the video clips shown during the Q&A show, Lamb asked many questions about Morton's background, motivation and how he was able to make the documentary film itself.
It's very inspiring. From what I could tell from the interview, Janks Morton was simply angry enough about the popular misconceptions and myths about black men that he felt compelled to make this film. He's not a film maker. He made it for under $10,000 with a camera, some video editing software, and his own tenacity.
Janks Morton's motivation to make the film seems to have come from a simple question. Are there more black men in jail or in college? Sadly, the popular misconception even within the African American community provides the false answer -- jail. It's just not true. The actual facts make that stereotype of the American black man not just a little wrong, but more than 100% wrong. What is going on here?
Market for Niggas by Taalam Acey
What are some of the stereotypes for the American black man that immediately pop into your own mind -- Gangster, Funny man, Crackhead, Athlete, Baby Daddy?
Janks Morton has made "What Black Men Think" with the idea of starting a conversation within the black community about its own self-image, but I feel it's a topic that all Americans should be discussing. Sure, it's about traditional black/white race relations, but it's also about how the popular corporate media shapes our perceptions.
In my opinion, an additional example of that media manipulation of which Taalam Acey speaks would be the more recent stereotyping and demonizing of Latin American immigrants, especially Mexicans. It is my contention and even admonishment that we all need to get a firmer grip on our tribal emotions and simply check the facts. Otherwise, we Americans are all easily misled, once again.
I would characterize the documentary film "What Black Men Think" as an example of boots-on-the-ground truth, in comparison to some top-down, think-tank or advocacy group message from popular social leaders designed to maintain the status quo thinking for some of their own national organizations' fundraising purposes.
NASA has made the call to bring space shuttle Endeavor home because of the looming danger to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the mission control personnel in Houston, Texas, from Hurricane Dean. Yesterday, the STS-118 crew finished up their final tasks and undocked from the International Space Station (ISS).
Hurricane Dean is a very destructive category 4 hurricane predicted to eventually hit the northern states of Mexico and the southern Texas region. I'm continually finding new things at the NASA web sites. Today, I found NASA has a hurricane page.
On Friday, two astronauts were outside on an EVA (space walk) working when the ISS orbitted over Hurricane Dean. Now, I've been watching EVA live streams for some time, so I'm fairly used to hearing people talk over each other and also hearing the strange noises that accompany a live video feed from space.
Here are links to the short video of that event (WMP) (RM). Listen to the comments of the two astronauts who are extremely focussed on their EVA tasks, but then take a moment as they look down at the Earth and hurricane Dean churning below.
According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricane Dean will continue to strengthen before hitting the northern coast of Belize and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula in the next 24 hours.
A few months ago, I installed a handy little program called "JLC's Internet TV" and I've been checking out various channels from around the world. For obvious reasons, the channels I watch most frequently have content in English, but not exclusively. Some of the coolest channels I've discovered show classic movies. One channel I placed in my favorites is White Springs TV.
The other night on WSTV, I watched a great Boris Karloff movie called "British Intelligence" (1940). This movie was based upon a theatrical play performed in 1918. The backdrop is World War I with a focus on British and German spy activities.
Compared to more modern movies, this film is short with a running time of only 61 minutes. However, this actually works out really well because the plot moves very fast and it has some good twists and turns. If you like British war movies, this is a good one.
There is another very cool aspect to "British Intelligence" for the Boris Karloff fan. Except for the bayonet scar on Valdar's left cheek, Karloff is not in any monster make-up in this film. I don't want to describe the scene in which Karloff breaks from his Valdar the butler character, but I have to say it did make my eyes widen in surprise.
Another coincidental bit of trivia about "British Intelligence," a.k.a. "Enemy Agent" for the U. K. release, has a weird parallel with Boris Karloff's real life. Karloff was born in England and changed his given name to Boris Karloff in part because he wanted to distance himself from some of his siblings who held political office in England. He didn't want to bring any embarassment to his family.
In this film, he plays an English lord's lowly butler. However, after Karloff played Frankenstein and became an international film star in the 1930's, his initial anxiety concerning bringing shame to his family seemed to vanish. Karloff went on to act in over 200 films during his lifetime, most notable in the horror film genre. Boris Karloff truly is a legend of the silverscreen (now on DVD).
While I'd certainly appreciate if any hardcore Boris Karloff fan purchased this film on DVD from one of my Amazon affiliate links, I'm also the guy who likes to show you how to get free stuff when and where you can. I recently watched this film for free streaming on WSTV, but I've subsequently found that you can also download and watch "British Intelligence" in several digital video file formats on archive.org.
