Una impactante campaña ambient en Brasil para calentar el estreno de la película 2012 (película catastrofista del director Roland Emmerich, ya empeñado en acabar con el mundo con películas como El día de mañana, Independence Day o Godzilla). Una campaña de Espaço Z, Brasil

Via Quietglover

I’ve been at Skidmore College for almost a whole semester so far. I’ve taken 5 classes and all I can say is: wow. The teachers I have right now are amazing. The 5 teachers I have are all passionate about the subjects they teach. They really want their students to succeed. They are easily accessible during office hours. I’m just going to list a few of their defining qualities:

Jon Zibbell: He is an incredibly engaging speaker, with the ability to make you interested in whatever he is talking about, even if you’re half asleep. His lectures are awesome!

Hedi Jaouad: He really knows his French. I’ve learned a LOT in his Cultural Conversations class. He incorporates a variety of interesting topics into his syllabus.

Charlene Grant: She is kind, helpful, and an amazing Spanish teacher. Enough said.

Ronald Seyb: He is the funniest person you will ever meet, and that is a fact. However, his comedic talents do not impede his teaching abilities. He is engaging, captivating, and always willing to help. His class has helped me enjoy learning about American government, even though it’s not my favorite subject.

Tillman Nechtman: He also has a great sense of humor and is an outstanding professor. He brings interesting discussion topics to class and really knows how to motivate his students. Lectures are fun and intellectually stimulating. Hooray.

If you have any questions or comments about these professors, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you right away!

If you want to make money online, click here: http://tinyurl.com/yfk7wqj

The Legacy of 1989 Is Still Up for Debate

New York Times/Steven Erlanger—The historical legacy of 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and the cold war thawed, is as political as the upheavals of that decisive year.

The events of 1989 spurred a striking transformation of Europe, which is now whole and free, and a reunified Germany, milestones that are being observed with celebrations all over the continent, including a French-German extravaganza Monday evening on the Place de la Concorde.

But 1989 also created new divisions and fierce nationalisms that hobble the European Union today, between East and West, France and Germany, Europe and Russia.

From left, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger and former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher next to a piece of the Berlin Wall.

Some of the intensity of those divisions is evident in the tug of war, in both Europe and the United States, over the achievements of 1989 — whether they owe more to the resolute anti-Communism of Ronald Reagan or its inverse, the white-glove embrace of the East by many in Western Europe.

And while many in the West saw the wheel of history spinning inevitably, causing the rise of democracy and banishing serious rivals to American power, China forestalled its own revolution in 1989 and catapulted itself to prominence through an authoritarian capitalism that the leaders of Russia are now studying.

“The Chinese ended up with a Leninist capitalism, which none of us imagined in 1989, and which is now the main ideological competitor to Western liberal democracy,” said Timothy Garton Ash, a chronicler of 1989 in his book “The Magic Lantern.”

It is a tribute to 1989, not unlike the French Revolution 200 years before it, that its meaning is hotly contested. Different groups in different countries see the anniversary differently, usually from their own ideological points of view.

A group of Russian tourists gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Friday.

In general, said James M. Goldgeier of George Washington University, a historian of the period, “the big question out there for 20 years is who gets the credit.”

For many in the United States, he said, most of the credit now goes to President Ronald Reagan and his aggressive military spending and antagonism toward Communism. That view has largely eclipsed another American perspective, which was that globalization and democratization were so powerful that a Mikhail Gorbachev was inevitable, and that the cold war ended through “soft power” — propaganda, diplomacy and the Helsinki accords.


More @

In het tweede Millenium-boek ‘De vrouw die met vuur speelde’ voert schrijver Stieg Larsson de bokser Paolo Roberto ten tonele. De reden lijkt duidelijk; Stieg zocht een personage dat zich fysiek kon meten met het mysterieuze monster Ronald Niedermann. Een fluitje van een cent, want Stieg schept met ogenschijnlijk gemak het ene na het andere personage. Een fictieve bokser bedenken, met alle gewenste eigenschappen, moet voor hem geen probleem geweest zijn.

