hegemoney, the celebrity and america

ran across this last night!

I'm fucking Matt Damon/Ben Affleck

Hey guys!

I hope the paper writing is going well. I am alas finished!! Thanks for the last post on body image/retouching, that was cool.

I'm sure you guys have seen this---at least the first one, "I'm fucking Matt Damon". I ran across Jimmy's response the other day, "I'm fucking Ben Affleck"---both are super funny. It's shocking how much time Jimmy put into his version---seriously, EVERYONE is in it. Watch and laugh!









Andrea

Media and Body Image

To the person writing the paper on body image in the media, and the dove commercials. Here are some good sites that deal with that.

On this site just open one of the images, and let it load. Then roll over it with the mouse and it shows how they retouched the image.

http://glennferon.com/portfolio1/index.html

and here is a good video that shows how retouching is done

Raging Grannies

Here are some links to the activist group, Raging Grannies, I discussed in class:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JQiP5iCfQt0
Joy to the worlds and a skit - joined by code pink another anit-war and activist group from Berkley http://youtube.com/watch?v=k9zgHOF6lv4
I walk the line-I wait in line ...health care
http://youtube.com/watch?v=doYbRMkVqV4&feature=related
oh dear what can the matter be
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WbiFNGBECVk
Bring back my bonnie

And here is their web site

although I know that raising any kind of awareness and/or voice against hegemonic ideals or institutions is beneficial to a more healthful society...I wonder how far groups like this can really go. Is their goal to increase pressure to make a change or is their main purpose to inspire people who have the ability to make a change.

I'm always curious about these method because I feel they are more easily criticized. By dressing up and singing political parodies are they gaining more positive or negative attention? Do their antics drawl you in or push you away?

I would love to get some more opinions on this....

Big Shot Live

This really goes along with some of the topics that have brought up in class! It's everybody's ticket to Hollywood - Haha! So, it's a website, Big Shot Live, where people can post videos of themselves in singing, dancing, modeling, comedy, acting, tv host and sport tricks. People vote and the top 5 in the nation get sent to Hollywood to meet with managers!

Go Raw

This video, Go Raw Now Trailer, is an odd one to me. The video is in promotion of the raw food diet. I think this video is odd because it really is a PROMOTION for a way of eating. It bums me out because they make it seem superficial and celebrity, all glittery. It's weird because they don't talk about how to eat raw or anything really about it, they just hype it up.

I feel like the video turns people off the entire idea, especially the ending, and makes people think of the raw food diet as a joke.

The Truth About Disney

So, I'm sure you guys have heard about Disney's portrayal of gender roles, races and sumbliminal messages. This youtube video, Racism in Disney, looks specifically at clips that portray race stereotypes in Disney movies. And there are tons more!

Bush Flash

Hey guys,

This website bushflash.com is one that gives people a archive of different types of media with messages of anti-war and anti-bush. One of the videos on the site is called Christmas Time in Iraq, which gives footage and media clips and is an anti-war message.

East Timor

I presented this situation in class awhile ago, but I didn't have the song for you. Shakira wrote a song entitled "Timor." The song links to a version set to footage from Timor.

Here are the notes from my presentation about what happened:
East Timor is a country in Asia that was occupied and controlled until 2002.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, after Portugal left, and remained until May 20, 2002.
Western powers have been accused for being partially responsible for the crisis because they ignored it and because they provided the weapons, which were used to kill 100,000 Timorese during the 25 year occupation.
In 1999, Indonesia agreed to allow the Timorese the opportunity to vote for either independence or local autonomy. When the vote showed an overwhelming support in favor of independence, the loyalists “went on a rampage, murdering hundreds and reducing towns to ruins” (BBC).
Thus, in 1999 the UN stepped in. Despite UN actions, however, conditions in Timor remain horrible. The rampant poverty and unemployment fuels the gang violence and unrest. The Timorese infrastructure is in shambles and they remain one of Asia’s poorest countries, therefore East Timor must rely on outside aid.
Both the governments of East Timor and of Indonesia have been trying to establish good relations between each other. “However, a 2005 UN report concluded that the systems had failed to deliver. The Indonesian special court acquitted most of the 18 indicted suspects” (BBC).

Children of the Revolution

Hey guys,
So I stumbled upon this band through the Black Rock Coalition. They are called the Children of the Revolution and their mission is that there can be unity through music. They are a band full of different cultures. Their lead singer is Greek and they have musicians from Spain, U.S. and Iraq.

