Home Tech Support

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Wikileaks: American Entertainment Better than the TSA

Posted on 11:47 by Unknown
There's a new article (Brett Michael Dykes, The Lookout) about a leaked document posted on Wikileaks reporting that American TV shows and movies have been very effective at painting a positive portrait of the US in the eyes of Saudis (ever since American channels there have started showing actual American TV and movies and not just US-sanctioned propaganda). Of all the quotes in the article, this one stood out the most:
[...] even in the remote, highly conservative regions of Saudi Arabia where anti-Western thought typically proliferates. The cable quotes him saying that out in the Saudi hinterlands, "you no longer see Bedouins, but kids in western dress." [...]
I feel like this is along the lines of winning the people's "hearts and minds". The reason why this works is because as opposed to state-sponsored propaganda (which is pretty obvious when shown), this more subtly shows what's so great about the US.
Finally, I think this report is a great send-up of all the politicians who are equating Wikileaks with terrorism. Quite the contrary: while a lot of what it shows is what we've done wrong (and of course these politicians will hypocritically call for press freedom in other countries yet repress it here), it also shows a lot of what we've done right. Why not publicize that more? (I think it's because people will start demanding the incriminating information as well; really, politicians just call for press freedom when it suits them. So, what else do you have to hide, Senator Lieberman? After all, you do want to criminally prosecute them, don't you?)
Oh, and the title? It just goes to show that this entertainment is far better at converting potential terrorists into people positively curious about America than the TSA is at stopping terrorism.
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Saudi Arabia, terrorist, TSA, Wikileaks | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Revisited: openSUSE 11.4 GNOME
    If you guessed again that there isn't much else to write about, you'd be right! That's why I'm looking at openSUSE 11.4 GNOM...
  • How-To: Get My Desktop with MATE in Ubuntu
    Installing MATE Patches Finally, the busiest part of my week is over, and I have time to write this. Anyway, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise ...
  • Review: Linux Mint MATE 201303
    For those of you who have been waiting for a review, I think I may have said before that my writing would shift more to science-y stuff and ...
  • Review: SolusOS 1 "Eveline"
    I've gotten a couple requests to review this distribution, and I've wanted to do it, but for a while all that was being released con...
  • Review: Chakra 2013.02 "Benz"
    Main Screen + KDE Kickoff It's been a while since I looked at Chakra, so I was thinking now might be a good time to do that. Plus, KDE 4...
  • Review: Linux Mint 9 GNOME
    Recently, Linux Mint 6 "Felicia" became obsolete. Like any standard Ubuntu release, Linux Mint is supported for 1.5 years after in...
  • Charge Conservation and Legendre Transformations
    As a follow-up (sort of, but not exactly) to my previous post on the matter, I would like to post a few updates and new questions, using E...
  • Review: Linux Mint 13 LTS "Maya" KDE
    Main Screen + Kickoff About a week ago, I reviewed the Xfce edition of Linux Mint 13 LTS "Maya". While I was quite pleased with h...
  • Review: Pardus 2013 KDE
    My spring break is coming to an end (I only have 1.5 more days), so I figured it might be nice to do another review while I still can. Today...
  • Review: openSUSE 12.2 KDE
    It has been over 10 months since I reviewed openSUSE 12.1. Since then, version 12.2 has been released, so I am reviewing it now. Main Scree...