Paolo Roberto

Maar ook hier demonstreert Stieg overduidelijk zijn hang naar het willen opereren op de grens van feiten en fictie. Hij schept geen fictieve bokser, maar schuift doodleuk de bestaande profbokser Paolo Roberto zijn verzonnen verhaal binnen. Deze Rocky van het hoge noorden werd in 1969 geboren in Zweden, was een streetfighter en begon op zijn 24e als professional. Zijn laatste tegenstander trof hij in 2003, maar deze bleek in de tweede ronde al te sterk en Roberto hing zijn handschoenen definitief aan de wilgen. Op Wikipedia staan uitgebreide statistieken met betrekking tot de loopbaan van Paolo Roberto.

Het had een willekeurige vechtersbaas kunnen zijn die Miriam Wu moest redden uit de vernietigende handen van Ronald Niedermann. Misschien moet je een Zweed zijn om te begrijpen waarom het zo leuk was om dit door Paolo Roberto te laten uitvoeren. Aan Stieg kunnen we helaas niet meer vragen. Ik denk dat hij zou zeggen dat hij het vooral zelf een erg grappig idee vond.

Paolo Roberto

Maar de grap rolt nog een stukje verder dan Stieg wellicht had durven denken. Zoals je waarschijnlijk wel weet komt er een ook een verfilming van het tweede en derde deel van de Millennium trilogie. En wie denk je dat de rol van de profbokser mag spelen? Precies. Paolo Roberto speelde in 1987 al eens in een film (Stockholmsnatt) en is door allerlei televisieoptredens een echte BZ-er (Bekende Zweed) geworden. Zo nam hij onder andere deel aan de Zweedse versie van Dancing with the Stars.

Arnold Vanderlyde

Misschien doen wij in literair opzicht wel te weinig met onze Hollandse helden. Denk alleen al eens aan onze driemaal olympisch brons winnende held Arnold Vanderlyde. Die hult zijn gespierde torso tegenwoordig in een maatpak om het bedrijfsleven te behagen (www.vanderlyde.nl). Ik zeg, zonde van zo’n prachtige jongen. Is er misschien een talentvolle Nederlandse schrijver die deze toffe gast een leuke gastrol wil geven in zijn boek? Arnold de ex-profbokser die even orde op zake komt stellen in een hok met criminelen? Ik verheug me nu al op de verfilming.

Groet, Cees

President Obama speaks with former first lady Nancy Reagan after signing the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, DC, June 2, 2009.

His best song yet…came out this summer but give it a listen if you haven’t yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWutAX3CQcE

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?3ykzj4wnaj5

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE: News flash

RONALD’S HEALTH JOURNEY CANCELLED
Cancelled due to EXTREME Health Makeover

(Hendersonville, NC – October 30, 2009) -  Ronald’s health journey has been cancelled due to an extreme health makeover.  For the past 8 weeks, Ronald has eaten “Earth Fare style” and exercised.  Then he went for a physical (of course he went after having started his health journey and starving himself). 

The results you ask?  BP= 138/82, cholesterol of 177, and a total of eight, yes EIGHT pounds lost!

Being that he is NOW a specimen of mental, emotional, spiritual and finally physical health (which was endorsed by his physician – and yes, it was a legit one)  – he concluded that he conquered his health journey and is ready for the next challenge. 

The next challenge you ask?  Climbing Mt. Everest carrying Jack on his back (or pushing him up in a wheel chair)!

In all seriousness, Ronald is still on the journey – but wants everyone to know, “Getting on the journey was the hard part.  The best part is the payoff!”  He adds, “I am stronger, leaner, meaner and ready to get on the floor and play with my daughter or carry Jack up that mountain!”

Get on the health journey with him.  But BEWARE – of those FALLING pounds.   Tell us your health story and inspire others!

Ronald in his winter gear training for his next conquest : Mt. Everest!

                                                                                   aqui  eu deitada numa cama de hospital
diga-me irmã morfina quando retornara por aqui
eu penso que não posso esperar demais

 veja eu não sou Tao forte

o grito da ambulância esta zoando em meus ouvidos
diga-me irmã morfina quanto tempo  esta deitada aqui
que estou fazendo aqui neste lugar
por que o doutor não tem face

não posso engatinhar através deste chão
 você não vê irmã morfina estou tentando marcar ponto

bem isto apenas ira mostrar
que as coisas não são bem como parece
por favor irmã morfina faça meu pesadelo virar sonhos
você não vê que estou desaparecendo
e este tiro vai ser meu ultimo

doce prima cocaína ponha sua fria fria mão em minha cabeça 

irmã morfina e melhor você fazer minha cama
porque você e eu sabemos que amanha estarei morto
você pode se sentar por aqui e verá  o
 lençol limpinho se manchar de vermelho.

