minute paper 3-6-08

yesterday in class we watched some videos of ads, and the ridiculous promises that retail goods offer. We talked about propaganda, and how ads are full of propaganda. The GNN and these ad busters try to expose the bullshit promises and assumptions that advertisers use in their ads. If you can't tell what is true and fake by now, or what you need and what you want, and can't decifer if you really need something by this point in your life you are a complete idiot.

Minute Paper 3/06

gaah..sorry this is late guys had a busy night..

Any ways, todays class was definitely an interesting one.  Ashley, the substitute/guest speaker, showed us some very interesting films.  Everything shown has really opened up my eyes to a new way of viewing these ads that these big business keep broadcasting to us over the various forms of media.  I liked especially the idea of jamming these ads and trying to change the ideology behind the ad.  I definitely enjoyed the part where the guy bought Tommy Hilfiger underwear and suddenly became buff and was constantly getting laid.  Haha now that part was genius!  I look forward to doing the assignment given us today and also I'm looking forward to next week to see what everyone has came up with! Good luck with the assignment all!

Andrew's Minute Paper 3/7

While some of the classes we have had in this poli-sci course have been somewhat out of my area of expertise (with regards to current political issues and the like) with the exception of some of the earlier more creative assignments, the area of examining advertising is actually something I know a bit better. Throughout highschool I was involved in various media-related classes, a major section of which was examining how various adds try to sell us an idea or world view. It amuses me greatly to see that people are making a business of doing what we did as assignments in highschool or pointing out not which products are being sold, but which ideas. When it comes down to it, you aren't being sold a car, you are being sold the beautiful women, or the family, or the adventure it claims to bring. So everyone go out and buy your happiness.

(And sorry I am a little late posting, dozed off)

3/6/08

today in class, while watching the movie, i thought it was really boring and one sided because what was being shown in the movie was kind of not true. to me whole GNN thing and ad buster thing sounded like it was trying to make viewers believe what they had to say. I wanna hear what other side of story is u know. i hope i can.

Minute Paper 3/6

The GNN is an innovative way of getting out information to people in a way that they can understand for today's people. It was very interesting to watch and it was informative, way better than watching actual news. When the CNN news lady was interviewing  the ad-busters guy, the lady didn't give a shit, she just wanted to say that she wanted to go shopping pretty much; i did want to see the end of that interview though, would have liked to see her reaction.

Minute paper (3-06-08)

I think that today's class with Ashley was a very different experience
for me. Because the feeling from watching the videos of the GNN that I
have never heard of was very absurd. I mean, why all of a sudden people
tend to focus on this so many issue that had happen way before and now
conveying the messages in various form of scenario each with different
and unsatisfying feelings. So, I thought to myself that the only way
that I can take today's idea is to be objective about the message
behind this videos. There were two main idea that stressed most
important based on the videos are "culture jamming and ad-buster". The
ad-buster album with all the pictures are very creative and the
ideology bring not only the visual side of it and also the conceptual
meaning behind each picture. The word propaganda to me is a persuasive
message convey to influence and steal the audiences attention to really
see what's going on around them and be able to make a good decision out
of something. Each day in class is as exciting and new ideas are
brought to my understanding.

We are not sheep, so we should demand not to be treated as such...

I’m really sorry to say this but today’s class was completely pointless and more than a bit annoying. Sure it appeared shocking and the videos looked and sounded nice but ultimately why the hell should I accept any of it as truth? There was little documented evidence given, the people who where speaking gave us no reason to accept them as credible sources, the films themselves where so one sided that Fox news looks fair and nonpartisan in comparison, and finally though it may be true that our regular news is watered down and caters to us, it is at least under the scrutiny of a huge audience unlike today’s movies which will be consumed by a miniscule number of people, limiting (if not eliminating) any repercussions from the general publicagainst its creator and allowing this film maker to potentially say whatever he/she wants simply for effect. Sorry for the rant and I know what I’ve just said may piss a few of you off, but as intelligent adults we need to recognize when we are receiving intentionally tilted and leading bull shit. When someone makes a movie, documentary, news report, or book, whether anarchist/conformist republican/democrat, that is as blatantly intended to shepherd us into a certain way of thinking then we should call them out because they are intentionally insulting our intelligence.

