good morning vietnam

good morning vietnam

Will the city stay dry while showers and thunderstorms are sloshing across Western New York this evening? The National Weather Service foresees a moderate breeze off Lake Erie that "should shadow" Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs when a cold front brings a line of showers through the area. Keep your fingers crossed.

After the uncomfortable levels of humidity that are forecast for today, the cold front should feel pretty good. The showers are not expected to last all night, though some could be nasty and contain hail. Friday ought to be a much more pleasant day — clearing, cooler, high near 80, with a lingering chance of showers until midafternoon.

Saturday looks like the best day of the weekend — sunny with a high in the lower 80s. Another cool front is supposed to move in Sunday, with the probability of showers, thunderstorms and highs in the mid-70s. The threat of rain stays in the forecast for the early part of next week.

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Among those looking to the skies with their fingers crossed will be the thousands of fans in Lafayette Square in downtown Buffalo for the Thursday at the Square concert. Up this week is the veteran Chicano rock band Los Lobos, which never fails to deliver a great live performance. The Billy McEwen Band starts things off at 5 p.m. Organizers expect this could be one of the biggest shows of the season.

So does the NFTA. Transit officials have decided not to run Metro Rail trains past Lafayette Square from approximately 7 to 9 p.m. There will be free shuttle buses to take riders between the Church Street Station and the Fountain Plaza Station at Chippewa Street. Service will be normal on the rest of the rail line.

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Also free and outdoors: Only Humen in the M&T Plaza Event Series at noon in front of M&T Bank headquarters in downtown Buffalo across from Main Place Mall.

Rip and the Bandogs at 6 p.m. in Music on Main Street in the City of Tonawanda.

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" at 7:30 p.m. in Delaware Park, preliminary entertainment at 7.

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Today marks the start of the fourth annual Buffalo Homecoming Citybration and the first edition of its sister Citybration in Niagara Falls, both designed to welcome back people who have moved away and to showcase the best the area has to offer. It continues through Sunday.

First event is the daylong 2009 Explore Buffalo Niagara Investor & Entrepreneur High-Tech Forum in Albright-Knox Art Gallery. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will open the program with a keynote address, followed by a high-tech investor panel. After the panel, the program will feature presentations by companies seeking investment in a number of high-tech areas. Admission is free.

The fun part comes at the fourth annual Best of WNY Party in Shea's Performing Arts Center from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 and include wine tasting and specialties from 20 of the area's leading restaurants. Proceeds benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times.

Meanwhile, over on the observation deck at the top of Buffalo City Hall, there's a Citybration Sunset Reception from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. with panoramic views, tours, treats and happy hour stuff.

In Niagara Falls, there's a kickoff cocktail reception and benefit from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 300 Third St., hosted by the students of the Niagara County Community College Culinary Institute. Five Niagara Wine Trail wineries also will participate. Tickets are $25. Proceeds benefit the NCCC Scholarship Fund.

Visit www.citybration.com for more information and full schedule of events.

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The Erie County Legislature meets at 2 p.m. with a heap of little items of its plate. The biggest ones — the proposals to reduce the size of the Legislature and to change the length of legislators' terms, both subject of a public hearing Wednesday night — are likely to be forked over to committee.

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The American Veterans Traveling Wall and Tribute, which honors veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, along with victims of the 9/11 attacks, was installed in Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora on Wednesday and opens to the public at 2 p.m. today. It will be on display until 7 p.m. Monday. For more information about the tribute, visit www.avtt.org.

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Meet the area's black journalists and talk with them about the media from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Havana House patio bar and restaurant, 3112 Main St. The session, sponsored by the Buffalo Association of Black Journalists, will include reporters and editors from The Buffalo News, WIVB-TV, WGRZ-TV, WECK Radio and Black Resource magazine. The $10 donation supports "YGB," the association-sponsored news and public affairs radio show produced by "young, gifted and black" high school students. It airs at 6 p.m. the first and third Saturday of each month on WHLD 1270 AM.

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The 90th annual New York State Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention and the 84th annual VFW Ladies Auxiliary Convention get under way in earnest today. Joint opening and memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo's Grand Ballroom. Mayor Byron W. Brown and County Executive Chris Collins are expected to attend. VFW meetings will be held in the Hyatt beginning Friday, and Auxiliary meetings start today in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. The conventions continue through Sunday. About 4,000 are expected to attend. For info, visit www.vfwny.com.