Here is a link to a live performance of Isla Margarita
Here is a link to their website

Street Art

Here are some sites that have a lot of street art posted to them. Some have good examples of culture jamming.

http://artcrimes.com

http://www.popaganda.com/billboards/index.shtml

http://graffitiresearchlab.com

http://www.woostercollective.com

WBC Parody Site

A Yes-men style spoof of the Westboro Baptist Church's website is at http://www.godhatesfags.org.uk/ which is good for a laugh.

Some of the ads on here are NSFW, just so you know not to check it out around like, small children or your boss. There's loud music that plays automatically too.

Nike Basketball and Culture Jamming

Here is a basketball advertisement that Nike made.



Here is a parody of the Nike advertisement. I found this amusing as they took the same music and made the basketball players do ridiculous things to make fun of the original advertisement.
They have a woman giving birth to a basketball, an old man losing his pants, a guy getting hit in the groin and even a guy with a piercing swinging the ball around on a chain.

Arnel Pineda

Here are the links from my presentation awhile back.
Here is a quick recap. Arnel Pineda was in a small band called "The Zoo" in the Phillipines. Clips of him singing were posted to youtube, and a band member from the band "Journey" saw him. He is now the lead singer of the band Journey.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wU_XCpC6HdE
(the orignal song "Faithfully" by Journey)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6HjcCzgCCX0
("Faithfully" performed by The Zoo)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fUQp2S38OyU
("Faithfully" by Journey with their new lead singer, Arnel)

http://www.journeymusic.com/home.html
(Journey's website)

Massachusetts Gay Marriage

Here is a clip showing people supporting the legalization of Gay Marriage in Massachusetts. It is somewhat related to my paper but here you can see some people in the streets with signs supporting or going against gay marriage. You also get to hear from some of the people in the crowd and can see of the mass of people that showed up outside the Massachusetts Statehouse before the vote on whether gay marriage should be legalized.

Westboro Baptist Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UMP3AK5jwo



Here is a radical interview between Fox News and Shirley Phelps Roper who represents the Westboro Baptist Church. This shows how they protest in funerals and even the Fox News representatives start to critisize Shirley Phelps Roper with her radical rhetoric and ideas. She talks about how god punishes everyone for being gay, sinning, etc. It's really offensive for people hosting the funeral and I find it strange that they have large posters with God Hates Fags at the funerals.

Prozac for Pets

This is one of the first sites that pops up under a Google search of "anti Prozac media".

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23271578-1702,00.html

The fact that I thought for about a split second that the article was serious, is proof that I'm really gullible, but also that the overuse of anti-depressants is so wide spread, giving them to pets wouldn't be completely out of the question.

Billboard Culture Jamming

I found this website - http://billboardliberation.com/ - that is solely dedicated to culture jamming on billboards. They offer tips and detailed instructions to inform people of how they can change billboards to say what they want. I find it really interesting that there is a whole website and group dedicated to just changing billboards. The website talks about the impact advertising has on people in today’s modern society. Advertisements surround us and control our lives in a way.

They subtly change billboards to make strong statements against advertising, fast food, war, or other things they may see as contributing to the downfall of America. If you browse the archives you will find a lot of interesting billboards that may even be located in a city near you.

http://billboardliberation.com/

Wikileaks allowed to operate in the US

Via the Huffington Post:

On Friday, the judge dropped the injunction that took the site offline, citing First Amendment concerns and questions about legal jurisdiction.

At a court hearing in San Francisco, White said he had "serious questions" about whether the legal measures sought by the bank "would be constitutionally approriate" and whether they constituted prior restraint by the government. He also cited "possible violations of the First Amendment."

In addition, White said he questioned the "effectiveness" of blocking the site, an apparent reference to the fact that other Web sites quickly obtained and disseminated the information about the bank.

The judge recognized that "the genie is out of the bottle," said Matt Zimmerman, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of several organizations that filed briefs on the case. The Associated Press and the ACLU were also among them.

Culture Jamming - Obama and Borat

The example on top comes from : http://www.dma.org/~backstro/
The example on the bottom comes from: www.johninnit.co.uk/2007/01/

Both of which are blog like websites. What is interesting is the top comes from a website mostly concerning 'the conspiracy of global warming created by an air force veteran and the bottom coming from the UK. I think these are interesting examples of culture jamming especially in the context of where they are coming from. It is interesting to see that two people from different sides of the world spoofed the same pop culture artifacts.