Mark Alexander

minutemen march608

today's class was ok. I didnt really enjoy it that much. I dont like being showed information that seems to only portray one side of the story about things. I prefer to be given factual, provable information from both sides of the story and then decide for myself who I want to side with. I didnt like today's class; the arguments were cliche and I wish we could all step outside of things a little more and evaluate ours opinions from there.

minute paper 3/6

In todays class we watched videos that were made by the ad busters.
These videos were made for mainstream america and were actually pretty
interesting. The video that i found interesting was the one about the
black market in Iraq.

minute paper [6 mar]

it was cool watching those videos and clips today. listening to a lecture is one thing, but actually having entertaining, stimulating visuals is another. i guess it the cool music played a part in it too. i thought that a few clips were really interesting..for example, the CIA/drug clip. i hadn't heard of that prior to today's class and that's really sad because i SHOULD have heard about it. i'm sure it was briefly covered in the news for about a second, but why wasn't there more coverage? the media has so much power and it's a shame that they are so selective on what they cover/air. virginia pointed out a good point today in class--that we need to look objectively at things and not believe the hype, be it from "reliable" news sources such as CNN, OR more underground sources like guerrillanews dot com. both have a certain agenda and may not be showing both sides of the story.

Minute Paper 3/6/08

I think it is really disturbing to think that the American people are not shown the truth about many things. Every citizen of this country has the right to be given the right facts on a bias point of view. The fact that the media only broadcasts what they want you to see, shows disturbing similarities as a dictatorship. The video clip on the CIA and the corruption within that system definitely is an example of what is not shown to the people across the country. In watching these videos in class today, I actually felt as if I have been really affected by the media as well. It is actually scary to see how much of a big impact a single commercial about a product has on its consumer.

Is my mind shaped by the media? Pehaps, my guess is that majoirty of it probully is besdies the ideas that I get from the messages but are those ideas from another souce of media that has shaped me? Its to chaotic to acutally pin point the source of our thoughts but I personally believe we are all little creations of the media, it has effected our parents..our grandparents now us and we will pass it on to our future genesterations, even most teachers get thier information from someone else who's to say that person probully did in thier perspective. Oh well thought im happy and only want to focus on posotivity.

way to be party poopers...

in response not even to this class but just the previous posts... how can you say that we cannot change our lives. perhaps you do not choose to value how sustainability, social responsibility, and the environment all correspond. however, there are a lot of people who do. organizations exist in cities all over this country and more so in other countries with heads who care about issues like the ones brought up today. i just want everyone to think for just a second. change for humans, as mentioned in earlier classes, is happening faster and faster. things in ten years are going to be different whether we want them to or not.  i think its downright hopeless, pathetic, and uninformed of people to think that  individuals can't have an impact. i believe its because of the mentality like this that our country is nearly doomed. now that we know whats happening, choosing to ignore direct effects that we might not be able to see everyday is widening the gap between rich and poor, and producer and consumer. we can't keep fucking over our neighbors and ourselves because, "we know, but we just don't care." don't think that everyone is like this. don't think that because you are happy with your head buried in the label stamped ground that you have no effect. take a step back and try and understand that its attitudes like that that make the world unlivable for everyone else. People cannot change the way they live? conscious decisions happen all the time to change lifestyles. i don't feel like giving up just yet for my children and grandchildren. 

Minute Paper 3/6

Today's class included a lot of visuals, which was nice. I learn well with visuals such as videos. The media controls people without some of them knowing and the ones who do know, do no do anything about it. People who do know about the problems in the world such as the end of the world from consumption do nothing about it because it does not pose an immediate threat to them. People are very busy with their everyday lives and do not have time to worry about what the world is going to be like in the future. It is sad to say, but people can't change the way they live, so the future does not look good.