The image above shows the Mattel Barbie and Tanner playset that has been recalled because the magnet has been falling off the scooper. Swallowed magnets are a very serious hazard for children. I have not touched this image with photoshop. Just to prove this, this image is hotlinked directly from the U.S. federal government's Consumer Product Safety Commission website (cpsc.gov).
Now just take a closer look at this frellin' image. The little brown things are supposed to be Tanner's food pellets and they even come with a little dog food box (shown here). You can see the kibble in his bowl and in his mouth, right?
However, look behind Tanner's butt on the lawn! There's another little pile of brown things. If that pile of brown things isn't dog poop, then why is Barbie using a scooper to throw one of them in the trash? Like I've always said, "You can't make this shit up."
But seriously, folks ...
You may have heard about the Fischer-Price toy recall because of the lead paint hazard. The Chinese owner of the toy manufacturing company was found hung in his warehouse in the wake of that recall.
Yesterday, the U.S. CPSC announced additonal Mattel toy recalls. If you have kids, follow the links below to see images of these toys and the recall information. The primary purpose of a recall is to get the defective or hazardous toys away from kids as soon as possible. There are toll-free phone numbers and links to more information on the individual recall pages listed below.
I found the above classic film gem last week. It's a U.S. Army training film which was produced in 1968. The film attempts to explain how a psychological operation a.k.a. "PsyOp" is to be conducted in a fictitious country called Hostland. I really encourage you to make some time to watch it.
Nearly 40 years later now, the basic concept is the same. The advancement of communications technology has only caused the method to evolve and the scope of psyop to broaden.
I would also like to point out some very interesting and recent developments about this evolution, specifically concerning the U.S. occupation of Iraq. In the past, "public affairs" and "psyop" activities were seperated. One reason for this seperation is a federal law forbids the military from conducting psyop domestically upon the U.S. citizenry. Of course, in Bushworld, federal laws are only considered to be pesky suggestions.
Required Reading:
Freepress.net has a great section about the billions of dollars Bushworld has illegally spent on propaganda.
Now, psyop is a vital force multiplier in wartime and a very necessary tool to use in counterinsurgency operations. However, Bushworld decided to combine the public affairs and psyop activities. In a world of instant global communications, Bushworld can easily skirt the law.
It's simple. Bushworld plants a fake story in Iraq and within minutes it's being broadcast all over the globe. One example of this is the constant drumbeat to go to war with Iran. The fact that Iran is not being particularly helpful to our occupation of its neighbor, Iraq, is not in question. However, for the last several years, Bushworld has been waging a public relations/propaganda campaign using the departments of state and defense to get domestic public support for the next war.
Bushworld has blurred the activities of psyop and public affairs. The consolidation of corporate media into a handful of multi-national conglomerates just worsens this attack on truth by making it easier to conduct. U.S. media giants often have significant vested financial interests in the so-called military-industrial complex.
Good Reference Reading:
The official U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, written in part by General David Petraeus. His name may sound familiar to you as he is in charge of MNF-Iraq now. When Bush blames Democrats of "micro-managing the war in Iraq," why are U.S. media reporters too timid to ask him why he has hobbled every commander in charge of Operation Iraqi Freedom since day one? One might also note that Petraeus is working with 1/3 of the forces he recommends in this USAR FM and "success" could take a decade.
In 2003, SecDef Donald Rumsfeld ordered the DoD to produce the SECRET / NOFORN classified manual entitled "Information Operations Roadmap." It was de-classified in 2006 and released in redacted form under a FOIA request. The George Washington University's National Security Archive characterized it as "Rumsfeld's Roadmap to Propaganda" and there are links to related material.
The full PDF is only about 2.3 MBs to download and about 80 pages to read. The BBC has a mirrored archive of the PDF file. This GW NSA section also describes similar propaganda actions by former U.S. presidents Clinton and Reagan.
"There is no military solution in Iraq." "Hearts and Minds." J. Michael Waller is a professor at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC, and directs a graduate program for students coming from U.S. State and Defense departments, as well as the intelligence communities. I want to buy "Fighting the War of Ideas like a Real War" and then ask the politicians in charge of the Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Homeland Security congressional committees why they seem to be so schizophrenic with our tax dollars.
My Advice:
Simply be aware that some stories in the news are not true. A great majority of the news has a small kernel of truth wrapped in exaggeration and political spin. Become a smart and critical consumer of media.
If you constantly watch Fox cable TV news because you think it's fair and balanced, you already live in Hostland. Seek psychological de-programming and stop eating McDonalds fast food because you somehow think it's healthy.
