Marketing Militarism to Moms
This essay fuses a feminist analysis of news media with political economy and branding research to examine a case study of how a group of mothers – “Security Moms” – became branded and pressed into profitable service for the Republican Party and a “peace through strength” think tank. I argue that constructed identities like this one, which come in and out of vogue in mainstream news media, tell important stories about the media's relationship to feminism. Since the 1990s, news stories in the United States have popularized groups of women and men supposedly cohering around particular practices: “Soccer Moms” and “NASCAR Dads,” for example. Such identities not only prove to be profitable for corporations, they also politicize identities and reinforce both neoliberalism and self-surveilling governance. 
 
 
Keywords: 
 
news media; 
branding; 
Security; 
Moms; 
militarism; 
feminism
DESIGNING HOMES TO BE THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
In February 2005, the ‘9/11 Public Discourse Project’ and the ‘America Prepared Campaign’ sponsored a public letter, ‘Homeland Security Starts at Home’ a public service announcement circulated in newspapers and magazines (such as the New York Times Magazine , 6 February 2005, pp. 25 27). In part, the letter introduced the two organizations’ mission: to remind readers about the informational resources of the Department of Homeland Security (‘to find out about different emergencies and how to prepare for them’) and to encourage ‘a national conversation’ about the recommendations of the ‘9/11 Commission Report’ recommendations ‘regarding not only what the American government must do to be ready for another terrorist attack but what all citizens must do’. According to the letter, knowing what to do (i.e. being ‘ready’ by being informed) involves a fairly simple and straightforward technology for citizens: a ‘family communications plan’. The rationale for needing and implementing a family communications plan is also simple and obvious:
Use of laser scanning confocal microscopy for morphological taxonomy and the potential for digital type specimens (e-types)
The use of laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) for creating taxonomic descriptions of copepods is investigated. A new technique is described, which employs a contour filter to process digital LSCM images, allowing taxonomic information to be quickly and accu- rately distilled into a simple illustration. LSCM allows the imaging of whole specimens, which can be rotated and viewed from any angle—a major benefit over light microscopy. Using this tech- nique, it is suggested that taxonomic descriptions can be rapidly produced in a fraction of the time required to produce similar descriptions using traditional light microscopy and hand drawing techniques. Good staining of specimens is, however, essential to produce accurate descriptions and more research is required in this area. The use of LSCM for morphological taxonomy shows great potential, not only for producing taxonomic descriptions, but also providing a comple - mentary adjunct to traditional type specimens in the form of 3D digital 'e-types' deposited in recognised international databases.