Categories

  • 11
  • 13
  • 1st birthday
  • 200th post
  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2D
  • 3 Idiots
  • 3D
  • 4
  • 600-series
  • 600C
  • 670C
  • 7
  • 7z
  • 8 glasses every day
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything
  • Abiword
  • abuse of copyright
  • Acer
  • ACTA
  • Activities
  • Adafruit
  • admission
  • Adobe
  • Adobe Flash
  • advertisement
  • Afghanistan
  • agricultural company
  • airport security
  • Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
  • amarok
  • amateur
  • amazon
  • Amy Chua
  • anaconda
  • android
  • AP
  • apology
  • apple
  • applications
  • April fools
  • aptosid
  • Arch
  • ArchBang
  • Arizona
  • asana
  • asthma
  • asus
  • Athena
  • ati
  • ATT
  • AUSTRUMI
  • autofailblog
  • autonomy
  • avatar
  • ayurveda
  • bad experience
  • ban
  • basmati rice
  • Ben Kevan
  • bias
  • Big Bang
  • big brother
  • Bill Bryson
  • biography
  • birthday
  • blackbox
  • blind
  • blog
  • blog catalog
  • Blogger
  • Blogilo
  • Blogspot
  • BMW
  • Bodhi Linux
  • bombing in russia
  • Book Review
  • bootloader
  • boson
  • brand name
  • break
  • breakfast cereal
  • Bridge Linux
  • British Chiropractic Association
  • broadcast
  • browser
  • BSD
  • Burj Khalifa
  • Bursts
  • bus
  • cable
  • calculus
  • cambridge
  • canonical
  • capitalism
  • care
  • Carolus Linnaeus
  • cell
  • cell phone
  • CentOS
  • central planning
  • CGS
  • Chak De India
  • Chakra
  • Chamber of Commerce
  • chat
  • cheese webcam booth
  • chemistry
  • chicken
  • chicken tax
  • china
  • choice
  • choqok
  • Chrome OS
  • Chromium
  • chrysler
  • Cinnamon
  • Cinnarch
  • City ID
  • class
  • codecs
  • coffee
  • college
  • commodore
  • Commonwealth Games
  • comparison
  • compatibility
  • competition
  • compositing
  • conference
  • congress
  • copyright
  • copyright infringement
  • corruption
  • counterfeiting
  • courts
  • Creative Commons
  • crunchbang linux
  • cryptography
  • crystal
  • CSS
  • CTKArchLive
  • custom linux spin
  • CwF + RtB
  • Daniel Craig
  • Das U-Blog by Prashanth
  • DEB
  • debian
  • debt
  • Dedoimedo
  • deficit
  • democrat
  • denial
  • Department of Justice
  • derivative
  • desktop effects
  • Die Another Day
  • disability
  • disappointment
  • disney
  • distribution
  • DMCA
  • DNA
  • dolphin
  • donation
  • dormitory
  • dream
  • DreamWorks
  • driver
  • DRM
  • Dubai
  • dvd
  • earthquake
  • Ease
  • ebook
  • economics
  • Edmunds
  • Edubuntu
  • education
  • educational
  • EFF
  • electricity
  • elementary
  • empathy
  • Enlightenment
  • enzo tedeschi
  • EPDFView
  • epiphany
  • essay
  • Evince
  • exam
  • excitement
  • eye of gnome
  • F-Spot
  • facebook
  • Faenza
  • familiarity
  • family
  • FBI
  • Featured Comments
  • fedora
  • Fedora Core
  • Feedbooks
  • felicia
  • Fermat's Last Theorem
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
  • fifa
  • file sharing
  • first
  • First Amendment
  • first sale
  • Fluxbox
  • Folder View
  • FOLLOW-UP
  • football
  • ford
  • free software
  • FreeTechie
  • frequency
  • FreshOS
  • frisk
  • frivolous
  • Fuduntu
  • Fusion
  • future
  • FVWM
  • Gabrielle Giffords
  • Gauss
  • GDM
  • gentoo
  • George Lucas
  • GhostBSD
  • GIMP
  • Gloobus
  • gloria
  • glyn moody
  • gm
  • Gnash
  • gnome
  • GNOME 3
  • GNOME Activities
  • GNOME Shell
  • gnu
  • Gnumeric
  • google
  • Google Docs
  • Gottfried Leibniz
  • government intervention
  • gparted
  • graduation
  • graphics card
  • GRUB
  • gtk+
  • GUI
  • gwenview
  • gwibber
  • Hackers
  • happy new year
  • hardware
  • Harry Potter
  • health
  • heartbeat
  • Higgs
  • high speed rail
  • hollywood
  • homeland security
  • homeless
  • honda
  • How To Train Your Dragon
  • How-To
  • hp
  • HTC
  • HTML
  • i386
  • ibm
  • Ice
  • Iceweasel
  • identity
  • In Defense of Food
  • incentives
  • Inception