Aujourd’hui, spotlight sur Ronald Macdonald, le symbole de la chaîne de restauration rapide la plus puissante du monde. Première interrogation: pourquoi l’objet Ronald a-il disparu de notre univers alors que le bibendum Michellin ou Tony le Tigre de Kellogs sont toujours là? Le temps a t-il eu raison de Ronald? Un bon travail graphique et une animation 3D auraient facilement pu le remettre sur pied. Et pourtant, Mcdo semble avoir décidé de l’abandonner définitivement! Alors que le Bibendum est toujours au top en terme de notoriété, que s’est-il passé avec le clown fan d’hamburgers? Revenons rapidement sur l’origine de ce personnage. En 1962, un franchisé Mcdo de Washington DC décida de sponsoriser un spectacle pour enfants. Le spectacle baptisé Bozo’s Circus présenté par Willard Scott fut par la suite detourné par le fast food. Scott fut ainsi embauché pour représenter la nouvelle mascotte de McDonald’s, Ronald McDonald, dans les trois premières publicités télévisuelles incluant le personnage, en 1963. Le personnage est fédérateur et apporte de la sympathie à la marque. Les enfants adhèrent au concept. Ronald devient un emblème partout aux Etats-Unis. Le système était simple: Ronald offre des cadeaux dans les Happy Meal, l’enfant est content, l’enfant est gros, l’enfant revient une fois adulte et contamine a son tour ses enfant. Ainsi, des générations d’enfants furent élevées aux Cheesburgers.

Ce concept, pourtant parfaitement huilé, va finir par s’effondrer. (Mais les marketeurs McDo ont de la ressource, don’t panic!) Ronald c’était finalement la vitrine de McDo, une vitrine joyeuse et colorée qui “masque des éléments”. Le dessin de Ronald c’est: attirer le regard sur certain points pour en éclipser d’autres. Je ne rentrerai pas dans les détails, l’objectif ici n’est pas d’attaquer McDo sur ses pratiques en matière d’hygiène ou de conditionnement mais bien de comprendre la trajectoire du personnage de Ronald. Malgré tout, la disparition progressive de l’homme à la perruque rouge correspond inévitablement à des évolutions sociales. En effet, les clients de McDo furent progressivement “éduqués” à des valeurs du “bien manger”, sanitaire, etc. C’est ce travail d’éducation qui a entrainé le divorce entre McDo et  son emblème. Plus précisément, Ronald est synonyme de valeurs que McDo veut démonter. Le travail de “redéfinition” des valeurs de Ronald aurait sans doute était trop coûteux pour faire évoluer le personnage que 96% des enfants américains connaissent. Surtout depuis que les Parents sont conscients du travail marketing fait sur leurs enfants. L’Happy Meal ne s’adresse donc plus aux enfants, en terme de communication, mais aux adultes. McDo met en avant les qualités de ses produits et non plus le “jouet”. Ronald est donc devenu inutile dans la vente d’hamburgers, même pour les enfants!

La vie de Ronald pourrait se résumer par un graphique montrant le parcours croisé entre la présence de Ronald et la prise de conscience générale autour d’”issue”. Les deux droites auraient un parcours exactement opposé…
On peut également coupler cette disparition progressive de Ronald à l’évolution de la com’ de McDo. Le géant ne communique plus du tout sur ses produits (à la différence de Burger King, Quick). L’objectif pour la marque est atteint en terme de notoriété produit. Le quantitatif est opérationnel, l’enjeu est maintenant de se créer une “Image”. Finalement c’est sur les épaules de Ronald que reposait l’image de la marque. Sans lui, tout est à construire. McDo semble ainsi se mettre à nu pour ses consommateurs. La fin de Ronald c’est le début de la transparence! Je ne reviendrais pas sur la campagne Venez comme vous êtes, mais continuerai plutôt sur  cette néo-transparence qui m’a été confirmé par la campagne suivante…

Le M propose de venir visiter ses cuisines lors de journées portes ouvertes! Si c’est pas de la transparence ça! (La vidéo ici)

Malgré la mort de Ronald sur le flanc publicitaire, il existe encore un site officiel (US) utilisant le clown. Ayant soit disant pour but d”éduquer” les enfants, Ronald nous prévient: “Hey Kids! this is advertising!”…

or: Communist Chinese Leaders don’t have it as good as Ailes could

or: Ailes/Palin ’12…I’m going Canadian

or: How can you write a book when you’ve never read a book?

or: Palin’s new book…a four hundred page Highlights Magazine ripoff.