In my opinion the one on the bottom (from the UK) doesn't make a whole lot of sense...but it is interesting to see a foreign opinion...especially in comparison... any other opinions...reactions...??

pollyticks.com

http://www.pollyticks.com

I stumbled on this website and thought to share it with the class. Personally I don't think it has all that much to say-nothing too profound-but it creates this space for people to try and express their ideas or feelings around the politics no matter how informed they acctually are. It is a space for people who are surrounded and effected by on going politics but are no necessarily involved. The creator of the site even rights in one of the earliest blogs:

For starters, it's crap. This site is total crap, so don't expect much because I'm an idiot. This site is my sketch book, my side project and my feeble attempt to connect with other talentless idiots.

Here, I post my pitiful political cartoons, funny videos made by people far more talented than I am, weird news stories, boring rants about Democrats and the Republican Party, weak observations about freedom of religion and other concepts I only barely understand, and lots of other crap. I guess the key point to take away from this is that most of what you'll find here is total crap.

-Blue Steel

I felt this example highlights what we were talking about earlier this week, that everybody no matter their interests, education, awareness, etcetera, has a public space to discuss their ideas and/or feelings.

Improv Everywhere--we cause scenes

http://improveverywhere.com/

Just a quick update---it's been about 4 weeks since they posted the Grand Central Station freeze mission and already the video on youtube has had 6.8 million views. Also noteworthy--there have been 28 other "copycat" missions in 28 different cities in 13 different countries! Anybody wanna do one in Denver?

Here are some links to my favorite improv everywhere missions--we watched some of these in class.

111 shirtless men in A&F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdeBp8J0rqs&feature=user

Synchronized Swimming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggm_j_6jgTc&feature=user

Frozen Grand Central
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo

No pants 2k6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7snbtwG5wc&feature=user

Best Buy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkkXCF8ZVc&feature=user

Suicide Jumper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vsdtCuXS_I&feature=user

But really...once baseball season starts again I'd be totally down to help organize a "no pants" ride on game night on the light rail!

KRS One and Stop the Violence in New Orleans

KRS One visits a "camp site" in New Orleans as part of Stop the Violence's campaign to get the Hip Hop community involved in addressing global violence through education, critical dialogue, grassroots organizing and direct action. I've always had mixed feelings about KRS One's activism similar to the ones we discussed in class about celebrity activism. However, this video is really telling of the complex issues in New Orleans where there's no one group of people to blame - rather a complex system of governmental failures, issues of poverty and gentrification, land use, and natural disaster response.



Seeing this video reminded me of TED talk that I've been reading about from Philip Zimbardo (known for theStandford prison experiment) about his book The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (here's a nice interview from Wired). When people are put under intense pressure to survive or do their jobs, there are horrific things they'll do. While the scene with KRS One handing out money is a smaller contained example, this isn't something people would do normally but they're put in position where they're broke, homeless, hopeless, living in a city with a blind government and there's a guy handing out 20 dollar bills. What would you do?

more stencils!

hello all,

its interesting how you notice things once you become aware of them... as i was walking to have breakfast on downing sunday morning, i noticed two pieces of stencil graffiti. im not sure if i was paying more attention because i would be giving a presentation on banksy the next day, but either way i thought they were good... especially the christ with the cross on his back firing a missle... religion can ignite so much hatred, create so many divisions...

RSS as GLU

Here's an inspirational video/slideshow by Alexander Hayes about how Web 2.0 technologies and RSS are changing education (I mentioned it briefly in class today). I'm hoping more academics pick up this methodology!

| View | Upload your own

Slavery Still Exists Week

The "Activist workshop" looks pretty interesting on Wednesday.

Slavery Still Exists Week

Because Abraham Lincoln didn't end slavery...

Information

Event Info

Name:	Slavery Still Exists Week
Tagline:	Because Abraham Lincoln didn't end slavery...
Host:	DU Task Force, CORD & THe Polaris Project
Type:	Causes - Protest

Time and Place

Start Time:	Monday, February 25, 2008 at 8:00am
End Time:	Friday, February 29, 2008 at 7:00pm
Location:	All over the world!
City/Town:	Denver, CO

Contact Info

Email:

DUTaskforce@gmail.com

Description

The Slavery Still Exists Campaign is the national grassroots public awareness program of Polaris Project on modern-day slavery and human trafficking. At the University of Denver, we will have a series of events open to all students to raise awareness on the issue of human trafficking and modern slavery, including:

Monday - Lecture: "History of Slavery" by Prof. Caleb McDaniel
Department of History
February 25 5:30pm at the Lindsay Auditorium, Sturm Hall

Tuesday - "Charcoal People"
February 26 6:00pm at the International House (2200 S. Josephine St) Sponsored by Peace Corps Week. Refreshments will be served.

