I'm very happy indeed that I've begun to see the mainstream media continue to do follow-up articles on very important stories. The only way a democracy can function is if its citizens are educated; and articles that follow a story through to conclusion are wonderful and much-needed.
Sedatives and Sex Hormones in Our Water Supply: Democracy Now's Amy Goodman explores what's in our water, how it got there, and the current state of pharmaceuticals in our drinking water.
France Won't Rule Out Opening Ceremony Boycott: It's better than nothing, but still not good enough. "French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that he cannot rule out the possibility he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if China continues its crackdown in Tibet."
The Real Rev. Wright: The Footage Fox and the Other Networks Won't Show: An awesome and moving video of Obama's preacher telling telling the bare, dirty, glorious truth to his congregation. This is a must watch.
TV, film, game violence threatens public health: Bowling for Columbine explored the topic of fear and if it makes the United States a more violent nation. (If you have yet to see it, please do). Parents were up in arms over the very popular Grand Theft Auto video game series where you can carjack, kill, knife, and sleep with prostitutes anytime you want. And if you get out of the car and go kill the prostitute, you get all your money back. How can this be good for us?
Take a political break and watch this; it wouldn't be so funny if it weren't so true! Eddie Izzard comments on the end of the world, but more so about computers and humans.
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3 comments:
Fantastic entry, I didn't want to kill myself after reading it :)! I'm happy, laughed and have tons to say. Don't have time at the moment, but if you don't mind...I'll log on later and respond.
Morning Frank,
I wanted to bring up a couple of the topics that you mentioned in your last entry.
First, water—I stopped drinking tap water years ago, when I felt that I needed to take more control over what was going into my body. As I get older, more educated, and or course wiser with time, I’ve learned to seal my lips and really think about what goes into my mouth.
We’ve known for years that you are what you eat. Therefore, when the media brought to the worlds attention that trace amounts of antibiotics were in our meat supply, I once again embraced the fact that I had already learned that years prior and stopped eating meat all together. I only recently started eating small amounts or organic meat within the last year.
So in short, with all the stuff we flush down our drains, spill into our rivers and dump into our oceans, to me…it’s only natural that we would start to find it showing up in our water supply.
Now, here’s where the media in my opinion comes in….it tells those people that don’t normally think about that kinda stuff to be more aware. If they do something about it great, if they don’t it’s not the Medias problem. They’re there only to present the information, it’s everyone else’s responsibility to do something with it.
You’re often offended with the Media (as you have every right to be) because of their inability to keep topics (as mentioned on your site) fresh and in the faces of the people. However, I was wondering if part of that had to do with the fact that if they did, people would have to sit for hours and hours just to get through the morning news. So, maybe an introduce it and leave it and introduce something else method isn’t that bad. It leaves those that are interested in what was said to research further (such as yourself) and those that don’t, well….enough said.
That brings me to Bowling for Columbine and the roll of the media. One of the main focuses of the documentary was how Americans get spoon feed violence in everything that we do, movies, games, books, TV, you name it and our neighbor Canada (who has mass quantities of weapons as well) doesn’t and therefore doesn’t have nearly the violence issues that Americans do. At first, I wanted to move to Canada, I understand that was an irrational thought process. However, what I got from it was a better understanding of how the media and my exposures to it have affected my perception of my environment and the people around me.
Besides not watching a lot of TV, what more do you do?
(Notice, not a closed statement :)
Not on topic questions:
Politics: Do you vote? If yes, who will you vote for?
Religion: What is your belief?
I was wondering so that I could have a better understanding of your thought process as we engage in further conversations.
Good Afternoon, Ms. Anonymous,
Thanks for your long and detailed comments. I'll be more than happy to reply and give you some insight into how I think and what I feel is beneficial to us as a society.
You said that you stopped drinking tap water years ago. What are you drinking now? Tap water (unless it's fluoridated) it actually quite good for you. And bottled water is just packaged tap water. Dasani for example, sold by Coca-Cola, is taken from municipal water sources. I am happy that you've been thinking about what you're putting into your body. And kudos on being a vegetarian! And while organic meat is much, much better for you than any other type of meat, you're still eating animals which, from my studies, are not good for humans.
I agree with some of your comments on the media. For example, I agree that it is not the media's fault if people do not act upon the information they are given. However, I disagree that if our media did follow-ups on stories as well as in-depth reporting, "people would have to sit for hours and hours just to get through the morning news." Right off the top of my head, I would assume that 15 minutes is a good amount of time to do an in-depth television report on a specific topic. How often does TV media do this? I will blog in this in the future at some point, but look at it like this: we have sports shows that, before a football game, analyze the two teams playing, the coaches, and the players. And they go very in-depth: where they went to college, what their records were in college, what their records are in the NFL, how they are projected to do in this game, what their strengths and weaknesses are, etc. Then, the game is shown. After the game, we have interviews with players and coaches, and more analysis of the teams, coaches, and players, just like the pre-game show. For the post-game, they add what happened in the game to their analysis. Why don't we have this kind of coverage for our politics? For example, can you tell me what the health-care plans are for McCain, Obama, and Clinton? What are their differences, strengths, and weaknesses? I couldn't tell you. But I can tell you that no MSM outlet is covering it. But they do cover, over and over, that John Edwards received a $400 haircut, what type of dress Valerie Plame wore to testify before Congress, if McCain is angry, and if Barack is too black. What crap!! I mean, really - what is going on here?
Let's look at who owns the ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. (I've blogged about this on here - you should also check out one of my first blogs regarding how CNN lied about statements made during Congressional testimony. I called the network and, whether it was me or not, they changed their website.)
You are right that the media affects our perception of our environment. But why is it done in such a pro-corporate, pro-Bush administration, anti-peace, anti-labor, kind of way? Because the corporate-run, owned, and operated media have an agenda. We are mere pawns in their obsession with profits. (I'm not going in depth here, because I have blogged about this before, as mentioned above, and will again regarding the comparison to sports programs).
Besides not watching TV (aside from erudite purposes), I: surf, read, write, play tennis, soccer, ice hockey, guitar, paint, draw, hang out with friends, my dog, play video games, build/repair computers, skateboard, fly airplanes, among other random stuff.
Politics: Do I vote: in local elections, yes. In presidential ones? I'm undecided if I will vote in this one. Number one, the media didn't give everyone a fair shot (why did ABC ban Kucinich from its debates, why was Ron Paul derided by CNN and labeled a cheater?) Number two, the Electoral College is not democratic. The person who wins the popular vote can lose the presidency.
Religion: I could write on this at length - however, I will only say this: Who would Jesus bomb? How many Christian churches were behind the invasion of Iraq and subsequent killing of hundreds of innocent civilians? Would Jesus approve of this action? What happened to blessed are the peacemakers? When I have attended Christian church services, how come the preacher tells us that we are not worthy, we are sinners, we must repent, etc. How come I have never hear a preacher talk about when Jesus said we should turn the other cheek, help those less fortunate than us, and even more remote, talk about how when Jesus performed miracles and those around where were astonished so he said, "Why are you so amazed? You will do these things and more." Why do they not talk about when Jesus said that you and I are one; I and the father are one? (Doesn't that kind of imply we are all God?)
I hope that I've answered all of your questions and given you some more insight into where I'm coming from. Enjoy your weekend!
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