HW 4-18

1.http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/CoolAds-Fiat-Panda.jpg

The ad I found is for the car-maker Fiat, advertising their cars as easier on the environment. The only words they use are "Engineered for a lower impact on the environment," and underneath that it says, "The lowest CO2 emission car range in Europe." The image they use shows a panda in the driver's seat as the car crashes. The obvious techniques they're using are, simple solutions (buy a fiat save the environment), symbols (the panda is an emblem of the conservation movement, it's on the WWF logo) and warm fuzzies (again the panda, who doesn't love em?)just to name a couple. The ad plays off the environmental concerns of people in order to move automobiles.

2. I'm going to follow Alternet this week. Alternet is an organization that thinks journalism should serve a purpose beyond merely informing. They think it should inform and guide the community toward and through positive changes. They try to do this by not only aggregating important, interesting, or overlooked articles, but by engaging a wide user-base in an attempt to educate people using the internet community.

HW 4-7

I feel that the crisis of democracy in this country has fundamental and unbreakable connections to the yawning divide between the rich and the poor. We actually have two systems of governance in this country. The first is democracy and it is the more iconic of the two. Democracy attempts to give everyone an equal say in the affairs that pertain to them. The second system of governance is that of money. Money is many things to us, it's power, it's time, but it's best articulated as a source of supreme motivation, and as expected the uneven distribution of wealth belies an uneven distribution of power. Corporations have been cursed into entities that by law can't be concerned with anything but maximizing profits. Even the CEOs and board members have to fall in line with this rule or they are accused of misleading the shareholders and often are deposed from their thrones. However, there is good news. In this country we have free will, choice. We can choose to patronize some and ignore others. The fall of democracy was preceded by an increased faith in the dollar over people. My vision for a true and just democratic society first requires that people care. We need to banish the idea that one person can't make a difference. It's true that most people can't do much, but what we can do is tell others. Next, we need to collectively realize that the importance of any material object is determined solely by how much we invest in it. A hundred-dollar bill is only worth that much because we all agree on it. In my vision for a just democracy we will have to rein in capitalism and realize that in our current system, unrestricted growth in a finite system, capitalism is essentially cancer. The NIMBY-ers are an excellent start towards realizing that the lofty dreams of individuals aren't are unattainable as we first thought.
2.After observing the outside world and comparing it to the televised one a number of stark physical differences are apparent, but just as interesting to me is my own number of psychological differences while in two contrasting mental environments. Looking at THE screen versus out A screen the first noticeable difference is the level of activity. On the screen I notice much more movement, while outside there is some calm. I was reminded of culture jam when watching commercials on the TV. They seem to jump around a lot and every time the screen shifted from show to advertisements the volume jumped about ten notches, I always turned it down almost immediately. The show I was watching was about animals so I was getting some natural stimulation, but what I noticed was the presence of the camera. The camera frames what you're viewing and separates you from it. In fact, as I thought about it, the people on TV, the programs, are like a sort of composite person. Especially after working from behind the lens it's interesting to note how the auteur can shape reality, the sights and sounds, when they appear and where and the speed of it all. It's like Alex Carey's education and propaganda argument. In a way, a large number of television programs are, by his definition, propaganda. Writers and producers set up certain characters to be relate-able and others to be despised based on how they want the viewer to feel and react. Now, I'm not saying all forms of film and television, video recordings, are bad. But what we should remember when watching them is that someone designed that programme to elicit specific responses at specific moments in specific ways, we can always hope though, that they're on our side.

