Adjusting the picture - and the content.

Or it might be your attitude that should be fixed.

First, there were spambots. And now, propagandroids.

But not really 'droids, just people like you and me, stuck in a lowly 'communications' job in the Ministry of Truthiness, hired for the "greater good" of Harper's New©™ Government.

From here:

The government is looking for ways to monitor online chatter about political issues and correct what it perceives as misinformation.

The ReformaTory Con jobs have been arming their troops with speaking points and marching orders for years now, one key Rovian tactic in a grab-bag of party tricks.

But this is a new twist. Normally public servants are hired to serve the public. Instead, they'll be serving the interests of Stevie's bullies.

When was the last time you phoned a government service and spoke to a real, genuine human being who answered your question and provided you with the exact information you needed?

Oh, and go read pale at A Creative Revolution, for more about the Ministry of Truthiness.

I feel pretty.

"I feel pretty.
Oh so pretty.
I feel pretty and witty and bright. ..."

Every morning Stevie Spiteful jumps out of bed, eager to meet the challenge of his next photo opportunity.

Where will it be take place? Does he have the required accoutrements and props?

Who shall serve as accessory in the picture? Any visiting dignitaries in town?

And thanks to the magic of Photoshop, he doesn't need to wear his XXL Spanx For Men™ if he wants to prorogue that torturous experience indefinitely.

Today's theme is Haïti. Where to find someone .... oh. And just imagine, he has her number too.

(This post was inspired by C. C's Stephen Harper: King of the classless photo-op.)

Take no questions, give no answers.

That is the essence of Harper's "communication strategy".

It's been that way from the moment Spiteful Stevie took control of the PMO. Feeding his MASSIVE ego and his MAMMOTH need to micro-manage all aspects of PR is becoming an expensive self-indulgence:

... an extra $1.7-million this fiscal year to help bolster Stephen Harper's communications support services – just as the Prime Minister's Office begins distributing government videos of Harper to the news media. Supplementary estimates tabled last month by the Privy Council Office, the Prime Minister's bureaucratic back office, boosted internal operational spending by almost $7.3-million for 2009-10. That's on top of existing budgets. ...

The Harper PMO prefers tightly scripted, immaculately staged public events that include limited or zero interplay between the prime minister and reporters.

From here.

Canada is facing a serious deficit while Harper fiddles and tweaks the medium of his message.

Dennis Gruending provides excellent analysis about how a strategic approach to budget re-engineering will pay for Stevie's media Con job.

KAIROS acts on behalf of 13 of Canada’s major churches or church-based organizations, and it includes under its umbrella the Anglican, Catholic, Christian Reformed, Lutheran, Presbyterian and United Churches, as well as the Mennonite Central Committee, the Quakers and others. KAIROS, or its predecessor groups, have received money from CIDA for 35 years to support partners working in regions experiencing some of the world’s most serious human rights violations. ...

KAIROS worked with its global partners to develop a program for years 2009-2013, focussing upon human rights and ecological justice. The budget was for $9.2 million over four years, with CIDA contributing just over $7 million of that amount. The proposal was submitted to CIDA in March 2009, where it moved through various levels of approval before arriving on Bev Oda’s desk in July 2009. There seemed to be little cause for concern. KAIROS had received a positive audit report for its 2006-2009 work and a good evaluation. When, in September 2009, the agreement had still not been signed, KAIROS was granted a two-month extension on a previous contribution agreement. Sources say it was then that people at KAIROS began to worry. They were hearing that there was “trouble at the top”, which meant the minister’s’ office, or more likely with this government, the prime minister’s office.

On November 30, KAIROS was told that it had been cut off. The organization says in a new release: “We asked for an explanation and were informed that our program did not fit the government of Canada’s priorities. This was the last day of an extension to our current proposal. No written explanation has been provided.” In one telephone call, the Canadian government appears to have terminated a long-standing relationship between CIDA and KAIROS or its predecessor organizations. KAIROS says the decision, if not reversed, “would cut funds to 21 ecumenical and citizen’s organizations in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and cut educational work that helps Canadians across the country to develop skills and knowledge in the exercise of their global citizenship.”

Helping Canadians develop skills and knowledge in the responsible exercise of their global citizenship? Encourage them to engage in democracy? Provide them with information different than the scripted messages force-fed to news-gathering organizations?

From Harper's perspective, that is unacceptable. If Canadians want democracy in this country or abroad, they will have to pay for it out of their own pockets. Because taxes - now and in the future - will be dedicated to fuelling the reformaTory propaganda machine.

Revisionism is a genetic trait - who knew?

From the BBC we learn that Joseph Stalin's grandson's attempt to remove opprobrium attached to the family name has been unsuccessful.

A Moscow court has rejected a lawsuit filed by the grandson of Joseph Stalin claiming a Russian newspaper had defamed the Soviet dictator.

Yevgeny Dzhugashvili said an article published in Novaya Gazeta claiming Stalin personally ordered the deaths of Soviet citizens was a lie. He had requested a public apology and damages from the opposition newspaper. But the court rejected his petition.

The Novaya Gazeta had published a piece referring to declassified death warrants, which it said bore Stalin's personal signature. Mr Dzhugashvili had argued that this was a lie and that Stalin never directly ordered any deaths.

The case was seen by many as part of a Kremlin-backed campaign to rehabilitate Stalin's reputation, correspondents say.

More about the case here.

The wheels on the propaganda bus still go round and round in Russia, it would seem.

The Novaya Gazeta employed writer and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya; four of its journalists have been murdered by persons unknown since 2001.