On 21 Feb 2005 15:46:12 GMT, "-=jd=-"
wrote:

On Mon 21 Feb 2005 09:48:20a, David wrote in message
:

The point is that in this country it is illegal for the government to
trick the governed, or to attempt to trick the governed. That is how
totalitarians behave.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:40:48 -0500, dxAce
wrote:



Joel Rubin wrote:

Here, the VOA can't send a QSL card to Dubuque, because it might
promote a propaganda service to Americans.

Huh? I've got a stack of VOA QSL's here.

What's your problem?

dxAce
Michigan
USA


Hmmm... dxAce replied that he has received "a stack of VOA QSL's" in
response to another poster mentioning that it was prohibited. Then you
(David) replied that it's "illegal for a government to "trick the
governed" ala "totalitarians". Exactly how does offering a reception report
and requesting a QSL in return equate to "tricking" anyone? Exactly how
does offering a reception report and requesting a QSL in return indicate a
totalitarian form of government? Just so we have a point of reference for
where your mind is at, do you find it particularly difficult to distinguish
the difference between a mere reception report and the subsequent receipt
of a QSL from a "video news release" or a "prepackaged news story"? If I
were to request a QSL from a foreign language broadcaster (one I was not
fluent in), would I have been "tricked by totalitarians" somehow - merely
by offering a reception report and receiving a QSL in return?

You're combining two different things from two different postings.

The point is that the VOA is prohibited from interacting in certain
interactions with U.S. citizens and residents because Congress didn't
want to create a domestic propaganda agency. (By the way, note the
sponsorship scandal in Canada.)

I had thought it included QSL cards but apparently not. But, for
example, when they have contests, you always hear that this contest is
not open to citizens or residents of the U.S.

On the other hand, the Bush administration has been making "news"
segments for local stations and distributing them to U.S. TV stations
without disclosing their origin and agenda.

http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/usia/usiahome/overview.pdf
(USIA publication)
(Page 36)

[quote]
Since its founding, USIA has been
prohibited by Congress from directing its
informational programs toward its own
citizens. By design, under the United States
Information and Educational Exchange Act
of 1948, USIA’s informational programs
have been directed only to overseas
audiences. An amendment to that act in
February 1990 authorized the Director of
the U.S. Information Agency to make
certain products available to the Archivist of
the United States for domestic distribution.
Motion pictures, films, videotapes, and
other material prepared for dissemination
abroad are available 12 years after
material is first sent abroad, or, in the case
of material not disseminated abroad, 12
years after the preparation of the material.
[close quote]