Wednesday - "Activist Workshop" by Seth Donovan,
Program Director, Prax(us)
February 27 12:00pm at the Commerce Room, Driscoll Center

Thursday - Lecture: "Slavery in Colorado" by Prof. Claude d'Estree
Graduate School of International Studies
February 28 5:30pm at the Lindsay Auditorium, Sturm Hall

Friday - "Revolution T-Shirt Making Party"
Hosted by Prax(us) and Rocky Mountain Animal Defense February 29 7:00pm at Whittier Community Center (2900 Downing St)

We will also have a booth at the Driscoll Center throughout the week to provide information and conduct a photo campaign.

Wikileaks shut down

A controversial website that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously post government and corporate documents has been taken offline in the US.

Wikileaks.org, as it is known, was cut off from the internet following a California court ruling, the site says.

The case was brought by a Swiss bank after "several hundred" documents were posted about its offshore activities.

Read more.

NIU community successful in blocking WBC protests

Looks like the groups that utilized Facebook and other social networking sites were able to band together with local law enforcement to avoid any major confrontation at one of the NIU victim's funerals:

"When this is what you do as your hobby, as your leisure time, this is what you spend your money on," said Paulette Phelps, daughter-in-law of Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church. "This is our vacation. This is our fun time."

In spite of their inflammatory signs, including one that read, "God sent the shooter," their protest took place almost without incident.

The only exception was when a mourner shouted at the protesters from behind a police barricade before being led away by police.

The presence of several dozen police officers from departments throughout the county seemed to effectively prevent any confrontations between the Westboro Baptist Church and mourners.

A row of St. Charles snowplows formed a physical and highly visible barrier between the park where the protesters were assembled and the east entrance of the church.

About 40 officers from the Kane County Mobile Task Force, in riot gear, stood guard around the park to protect the mourners from the protesters.

"They have the ability to express their freedom of speech," St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin said. "We wanted to make sure there was nothing that would disrespect the funeral."

About 15 students from around the suburbs were on hand to express their disgust for the protesters' message.

Read more.


Also, the article I wrote for Pop + Politics on memorializing the NIU shootings on social networks is available here. I'd love any feedback or comments if you have time as I'm planning to write something more lengthy for my master's thesis!

Citizen Journalism

We discussed citizen journalism briefly today in class, and I thought this was a good example.

http://www.yourhub.com/

Yourhub.com is an example of citizen journalism that's owned by a corporation. In Denver, it's associated with the Rocky Mountain News, but it appears in other states as well. The idea behind yourhub.com is to get citizens involved and informed of community issues; the regions are very localized and it is mainly an online publication, though there is a weekly printed insert in the Rocky. Anyone who registers can post, and by posting online, citizens give rights to the publication to possibly be published in print. This concept of citizen journalism sort of reaches for the idea of a public sphere, but ultimately fails because there are some filters and control (though much less is controlled for than in an official publication).

Celebrities and Activist Media

After the presentation today that focused on celebrities becoming involved in radical media, I got to thinking about other examples.  The classic Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt example are two celebrities that have become involved in world affairs and quite frankly I believe that they are doing these things just to enhance their "image".  

Is the Will I Am music video about Obama just another example of how celebrities are butting into world affairs?  I feel like all these celebrities who are participating in this music video are making Obama part of "pop culture" which greatly effects who votes for him.  Does this video make Obama appeal more to young people?  Is it right of these celebrities to be voicing their opinions on youtube about the future of our next president?  

I think that these celebrities are forcing people to vote a certain way because they may be fans of that particular celebrity.  Should we vote for a certain candidate just because our favorite celebrity does?  Probably not.  Below is a link to a youtube video that shows many of the celebrity supporters of Obama.

Celebrity support for Barack Obama: 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpdDdzH3VqU

Blogger put into prison

Here are some video links about the blogger Fouad Al-Farhan who was arrested for blogging in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.alfarhan.org/

Fouad Al-Farhan was blogging some topics that critisized the Saudi Arabian government which led to his arrest in December 2007. Because many public gatherings are banned in Saudi Arabia - the only way a public sphere can exist is within the blogging community. People can have anonymous aliases and can have more freedom with their ideas.

