Final Blog!

Writing this final blog entry, I can scarcely believe how much time has gone by.  Reflecting back on the course my favorite topics were learning about the news media and how it sucks.  I especially liked the plethora of daily show and Colbert report clips shown.  Learning how much our modern 24-hour cycle of new entertainment sucks was simultaneously engaging and depressing.  I didn’t really enjoy talking endless about murder for several weeks.  Even if it was comforting to learn that the odds of me being slain by a brilliant serial killer are extremely slim, it just wasn’t as interesting to me.  I would like to see the beginning topic of social constructionism expanded.  It seemed to be the core theory that was underlying most of the course, but was only presented for one week.  If I were to teach a class on media and justice I would be way harsher.  After discussing the articles in class I would have the students write a paper on the topic instead of doing a blog entry (which just boils down to a simple participation grade).  Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve hated to write papers every single week, but it would have forced me to put more thought into each of the topics and expand on the discussions started in class.  My “ideal” course content would contain a lot of the topics covered already in addition to other topics more taboo, such as religion.  Overall, I’m glad I took this course and would recommend it to other justice majors as a good way to apply justice theories to culture in a real-world context.

Equilibirum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlqpfV9marA

I choose to focus on the film Equilibrium with Christian Bale.  For those of you who haven’t seen this film, it tells the story of a dystopic future in which emotion is banned, and clerics such as Bale kill those with emotion and destroy anything that might provoke emotion such as artwork, music, pets, literature etc.  The storyline is essentially very similar to 1984 with a lot more violence.

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            The film presents several interesting concepts of justice, such as the role of government.  The government presides over every bit of a person’s life and carefully forces them all to conform.  The message here is that without freedom and emotion, we are not truly human. The dangers of technology are another justice issue presented.  In order to keep the population from rebelling, every person takes an anti-emotion drug everyday, and are under constant surveillance.  In order to indoctrinate people into this culture, government run education and media feed the populace a steady stream of propaganda.  Regarding the hero of the film, Christian Bale is an unlikely vigilante because he originally works as the system’s top law enforcer.  The fact that he goes from working for the bad guys to destroying them shows that you can atone for past sins. Violence in the film is justified as a necessary means of overcoming complete oppression by a shadowy totalitarian regime.  While fighting the government Bale kills many people for doing the same job he used to do, without giving them a chance at redemption, a point the movie glosses over.  One final point is that of race; the one major African American actor in this film is an evil killer with no character depth.  The movie posters show them both, seemingly as a symbol of the title, “Equilibrium” with one side representing goodness and white, the other badness and black.

Hypnotize!

Hypnotize- System of a Down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoheCz4t2xc

Why don't you ask the kids at Tiananmen Square

Was fashion the reason why they were there?

They disguise it, hypnotize it

Television made you buy it

I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my...

She's scared that I will take her away from there her

dreams and her country left with no one there

Mesmerize the simple minded

Propaganda leaves us blinded

I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl

I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl

I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl

I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my...girl

i'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my..............girl

I thought this song was particularly relevant to the class because the justice issue raised is how the media distorts our views of certain events to keep us complacent.  The song focuses on the student protests that occurred in China at Tiananmen Square in 1989.  In China especially, the event has been heavily censored and is rarely discussed anymore.  Even in the US there was not a widespread outcry against the Chinese government, which System of a Down blames on our addiction to television.  The song can be interpreted as a general warning against putting all of our trust into mass media and being led to believe whatever propaganda they give us.  The chorus is far more vague, but could be representative of an average guy who is now content just to wait around, be complacent and not take action against injustice.

