First off, just have to say Go Pack Go! I watched the game, and being from a divided family I'm very glad the Packers won.
This leads into my first problem with people. Whenever the Vikings lose the to the Packers, and I mean ANY TIME, the refs are always to blame for it. Sure, they may have made a few wrong calls, but both teams have the opportunity and ability to challenge a call. The Packers used this opportunity wisely, while the Vikings did not. So if anything, the Vikings should blame themselves for not challenging calls that would have been overturned. The Packers got not one, not two, but THREE calls overturned, and one of them was because they challenged the play. The Vikings would have saved a Green Bay touchdown had they challenged a play in the first quarter but they did not, plain and simple. Vikings fans, I have a message for you: Accept that it was a loss and move on, there are 16 games in a season, not the two against the Packers like some people think.
While on the topic of pop culture, I hate Justin Bieber or however his name is spelled. He has very little to no talent, yet somehow is insanely popular because of his hair. I guess that the primary audience of any major artist now must be preteen girls because that is the audience he appeals to. What has the world come to when a 16 year old kid with no talent is one of the most popular artists in the music industry? I don't know, but I don't like the way the world is going in this case.
Staying in the music industry, I am amazed that all this songs with just great beats and stuff are so popular, when anyone who had the technology would be able to make them. Most of the popular songs played on KDWB or 96.3 could be created by anyone with the right kinds of technology as long as they had the money.
So anyway, that's just a little dose of what I have problems with in the world, the list could expand on and on. But of course you don't have all the time in the world for me, like I would wish...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Manufacturing Consent: A Response
The ideas Noam Chomsky presents to viewers in the documentary Manufacturing Consent require a lot of discussion. Most people do not think that the media is out there to profit, do not think that the news is twisted. Most people believe that they are hearing the honest truth each day.
I was especially shocked to see the way the situation that occurred in Southeast Asia was handled. The way the news was able to spin coverage away from East Timor due to what was occurring in Cambodia is amazing. The New York Times had only seventy pages of reporting on the conflict occurring in East Timor, while the conflict in Cambodia had thousands of pages of reporting on the subject. This reinforces Chomsky's belief that the media is protecting the American elite, because the President had backed the invasion so therefore all the atrocities being committed were "ok" in a way. The government in Cambodia was committing genocide of a worse nature, but not in the way it was represented in the paper. It was not 100s of times worse than what was occurring in East Timor, but that's what the New York Times would have made you think. I am amazed that this could happen to such a well-known paper. I agree with Chomsky I think just based on an event like this alone.
The propaganda model is still very relevant in the media world today. News organizations are still trying to profit more than present the news in an unbiased way, and still serve the elite organizations of American society. Companies such as Dow Jones and Fox control a large amount of the market for media, and thus they are able to feed the consumer news to protect their own valuable interests. They also have holdings in the movie industries and many cable companies, which extends their influence beyond the news sector. It is scary to think how much control these companies can exert over everyday life in a society where we think we have so many different kinds of freedoms.
I was especially shocked to see the way the situation that occurred in Southeast Asia was handled. The way the news was able to spin coverage away from East Timor due to what was occurring in Cambodia is amazing. The New York Times had only seventy pages of reporting on the conflict occurring in East Timor, while the conflict in Cambodia had thousands of pages of reporting on the subject. This reinforces Chomsky's belief that the media is protecting the American elite, because the President had backed the invasion so therefore all the atrocities being committed were "ok" in a way. The government in Cambodia was committing genocide of a worse nature, but not in the way it was represented in the paper. It was not 100s of times worse than what was occurring in East Timor, but that's what the New York Times would have made you think. I am amazed that this could happen to such a well-known paper. I agree with Chomsky I think just based on an event like this alone.
The propaganda model is still very relevant in the media world today. News organizations are still trying to profit more than present the news in an unbiased way, and still serve the elite organizations of American society. Companies such as Dow Jones and Fox control a large amount of the market for media, and thus they are able to feed the consumer news to protect their own valuable interests. They also have holdings in the movie industries and many cable companies, which extends their influence beyond the news sector. It is scary to think how much control these companies can exert over everyday life in a society where we think we have so many different kinds of freedoms.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Imaginationland
It's that time of year again, where Monopoly has taken over Mcdonalds. My friends and I have every piece for every color except for the "rare" ones, but that's beside the point. Yesterday I was at Mcdonalds, and we were talking about money. Scott, one of my friends, then thinks of an idea out of the blue. He proposes using Halo credits as money, and this one of his many thoughts of a world based on the ideas of Halo.
First off, a little background. Halo: Reach, the final Halo game made by Bungie, was released about a month ago. Since then, he has been playing as much as possible and at this point is a Major Grade 2, which puts him in the top 2% of gamers online. Even when he's not playing, he thinks about the game. Earlier this month he proposed a Halo "religion" as a way to get out of school. The so-called "religion" and its ideas occupied his mind for a day or so, and he came up with a whole elaborate religion based on Halo. We came up with the idea that we are waiting for the second coming of Master Chief, the main character of the game. Our disciples are the Marines who are his sidekicks throughout the game. Cortana is our equvialent of the Virgin Mary, and our "cross" is two energy swords crossed. This elaborate plan was his first crazy thought about Halo.
Then yesterday, when a group of us were at Mcdonalds, he proposes using Halo credits as currency. For example, he said a steak would take about 2000 credits, or 4 games worth of play roughly. He also believes that would give him an excuse to play a lot because that would be how people earn money. Even though the world would self destruct if this happened, he would be perfectly fine with it.
Although he takes video games a little too serious sometimes, he does think about some interesting points. For example, if someone established the Halo religion and got enough followers to recognized, how would he school system work? It is philosophical questions like these that do make me at least listen to his question, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. I love his proposals on some of these ideas, and I wish the world would have more fun ideas such as his Halo religion.
First off, a little background. Halo: Reach, the final Halo game made by Bungie, was released about a month ago. Since then, he has been playing as much as possible and at this point is a Major Grade 2, which puts him in the top 2% of gamers online. Even when he's not playing, he thinks about the game. Earlier this month he proposed a Halo "religion" as a way to get out of school. The so-called "religion" and its ideas occupied his mind for a day or so, and he came up with a whole elaborate religion based on Halo. We came up with the idea that we are waiting for the second coming of Master Chief, the main character of the game. Our disciples are the Marines who are his sidekicks throughout the game. Cortana is our equvialent of the Virgin Mary, and our "cross" is two energy swords crossed. This elaborate plan was his first crazy thought about Halo.
Then yesterday, when a group of us were at Mcdonalds, he proposes using Halo credits as currency. For example, he said a steak would take about 2000 credits, or 4 games worth of play roughly. He also believes that would give him an excuse to play a lot because that would be how people earn money. Even though the world would self destruct if this happened, he would be perfectly fine with it.
Although he takes video games a little too serious sometimes, he does think about some interesting points. For example, if someone established the Halo religion and got enough followers to recognized, how would he school system work? It is philosophical questions like these that do make me at least listen to his question, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. I love his proposals on some of these ideas, and I wish the world would have more fun ideas such as his Halo religion.
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