The Hidden Life of Marilyn Monroe, the Original Hollywood Mind Control Slave (Part-I) Marilyn Monroe is possibly the most iconic figure in American culture and the most recognizable sex symbol of all times. However, behind Monroe’s photogenic smile was a fragile individual who was exploited and subjected to mind control by powerful handlers. The first part of this two-part series will look at the hidden life of Marilyn, a Hollywood Monarch slave. Marilyn Monroe is the ultimate sex symbol, embodying everything that Hollywood represents: glamor, glitz and sex-appeal. Her iconic sensual blonde persona forever revolutionized the movie industry and, to this day, is greatly influential in popular culture. While Marilyn represents everything that is glamorous about Hollywood, the disturbing story of her private life equally represents everything that is dark in Hollywood. The first part of this series of articles will look at the real life and career of Monroe, an isolated girl whose great beauty became a true curse. Her Early Years Norma Jeane as a teenager The Surgeon Story
The Rise of “Sub-Imperialism” The heads of state of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa BRICS network are coming to Durban in four months, meeting on 26-27 March at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Africa’s largest venue. Given their recent performance, it is reasonable to expect another ‘1%’ summit, wreaking socio-economic and ecological havoc. And that means it is time for the first BRICS counter-summit, to critique top-down ‘sub-imperialist’ bloc formation, and to offer bottom-up alternatives. After all, we have had some bad experiences at the Durban ICC: * in 2001, in spite of demands by 10,000 protesters, the United Nations World Conference Against Racism refused to grapple with reparations for slavery and colonialism or with apartheid-Israel’s racism against Palestinians (hence Tel Aviv’s current ethnic cleansing of Gaza goes unpunished); Eco-disasters made in Durban The Durban deal squashed poor countries’ ability to defend against climate disaster. Looting Africa ‘Sub-imperialism’?
Cold War II by Noam Chomsky These are exciting days in Washington, as the government directs its energies to the demanding task of "containing Iran" in what Washington Post correspondent Robin Wright, joining others, calls "Cold War II." During Cold War I, the task was to contain two awesome forces. The lesser and more moderate force was "an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is world domination by whatever means and at whatever cost." Hence "if the United States is to survive," it will have to adopt a "repugnant philosophy" and reject "acceptable norms of human conduct" and the "long-standing American concepts of `fair play'" that had been exhibited with such searing clarity in the conquest of the national territory, the Philippines, Haiti and other beneficiaries of "the idealistic new world bent on ending inhumanity," as the newspaper of record describes our noble mission. But at least it was possible to deal with , unlike the fiercer enemy, . And daunting it is. But no matter. regards as a threat.
Dept. of sucking up: Aren't our dear leaders great! Some high-ranking U.N. officials hired in the wake of Ban Ki-moon's re-election have been receiving something of a hero's welcome at Turtle Bay, marked by the solicitousness one would associate with, say, a visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a rural hemp factory. The U.N. Department of Management (DM) and the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), issued internal memos last month detailing the debuts of their new bosses, undersecretary generals Yukio Takasu, a former veteran Japanese diplomat who once served on the U.N. The two memos -- which have the ring of 1950s corporate press releases or state propaganda -- contrast starkly with the scathing portrayals of dysfunction and leadership failures that dominate international media coverage of the United Nations. "It's been 100 days since Mr. In his office's own telling, Takasu's underlings are clearly impressed by his debut. The meet and greet was clearly a success. How's that for efficiency! KNS/AFP/GettyImages
Schneier on Security Democracy 2011: pros and cons Fyodor Lukyanov's column Published time: December 30, 2011 11:44 What made the centerpiece of international affairs year 2011? It was one of the most turbulent periods since the early 21st century in terms of ongoing global shift. But if one wanted to identify a key notion, it would be democracy. The events of the past 12 months demonstrated that it is also going through fundamental changes, albeit in opposite directions. The most vivid example of complicated dialectics was the Arab Spring – a chain of popular movements and uprisings in several states in North Africa and Middle East. On the one hand, developments there showed that the idea of unchangeable authoritarian rule doesn’t suit the public mood at all anymore. Legitimacy is a key pillar to internal stability. Events in other parts of world, very distant from the Middle East confirmed this phenomenon. Fyodor Lukyanov, for RT
Detainee Treatment | Task Force On Detainee Treatment The Ukraine Imbroglio and the Decline of the American Empire A CounterPunch Special Report: Reflections on the Wages of “Immoderate Greatness" by ARNO J. MAYER When discussing the Ukraine-Crimea “crisis” it might be hygienic for Americans, including their political class, think-tank pundits, and talking heads, to recall two striking moments in “the dawn’s early light” of the U. S. Empire: in 1903, in the wake of the Spanish-American War, under President Theodore Roosevelt America seized control of the southern part of Guantanamo Bay by way of a Cuban-American Treaty which recognizes Cuba’s ultimate sovereignty over this base; a year after the Bolshevik Revolution, in 1918, President Woodrow Wilson dispatched 5,000 U. It might also be salutary to note that this standoff on Ukraine-Crimea is taking place in the unending afterglow of the Second Cold War and at a time when the sun is beginning to set on the American Empire as a new international system of multiple great powers emerges. U. By now the peculiar American Empire is past its apogee. 1990.
Berghuis v. Thompkins (08-1470) Appealed from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Nov. 19, 2008) Oral argument: March 1, 2010 In February of 2001, Southfield, Michigan police officers questioned Van Chester Thompkins (“Thompkins”) for roughly three hours about a shooting that had occurred over one year prior. Although Thompkins remained silent for much of the interrogation, he ultimately provided police with incriminating statements. In 2002, Thompkins was convicted of first-degree murder. Questions presented I. II. top Issue Whether a state court’s determination that a defendant’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were not violated — where he was interrogated for three hours while silent before making an incriminating statement and where his lawyer failed to request a limiting instruction — is entitled to deference under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Facts On January 10, 2000, Samuel Morris and Frederick France were shot repeatedly while driving through a strip mall parking lot in Southfield Michigan. Discussion
Participatory Totalitarianism In the new public-private surveillance state, we’re so at home with Big Brother that we’re not just passively watched–we actively display ourselves. (Photo: ‘Pong / Flickr) According to the Chinese zodiac, the heavens circle around every 12 years. On June 4, 1989, on one side of the globe, Poles were participating in their first semi-free elections in more than 40 years, which—though few suspected at the time—sounded the death knell for Communism in East-Central Europe. Twelve years later, the Year of the Snake returned, and the ground shifted radically beneath our feet once again. And then last year, the Year of the Snake came around again, and this time it was Edward Snowden who caused a seismic shift in our understanding of everyday reality. The old metaphor for surveillance was the Panopticon: the warden, sitting at the hub of a penitentiary, could see what all the inmates were doing along the perimeter of the structure. The state’s status has deteriorated over the decades.