Re: 1 Minute paper 3/6/08

Today in class we discussed the advertisment industry, and the sub is obviously against commercialism. Unfortunately that is the world we live in today, everthing has been transformed into commercialized product now a days. I know back along time ago like before industrialization when people actually hunted for food and someone was hungry , they would go out and try and capture and kill an animal. For the sake of trying to survive, but now when someone is hungry you go to the local food maket or wherever and buy what it is you want to eat. I myself like McDonalds, Arby's, Dippin Dots etc.. if it taste good i eat it. People who rag on these corporations are losers you dont like it dont eat it. This is the country of the American Dream and these coporations are a result of that free market enterprize THERE IS NO STOPPING IT. It is also the same with Consumer goods i dont want to where old shitty ass clothes i want the newest style stuff there is i wanna look presentable i dont give a fuck what any one else thinks about me. I like nice things so any shot on marketing traditions is just a shot at the person or persons who support that product. Speaking about trends or what not this is our generation just as the ones that came before it they all had different style or fads or what not etc... And the last clip she showed us was about Iraq that gets me very angry at our government and the people who voted to put that red neck hick in office i knew he was trouble since the begining when that tax cut bill was introduced. those godamn bureacrates wasting billions upon trillions of our tax dollars on absolutely nothing so it is our responsibility to stop these old fat cats from ruining the future for all of us get back at me. www.myspace.com/thelastmarxz

Minute paper for 3/5, lecture by Ashley.

Today, in our lecture conducted by Ashley, we focused on two themes, culture jamming and ad-busting.  So we basically watched a whole bunch of short videos from the Guerrilla News Network and Ad-Busters.  I got pretty irritated with the anchor from CNN, who seemed completely unopen to the idea that, possibly, actually not buying anything for one day would help our economy, because she's been so manipulated to think that materialism is just a way of life that needs to be accepted, and maybe even that we'll always be able to continue living the way we live without causing any consequences for future generations.  Also, that drawn guy from the ad-busters video was so true to like how consumers must feel. Actually, I'm in such a perfect situation to absorb all this information right now because I'm taking both economy and english taught from a "queer" perspective..and in english last week we actually studied the repercussions of this one Axe commercial that showed hundreds of big-breasted, anorexic women running towards this one guy who seemed to be standing in a crucifix pose, while spraying himself with Axe, as though sacrificing himself to all those women.  But yeah, very interesting videos. Thanks Ashley!

03.06.08

i found today's class enlightening and informative. ashley striked me
as very intelligent and insightful and she was also very articulate and
good at vocalizing her thoughts which i thought made her lesson very
interesting. i have a hungry appetitie for learning about the reality
and truth of our government rather than the censored, mainstream
bullshit that we are usually fed through the media. although the truth
is hideous and appalling, i think it is very important that we as
citizens know what is going on behind the closed doors of the powerful
elite. whilst i think the regular nightly news can be factual and
informaive, there are definitely a lot of extremely relevant, crucial,
and serious stories that are not covered and made accesible for general
public knowledge. adam had mentioned the fact that there is a huge
disconnect between consumption and the consequences of consumption, and
that most consumers are completly oblivious to the negative effects
that their actions produce. if people were held accountable for the
wrongdoings that their actions perpetuate, or even made aware of the
dire circumstances, then i think the world would be a completely
different place. i think we are very good at creating problems and then
pushing them aside and dealing with them only when it is completely
necessary. the toxic and hazardous e-waste that we ship to other
countries still causes the same damage to our enviornment; it still
releases poisonous gases into our atmosphere and devastates the land,
yet we do not find other solutions. i guess the logic there is "out of
sight, out of mind."