I found out about this case from my friend who was aware of this incident in the Middle East. In particular I found it interesting on how strict Saudi Arabia is with their radical and activist media.

Here's another link with an article about Fouad Al-Farhan.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/blogger-who-dared-to-expose-saudi-corruption-is-arrested-767807.html

Culture Jamming

After the midterm, I was surprised that I had some trouble coming up with an example of culture jamming that we hadn't discussed.  I was searching the web last night and came across these two examples of culture jamming.  These two were some of the most obvious/prevalent ones that I came across.  Hope you all have time to check it out and find it interesting.  

will.i.am and john.he.is

Check out this spoof on the Will.i.am Yes We Can video.



And here's the Yes We Can video incase you missed it.

Networked Journalism

This is a post by Angie

Through all of the reading and explanations, it has still taken me quiet some time to truly understand what the term “Networked Journalism” really means. Ultimately it took a blog entry from Jeff Jarvis on BuzzMachine to make things clear to me. Click here to get to the article.

Basically networked journalism according to Jarvis is professionals and armatures working together to get the real story. I agree with his statement because ultimately anyone can witness the news, you don’t have to be a big-named reporter or professional journalist to make the news actual news. Jarvis also mentions in his entry that the focus of the process more than the product is what makes news. I also agree with this because the process of making news is very important. You have to have your facts, details, questions, perspectives and many different factors all straightened out before you can call something news. The straightening out of all these different things is the process.

I think it is very important for people to think critically about what they see and hear on the news and contribute those thoughts. Jarvis stated in his entry, “We are all in this together.” He is referring to amateur and professional journalists. If this is the case and we all are responsible for creating the news is it very important that we challenge ourselves and each other by thinking critically about our news.

a documentry to look at

As we have discussed documentaries in class I wanted to show the class this Sundance special jury prize winner and academy award (oscar) nominated documentary on the subject of civil rights for same sex couples. This topic is similar to the Fox news interview. Please take a look for yourself at the preview. It has strong emotional appeal. The story was told without an narrator.

The address for the website is www.freeheld.com

Facebook and politics

From my presentation I told how many politicians have used Facebook as a tool to promote their presidential campaigns. I thought it was a really interesting way of having a public sphere where Facebook members can make their own groups about politicians and respond to the different types of content on certain candidate sites. Facebook members can post on walls, view photos, watch Youtube videos, read notes, and view other content from candidates. Here's an article from CNN that talks about how influential Facebook has become for the presidential elections.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/08/facebook.vote/index.html

In my presentation I also showed some of the candidate profiles on Facebook such as:

Barack Obama
http://www.facebook.com/barackobama?ref=s

Hillary Clinton
http://www.facebook.com/hillaryclinton?ref=s

and some other profiles such as

Mitt Romney
http://www.facebook.com/mittromney?ref=s

John McCain
http://www.facebook.com/johnmccain?ref=s

KRS One Lecture

The sound quality of this is awful, but KRS One makes some parallels that made me realize that hip hop acts as activist media. Around 5:23 he makes some good observations:

Documentary on hip hop's beginnings

I wanted to share this with whomever (Jackie?) is doing their paper on hip hop, because its a fascinating piece of media about Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation, Malcolm McClaren, DJ Kool Herc, b-boy culture, and the South Bronx. The beginning is weird, but you'll get an idea of how different hip hop was in the early 80's and late 70's and how it served the south Bronx community.

Sheila and Kate on FOX

Here's a link to the video of Sheila and Kate that we didn't get to see in class.

What do you think about this??

My friend joined this group on facebook. Maybe it's a way of showing some kind of solidarity with people of a similar religious persuasion. Perhaps they joined because they wanted to argue with people that were bashing Jews on the wall. I don't know...

I checked it out because I'm Jewish and I was curious to see how many of us there were in this group on facebook. It disturbed me to see what is written on the wall and the topics of the discussion board. There are serious topics for example the discussion of the birth right trip; however, others pertain to sexuality in a joking manner. The wall postings discuss how big Jewish noses are, the fact that the Holocaust "didn't" happen, oh and my personal favorite that "Jews suck camel dick and Hitler rules."

I feel open access is important because it maintains a democratic public sphere affording people (that have access to technology) the opportunity to bring topics into discourse that may normally stay under the radar due to hegemonic standards within the public sphere and public screen. Often times however, especially on mass social networking websites, (that are not advocacy related) people come in and speak freely against what the "group" or "discussion" for which it was initially erected.