HW 3-30

1. Right off in chapter 8 I was blown away by the attempts of the WEF to relabel sludge, biosolids. Secondly, was the revelation that the water-based sewage system is relatively new and it is inefficient and polluting. Most shocking is that there are available dry toilet technology which we completely ignore. My third observation was the discovery of how much human waste is used to fertilize our food, this could be ok if it was properly developed compost, but it isn't, it is sludge filled with heavy metals and toxicants. I laughed at the ICPABUMWSLRBP's attempts to change the portrait of sludge by challenging the "widely-held notion that sludge smells bad". What a load of crock. Finally, after reading about New York City's attempts to pawn off their sludge on, essentially everyone, I really hope that none of it made its way into Vermont illegally.
My question for chapter eight is, considering that using sludge for methane production is likely the most environmentally sound way of disposing of it, is the only obstacle to this goal price? Can we change cultural paradigms to recognize that money is not the ultimate universal truth?
2. In chapter 9 I was first blown away by efforts of the chemical agriculture industry to discredit Carson's Silent Spring. Monsanto even published a parody, The Desolate Year, to envision a world without pesticides. I was next surprised by the counter-protest groups sponsored by industry, my favorite being the Coalition for Vehicle Choice in response to the threats against cars. Thirdly, I both hate, and am intrigued by, E. Bruce Harrison. He actually makes an interesting argument when he points out that Earth Day has become divested and separated from its grassroots constituents in part due to its status as what Harrison calls a, "multi-million dollar environmental bureaucracy,". Fourthly, I'm torn by the state of environmental non-profits. I'm worried that the corporate donations are diluting the movement as each corporate sponsor takes some of the organization's public credibility in exchange for monetary support. It may be a necessary evil, but I'm scared that Harrison is right in saying that nonprofits really want to, "ensure the wherewithal that enable it to green." meaning its existence is more important than its message. Finally, the most shocking thing I saw was Ron Arnold's bold agenda for Wise Use, "We intend to wipe out every environmental group, by replacing it with a Wise Use group." After reading the article before this claim and hearing what Wise Use is, this statement scares me more than anything else.
My question for Chapter Nine is, Is there a place for corporate money in the environmental movement, or is the potential hypocrisy too great?
3. My group is myself, Casey and Colin and we are going to do a PSA about conserving water and electricity by striving to turn off electronic devices, and by turning those faucet knobs all the way. I'll be spearheading the editing thanks to two previous years of film majoring.

HW 3-30

Dear Kalle Lasn,

When I finished your book I had a lot of questions that I felt went unanswered. I wonder why I've never heard of the Situationist movement before, or the events that took place in French towns and cities in 1968.
But more important than my questions about the past, are my questions about the future. The book was written over ten years ago, yet I often struggle to see many improvements since then.
Principally, what I think you missed, but not due to any fault but timing, was the rapid commercialization of the internet. Social Networking sites I suspect would've been the bane of your existence in particular.
After asking and criticizing on the book alone for a while I decided to look up the Ad Busters website. I was pleasantly discovered that TV turnoff week has been re-titled as digital detox week and encourages people to give up all screens for a week.
I liked Culture Jam very much and beyond my questions I just hope that you keep up your high standard of work.

While watching the second half of The Corporation I was really struck by Michael Moore's explanation that the corporations didn't care about anything but profit so they'll put him up on the screen just so he can put them down. It's a chilling construction that would have such a hand in its own potential demise.
I'm always upset when I see the banal reaction those in the highest power have towards the violent protesters.
I'm surprised by the positive attitude the carpet CEO had and I realized that while the people do have some fault, the true flaw lies in the system not individuals.
The ending of the film isn't very satisfying in my opinion. It's a tad grim and shifting the scope from a person to a legal entity was a dramatic reveal. I see now that governments should somehow regulate these entities more effectively. The Corporation, not Cars or Agriculture and the biggest cause of global warming.

3-21 HW

1. The dismantling of Car Culture is a huge step forward, and one that will be hard to take. Our culture is built around the assumption that transportation is little to no problem for most people. However, I did see a glimmer of hope. On S. Union St in our own Burlington is a sign reminding drivers that there is a bike lane next to theirs, go bikes!
2. Once I read about the ISEW, the GDP in comparison seems so laughably flawed that it's hard to imagine why we use it. Then I think for two seconds and realized that the skewing of economic information towards the benefit of corporate entities is just as obvious as the GDP's failure.
3. The situationist movement seems so relevant considering today's problems that it is a real shock and chill to the bones that I've never even heard of it til now.
4. Lasn's rejection of the leftist label is one that I see as personally important. A book that references Buddhism so much is so obviously influenced by it. Buddhism being the middle way deplores either political extreme, conservative and liberal, the only sensible stance I think.
5. I really like that this book isn't just a call to arms, it's a how-to manual as well. A pretty refreshing change from what often seem to amount to mere empty gestures.