Suicide and Society

Katie Baird did a good job making a somber and depressing subject both relevant and informative.  While suicide is something that we don’t often talk about, it is something that has affected the lives of almost every person.  I was shocked to hear that 80% of people think of suicide at some point.  Katie’s presentation was very useful in identifying warning signs and explaining what to do if you think a friend or family member might be suicidal.  However Katie’s presentation is geared towards treating the symptoms of a problem, that unhappy people are turning to suicide.  Shouldn’t the question be, why is one of the most powerful societies in the world experiencing one of the highest rates of suicide?  Island nations of indigenous people have an almost nonexistent rate of suicide.  I won’t even pretend that I have a well thought out solution to that problem.  What I really want to discuss and have you good readers of my blog comment on is elderly and terminally ill suicide or assisted suicide ethics.  While all people (I hope) agree that the a young person taking their life is a tragedy, can the same be said of the rational decision of an elderly person to end their life before it is dragged out on life support?  I can honestly say that if my grandparents said they wanted to die together at a pre-determined time surrounded by family and loved ones I would fully support their decision.  If death is an unavoidable end is it really wrong to be able to choose when it happens?  Or is there something inherently immoral about suicide regardless or age or situation?

Here are some relevant websites and articles showing both sides:

http://www.assistedsuicide.org/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323760/Suicide-law-UK-lead-1000-deaths-year.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Poisoned Candy

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/10/29/poisoned-halloween-candy-trick-treat-myth/

Poisoned?  No.  Dentally Damaging?  Yes.

I remember every Halloween as a young kid there were a series of ground rules that had to be followed.  Only trick or treat doors in lighted areas.  Stay with an approved adult.  Watch out for overly suspicious activity.  Most importantly, no candy until trick or treating was over and we were back in the house.  For some reason my parents along with many others believed that there were people out there who sabotaged candy in an attempt to hurt kids.  This is an urban legend that according to the above link, doesn’t happen.  People like to think that the things they fear are rational and threatening.  In a day and age when ghosts and ghouls have been largely dismissed (ghost hunters excepted) it seems people have found a new irrational fear to stress over.  This fear fits well into the standard American paradigm of Stranger Danger.  Even one of the few days of the year when we throw caution to the wind and interact with people wearing masks, we still make sure to keep in our own groups and follow protective guidelines.  I'm terrified that in the future costumes will begin incorporating those ridiculous parent leashes in order to make sure kids don't wander ahead.  Here’s what I want to know, did your parents check your candy?  How comfortable are you approaching strangers?  Do you think its necessary for parents to micromanage their kids on halloween?

Buried Brainless

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/27/shipley.stolen.brain/index.html?hpt=C1

For my free blog I’d like to bring up an issue I literally just found out about.  Medical examiners have the authority to keep parts of your body after you die, and not tell anyone, sort of.  In the above story a family finds out from students visiting a morgue that their recently deceased and buried son’s brain is in the lab.  I always thought an autopsy was a pretty simple affair (judging from CSI episodes) wherein the cause of death was usually discovered in roughly 2-3 minutes.  Apparently some organs need to be kept for a couple of weeks in order to analyze them properly.  While it does seem pretty unethical to keep body parts without informing the family that they’re missing, there are some reasons for doing so.  First of all, many families are already distraught at having lost a loved one and may object to having the necessary tests performed if given the chance.  More seriously, if anyone in the family was connected to that persons’ death/murder, they may deny medical examiners the opportunity to unearth their crime.  For this reason many medical examiners are given almost a free rein and little oversight in what they choose to keep and for how long.  Personally, I don’t really care too much what happens to my organs after I die.  Whether they end up donated, in a lab, or in the ground, it won’t make any difference to me.  Maybe a better system would be to give medical examiners the right to overrule families in terms of what they keep and for how long, provided they keep accurate records, treat the parts with due respect, and above all, inform the family beforehand.  Did anyone else know about this postmortem practice?  What do you think is a fair and ethical way to tackle this practice?

Copycat Killers

Insert your face here.

Watching Bill Curtis delve into the dark side of media influence was extremely fascinating.  The examples given were both unsettling and hard to relate to.  I’ve seen natural born killers, but I never felt the urge to get a psycho girlfriend and go on a rampage.  While there seems to be a general consensus that movies don’t directly cause people to go out and commit violent acts they can definitely inspire crazy people or give them an idea of what to do.  Perhaps more importantly we should examine what sort of culture glorifies violence on-screen.  Movies such as Natural Born Killers, that provided the violent spark that ignited real-life killers, portray killing as consequence-free and glamorous.  No one single movie can or should be singled out to blame for copycat violence, but the system as a whole needs to be examined, as this problem is clearly widespread.  Perhaps if the media has such a strong influence on people we should strive to create films that show the greatness of human potential, instead of its capacity for depravity.  Here are my questions, are criminals inspired by to copycat because they lack originality, believe it will give them a lighter sentence, or some other reason?  Has anyone heard of a Saw copycat killer because of all the ways to die, the ones constructed in those films probably give me the biggest heebie-jeebies, though I’m not sure any single disturbed individual is clever enough to pull something like that off?  

Copycat fighting

I'm super excited to learn this move

I love martial arts films.  Ever since I was a child I have been captivated by just how awesome the martial arts are.  Finally, when I was in high school, after seeing Jet Li’s Fearless, I decided that it was time for me to embark upon my martial arts career.  In many of these films a young protagonist finds a wise old master who trains him in a particular fighting methodology.  Similarly, I set out to find my wise old master.  After a quick google search I found a dojo in my area and enrolled as a student with a couple of my friends. I loved it.  When I came to college I joined the jmu tkd group so I could keep training.  I only wish that I had copycatted the media in this case at a younger age.  While it was disappointing to learn that learning this ancient art wouldn’t allow me to fly or take on hundreds of opponents simultaneously, its been a lot of fun.  I think that media depictions of martial arts have inspired many kids like me to at least try training in a martial art.  Especially with the popularity of UFC (which is both a result of the popularity of martial arts, and now a factor in driving it) martial arts have experienced a resurgence in popular culture.  Has anyone else tried a martial arts move they saw on tv, or likewise tried to learn martial arts because of the media? 

Terrorist Threat!

Yes, there were more cops at homecoming, let’s move on.  Recently the United States announced a travel warning for all of Europe over concerns about a possible terrorist attack.  According to this story, http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/17/france.terror.threat/index.html?hpt=T2 France and the UK are particularly worried about attacks.  My question is, do active terrorist warnings really help people prepare for terror attacks, or deter “risky” behavior such as traveling to that country?  Currently France’s terrorist threat level is at “reinforced red” just below “scarlette red” which sounds slightly intimidating, like a terror attack is probably almost certainly imminent.  This is silly.  My odds of dying in a car crash are probably far greater, but that doesn’t stop me from getting in a car on an almost daily basis, nor should a government issued warning stop you from traveling around.  If terrorists are able to stop us from traveling, and cause us to be scared of being in Western Europe, then they’ve accomplished far more than they should.  Not to dimish the reality of terrorist networks, but the various warnings governments propagate feel similar to media propagated terror of sharks in the Summer.  They’re there, there’s terrible stories about them, but its highly doubtful they’re going to get you.  Am I wrong?

This man alone caused a thousand people,
ten thousand miles away to change their travel plans.

Here is a list of countries that the state department has issued travel warnings for:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html

Pretty much Africa, the Middle East and Mexico

Mis-Information

In America, we often view the world with an individualistic eye.  We are all the master and commander of our own fate.  We are self-made men who believe what we will, and bow before no man.  Perhaps this leads to us trusting our own experiences over what research tells us (“I’ve never been in an accident, and I speed all the time!”).  Yet this self-centered paradigm often ignores common, but important systemic influences.  Even in our society it is easier to think what others think than to go against the crowd.  When given a wealth of media choices, we tend to tune into the one that reflects our own beliefs, or if we do hear information we don’t agree with, we tune it out.

            When I was a child everyone believed in Santa Claus.  I did not.  I don’t know why I was the odd one out, but I just didn’t buy into a fat red man sneaking into my house.  However, in Kindergarten there were many kids who were hardcore believers.  To me, it seemed like every single kid in my class believed in Santa Claus.  There was no way they could all be wrong, and they had all seen him!  Slowly but surely I bought into the myth as well.  When I asked my teacher about this deep existential issue, I ignored her hesitant face and stammering speech, and just heard that yes, Santa did exist.  Thus the bandwagon effect and confirmation bias contributed to me believing in Santa Claus.

            The road to a dictatorship is paved with good intentions.  A Department of Information that is objective is as about as fictional as FOX news being fair and balanced.  Yes, there is a problem with the dissemination of information in this country, but a government run agency is not the answer.  If we really want to change how American media presents news, we need to hit them where it hurts, their profits.  If Americans went on a media strike, only watching foreign news channels and not biased American ones, the programs and information being presented would change.  A department of information would lead to partisan bickering at best and government sponsored manipulation at worst.

Free Blog 2

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/10/new.york.paladino.gays/index.html?hpt=T1

Today, I wanted to comment on the power of the media not to collude with the government, but to bring down politicians.  In the above article New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino attacked homosexuals.  His speech was made only to a small gathering, but thanks to the ever present media his remarks can be read and commented on by a huge number of people.  While people may see the media as a tool of big government, it is also a perpetual watchdog.  Anytime a conservative misspeaks or makes a bigoted comment, CNN or MSNBC is there to let everyone know it happened.  Likewise, FOX news helps to balance the equation by sharply observing liberals.  Sarah Palin’s run for vice-president was seriously hurt because she said dumb things that were widely propagated by the media.  Outside of mass media, sites like youtube allow anyone to similarly distribute politicians and powerful people saying foolish or unwise things.  Which one do you think is more effective at challenging the powerful, the mainstream news outlets, or individuals with the power of the internet?  Should politicians always be observed to figure out their true beliefs (homophobic in this case) or is that an invasion of privacy?

Here’s a video on youtube of George Bush

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqLvBUSJucg

University of Texas Shooter

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/29/texas.university.shooting/index.html?npt=NP1

http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/colton-tooley-what-we-know-about-the-suspected-ut-shooter/19652387

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/ut-shooter-colton-tooley-_n_743147.html

Colton Tooley

I chose to cover the University of Texas shooter, Colton Tooley.  The facts of the case are as follows: around 8:10, 19-year-old Colton Tooley began shooting an AK-47 around campus before moving into the library and committing suicide.  Tooley was a sophomore math major who had graduated 7^th in his high-school class.  The case is being presented in a very episodic format without any clear connection to underlying problems or widespread trends.  The CNN article notes that the area suffered another lone gunman 14 years prior but didn’t make any connections between the two.  Honestly, I expected there to be at least a paragraph talking about gun control, or limiting weapons on college campuses, but there weren’t any.  I don’t think this story is widespread or popular enough to enter into the category of crime entertainment.  I personally don’t enjoy reading or hearing about student gunmen (or gunwomen) on campuses.  I like to believe that college students don’t do things like that and stories like this challenge that worldview.  If this story was more sensational and traumatic (if he actually killed someone) then perhaps there would have been more of a follow-up that tends to lead toward crime entertainment and CJ policy suggestions (symbolic crime).

Obama slams Fox

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/28/obama-fox-news-is-destructive-to-america/?iref=obnetwork

U.S. soldier faces murder charges from Afghan War

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39375104

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/27/afghanistan.coverup.case/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/04/army-says-soldier-charged-murder-afghan-civilian-deaths/

I looked at the story of a US soldier, Jeremy Morlock, who is being charged with killing three Afghan civilians and attempting to cover up their murders.  I first found the story on MSNBC, then found it on CNN, and on Fox.  MSNBC gave the reader the most information about the gruesome details of the crime, Fox informed its viewers most about what punishment Morlock would likely face, while CNN touched on both topics. The biggest difference in the stories is that MSNBC and CNN both put out updates of the story because Morlock’s military tribunal is this Monday.  To find the story on Fox I had to use an article they wrote in June.  Fox’s article definitely omitted the certain details of Morlock’s crimes, for example, that there were pictures and body parts taken as souvenirs.  MSNBC drew parallels between these “trophies” and Abu Ghraib.  MSNBC and CNN both make it clear that a total of 12 soldiers are being charged with varying degrees of crimes in this investigation, while Fox estimates the number to be around 10 (again, the story was just breaking so the information might not have been available).  Overall, we should definitely know and be concerned about this story.  Its hard to claim that the soldiers at Abu Graib were “just bad apples” if similar actions are taking place throughout our army.  The United States is being watched by the world and these acts, which are terrible in and of themselves, undermine support for our army abroad, at home, and especially in Afghanistan

Free Blog

            Hey everyone, for my free post I’ve decided to talk about one of my favorite shows, Entourage.  As I watched an episode last night it struck me that the show takes a very relaxed stance towards legal issues, especially involving drugs.  For example, while marijuana is still an illegal drug, the show features its main characters using it regularly and rarely with any fear of repercussions.  This got me thinking; do tv shows such as Entourage reflect society’s feelings towards something, do they shape them, or is the relationship transactional?  I know that when I see tv shows embracing marijuana, I feel vindicated in my belief that its socially acceptable and should be legalized.  It seems to me that when the network shows find out that most people have accepted something, they feel safe showing it on tv, creating a cycle of something becoming more and more acceptable.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that even though mass media has a huge impact on us and influences what we believe; we ultimately have just as much power to shape them.  Questions for you the reader to think/respond to:  Should the mass media have a role in trying to influence public opinion about various policies?  Is mass media actually trying to influence us, or am I reading too far into what television chooses to show and not show?

Highway Serial Killers

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/highway-serial-killer-responsible-for-ariz-womans-homicide/19622797

This article details the recent finding of the body of a missing woman, Patricia Peterson, who could be representative of a host of murders committed along highways.  The article focuses more on the cases of dead bodies found alongside of the road because no specific killer was identified.  However, the current theory is that long-distance truckers pick up women at truck stops (probably hitchhikers), sexually assault them, and then kill them.  The statistic the story relies on is that 500 murders have occurred near highways.  The FBI are in charge of the investigation, and it was a local analyst that first noticed a pattern of women being targeted along highways.  Despite the high number of possible victims, only Patricia Peterson is mentioned by name in the article.  Patricia was found along the Interstate 40, where other women have been found dead.  I'm surprised that I've never read anything about this before because this actually sounds pretty scary.  For one thing, the FBI have already arrested 10 people as possible suspects which means there might be multiple serial killers roaming the country in non-descript tractor trailers.

American Hiker Freed, 3 viewpoints

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/14/iran.detained.american/index.html?hpt=T1

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/14/iran-state-tv-says-woman-freed-year-prison/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11299867

            The story I covered was the release of American Hiker Sarah Shourd from her year long captivity in Iran after allegedly crossing the border into Iran from northern Iraq with two other hikers (who remain detained).  Ms. Shourd was finally released this week due to a pre-existing health condition that had grown worse in prison.

            Between the three news sources, there is a great disparity in the amount of detail and analysis given.  Fox news covered the story briefly, not even mentioning Sarah’s medical condition, or that the US presumes them to be innocent, in fact the entire story is four sentences long with the final one being “They have been accused of spying.”  The BBC edition covers more details of the release and delves into how this situation came about (“they crossed the poorly-demarcated border by mistake…”).  The BBC also stir the readers’ pathos with a description of the prisoners’ current condition, “the three friends were all said to be undernourished and depressed after more than a year in virtual solitary confinement.”  Finally, CNN gives the most in-depth report and off a distinctly American anti-Iranian vibe by suggesting that Sarah’s release is just a ploy by Ahmadinejad to gain brownie points with the international community before the upcoming UN meeting.

