Tag Us: The US Military Updates Its Contracts With Hollywood

In late 2020 I put in a FOIA request with the Pentagon for records on their support to Operation Christmas Drop – a ‘romantic’ Christmas movie starring the US military. Three years on and they’ve finally released the contract they signed with the film-makers, which reveals how the office updated its approach post-Phil Strub.

Tag Us: The US Military Updates Its Contracts With Hollywood

I think that Tom has a problem with short people and cat ladies! /s

[2022] Chaos Agent – Yuri Bezmenov

Yuri Bezmenov defected from the Soviet Union to Canada in the ‘70s, and his warnings about disinformation have made him a posthumous star on social media. Documents obtained by CBC News reveal his toxic relationship with Canada’s intelligence services.

Chaos agent (archived)

Semi-Related:

Call Of Duty Trailer Recklessly Promotes Far-Right Conspiracy Theory (archived)

The person interviewing Bezmenov in the footage is far-right conspiracy theorist G. Edward Griffin, who has since made a name for himself in HIV/AIDS denialism and alt-right recruitment. As a member of the John Birch Society, a famously anti-Communist organization focused on establishing a more conservative government in the United States, it makes sense that Griffin would peddle Bezmenov’s claims about Soviet interference by way of social progress without any critical analysis. In the Call of Duty trailer, Activision presents Bezmenov’s words bereft of this important context.

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War uses KGB video from 1984. Critics say it’s CIA propaganda

That Time Ronald Reagan Starred in a World War II Movie Featuring Several Drag Performances

The U.S. military will no longer host drag shows at bases around the world, according to a new report from Associated Press. The news comes following a pressure campaign by Republicans to abolish anything associated with LGBT life during Pride Month. But banning drag isn’t just bigoted. It ignores the long history of drag in the U.S. military that stretches back over 100 years.

That Time Ronald Reagan Starred in a World War II Movie Featuring Several Drag Performances

Memorial Day by a Vietnam War veteran.

Perhaps some may find what I will argue below as disrespectful, especially coming from a veteran who participated and lost comrades in the American War in Vietnam. But it must be said. How Memorial Day is currently observed does not, in my view, fulfill its intended purpose—that is, as a day of remembrance, reflection, and appreciation for the sacrifices of those who fought and died in this nation’s all too numerous wars.

Memorial Day by a Vietnam War veteran.

Related:

Memorial Day: Honor the Fallen by Ending Wars

Modern art was CIA ‘weapon’

For decades in art circles it was either a rumour or a joke, but now it is confirmed as a fact. The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art – including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko – as a weapon in the Cold War. In the manner of a Renaissance prince – except that it acted secretly – the CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more than 20 years.

Modern art was CIA ‘weapon’