Perversion for Profit is a 1965 propaganda film financed by Charles Keating and narrated by George Putnam. A vehement diatribe against pornography, the film attempts to link explicit portrayals of human sexuality to the subversion of American civilization, and briefly draws a parallel between pornography and the Communist conspiracy. The film is in the public domain, and it has become a popular download from the Prelinger Archives. Perversion for Profit illustrates its claims with still images taken from various soft core pornography magazines of the period, though with some portions of human anatomy obscured by colored rectangles.
To bolster his position, Putnam makes several references to “Dr. Sorokin, the renowned Harvard sociologist”. This individual is Pitirim Sorokin, a Russian-American who founded Harvard’s Sociology department and served as the American Sociological Association’s 55th president.
In an article discussing the Prelinger Archives for the San Francisco Chronicle, Peter L. Stein observes that the film has gained a different sort of utility than its producers intended: …as the parade of girlie magazine covers, men’s physique pictorials and campy S&M leaflets continues, the film betrays a kind of prurience the filmmakers could hardly have intended. What results is a remarkable visual record of midcentury underground literature and sexual appetites, and a gloss on the values of the society that condemned them.
At the time the Chronicle article was written, Perversion was the Archive’s second most popular download, superseded only by Duck and Cover. Ephemeral film scholar Rick Prelinger, founder of the Archive, views the popularity of such films as a sign the “unofficial evidence of everyday life” has become more interesting than “‘official’ documents from Washington or New York”.
In 2004, a Prelinger Archive user going by the pseudonym “Trafalgar” produced a remix, in which short clips from the film are rearranged to make a pro-pornography advocacy video. Trafalgar’s remix, entitled Come Join the Fun!, is available from the Internet Archive’s open-source movie collection. The electronica band 3kStatic sampled audio from the original Perversion film for the title track of their 2005 album Perversion: for Profit.
(Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, become a feminist
Become a feminist, Become a feminist
(end chorus)
Church praises the rotten dictators
The cross-bearer procession of black limousines
In school you are going to meet with a teacher-preacher
Go to class – bring him money!
Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Bitch, you better believed in God
Belt of the Virgin is no substitute for mass-meetings
In protest of our Ever-Virgin Mary!
Photographer Lui Xia is censored in her native China, where she lives under house arrest.
Using eerily life-like dolls, her work evokes the pain and suffering of her fellow Chinese.
Burma’s notorious censors have relaxed their tight grip on the media this year, although journalists are still by no means able to freely report. VOA’s Daniel Schearf traveled to Rangoon last week and spoke with Eleven Media Group’s Chief Editor Wai Phyo about how the censorship process has changed and what remains the same.
The Arab Spring uprisings successfully uprooted several long-standing authoritarian governments in the Middle East and North Africa, and led to elections in Tunisia, and next month in Egypt. But the shift from decades of authoritarian rule to a more open and free society has been bumpy in some cases. And challenges to press freedom persist across the region. VOA’s William Ide has more from Washington
Chinese state media has deleted a video from the Internet revealing telltale signs of the People Liberation Army’s cyber attack efforts. Some foreign military and Internet security experts are saying the video indirectly exposes the Chinese regime’s involvement in hacking attacks on US-based websites.
Chinese state-run CCTV has deleted a video episode of the “Military Science and Technology” program from the Internet.
The video called—The Internet Storm is Coming—is on cyber warfare. It explains different kinds of Internet attacks—including an onscreen demonstration on how to launch an attack.
According to a New York Times report published on August 26th, foreign military and Internet security experts are saying the video reveals telltale signs of the People Liberation Army’s cyber-attacks on US-based websites.
The CCTV episode shows software launching a cyber-attack via an invalid IP address belonging to the University of Alabama.
But web experts found the actual target on the onscreen pull-down menu is for American web sites of Falun Gong—a spiritual practice persecuted by the Chinese regime.
The New York Times referred to a China SignPost online story by two military analysts—Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins. The writers question whether it’s a simulated cyber-warfare demonstration or real hacking software and an actual cyber attack.
According to New York Times, the writers say “It’s significant that an official Chinese state television channel showed even a symbolic representation of a cyber-attack, particularly one on entities clearly located in a foreign sovereign nation.”
Chinese authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement in the hacking of US-based entities.
The telling footage and CCTV deleting the video from the Internet seems to prove otherwise.
Common’s Performance at the White House Poetry Night
Rapper/Poet Common performed for President Obama and the First Lady during Poets at the White House.
Stewart vs. O’Reilly on Rapper Common
Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart debate the issue of inviting the rapper, “Common”, to the White House. Aired 5/16/2011.
O’Reilly and Stewart Argue About Common
In an atmosphere thick with political differences, cable TV giants, Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart, went head-to-head this week over the invitation of rapper Common to a White House poetry reading.
