Bert Stern shot a series

of photos of Marilyn Monroe,

collectively known as “The Last Sitting"

They are arguably the most famous

images of America's screen icon

Forty-six years later, Stern has revisited

his classic shots with Lindsay Lohan

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Keywords: hollywood, lohan, monroe, photos, movie

Members of the media have an Obama problem they're going to have to grapple with now or after the election: They love him. They hate Hillary. And the gap between the two is clearly seen in coverage, which surely is having an impact on the election.

This, to me, only gives more weight to the argument that journalists should be disclosing their allegiances and votes.

Reporters are not just covering the story. This year, they are part of the story.

The ethic of transparency that I have learned online and that journalists apply to everyone they cover should also apply to them.   more »

Advertising has been toying with our emotions

to foster desire since the 1920s

What would we do if the commercials ever stopped?

The void in our lives would be devastating,

like highways without gas stations.

all the logos, brand names, and cool things

through which we relate to the world would abandon

the cultural landscape, voiding our identity

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Keywords: ideology, consumerism, capitalism, advertising, media, commercial

Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn,

"War Made Easy" reaches into

the Orwellian memory hole to expose

a 50-year pattern of government deception

and media spin that has dragged the United States

into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq

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Keywords: warmonger, media, america, spin, propaganda, nation

Maybe it’s because Barack Obama and his handlers are sensitive to the need to reassure ruling forces that the “first black United States president” will not challenge existing hierarchies.

Maybe it’s because he’s bought and paid for by big money. Or maybe it’s because he believes in his “deeply conservative” heart that good Americans show deep respect for their socioeconomic masters.

Whatever the explanation, I’ve never seen an avowedly “progressive” political candidate more eager than Obama to display his deep willingness to obsequiously kiss the ring of dominant political and economic authority.

For someone who is waffling his way across the country, calling working- and middle-class American to “get fired up” and “stand up” for democracy (and for him), Obama sure likes to spend a lot of time groveling before supposed white and upper-class superiors.   more »