I know it is a long way off but the race for president in 2012 is shaping up to be a bloody battle of epic, and grotesquely offensive, proportion. As Obama continues to stumble through policy changes, foreign affairs, falter on domestic campaign promises, and slight an ever more frustrated gay community the GOP seems to be pulling together a possible ticket that could call for cheers from their constituents and summon nervous gulps from the White House. Sara Palin is releasing her memoirs next month, which is going to bring massive media coverage, book signing tours, and a return to a national spotlight. At the same time the CEO and President of Fox News Television, Roger Ailes, is apparently being encouraged to seek the Presidency in 2012. Ailes running for the highest seat in the free world is more than speculation and is not outlandish with his past work in politics before eventually shaping Fox which has established itself as the clear opposition camp of the Obama administration. If these two stars, Palin and Ailes, join forces 18-24 months from now it could create an alliance that would present a tough media nut for Obama to crack in order to be re-elected.

Sara Palin’s memoirs titled Going Rouge: An American Life were originally slated to come out in early 2010, but the book, which was started and finished in a mere four months, has been fast tracked to come out Nov. 17, 2009. With an initial run of a massive 1.5 million hardcovers, HarperCollins, is clearly putting a lot of faith in the sales of Palin’s first book to be astronomical. This is not entirely without merit. Sara Palin could be described as the sweetheart of the GOP and it seems that; despite her constant foibles, misinformation, and resigning as Governor with more than a year left in her first term; she can do no wrong. With Palin it seems that her fans and supporters turn a blind eye to all her faults and family issues, that run contrary to traditional Republican lines, and instead cling to her general rhetoric and get a big hard on with her ‘rogue spirit’ and libelous shots at the ‘liberal media’. Palin has been accused of hurting McCain in 2008 with her poor speeches, inexperience, and lack of general governmental common knowledge, but it seems that it has not hurt her popularity in the long run. It would not come as a shock when her book in number one on the NYTimes Best sellers list for nearly two months.

There is much you can expect from Palin in the coming months as her books sells like mad and she is plastered all over every media outlet in the country. She will have multiple appearances on Fox News, I am thinking a full round table run of O’Reilly, Fox and Friends, et al. She will be on Meet the Press as well as Larry King Live, of course, not to mention The View. You will see her face on every tabloid for a few weeks after the book release, now that Jon & Kate has settled down, and she will be making a full nation wide book signing tour including many private colleges and universities. Palin will be great fodder with all these speaking engagements for the likes of The Tonight Show and of course the pairing on Colbert and the Daily Show. I think this move back in to the spotlight will allow her to subliminally break down the White House and Democratic faults in her own special way and start setting the foundation for a now probable run at the White House in 2012 as an opponent to Roger Ailes, until she concedes to him after a few primaries and later becomes his choice for VP.

Roger Ailes is only one of many names out there right now vying for the White House in 2012, but I think he promises the biggest headache for the current administration as the mastermind of the number one news network which just happens to be the most biased opposition of the current administration out there. Ailes and to the larger extent have been critical and nothing but a media nightmare for Obama since the early campaigning when it came down to him and Hillary Clinton. Fox News, Glenn Beck specifically, organized the 912 Project. The Channel did everything short of sponsor the TEA Party Protestors, and have been at the heart of all criticism from the Birther Movement to calling the Town Hall outbursts things like ‘patriotic’ and ‘cries of freedom loving Americans’. As a retaliation the White House press Secretary has jabbed at the network and on air personalities, Axelrod has met with Ailes to end the feud to no avail, and Obama also slighted them during his Sunday morning Press blitz promoting the Health Care Reform Bill by appearing on every major network but Fox News which was a public slap in the face that was called ‘childish’ and ‘petty’ by Fox.

