Slowing the Military-Entertainment Complex

[realpolitic]

In the U.S., 6 companies control most of the media. Is this corporate media giving us fair and balanced news?As many people die in 3 days of smoking related illnesses as died on 9/11, but Bush isn't sending troops to North Carolina.

I see much more willingness in these forums to look at alternatives, and talk about problems from a fresh perspective. I've seen a sharpness among gamers that I've always hoped could be harnessed to social causes, so I'd like to invite you to participate in The Take Back the Media Project. If you are a student and taking a class in the "social sciences", you're already writing reports. What if volunteers or your schools administrators published the best ones, and then publisized it to other schools creating a network of new ideas? If a million people came up with one good idea imagine what could be done. Wired Magazine claimed that the revolution in Serbia was fueled by the internet. If Milosevic outlawed marches, the next day everyone would walk their dog, or drive slowly, the change in tactics drove Milosevic nuts.

I've been a successful activist, I've collected 50,000 signatures on various petitions, and I've got some ideas on communication on my Media site, but most of the good ideas on this planet are in other people's heads, so I hope you take my site as a starting point, and shape the alternative media to fit your ideas.

If you do get a site going, please post here thru April 2003, after that pm me.

[Shi Huangdi]

"As many people die in 3 days of smoking related illnesses as died on 9/11, but Bush isn't sending troops to North Carolina."

People who smoke do so of their own choice. People who die in terrorist attack don't die of their own choice

[Az]

Oh no, not that awfully laughable animation.

[realpolitic]

Yes, they start of their own choice, but they have a hard time stopping. A former U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, claimed cigarrettes are 6 times as addictive as crack. While that might be a bit high, quitting may not always be possible. As for starting smoking, I'm often accosted by kids who want me to buy cigarretes who look about 15. This isn't even the age of consent for sex, let alone a life threatening addiction.

[Ming]

I bet they are giving us a more balanced view than the Iraq media is giving their people.

The press conference by the Iraq Defence Minister this morning denying that US ground troops were within 100 miles of Baghdad was a classic... It was held at the same time as an imbedded journalist was broadcasting his story from the Tarmac of Saddam International Airport...

Even better... the press conference was cut short when the power went off...

[Jac de Molay]

"As many people die in 3 days of smoking related illnesses as died on 9/11, but Bush isn't sending troops to North Carolina."

With all the billions of dollars earmarked for Iraq's postwar reconstruction, I'm hoping he invades Detroit pretty soon.

[Jac de Molay]

In the U.S., 6 companies control most of the media. Is this corporate media giving us fair and balanced news?

What difference does it make when there are countless sources of information out there? I don't rely on any of these companies for war news.

Maybe there's a lot of sheep out there who believe what these companies spoon feed them, but there's just as many alternatives as there are sheep.

[Imran Siddiqui]

With all the billions of dollars earmarked for Iraq's postwar reconstruction, I'm hoping he invades Detroit pretty soon.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by realpolitic
Yes, they start of their own choice, but they have a hard time stopping.

Note: "Hard" does NOT equal "Impossible."

[realpolitic]

Originally posted by Ming
I bet they are giving us a more balanced view than the Iraq media is giving their people.

Yes, it's also much warmer in Siberia than on Pluto, but that doesn't mean I'd wouldn't look for an another spot for a vacation. Iraqi media is a great example of what happens when your choices are limited.

Originally posted by DetroitDave


What difference does it make when there are countless sources of information out there? I don't rely on any of these companies for war news.

Maybe there's a lot of sheep out there who believe what these companies spoon feed them, but there's just as many alternatives as there are sheep.

Because other people's opinion affects the world around you. My grandfather owned a very illegal shortwave in Nazi Germany, but he had the sense to relize that his knowledge was not going to protect him from other people's ignorance. As for the countless sources, every new one contributes to quality of knowledge. What if the guy who invented internet forums had decided that there were already enough forums. In the Battle of New Orleans, 50000 people were killed because the news of the Armistace hadn't reached them. The American Revolution might not have happened without Tom Payne's booklet Common Sense, and The Protestant Revolution might not have happened without The Gutenburg Bible.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by JohnT


Note: "Hard" does NOT equal "Impossible."

It's not that hard...I've done it 4 times so far