3/6 one minute paper

In todays class we had a sub named Ashley. We saw about 4 videos and they were videos done by an organization called the ad busters. They were all pretty funny and were made for mainstream america with the music and the beats that were played throughout the video. We watched a video on Iraq, about black market and how some organizations are trying to stop that day because of the harm that it does. Therefore todays class was very interesting and the vidoes really helped me to understand some of the topics that we discussed today.

minutepaper

Jim Dator is amazing. Well I thought. He did a brief explanation on our
government. How is it that we can tell other nations to form a
democracy when we ourselves do not have one. How can we set an example
for other and try to make others follow us when we can not even do it
ourselves. Our system is outdated. We cannot even choose our president,
it is the electoral college. As we all saw in the 2000 election when Al
Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the presidency. We need to
update our system, soon.

sorry i didtn realize it didnot send yesterday.

03.04.08

i really enjoyed todays class.. i was wondering if we would ever have
Jim Dator as a guest speaker, and im so glad that we did. i've learned
about the government before, but my previous lessons on the subject
weren't nearly as interesting or opinionated as this one; professor
dator had my attention the whole time. one point he made that really
stood out to me is the fact that other political systems had the chance
to evolve with time, or as he put it "grow up," where as our government
was created from scratch, out of thin air.. i agree that given the
circumstances the founding fathers did a pretty remarkable job
inventing our political system, however, times have changed, and what
was once appropriate and satisfactory is now completely and undoubtedly
obsolete. he mentioned that even business and the market have
modernized their systems, and its just quite sad and pathetic that our
government hasn't done the same. whilst i believe it's obvious that an
upadted system is definitely in order, it seems so impossible to
achieve. there is no why that the politicians and government officials
will willingly give up their 'power' and comfortable lifestlyes by
supporting or adhering to a change in the system. unless something
happens and the citizens of the US decide to overthrow the government,
it seems that achieving change is going to be a painstakingly slow
process. although i guess thats better than nothing. we're going to
have to take it step by step, little by little, until a more just and
democratic society can be attained. i hope it happens. in my lifetime.

03/04/08

Professor Dator was super fun. He definitely taught us the basic knowledge of political science in a very interesting way. He knows how to talk because I was interested in what he was talking about the whole time. His knowledge of politics in west and east and comparing them to see the difference of the 2 worlds and USA's revolutionary form of goverment and everything was just so interesting. He was definitely one of the most interesting professor I have ever met in my life. I wish i could take his class later if i get the chance.

Minute Paper 3/4

Today we got to meet Mr. Jim Dator, the man all of us have known as the writer of a large portions of our readings. This is more than a bit ironic due to the fact he started his lecture by calling out the over emphasis on reading/writing in college. This irony aside, Professor Dator was an engaging and entertaining speaker who made some intriguing points on how our countries form of government, though an incredible feat when it was created (albeit fraught with racism and sexism), was never meant to be a democracy and has, at least in some parts, become obsolete.

Finally, let me just say that whatever unfortunate event or emergency may have occurred, I’m sure that I speak for all of us when I say that our best wishes are with you Stuart.

Mark Alexander

minute paper 3/4

In todays class we had Jim Dator for a sub. It was a little different
today because we didnt talk about the future like most of the time.
Today Jim talked about the U.S. Government. He told us about power in
the government and how it can be good and bad. I like learing about the
possible futures but it was a good change to learn about what our
government is like today.

Minute paper on Jim Dator day!

Today we experienced a very enlightening lecture from Jim Dator.  He basically summed up most of what I was expecting and hoping to learn in political science.  His disinterest in  intensive writing courses was just a bonus!  Dator's point that we are the only country to teach our native language at the university level and his thought that our country is never satisfied with our ability to write and understand the english language was something I had never thought about.  Like in english they'll critique your writing and point out your grammatical flaws, all done to make us feel inadequate?  Thought never crossed my mind, but I suppose I just allowed myself to be born into this supposed democratic society and only now am realizing the oppression society or maybe the government places on us as its citizens, even sometimes people that aren't our people.  