Ailes does have a storied history as a man that could create and market a network with his time at MSNBC, CNBC, and of course Fox News. One of the most interesting and disturbing revelations I have found about this man is his work with the likes of Reagan and H. W. Bush during their campaigns for the White House in the position as a political and media advisor. This man has ties to two of the more popular Republican Presidents in the latter half of the 20th Century which only makes him scarier to me. He has ties, as a news guru with a long career, to every single Republican in power in the country and every lobbyist group with any sway in the capitol.

What makes Ailes scary is his ability to manipulate the largest News Channel in the country to further his policies, campaign, and to control the news without being suspect. How better to get to the White House than controlling the news and being able to hold every one hostage from politicians to special interest groups by doing shady deals and bullying GOP opposition by shutting them out of the network coverage. It would be so easy for Ailes to make himself the only candidate in the public’s eye by simply swaying the coverage to his advantage. In addition to this, who in their right mind at Fox would criticize Ailes on any single topic? He would be praised to the point of sainthood and every other candidate, on either party ticket, will be destroyed. It will be the network’s soul purpose to get their man in power and further their conservative agenda.

Can you imagine the news coverage vacuum that would be created when the likes of Ailes with an iron fist of propaganda teams up with Palin and runs cart blanc over their opponents. If he were ever to get in to the White House Ailes would be able to not only do what he wanted with policies as any President does, but he would have a number one watched network mouthpiece that would not dare disagree with him. Red China has that kind of hold over the people and the news and the audacity to think this is ok, but socialized medicine is unpatriotic. In an Ailes White House he could run roughshod over anyone and anything and freeze out almost any other network and voice leaving a stark landscape of very scared and oppressed liberal outlets and groups.

When I think of the possibility of a Ailes/Palin ticket going in to November 2012 leading in the polls I think back to how Hunter S. Thompson spoke of the Nixon administration and I can’t help but compare the two. Ailes would destroy any progress made in green job markets, silence vocal opposition, repeal environmental initiatives, as well as bully and phone tap anyone who didn’t agree and pander to him. Looking at that old man I can see the gay community being sent back 30 years and the patriot act being expanded as socialized programs of many kinds disappearing all together. The Obama administration needs to prepare for this possibility as the picture of 2012 becomes clearer. I really hope that Palin won’t get on the ticket, won’t get involved, but it is unlikely. Ailes has too much to gain and nothing to lose in a run for President and has every tool at his disposal to be an undeniable force in the court of public opinion. There are others who will throw their hats in the ring and run in the GOP primaries, but on paper Ailes presents the most disconcerting possibility. If the shows on his network are any indication then he will transform this country in to something Glenn Beck refers to as the “America he grew up loving”. Beck is 45, the America he grew up in was a tumultuously violent, corrupt, drug laden, and discriminatory nation with polarized parties and protests turned riots. I don’t doubt that this is the America Beck wants back and I wouldn’t put it past Ailes to get us there if he and/or Palin were to get within a sniff of elected power. Sieg Heil!

As we begin to move towards holding a New York City conference on this topic a number of themes have surfaced which point towards its complexity. Parental Alienation clearly falls into that peculiar human wasteland between power and love which so few understand and so many take advantage of.

In considering this we cannot exclude the new parent of the alienated children who in many cases represent driving forces behind causing the alienation in the first place. A step dad for example who has lost two families is desperate to make the third work and sees the natural father of the children as an adversary he must destroy. This kind of man or woman will do everything they can to become the dominant parent, again so similar to the brainwashing that occurs in long-term kidnappings. The natural alienating parent has to be both oriented to alienating her former partner and lover and parent of her children, and be also a compliant type of individual with impulses to obey authoritarian figures.

In cases where the natural alienating parent has come from an alienating mother or father, it now becomes her reality to repeat this process and the authoritarian new step parent can take great advantage of this situation. Of course neither of these alienating natural parents and step parents reflects on the supreme damage this is doing to the emotions and realities of the children.

This kind of split reality is held in the psychiatric literature particularly from the Edinburgh School of Psychiatrists to be one of the causes of schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis, particularly in a family. Dr. Ronald David Laing practiced  and wrote extensively on this for many years and it generally applies to PAS. Thus making it even more important to get it out into the open as it is in Canada and be considered the form of cruel child abuse that it is.