The Corporation-
After studying the way the world works for the short number of years I've been on it, I've only come to a few conclusions. One of the strongest is that nothing is the result of only one factor. I think the reason myself, and the rest of the country it feels like, were unaware of a corporation's power is a combination of the attempts of those entities to mask their powers from us, and our own willful forgetting that allows the corporations to do what they please. As Culture Jam describes, both a top-down and bottom-up approach is needed.

March 21, 2010 6:08 PM

HW 2-28

1
A.
I think the author sums himself up quite well, to quote Hodgkinson, "Facebook is some kind of extension of the American imperialist programme crossed with a massive information-gathering tool."
B.
What I agree with is Hodgkinson's conviction that Facebook is nothing more than an elaborate market research organism disguised as a method of social interaction.
Additionally, after reading this article I found myself so swayed that I deleted my facebook account, finally.
What I disagree with is his implication that Paypal is a step in the wrong direction. I think the dissemination of wealth virtually can improve many many people's lives, as long as money-hungry digital robber barons are regulated, which is of course the problem today.
2.
The article seemed to really reinforce the message of Consuming Kids. It's hard to develop a central point of reference swimming in a sea of media, something that's really dangerous for young children, but even adults today too.
3.
Five things that stuck out for me in Killing Us Softly 3
1-The line in the ad that said "the more you subtract the more you add" really shocked me, but then that was a theme for me.
2-I'd never been aware of the usage of, cut the weight, as a metaphor for, undercut women's power.
3-The correlation media has drawn between sexy and innocent seems like it's putting people in danger.
4-Advertising is America's biggest and greatest pornographer, who knew?
5-A real shocker moment for me, the US has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world?!

Twitter Users Guide

Here's a link to a guide to Twitter users

http://crazycrackerz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Twitter-Style.jpg

HW 2-21

1.
Firstly what I found interesting was the section on Subliminal messages. I've often wondered, simply, if it worked or not and how often it is used. Thanks to Ad Nauseam I know the simple answers, no it doesn't work, and it isn't actually used for that precise reason. I think the endurance of the myth has to do more with the money riding on its coattails, than any veracity.
Secondly, was Lysol's dubious past as an extremely painful and crude spermicide. Sure Lysol kills sperm, it kills everything and would burn your skin, I cringe.
Thirdly was the eye-opening brazenness of Johnnie Walker's advertising. They were clearly trying to craft an image for consumers to inhabit, oh and that image happens to drink scotch, just btw.
My question for section five is, considering how substances deemed medicine in the past are poison in the present (heroin for example) how can we be sure we aren't doing the same thing to ourselves today with new pills and drugs?
My question for section six is, finishing the book I wonder what the next step is. It is perhaps an open-ended question, but what can we do next, does a savvy consumer live a different life?
2.
a.
Johnson's thesis is; Twitter has created a platform of communication that advances ambient awareness in important ways, but ultimately more important is the innovative ways individuals adapt this new technology to new ways.
b.
In support of Johnson I applaud the use of Twitter to create shadow conversations that can work as a set of citations for a conversation, it's exciting. I also like the idea of using Twitter to engage in nation-wide dialogues about issues like education, the connecting and sharing of ideas is always good.
Against Johnson I have this; that nation-wide dialogue would unfortunately be limited to a small demographic who have the access to Twitter, and the know-how and motivation to use it. This limits the number of participants in this conversation. Additionally, I worry that any digital intimacy we might be receiving from our tweets is replacing physical intimacy, a far more important commodity.
c.
I don't personally use Twitter, but that was mainly because I couldn't find a use for it, the idea of the shadow conversation is intriguing though, and I can now see the place this technology is beginning to occupy.
3.
Five things I learned from the Merchants of Cool
1. The Mook is a fabricated calculated character. I was unware of his hollow nature and origins.
2. Limp Bizkit was also helped significantly on their rise to fame, I never listened to them, but I knew of them, I'd no idea they were so propped up.
3. The idea of a feedback loop is a frightening concept. The MTV Spring Break being an example of it, they make it exciting by showing it non-stop for the other 50 weeks of the year it isn't being filmed.
4. The idea of companies paying people to talk up their products online or gather information about them is unnerving, I won't give them any more ammo.
5. The Midriff just seems to reinforce awful appearance-oriented values that only seem to give rise to more and more consuming.