What do you all think about this? Is this an inevitable phenomena? Should people fight with those that are opposing them? Does that only bring about more opposition? Does it make the group less alluring? Is dissent just a natural occurrence that is found in our society and in groups on the internet? How does it differ on the internet?

The groups homepage is below.

HOW MANY JEWISH PEOPLE ARE ON FACEBOOK???

Global

Information

Group Info

Name:	HOW MANY JEWISH PEOPLE ARE ON FACEBOOK???
Type:	Just for Fun - Inside Jokes
Description:	***Hey Just wanted to let everyone know I closed the group off. I thought this would enable me to filter out the "Haters"*** FIRSTLY JUST KNOW THIS GROUP IS FOR FUN AND HAS NO REAL PURPOSE OTHER THAN TO SEE IF WE CAN GET ALL THE JEWS ON FACEBOOK INTO ONE GROUP JUST KIND OF A FUN PROJECT. NO ONE IS DONATING ANY MONEY FOR EVERY PERSON WHO JOINS BUT YOU ARE FREE TO VOLUNTEER. IF YOU JOIN THIS GROUP AND TRY TO GET ALL THE JEWS IN THE GROUP THIS WAY IF YOU EVER ARE SOMEWHERE AND YOU NEED A PLACE TO STAY FOR THE SABBATH OR HOLIDAYS OR ANYTHING AT ALL YOU WILL KNOW WHERE TO LOOK FIRST (OKAY NOT GONNA HAPPEN BUT STILL COOL TO THINK ABOUT A PERFECT WORLD) THIS IS NOT MEANT TO SINGLE OUT JEWISH PEOPLE BUT RATHER TO JOIN THEM TOGETHER THIS IS MEANT TO BE A FUN AND HELPFUL GROUP (AND A PLACE WHERE WE CAN POST STUFF ONLY WE ARE ALLOWED TO LAUGH AT LIKE THOSE JOKES CMON YOU KNOW WHICH ONES) AND AT THE END WE WILL THROW ONE HUGE HANNUKAH PARTY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR OKAY MAYBE NOT BUT STILL WOULD BE KINDA COOL TO SEE HOW MANY JEWS THERE ARE ON FACEBOOK ***Okay I have finally decided to turn off the Caps lock to address one issue. So many of you say im a dumb ass or this is a horrible group because "anti semites know exactly where to look" of "we can get rounded up again".. you guys are whacked out. What the hell is gonna happen?! Is an antisemite gonna send us all viruses or something. Get real people stop being annoying and just enjoy the group for what it is, a place to connect with your fellow jews. If an antisemite wanted to find all of us he could search for the last name goldstien or schwartz and that would be half of the group anyways. :).. So If you are scared, no one is stopping you from joining the "HOW MANY NON-JEWISH PEOPLE ARE ON FACEBOOK GROUP?" ** Purim pictures are welcomed and encouraged as well as any other way you can share the joy of Adar with your fellow jews reguardless of how many there are** Eating Lox and Muenster cheese with triscuits is so jewish THE CAPS LOCK IS BACK AND HERE IS WHY... STOP FIGHTING WITH EACHOTHER ITS A LITTLE DISGUSTING AND WHAT TYPE OF IMPRESSION DOES IT LEAVE TO THOSE WHO ARE READING AND NOT JEWISH. STOP STOP STOP, DONT ARGUE ABOUT REFORM VS CONSERVATIVE VS ORTHODOX. ENJOY AND APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT WE ARE ALL JEWISH, ALL OF THE GUYS ARE MISSING A PEICE AND ALL OF THE GIRLS CAN MULTI-TASK WE ARE ALL THE SAME PEOPLE SO STOP FIGHTING. ***To all of you jew haters (specifically flikso dixie and samal kamal allah what ever your guys names are) you guys are all crazy and I appreciate your posts, you give all of us a great laugh. We would be scared but your claims of blowing yourselves up or killing all of us would be much more frightening if you could spell. By all means continue posting whatver your want but realize that all you are doing is making us feel more secure because that we now know that the people who want to kill us probably still have to sing the bunny ears song so they remember how to tie their shoes. Oh and on that note BRING IT!!!...****** Oh oh oh wait I forgot something, I heard on the news that the FBI and CIA track terrorists through facebook and myspace so yeah um ............ **** Just letting you know Im gonna open up the pictures again so feel free to add. But if you happen to not shower or hate israel or if you cant write or if you agree with anyone whose last name starts with an Ahmad or Bin Laden please do not post pictures it is very annoying to go back and erase them.