The point that shocked me most, though I believe I've heard the quote before, was the quote he stated by the founding fathers about how if men were angels government wouldn't be necessary, but because humans aren't angels, government is justified.  It's interesting because they knew all the way from the beginning that none of us were perfect, that we all sinned, but our governments full of some of the top sinners in the country.  Another interesting claim was that there had been talk of Washington being named king and the fact that he had no children, we could've added a few more wars to our tally with that scheme.  Learning the history of the electoral college was nice, how it was created to decide who was most popular out of all 13 colonies because within each colony they had their own favorites.  And the idea that they started meeting in january because back then all it's representatives were farmers, who were preoccupied the rest of the year.  Lastly, the reminder of the 3/5 rule was pretty depressing and the reminder that back when the electoral college used to pick the vice-president too, that arose in a silly duel, which caused the law to be altered that the president gets to choose his own vice-president.

Also, the whole quote about how "we shape our tools, then our tools shape us," made me think about some I, Robot or Smart House happenings.  

Class was great!!!  Not to say that Mr.Candy isn't dearly missed....

Andrew's Minute Paper 3/4

One thing I must say that I very much agree with that was mentioned in class was what I consider a better definition of good language: the ability to get your point across. I find this particularly interesting because what is considered "good" writing and what gets the point across best can be entirely different things. One thing I have discovered in my various writing assignments throughout my schooling is that the more interesting approach is almost always the "wrong" approach in writing.
But, as was said in class, teaching of writing is not the focus of the class. It was really amazing to look at how such things in the government and in our normal lives that we might take for granted have a basis unrelated to the modern day. For example, while the electoral system might have made sense once, a case could be made that with the communication and travel options now available, it would possible for people to completely control the system. Another example that stood out was the concept of summer vacation, something likely so normal for most of us that we don't even think about it, even though it is a relic from an agrarian past most of us no longer live.

Minute paper (03-04-08)

Today's class was different and interesting. Who should be our guest
lecturer other than the one who we read about his futures article all
the times? It was exciting to have Professor Dator in class. Professor
Jim Dator lectures for the class and his first question draws my
attention. What was our expectation for this class? At first, I thought
that we will be talking about political issues and when I took the
class we talked about future studies. I think that it was refreshing
that we learned a specific idea than talking about the meaning behind
the course name. We also talked about political oppression, the
structure of the American government and the three forms of nation
state. All this basic politics foundation goes back to history and it
was a really good reminder that opens up new idea and goes to look at
how different government functions. These ideas explaining the division
of power and separation of power in different government levels shows
that American is not really a democratic government as it says it is.
Why? Because from the three forms of nation state the unitary; governed
by parliament and is powered by the central government, the federal
powered by the central government and states, and the co federal equals
up to treaty. In my own opinion, I don't think that any government is
as successful as the other but what one governments has the another
government lacks.
ruta...

one minute paper 3/4

Today stuart was not here and we a really cool sub. He was very smart and the discussion that we had was mainly on the United States government good and bad. His name is Jim Dator and he said that if we put his name that we would get bonus points. We also had a long discussion on power and how power really controls how we act as human beings. Everyone searches to gain power the more powerful you are the higher you are ranked in our society. Todays class was a very interesting and fun discussion about the US gov't.

minute paper 3-4-08

Hahaha... where do i start...I have to admit...my favorite part of today's class was that our founding fathers were "belligerent white men trying to control the Indians, Blacks, and women." It was great to have Jim Dator as our guest lecturer. I wasn't really expecting that one, but class turned out to be interesting and full of food for thought. I enjoyed the breakdown of our government and some of the other things we touched upon. The whole concept that our government is far from democracy was very enlightening and made sense. I've never really sat down and thought about it like that. I also agree with his point that we are still trying to run this country under a constitution that is obsolete and completely out dated. Jim Dator was great and I would love to have another class with him.

minute paper [4 mar]

great guest professor! i really enjoyed his lecture. it was much different than other discussions and lectures we have had so far. i liked that Jim Dator talked about the american political system. when i signed up for this intro class, i was expecting to learn more about our political system; don't get me wrong, i really like learning more about futureS! but knowing more about our current government and how it came about is helpful and useful knowledge as well. it's good to learn/know about the past and present so that we can better look into or imagine what we want the future to be like.

one minute paper 3/4

Today stuart was not here and we a really cool sub. He was very smart and the discussion that we had was mainly on the United States government good and bad. His name is Jim Dator and he said that if we put his name that we would get bonus points. We also had a long discussion on power and how power really controls how we act as human beings. Everyone searches to gain power the more powerful you are the higher you are ranked in our society. Todays class was a very interesting and fun discussion about the US gov't.