Environmental Art

Texas floats inside the jar, the same way garbage floats in our ocean. The garbage I'm alluding to specifically is located in the Pacific Ocean and is about the same size area as the Lone Star State. The sea-glass inside the jar is both topically appropriate and personally relevant as I cut my feet wide open on the very pieces of glass in the jar. My project is an homage to things that upset me.

HW 2-16

Ad Nauseam Parts 3 & 4
1.
The chapter about Channel One hits home for me simply because I saw that program every morning my sixth grade year. It may've been a long time ago but i remember it distinctly as the first tv I saw in a classroom. Looking at the reading it really worries me that not even the student teachers can differentiate betweene an ad and a public service announcement. The Persuaders frontline special talks about this kind of advertising as selling not just a product but an idea, a philosophy. Imprinting young kids with a brand philosophy is pretty scary too, considering how effective those ads are.
Secondly, in part 4, Coca-Cola's efforts to get more "stomach share" is pretty frigtening, again it's like in the persuaders, amoungst all the clutter companies need to use new methods to reach people. The phasing out of water is particularly upsetting considering how harmful that much soda can be in place of simple water.

Is Google Making Us Smarter
2.
Cascio's main thesis is, the constantly-changing nature of technology and the subtly accumulating nature of the changes will mean that over time our intelligence will increase in ways that seem frightening now but at the time they occur will seem inevitable and beneficial.
I really thought his comment about the travel agent industry was interesting. I hadn't thought about how you don't see or hear about them anymore. I really hope that the loss of pattern-matching jobs doesn't result in a loss of that ability in people at large.
I also like Cascio's description of PDA's as an example of augmented itelligence in our everyday lives, and his explanation of writing as an augemented intelligence expansion of our memory.
I disagree with Cascio's opinions about the widening gap of rich and poor extending to technology. I think the speed of it's development puts it in a different boat that just monetary distribution.
Secondly, although I think he has good points regarding A.I., I think Cascio is underestimating our ability to regulate and control such a rapidly developing technology. I hope that the prevasiveness of the "robot threat" will prevent a terminator-like event. But in the same way that A.I. is possible I think a singularity event could grow out of our control.

The Persuaders
3.
-Frontline highlighted the shift from "head" to "heart" advertising. It was a change that while I've been marginally present and aware of, I didn't notice.
-We've lost the tangible differences between different brands of products, it's about selling a lifestyle now. Like a Mac, "not just a computer, a lifestyle" I've heard.
-I'd never been aware of how obvious the advertising of Fed Ex is in Castaway, it's scary how well it's integrated, I never noticed.
-Even Bob Dylan is a sellout! I'd had no idea.
-Lastly, I've looked at old political ads and it's startling, it isn't about the politican's stands on the issues, or the facts. Narrowcasting is a dangerous technique, it's basically advertising segregation.

An Introspective Introduction: Redux

Edit: Bonus, here's Bill O'Reilly interviewing John Stewart


Hi, my name is James Wagenknecht. I was born in Massachusetts where I lived until I was 11. Then I returned to my ancestral home here in VT where I went to high school in Fairfax. My winter break highlights were secluded snowshoe trips in the woods deep behind my parents house. But on a frightening note I can only describe the sound a frozen lake makes as you walk alone across it several miles away from another person, as terrifying. In regards to the Media there are a huge number of things I do like about it, the volume of information available and the speed of access to it being my favorites. But I sincerely worry that the tide of technology is moving too swiftly. I worry that in a short number of years we won't have to interact face to face with anyone if we choose not to. My future lies in the realm of direct food production, a farm. But I move towards the rural world while deliberately keeping a foot in the urban one, knowing all too well that the two are creeping closer and closer.