Contact Info

Website:	http://yu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2225082847
State:	NY

Recent News

**Hello all my fellow people, as most of you have probably heard Iranian President Mymamadroped- Meonmyhead has been invited to speak at Columbia University. In case you guys for some reason dont know that problem with this guy, lets just say that if it was up to him this group would be called "How many Jewish People WERE on facebook?" Yeah I said it. So guys if you are in New York, go do something about it dont be quiet, I think we all know what happens when no one speaks up.**

On a happier note, This group is awesome and Im going to send a letter to some Jewish Orginizations to see if we can sponser some sort of get together. If you think that may be a good idea and would be interested in going to Israel or meet somewhere in the states Send me a message let me know if you are interested and where you would be willing to go.**(Dont worry guys, I dont work for birthright, but it would be funny if I set this whole thing up just to be able to go to Israel for free, forever)

***ADD PICTURES OF THE MOST JEWISH THINGS YOU KNOW OF****

AND ALSO IT IS OBVIOUS THAT DOWN THE LINE IF THE GROUP GETS BIG ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT FANS OF US "JEWS" WILL BEGIN MAKING COMMENTS THAT WILL PROBABLY GET US A LITTLE UPSET SO WE CAN GO ABOUT HANDLING THIS ONE OF TWO WAYS 1)IGNORE IT 2)DONT IGNORE IT AND WRITE SOMETHING THAT ALL OF US WILL BE ABLE TO LAUGH AT AND HE/SHE WONT. I GO WITH NUMBER TWO BECUASE I CANT WAIT TO BE THERE FIRST ONE TO CALL SOMEONE "PASSOVER CEREAL" THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN THAT!



***Anyone who needs a place for any jewish holiday and isnt a stalker really pretending to be a jewish guy or girl, should feel free to ask around, seems like all 18000 of you are great people except for the occasional Ahmadinejad who strolls in.**** Just throwing it out there, you can throw it right back

Just wanted to let you know we have reached 18,198 people divide that by chai (18) you get 1011 what that means I have the slightest clue but if this group reaches 613,000 i might be able to think of something.

Just want to hear some of your guys/girls opinions on what I should do when someone comes in a writes something on the wall that probably rubs the children of moses in the wrong way. If you are curious, read the comment by ahmed "FUKK ALL U STUPID FUK JEWS, U GUYS R ALL GONNA DIE SOON U BIG NOSED PUSSHOLES." So Im gonna start a discussion and you guys can tell me if I should keep them or erase them. If we decide to keep them up I will then start another discussion on whether or not we should teacher them how to spell and use punctuation marks so this way when they try to make us feel like "FUK JEWS" we will know they really mean fucking jews. By the end of the week ill see what wins. And then we can have a raffle. Okay maybe no raffle.

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Israel Sex Festival Sextival Penetrates Tel Aviv

http://www.israelnewsagency.co...

By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----- February 5, 2008 ....... The first ever sex festival in Israel got off to a hot start this evening. Hanger 11 in the northern Tel Aviv port can now boast the proud record for having the most vibrating plastic dildos in one place in the Middle East. ....

Posted by Joel Leyden

DAVIDRUBANLIKESITINTHEASS.ORG

http://DAVIDRUBANLIKESITINTHEASS.ORG

ITS TRUE

Posted by Pablo Delerosa Jaun Montoya

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DAVID RUBAN IS GAY AND LIKES COCK

1 post by 1 person. Updated 17 hours ago.

Taglit-Israel Birthright Summer 2008

1 post by 1 person. Updated 24 hours ago.

sam46176126@modmailcom.com

1 post by 1 person. Updated on Feb 5, 2008 at 2:50 AM.

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Danny Yana	Mehmet Selvi	Laura Bartky	Gabriela Montevideo Uruguay	Ido Zifroni	Keren Charney

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Guy Shipman (London) wrote at 9:34am pablo your just being an idiot now. Your insults are virtually complimeants they're so bad. John tucker + Pablo = burritos keep it having sex guys i like eating burritos Message - Report

Ethan Rauf (London) wrote at 10:16pm yesterday Anyone see those 4 huge black guys banging Tucker's mother. Bent her head back and she gave it. Tucker your mother has the nicest ass in the world damn I bet she likes it. Message - Report

John Tucker (no network) wrote at 10:11pm yesterday better then suckin dick FAGGOT Message - Report