Class today!

Jim Dator...brilliant man. (Need we say more?..) Discussing the government and power today was intriguing. Its good to finally put a face to the name on those articles we have read in class. Also, his way of lecture of interesting he had a good humor and bold points that make it easy to remember what exactly needed to be remembered. Despite all this, my absolute favorite part of this class was the small remarks and discussion on Clinton, Obama and even McCain. Its important that we discuss the canidants polices and contributions to the new election. I hope the next prof. can live up to the high standards Mr. Dator has set from this class. See you all next class!

minute paper

Jim Dator is amazing. Well I thought. He did a brief explanation on our
government. How is it that we can tell other nations to form a
democracy when we ourselves do not have one. How can we set an example
for other and try to make others follow us when we can not even do it
ourselves. Our system is outdated. We cannot even choose our president,
it is the electoral college. As we all saw in the 2000 election when Al
Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the presidency. We need to
update our system, soon.

minute paper 3/4/08

Today in class we finally got to meet the man who wrote many of the texts that we have been reading, Jim Dator. We discussed our system of government, the founding fathers, george washington, and how the idea of a president had never been established before. Jim Dator was quite the character, and i appreciated his realism and direct way of teaching. I completely agree with his belief that reading and writing is strictly for communicating, and as long as you got your point across the writing was effective. He also stated that we are the only country in the world who has universities that teach their own language. He stated that this is because that the educated elites use language unfamiliar to ourselves to try to bullshit us, because afterall we're freakin' idiots. Sorry to say it, but to study english is to study bullshit, we should always pay close attention to the message, not the manner in which it is delivered.

mintue paper

Jim Dator is amazing. Well I thought. He did a brief explanation on our
government. How is it that we can tell other nations to form a
democracy when we ourselves do not have one. How can we set an example
for other and try to make others follow us when we can not even do it
ourselves. Our system is outdated. We cannot even choose our president,
it is the electoral college. As we all saw in the 2000 election when Al
Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the presidency. We need to
update our system, soon.

Minute Paper 3/4

I really enjoyed today's class because Prof. Dator was really funny and informative. It is not that I do not enjoy Stuart's class discussions, but Prof. Dator did a good job getting the point across. Politics is a really boring subject, but I could actually sit there and comprehend what he was saying. I agree that our government is old fashioned, but I do not think we can change it now. I guess that is not a good "futures" attitude.

one minute paper 3/4

Today stuart was not here and we a really cool sub. He was very smart and the discussion that we had was mainly on the United States government good and bad. His name is Jim Dator and he said that if we put his name that we would get bonus points. We also had a long discussion on power and how power really controls how we act as human beings. Everyone searches to gain power the more powerful you are the higher you are ranked in our society. Todays class was a very interesting and fun discussion about the US gov't.

Minute Paper 3/4

Today's class was quite a treat. Jim Dator came in and gave us all quite a show. He gave us the basic overview of how our government works. The thing that made things really interesting was when he brought up Thomas Hobbs, who imagined a world in a primitive time. Thomas Hobbs had stated that Life in the state of nature is solitary, prude, nasty, and short. Hobbs also said that humans are evil and God-damned sinners. Which is true in a sense because we as humans all have primal instincts and may sometimes resort back to these primal instincts. It is from this that our Founding Fathers was able to create a constitution in which to run our nation. Government was created to control these evil and out of control humans. However, Dator brought up the point as to how can evil humans control evil humans? It was then that the system of Checks and Balances was developed in order to regulate the different groups so that no one group would have absolute power. It's interesting how although we have this system instated, it shows little importance because of the power of persuasion amongst the politicians so that they can each have things done their way.