  • india
  • Infinite Monkey Theorem
  • Inside Line
  • installation
  • Intel
  • intellectual monopoly
  • intellectual property
  • internet explorer
  • internship
  • Investopedia
  • ipad
  • iphone
  • iphone OS
  • ipod touch
  • Iraq
  • iron man 2
  • Isaac Newton
  • isadora
  • issues
  • ITworld
  • jailbreak
  • James Bond
  • james cameron
  • japanese
  • jill sobule
  • jim lynch
  • jon
  • Julia
  • Julian Assange
  • justice
  • KahelOS
  • Katya
  • KDE
  • kde 3.5
  • KDE 4
  • kde 4.4
  • KDE 4.5
  • KDE 4.6
  • KDE 4.7
  • KDE Activities
  • KevJumba
  • keyboard
  • Kinect
  • KOffice
  • kolourpaint
  • Kongoni
  • konqueror
  • Kopete
  • Kororaa
  • kpackagekit
  • KPresenter
  • kubuntu
  • kwin
  • Lage Raho Munna Bhai
  • laptop
  • last week of school
  • Latvia
  • law
  • lawsuit
  • learning experience
  • LED
  • legal fees
  • lenny
  • Leonard Mlodinow
  • LG
  • liar
  • libel
  • liberal
  • LibreOffice
  • LILO
  • linux
  • linux live cd
  • Linux Mint
  • Linux Today
  • Lisa
  • live cd
  • live dvd
  • live usb
  • long
  • Lubuntu
  • lunatic
  • LXAppearance
  • lxde
  • LXPanel
  • mac
  • mac os x
  • Madbox
  • madurai
  • Mageia
  • mainstream tech press
  • malware
  • mandriva
  • Manjaro Linux
  • marginal cost
  • mark shuttleworth
  • Mark Zuckerberg
  • market
  • market share
  • massacre
  • mastery
  • MATE
  • mathematics
  • Mayans
  • MBodhi Linux
  • mcps
  • meat
  • mebibyte
  • media
  • media companies
  • medicine
  • MEEP
  • Megabus
  • megabyte
  • mepis
  • Metacity
  • metric system
  • MGSE
  • Michael Nielsen
  • Michael Pollan
  • mickey mouse
  • microsoft
  • microsoft office
  • middle
  • Midori
  • misconceptions
  • misrepresentation
  • MIT
  • MLB
  • Mokshagundam
  • money
  • monopoly
  • mouse
  • movie
  • Movie Review
  • Mozilla
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Mozilla Prism
  • mpaa
  • multiboot
  • MultiSystem
  • MWM
  • national health service
  • national security
  • nautilus
  • NCAA
  • ncurses
  • netbook
  • Netrunner
  • neutrino
  • new computer
  • new york
  • new york city
  • new zealand
  • newbie
  • news corp
  • NFL
  • NHS
  • NIST
  • normal distribution
  • novell
  • numbers
  • nutrition science
  • nutritionism
  • NVidia
  • NZCS
  • obama
  • okular
  • One
  • open standards
  • open-source
  • openbox
  • openoffice.org
  • opensolaris
  • openSUSE
  • Opera
  • oracle
  • Oxidized Trinity
  • P. W. Singer
  • panel
  • paramount
  • Pardus
  • parenting
  • parody
  • particle
  • patent
  • pay-to-pirate
  • PC-BSD
  • pclinuxos
  • pcmanfm
  • Pear OS
  • pearson education
  • Peppermint OS
  • Peter Pan
  • philosophy
  • Photograph 51
  • photonic
  • PHP
  • physics
  • pidgin
  • Pierce Brosnan
  • Pinguy OS
  • pink
  • Pink Floyd
  • piracy
  • plasma
  • plasmoid
  • poll
  • Porteus
  • power
  • power law
  • prejudice
  • presentation
  • president
  • president obama
  • presumption of innocence
  • Princeton
  • printing
  • prisoner
  • privacy
  • profit
  • programming
  • progress
  • Project Natal
  • promotion
  • proprietary
  • public domain
  • purpose
  • qed
  • QEMU
  • qt
  • quantum electrodynamics
  • quantum mechanics
  • radio
  • rape
  • Rawhide
  • Razor-Qt
  • red hat
  • Reflection
  • Rekonq
  • religion
  • Remastersys
  • rent
  • repossession
  • republican
  • retroactive copyright
  • review
  • rewards
  • RHEL
  • RIAA
  • Righthaven
  • RMA
  • robotics
  • rolling release
  • rootkit
  • ROSA
  • royalty
  • RPM
  • RSS
  • rule
  • rupert murdoch
  • sabayon
  • safari
  • saints
  • Salix OS
  • Samsung
  • sarah palin
  • Saudi Arabia
  • scanner
  • school
  • school network
  • science
  • Scientific Linux
  • security theater
  • selection
  • semester
  • Semplice
  • senior
  • Shiki
  • shooting
  • Shotwell
  • shut down
  • SI
  • sidux
  • Simon Singh
  • simplymepis
  • Skype
  • skyscraper
  • Slackware
  • slander
  • slashdot
