We are at war

We are at war every day of our lives, whether it is as simple as getting in a fight with your sibling or competing in the work field or as horrible as soldiers dying in Iraq. Jimi Hendrix one said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace”. This just shows exactly what our world is like right now, we say we want peace and happiness, but then why are we in constant competition with everyone else? Everyone craves power and many will do whatever it takes to get it. Will the day really ever come when there is no war and peace on earth? It’s a dream for many but something that is probably not possible because people are just too greedy and power hungry.

Now, instead of just hearing about war in history books, or waging battles in your personal life, we are literally at war, because of Bush and his pro-war campaign. We will one day be in the history books for these crazy events that are going on as I speak. Does Bush know that peace also takes courage, this does not have to be the answer yet it has become the answer and we are all facing it everyday. The youtube video we watched in class called GOOD:the hidden costs of war, really got my attention. At first they thought the Iraq war was going to cost 60 billion dollars then five years later it is over 10 times that much, then factoring in the Afghanistan war the costs total over 800 billion dollars and it is estimated that at the end of the war the costs will total over 3 trillion dollars, that is absolutely unbelievable. How is it possible that all that money could go to something that is barley brining any good to the citizens at all, all it is really bringing is grief and death and sadness and pain. Just think of all the good that that money could have brought rather than being wasted on something so bad. Peace is a state of mind not a fashion statement, action needs to be taken, this is not right and I am just hoping that with Bush gone something dramatic and positive will happen soon because this is too extreme and too horrible and has gone on for too long.

The American Presidential Election

Obama versus Clinton, a woman and a black man, no matter who won it would have still been a huge step for America. As for John McCain, he was barley mentioned at all and when he was, it was Obama saying that he was a lot like Bush, so the fear was that no change would be made and it worked well for him. Publicity whether good or bad is what is needed to get your name out there, Barak Obama is now a household name, even in Canada where elections are not even half as publicized as this was. I have never been big on politics, I sometimes don’t watch the news or read the paper for months on end, sometimes I think of it as a good thing, like not looking at a clock all day…maybe not. 

This election was well overdue, I personally did not have a preference on who won, all I cared about was that Bush was gone and that hopefully some major changes would be made. They were both on the democratic party so I figured that it was not what they were planning on doing that would make them win, it was who they were. Obama won and it was another outstanding thing that along with the war, will make me be able to say I was a part of history. That is only the first step however. The change has happened but the public has now put Obama up on this pedestal, he is some form of a god that is expected to make everything better and radical change is expected soon. This whole election has become “hollywoodized” and just might be setting him up for failure. Is this single man really capable of this? Will he lead everyone to disappointment or will he do things that will be talked about for hundreds of years to come?

Media Hegemonies

Cultural hegemonies can have very big chunks of control over our lives such as healthcare and education. When you have that much power and own that many other companies, it gets scary and overwhelming, overwhelming enough that they can have so much money that even the government doesn’t want to have to deal with them (eg. Tobacco). So I chose to talk about Time Warner, it’s referred to as "the world's first fully integrated media and communications company". At first I thought of doing AOL, HBO or Warner Brothers but I found out that even though the actual name “Time Warner” may not be as heard of as much as those ones, it still owns all of those plus Time-Life International Books, InStyle, Weight Watchers magazine, Cinemax, sports illustrated, TBS Superstation, time magazine, Cartoon Network, people magazine, Warner Books and Warner Brothers Records, which are all much more popular but I couldn’t do one of the little guys, I had to talk about the big one that owns them all. 

Time Warner owns such a vast array of different companies that it has control over all different parts of the world. This cross media ownership is kind of scary because when a company like this owns all these other companies that alone are quite big, they are likely to bring in at least 30 billion dollars a year and have power over a lot of things. Things that are in our lives everyday and that affect us greatly like music, television and what we eat and read. I though the whole point of different companies was because they were different, that had different views and ideas of how to sell and what to do but when a company like Time Warner is so huge and owns so much (I just scratched the surface in what they own), it can get out of hand. Especially when they have certain thoughts and ways of doing things that all the companies they own have to have too. Where is the individuality and freedom in that? Why should one company have the right to be so powerful?

National Media Education Week

This is a week where educators across Canada gather to create awareness about media literacy, it is incredibly beneficial because the media has so much power, that the only way to be in control and feel confident in it when it may consume you, is to be as informed as possible about it. I have never heard of this week before and I wish when I was in public school it was more popular because I think I would have benefited greatly from knowing more than what I did then. However I personally did not hear much about it when the week rolled around, maybe it is a somewhat new thing that more people need to hear about, but I did read the website and participate in some kids games that I did really badly on, I also tried to only purchase things that were essential, no wants, but just like buy nothing day, it was very hard to do. This disappoints me because I feel that this could be a great week, especially to kids who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to be exposed to something like this. 