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The third season of Downtown Batavia Public Market kicks off today at the corner of Ellicott and Center streets. The market will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays through Sept. 10. In addition to fresh produce, baked goods and flowers, special activities scheduled throughout the season include free bicycle inspections by Adam Miller Toy & Bike. For info, visit www.downtownbataviany.com or call (585) 344-0900.

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"Walking With Dinosaurs — The Arena Spectacular" has another performance at 7 p.m. in HSBC Arena and continues through Sunday. Tickets are $20 to $70.

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Avant-garde jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flutist and composer Sabir Mateen brings his quartet Omni-Sound to Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave., at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.

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Buffalo Open Air Autobus offers a two-hour tour of the neighborhoods built in Buffalo's Golden Age in the late 19th century — now designated the Allentown, Delaware and Linwood historic districts. The bus loads at 6 p.m. at Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway. Tickets are $20.

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The Gwinnett Braves trounced the Bisons, 7-3, Wednesday night. Tonight they'll be looking for payback. First pitch down in Georgia is at 7. Listen on WWKB 1520 AM. The team returns to Coca-Cola Field on Saturday night to face the Charlotte Knights. On hand then will be the most-celebrated sports mascot of them all — the Famous Chicken.

adrian cronauer

adrian cronauer

Internet coverage of the election in Iran is sweeping the globe in spite of the Iranian governments attempts impose an international media blackout. This is one of the first large scale examples of the true power of global social media, and its ability to change the world.

There is a saying in urban culture, "The revolution will not be televised", which first appeared on the 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, by Scott-Heron. The phrase has since attached itself to pop culture in reference to the common political strategy to control the media in times of crisis.

Just think "Good Morning Vietnam." In the film Robin Williams character Adrian Cronauer witnesses a bombing and rushes into the army radio station to report the story. He is stopped by the censors who say:

"What do you think you're doing? You know you're forbidden to read anything not checked by this office."

"What was there to check? I was there."

"You know the rules, airman. If this is a legitimate news story, it must go through proper channels."

"Look, tweedledee, it's an actual event." Cronauer replies while pointing to the blood stains on his shirt. "What do you think this came from? Shaving? It's the truth. I just want to report the truth. It'll be a nice change of pace."

"This is not official news, airman. As far as I'm concerned, it didn't happen."

Cronauer retaliates, "It did happen... What are you afraid of Dickerson? People might find out there's a war going on?"

That of course, is exactly what Sergeant Dickerson and his Army censors were afraid of, and what all military tacticians know to be an important element of maintaining control. Censorship and propaganda are weapons as powerful as any bomb.

All throughout history those in power have attempted to control the free flow of information, from the burning to the great libraries of Alexandria to the Iranian election of last week. Spin doctors are the NBA all stars of global politics. Press releases and newsfeeds from the top are manipulated to seem like they came from "the grass roots." The gatekeepers choose what goes into print and what appears on television, spinning it either right or left, based on the beliefs of editorial boards and people in power pulling the strings. Oh yes, that is not to say we lack dedicated and honest news people out there. Quite the contrary: They are legion. But any old time news hound will tell you, the walls of censorship do exist, and the fight to report unbiased truth is the eternal battle of ages.

In the old days, a three channel television and a one newspaper town were common. The people took in what was spoon fed, and developed their opinions accordingly. But that has all changed. The Genie has been let out of the bottle. The post election riots in Iran this week are a perfect example. In spite of the fervent attempts of the Iranian Government to cut off the flow of information about the election protests, the people have pushed back. After the election, text messaging was blacked out in Iran, social networking sites like Facebook were shut off, cell phone and land line service became spotty, and satellites for major networks like the BBC were jammed, preventing newsfeed transmissions from getting out of the country. On Italian television station reported their interpreter was beaten by police while confiscating their video tapes. At least four reporters are known to have been arrested inside the country and the whereabouts of ten others are currently unaccounted for.

But this time the media blackout did not work. The rise of the geeks has begun. Young tech savvy progressives are finding ways around every blockade, reporting first person accounts on blogs, Youtube and twitter, they are finding ways around the old guard attempts to control. They are circumventing downed networks, and uploading thousands of videos and pictures live from the scene. The gatekeepers no longer hold the keys. The uncensored voices on the internet are unstoppable, growing like a magic beanstalk, beyond any earthly means of control.

Yes folks, this revolution will be televised. The people have spoken, and in the process, they are changing the global face of power forever.