  • social media
  • social policy
  • socialism
  • software patents
  • solar
  • SolusOS
  • SolydXK
  • sony
  • sony-bmg
  • SOPA
  • Source Code
  • SourceForge
  • SPARC
  • special effects
  • spying
  • spyware
  • Squeeze
  • SSH
  • Star Wars
  • State Department
  • statin
  • statistical mechanics
  • Statler
  • Stella
  • steve jobs
  • stewart
  • Stuxnet
  • subscriber
  • subsidy
  • substitute
  • sun
  • Sun Tzu
  • super bowl
  • Super Bowl XLV
  • super user
  • Suresh Kalmadi
  • survey
  • Symbicort
  • synaptic
  • tablet
  • Talledega Nights
  • tax
  • tech company
  • Tech Drive-in
  • techdirt
  • Technorati
  • Ted Williams
  • terrorist
  • thanksgiving
  • The Adjustment Bureau
  • The Amazing Race
  • The Art of War
  • The Code Book
  • The Drunkard's Walk
  • The King's Speech
  • The Social Network
  • the tunnel
  • the undercover economist
  • thermophotovoltaic
  • thunar
  • tim
  • Tim Harford
  • tint2
  • torrent
  • Toy Story 3
  • toyota
  • tracking device
  • trademark
  • train
  • treason
  • Trinity
  • Trisquel
  • trivial
  • troll
  • TSA
  • TuxMachines
  • Twitter
  • TWM
  • UberBang
  • ubuntu
  • ubuntu one
  • UK
  • unetbootin
  • unintended acceleration
  • units
  • Unity
  • Unixoid Review
  • UROP
  • US
  • utopia
  • V. S. Narayana Rao
  • VectorLinux
  • vegan
  • vegetarian
  • Verizon
  • vesa
  • Viewnior
  • ViewPad
  • ViewSonic
  • violation
  • virtual desktop
  • VirtualBox
  • virus
  • Visvesvaraya
  • vlc
  • warfare
  • water
  • WattOS
  • wavelength
  • Wayland
  • web-connected printer
  • webcam
  • WebOS
  • weekly
  • whistle
  • widget
  • wifi
  • wiki
  • Wikileaks
  • William Shakespeare
  • windowing system
  • WindowMaker
  • windows
  • windows 7
  • windows vista
  • windows xp
  • Wired for War
  • word
  • WordPress
  • world cup
  • Wubi
  • x11
  • XBMC
  • xbox360
  • xfce
  • xkcd
  • xp
  • yahoo
  • yoga
  • YouTube
  • YSA
  • Zenwalk
  • Zorin OS

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (63)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (7)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2012 (85)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (12)
    • ►  June (12)
    • ►  May (7)
    • ►  April (6)
    • ►  March (6)
    • ►  February (9)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2011 (179)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (8)
    • ►  October (9)
    • ►  September (12)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (15)
    • ►  June (15)
    • ►  May (16)
    • ►  April (15)
    • ►  March (19)
    • ►  February (21)
    • ►  January (29)
  • ▼  2010 (173)
    • ▼  December (24)
      • A Quick Update on the Respins
      • Review: Chakra 0.3.0 "Ashoc" (on FreeTechie)
      • Symbicort: Shooting Itself in the Foot (or Lung)
      • Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon
      • Apologies about the Slackware Review
      • Featured Comments: Week of 2010 December 19
      • NCAA: Bad for Future Business Leaders
      • FOLLOW-UP: Linux and Breakfast Cereals
      • Bad Experiences are Forever
      • Familiarity Breeds Fondness, not Contempt
      • Review: Slackware 13.1
      • Movie Review: Toy Story 3
      • Done with 1st Semester!
      • An Update on this Blog and the Respins
      • Featured Comments: Week of 2010 December 5
      • Introducing UberBang 10.04
      • Fedora 15: A Potential Savior?
      • Wikileaks: American Entertainment Better than the TSA
      • Lage Raho Wikileaks!
      • Movie Review: Die Another Day
      • Featured Comments: Week of 2010 November 28
      • Introducing Oxidized Trinity 6 "Squeeze"
      • In Praise of the Arch Wiki
      • It Really is Security Theater
    • ►  November (23)
    • ►  October (34)
    • ►  September (36)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (18)
    • ►  June (13)
    • ►  May (8)
    • ►  April (2)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile