Archive for the ‘Issues’ Category
So google is supposed to pick ads based on all the stuff they know about me from watching everything I do online, which makes it kind of weird when I get these on YouTube:
Seriously?
I mean, come on! Say what you want about Obama, but telling YouTube commenters (also known as the worst breed of human to have ever existed) to vote for blaming him for the oil spill is insane! By what logic does that even make sense? What do they think he did, dive into the gulf and break the well himself? The “Obamacare, stop him!” ads were pretty annoying, but at least he was doing health care reform then, this just feels like pure desperation to me.
Naturally, the song of the blog is: The Impression That I Get
I’m your host, Baffled Bjørn, and you are now annoyed, for some reason or another.
Hi.
Allow me to start with what is on everybodys mind. The Freedom flotilla, an international convoy of ships bearing several hundred peace activists, medicine, food, paper, building materials etc. heading towards Gaza, was boarded by Israeli navy elites. At least 9 activists were killed, they claim to have been attacked first. A few things strike me as interesting about this.
First of all, if you are the navy elite forces of one of the worlds largest military forces, you ought to be able to disarm someone with a bat without shooting them. Secondly, if you are at all familiar with war and stuff (even I know this), you don’t drop one lone soldier in the middle of the mob of people. Thats fucking retarded! Also, Israel, if you expect people to believe your side of the story, DROP THE FUCKING MEDIA BLANKET. Only sending out video tapes filmed and edited by you “proving your innocence” only broadens suspicions. But obviously if they allowed everyone to investigate and report freely, the suspicions would be confirmed quite rapidly. Part one of the blog entry is completed by this: Boycott the hell out of Israel. Free Palestine!
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Android I
So i have a Nokia N900 phone. And I love it. It is awesome, and sexy and easy to use, and i really have no complaints about it. It is everything i want in a phone and moar. Unfortunately, I am a phone junkie. The thing I hate the most about phones, is that in order to afford them I have to sign an agreement to pay a smaller sum every month for a year.. 🙁
Currently I am paying for both an iphone and my dearest N900, and still i urge for another phone, more specifically an Android phone. I was supposed to buy an Android phone when i got the N900, but ended up with my N900 due to physical keyboard. Damn.
Suppose I’ll have to wait until the internet perfects an android clone for my phone. And please don’t comment on the lovely irony of most phones having Intel Atom processors. I am aware.
Sincerely,
Vegard
This was an essay I wrote in forty minutes about television’s impact on Presidential elections. That source shit is just useless, ignore it. It’s for an AP Class, and I thought it was fitting and whatnot (not to mention I’m lazier than fuck!)
In a modern society where there is more focus on images than issues, one must ask how America got to this point. The answer is simple: television. Throughout mid to late 1900s, television has changed the outlook of the American people—especially in politics. American politicians became celebrities instead of leaders; they focus more on image instead of issues. Television has not, as many think, had a positive impact on Presidential Elections.
Since the 1960’s, television has influenced Presidential elections. Whether from a serious news reporter or a satirical talk show host such as Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, the American people are getting different aspects of their Presidential hopefuls than they would otherwise. In the 1960 Presidential debates—a pioneer voyage in itself—Americans began focusing on the image instead of the details. Too engrossed in the aesthetic differences between Nixon and Kennedy, the latter got more support despite the fact that those who listened to the debate on the radio (instead of watching it on the TV) thought that the two had a draw. (Source C) Kennedy’s victory was not necessarily a content victory; however, it was certainly an image victory. Is this focus on image a horrid development? Maybe not. Dr. Stanton said that “As we grew, we lost [a] feeling of direct contact—television has now restored it.” (Source A) With a rapidly growing country, not every American person can meet the President, the Governor, or even the Mayor. Television has brought civilians closer than they ever would be to the Politicians, but in doing so has also highlighted the triumph of image over content. Had Richard Nixon been a little younger, or perhaps even John McCain in this last election, who would know how the elections would have faired? One commentator concluded that “An effective President must be every year more concerned with projecting images of himself.” (Source C) In modern society, most reasonable people would have to agree with that statement.
To continue, every single Presidential election is influenced by television, and therefore Presidents and politicians listen to the popular talk show hosts instead of the people themselves. A surprising number of people listen to one-sided, politically passionate talk show hosts discussing the disgusting actions of the other side while ignoring their own side. Whether it be a conservative talk show host or a liberal reporter—Americans rarely get both sides, and therefore make biased opinions because of those biased hosts. There is no voice of the American people, no one person represents such a vast and diverse span of opinions and attitudes. Presidents listen to the talk show hosts or reporters that are leaning towards their side. When Cronkite reported that the war was a draw and America needed to get out of Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson watched and concluded that Cronkite was the voice of the American people, and therefore the President should listen. Johnson did listen. Within weeks, Johnson announced that he was “ending the air and naval bombardment in most of Vietnam.” (Source E) Though Americans did not know about how Vietnam was fairing, they and Johnson were still lead to make a decision from a biased opinion. In modern days, these talk shows effect Presidential elections vastly. Americans do not get a clear, unbiased opinion from listening to Glenn Beck all day nor do they get a clear unbiased opinion from watching CNN. These news channels steer the American people from making a fair decision to whatever the passionate talk show host feels. Instead of a well-informed vote, Americans make ill-informed choices for Political Elections.
The electronic revolution of the last fifty years has had a serious effect on political outcomes. However, the television has not had a positive impact on Presidential and political elections. Television keeps Americans just as ill-informed as they would have been otherwise, and even a little more biased. It focuses on image over content and makes the youngest, or most attractive person be more likely to win. In a constantly growing, constantly changing society, the American people do not need to make any uninformed choices in politics, especially in Presidential elections.
That’s it! I hate English! Have a delightful day!
Love,
Elizabeth!
Alright.
I figure its time to follow up my previous, some have called it emo, blog entry, with a philosophical one. Hokay. So.
Currently, I am not sure where I am or where I want to be. I am not really certain of anything that can be of any use. I have recently been thinking about my past, in particular certain areas. Fleeting dreams of perfect romance that I for a moment had and subsequently lost, ideas of academia and saving the world that got changed too many times to count and so on and so forth.
In my future I do not know what I see. My current plan is to move to Stavanger this summer, get my masters degree and become a teacher. Maybe do a year abroad. I once wanted to be a policeman. Then i grew up, and for a while my plan was 1. go to the military, 2. go to the police academy. This changed.
There is a theory that there exists an infinite number of parallel universes separated from our own, with all the different possibilities our life could take. I like this theory because in one of them I might have achieved what I always wanted. Who knows, maybe I will. Hopefully.
Vegard
I realize that most of our blog’s readers are Norwegian, but for those few who care, this is my take on some of the flaws of the American governmental system.
To me, it is obvious that the political system in Washington D.C. is a broken one which promotes greed and personal interests. The politicians we send there are focused mostly on reelection and sticking with the party.
Our “representatives” have lost touch with their constituents and themselves. It seems that nobody in Congress or the Senate can think with their own minds or have their own opinions. The health care reform debacle is just one example of how most politicians are guilty of distancing the two major political parties as much as possible and therefore widening the gaps between us Americans. While it does not surprise me, it does always amaze me how Congressmen and Senators alike will make complete asses out of themselves in order to “stick together.”
Of course, the media does sensationalize every little thing to make us feel like some issues are more important than they really are. I have trouble trusting media, save public radio and television, because they all have plenty of motivation (i.e. being owned by big business) to have hidden 
agendas. Similar to the politicians themselves, news media has lost touch with its purpose; to sort through the wasteland that is politics and inform the people about issues they need to be involved in. Being a young person, I can say that most of my generation doesn’t even watch or read the news anymore. I don’t blame them, for it does seem pointless at times. The lack of involvement that is stemming from this is fairly dangerous to the future of American citizenship.
What we, the American people, could truly benefit from is having more
independent thinkers in Washington. Dare I say people who are rational and maybe, just maybe, have a set of moral standards that can’t be deterred by ny persuading or bribing? I’m not saying they all have to live up to any one set of moral standards, such as Christian moral standards, what I am saying is that we need honest-to-goodness people working for the betterment of our nation and its citizens. To think of politicians with some semblance of genuineness is almost laughable, but I truly do hope our nation’s government will, at some point, take a turn for the better.
Hope this incredibly disturbing picture gives you a laugh:
Good Day!
Elaine