O’REILLY: “Common traveled to Cuba to meet with who was convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper. Common said, ‘Damn this was someone who fought for my freedom.’ This was a cop killer, a woman who gunned down along with two other accomplices, a woman who was a member of the black liberation army, a woman who they found sixteen live rounds in her purse and this guy thinks she’s great.”
Stewart found that a little over the top and countered with another likely reason for Common’s lyrics.
STEWART: “What I think he is doing is not celebrating cop killing but honoring someone he thinks was wrongly convicted of cop killing. I think he believes she was convicted unjustly.”
The two exchanged quips in a debate that made for great TV — but The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Sragow says Stewart was the clear winner.
“Bill O’Reilly … [has] never learned what my father taught me: that when you raise your voice you lose an argument. O’Reilly blustered while Stewart smiled and joked and quipped his way to victory…”
But The Christian Science Monitor writes — the real winner — was advertisers.
“Ratings go up whenever this pair is on screen together. They’re like Starsky and Hutch, Felix and Oscar, or Seals and Crofts– an odd-couple duo that somehow works.”
Stewart blasted Fox News for what he called “selective outrage.” A writer for Hyper Vocal says it’s good to see a so-called “pretty fair discussion” – but wishes the topic of debate would have been more substantial.
“Even if it’s not policy wonk stuff, at least let it be more consequential than a rapper’s invitation to the White House, days after the dude made his appearance. It’s over, move on.”
Though the debate may have been heated and punches may have been thrown the TV personalities ended the night on a friendly note.
“Later on in the program O’Reilly said that Stewart was a gentleman for coming on his show and even said he was funnier than most liberals.” (CBS)
Rapper Common Performs At White House Poetry Night
The White House is under fire for what many are calling a controversial guest list for the “An Evening of Poetry” event at the president’s pad Wednesday night. One of the guests of honor is Common – a rapper some call a socially conscious hip-hop artist, but others call a thug.
Fox News is taking the lead against the rapper — calling him out for his lyrics attacking President Bush and his past performance during President Obama’s campaign.
“Although Common dropped the n-word from the songs that he performed at the presidential event last year he decided not to alter some of the most sexually explicit lines in his songs so I wonder if that’s the type of family entertainment that he plans to provide tomorrow night at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
“I’ve heard Michelle Obama say this, and I think rightfully so. This is the people’s house, right? You want to bring respect you want to elevate people when you do this okay. So, here’s an opportunity. This is no Robert Frost, this is no Maya Angelou, this moment that is happening tomorrow night.”
But it’s not just Fox against the guest rapper — politicians and police officers alike are also taking a whack. DailyMail reports one of Common’s songs includes lyrics that celebrate a former Black Panther who killed a New Jersey Police Officer. This upset President of the State Troopers Fraternal Association – David Jones. DailyMail adds:
“Mr. Jones said he was particularly upset at the timing of the event, which coincides with Police Week, which includes a memorial service in Washington DC for fallen officers.”
But the White House is backing Common’s invitation, saying President Obama does not support the controversial lyrics but appreciates his conscious brand of rap. A Baltimore Sun blogger adds the critics too, should give Common a chance.
“Common assumes a stage persona and is doing a form of acting while rapping… Also nevermind that, as rap goes, Common’s lyrics are often among the least offensive and sometimes the most thoughtful. The Obama administration could have invited someone much more profane, such as, say, Grammy-winner Eminem.”
A Washington Post blogger pokes a little fun at all the drama – calling out the rest of the invitees.
“But if we’re getting upset about tonight’s invitees, let’s not exclude the rest of the list: Billy Collins, Elizabeth Alexander, Rita Dove, Kenneth Goldsmith, Alison Knowles, Aimee Mann and Jill Scott? Can you believe these people? All anti-American, misogynistic, anti-cop, anti-disestablishmentarianists!”
Without freedom of speech in Burma, the youth have trouble expressing themselves and living up to their ambitions. However, young Burmese singers and bands, like Thxa Soe and Exit are paving the way for the youth as they voice out their opinions and express themselves through their music.
For college students, getting information is an important part of life. In China, students are turning to anti-censorship software to find information they’re usually not able to access under the Chinese regime’s censorship system.
College education is a time for learning. But in China, most students are restricted in what they’re allowed to know under the Chinese regime’s censorship system. For example, the 1989 crackdown on student pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square has been left out of Chinese history books and any references to it has been censored on the internet.
The subject of the documentary “Desert of Forbidden Art,” Igor Savitsky spent his life saving over 40,000 works of art from Soviet destruction. The filmmakers, Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev talk about the story and the museum Savitsky built in Nukus, Uzbekistan to house his treasures.