The media is one of the most powerful things out there right now, it can change lives, it can inform and entertain and inspire hundreds of thousands of people every day. Millions of dollars and endless time is put into it and it is a major part of our society and yes we know of it because we interact with it every day but do we know enough about it? This week makes individuals literate by informing them about the nature, techniques and impacts of media messages and how they are conveyed and what their purposes is. It is a known fact that many kids are not watched or controlled when they are on the internet so they need to know about what is right and what is wrong and what to do if something bad happens such as cyber bullying or when a bad site comes up. The media is all around us even when we don’t notice it like listening to your iPod or seeing billboards and it can be inspiring and motivational but it can also be scary and dangerous like stereotyping and bad chat rooms. Overall we just need to be more educated because if its such a major part of our life we need to know as much as possible about it so we can protect ourselves. 

Culture Jamming

Culture jamming is when artists speaking out against popular culture in a way that is not thought of as acceptable by the government. These people create humor out of a more serious situation that is in most cases a popular media, and they can also be the subjects of culture jamming themselves. It is frequently a series of plays on words, twisted images and hidden messages that at first may be hard to notice because they are like the original ad itself but after recognized, show a strong message. It is social activism and anti-consumerism that usually conveys a message that the jammer feels strongly about.

This is a picture of what used to be an iPod ad. Instead of a person dancing with their iPod it is a soldier throwing a grenade and instead of the apple logo it is a white grenade. This culture jam does two things. First it is a very good reflection of what is going on in or world today, there is a war happening that is not ending any time soon and it talk about on the bottom all the soldiers and Iraqis that have died. It secondly pokes fun at apple and how the people dancing can so easily be turned into a soldier in the act of a hate crime. I think culture jammers are very interesting and creative in that they can take a popular ad and turn in into something that represents an issue that is much more important than the ad itself. They should keep up the good work because it’s interesting and entertaining and gets important messages out there. 

Net Neutrality

The main fact is that we think of the Internet as something that once we pay to get it, we can look and do basically whatever we want on it. I think that 10 years from now people will look back on this time and think it is crazy that we had such freedom, that is if NN does not work out. Net neutrality is an ongoing Internet battle against public vs. private interests. If it does not have an effect, this could truly be the end of the Internet, as we know it. Say you are with Rogers company, you will have a very hard time viewing any sites other than the ones paid for by Rogers and will basically have no control over what you can see anymore. This is a big deal that not enough people know about, the government has to battle with large companies money and the interest of the public, which does not go hand in hand. Society is at a point where most people could not get through each day without the internet. The more personal information and different things we sign up for on it, the more we are fueling both public and private interests and that is a scary thing.

That is why net neutrality is a good thing, it is trying to preserve the internets freedom and openness and it is the thing that will keep us from being controlled by what broadband company we are with. I guess we have been taking for granted the fact that we can get whatever information we want off the internet, it is public domain so it should stay that way but if this actually happens, just imagine what things these companies could be hiding from us, the possibilities are endless, from a huge scandal or mistake they have made, to certain sites that they may not want us seeing, but that we have a right to see. Right now the government is not dealing with the issue that this is happening so these companies are still free to do whatever they want. So next time an internet page isn’t loading, instead of absentmindedly trying something else, realize that there is probably a bigger reason as to why that is happening, an hopefully soon because of NN, it will be fixed. 

One Web Day

The Internet has not changed my life rather it is a part of my life and my life would be changed if it were gone. I rely on the Internet every single day for a countless amount of things. The Internet is literally taking over. You don’t need TV anymore because everything can be watched online at any time that is good for you with no commercials. You don’t need to go to the theatre anymore because you can watch illegal movies online and not have to pay the crazy $10 a movie. You don’t need the newspaper because all news and weather can be looked at online much faster and easier. Talking to friends has never been more convenient with facebook, skype and msn; you can even get internet on your cell phone so you don’t even need to be at a computer to be on it. You can also get free music, I haven’t bought an album in years and I should… What I’m getting at is that the internet is becoming so unbelievably overwhelmingly convenient that if you wanted to, you could not leave your house for a very long time, just get things delivered and truly survive. Its not like companies are missing out either, they get theirs adds shoved in all around web pages just about every chance they get. We are overexposed and overwhelmed by the Internet and what it is capable of but we are used to it and would be beyond doubt lost without it. It is helping us out with endless things such as access to what we would have never dreamed of before, it is a really great invention and is only going to get bigger and better so embrace it, be knowledgeable of it and be excited for what is to come.