            All three sources of news reported the same basic story with the same facts.  The closest to distortion of the truth was Fox news omitting the probability of the hikers’ innocence and Sarah’s medical condition as a strong reason for her release.  Overall, I think the BBC report was the best for giving enough information without showing an obvious bias.  CNN spelled out too much while Fox did too little.  One common link between the stories was that they all had the same picture of Sarah Shourd in a head cloth and glasses, although that may be because there are very few pictures of her.

            As I was writing this blog I suddenly realized I really should have used an Iranian news source.  So I looked one up.

http://www.iran-daily.com/1389/6/22/MainPaper/3774/Page/3/Index.htm

It was a lot more interesting.  They claimed that the three hikers were near a sensitive military zone and bring up the fact that American has several Iranian nationals in custody.  Iran Daily accuses the US of treating its prisoners harshly while claiming that “the three Americans have been treated well, despite the fact that they are facing very serious charges.”  Wow.  I guess the source really does matter.

If you're interested in the fate of the hikers after the media stops covering them, visit http://freethehikers.org/

Social Deviance

http://www.vitanuda.com/

            The deviance this site deals with is public nudity.  According to the site, “Nudists are people who enjoy being nude in appropriate settings.”  The site itself provides information about nudists, links to other groups of nudists to help them network, and a list of upcoming nude events.  In my opinion I don’t think nudity should be considered a deviant activity.  I say this being an occasional nudist myself.  While I would find it strange/unpleasant if everyone suddenly abandoned his or her clothes, the extent to which the US cracks down on nudity is ridiculous.  In one case a man was charged with a year of jail time for being seen naked inside his house.  Perhaps Americans have low body image because we’re taught from such a young age that our bodies are indecent and need to be covered up.  Its high time for America to leave its puritan roots behind and allow nude beaches and naked sunbathing.  

Teens, the Media, and Sex

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2010-09-06-sex-education_N.htm

I read an article detailing how kids today are being exposed to an unhealthy amount of sexuality through television, music, and the Internet.  While several media outlets were mentioned, the main culprit was made to be television, possibly because this article was published on the web.  The criticism is essentially that our media highlights sexuality without responsibility, correlating with our high rates of teen pregnancy and STDs.  The critique seems pretty spot on since I’ve never seen tv sex involve a condom pause or a serious discussion about the risks of unprotected sex with strangers, some of the researchers suggestions seem a little absurd.  For example, “the authors of the statement ideally would like ads for erectile dysfunction drugs to not be shown on TV until after 10 p.m.”  Their hearts are in the right place, but regulating male enhancement commercials seems petty and dictatorial.  Many of the researchers’ other ideas for improvement, such as “responsible programming,” were more vague and hard to evaluate.  Finally, they believe we should stop the practice of using sex in advertising.  That’s un-American and I do not agree with it.

Media Fast

I choose to do my media fast on Thursday September 2^nd, because I wanted to be able to use media all weekend.  Instead of using media I went for a run, played ping-pong, read for classes, read for fun, visited new people on the floors above, and eventually broke down.  When I went over to my friend’s house the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was on.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of my favorite shows.  I told myself I would only watch for a minute, but I ended up watching the whole episode.  The hardest form of media to give up was the Internet.  I really missed not just facebook, but the power to look up information on any obscure topic that came to mind.   The e-fast made me sad because I realized how dependent I am on these forms of media and how much socializing revolves around them.  At the same time, I‘ve done weeklong hiking trips without access even to cell phones and not missed media at all. Leading me to believe it’s harder to go without something when it’s literally within a hand’s reach. 

Media Log

Media!

Tuesday, August 31st:

7:15-7:30 am:  Internet

11:00-12:00 am:  Internet

4:30-5:30 pm: Internet

7:30-8:30 pm: Video game- Mario Kart for N64

11:10-11:30 pm: Internet

Cell phone usage- Throughout the day I texted 5 people at least once and called two people.

TV- None.

Radio- None.

Music- Occasionally I listened to music while at my computer, but for a majority of the time I didn’t.