Ely Bridge (South Kingstown High) wrote at 9:22pm yesterday john and pablo sucking each others pussies. Message - Report

Pablo Delerosa Jaun Montoya (Mexico) wrote at 7:01pm yesterday I SEE BIG NOSES Message - Report

Pablo Delerosa Jaun Montoya (Mexico) wrote at 6:52pm yesterday JEWS SUCK CAMEL DICK HITLER RULES Message - Report

John Tucker (no network) wrote at 2:53pm yesterday HOLICOST UNREAL IDEA Message - Report

David Yid Ruben (Vancouver, BC) wrote at 2:48pm yesterday Pablo licks John Tucker's ass while he plays with his brothers balls. Message - Report

Jamie Gibbon (London) wrote at 2:16pm yesterday Im not a jew. But i just wanna say that Pablo plays with his brothers balls. Message - Report

Alanna Katz (SUNY Buffalo) wrote at 2:07pm yesterday Hey everyone, I just got back from an amazing trip to israel through Taglit-birthright: Oranim. If any of you have questions about the trip, and were thinking about going, feel free to send me a message on facebook. Registration is Feb 12 :) Message - Report

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Officers

Tali Leibowitz (Israel)

By far the person who posts on the wall the most and Israel officer

Gil Small (Santa Barbara City)

PROBABLY THE ONLY JEW IN PERU OR HONDURAS

Ryan Sacks (UCSB)

HEAD OF UCSB JEWS

Question

Hey-
I've been sick lately, though I have learned recently that they don't think it is viral (i.e. not contagious). Due to this fact I have been forced to miss some class...like today and last week. I am a dedicated student and would appreciate it if anyone wanted to review with me. We could go to Stella's... or that other good coffee place on Evans. I usually study alone so I understand if you do not feel inclined but it would be greatly appreciated and I'll buy the coffee ;).

Thanks,

Julia Kaplan

Back-to-Iraq

This is a great blog written by a former reporter for the AP that left his job and went to Iraq with money donated by supporters who wanted a reporter to go to Iraq and cover what is really going on there. He raised over $15,000 and has been reporting since 2002 and has a large number of readers each day. He has now begun reporting in several other areas of the world.

It is a good example of fighting hegemony in mainstream media and getting real news we can rely on.

http://www.back-to-iraq.com/

YouTube and Academia?

I'm slightly frustrated by this video posted by a professor who utilized YouTube in her class to get her students to think about media critically. She's very honest about her frustrations and successes within the course. Here's an outline of the five points she makes in her video about why her experiment with YouTube in the classroom wasn't successful:

1. YouTube is a new media form surrounded by speed and efficiency. Doesn't allow extended dialogue which is what academics specialize in.

2. Humor and sincerity are important qualities of YouTube videos. Attempting to communicate something in a logical structured format isn't considered successful.

3. Popularity is a fundamental organizing strucutre for YouTube (corporate and people's viewing experience). Searching for this popularity leads to meritocracy. "There is a certain amount of talent that is needed to produce things that rise up and above the noise."

4. YouTube sells us the same type of commercials that other media sell us, but in a slicker mode. The corporate imperative causes this. YouTube is a "big TV." Policing organized around the most mediocre mainstream middling ideas of the culture, everything that falls to the outside is suspect and easy to remove.

5. There is a second world, niche micro communities, who produce radical culture and media outside the logic of YouTube and isn't well supported by YouTube's structure. It needs to find a new community that will support building an infrastructure for dealing with (I'm paraphrasing here)"asking the harder questions, saying the hard things that need to be said...and hold on to the terrain that is slipping away as corporate culture and mainstream culture take away our energy."

How do you feel about Juhasz's comments? I know that I haven't taught or participated in a class that used YouTube as it's main source of communication, but I will say personally, it is examples such as this that make me never want to teach within a university setting. Her 5th point really gets under my skin, which I interpret as "Academia needs its own ivory tower mode of discussion and YouTube isn't good for anything except videos of cats." Wow... what about media literacy projects like this, political activism and education like this, or smart détournement like this, or citizen media like this.

Yes, there are lots of stupid things on YouTube and they don't develop a discussion and most users probably don't think critically about media but becoming a producer of media is the beginning of that (in my opinion...maybe I'm wrong). I think it's a fantastic entry way into a smarter, more critically minded, accessible dialogue about media production.

monopoly?

we have read much about the power of media conglamorates, and their desire to control the distribution of information...

i read this story yesterday and felt it was worth sharing...

"Google troubled by Microsoft move"
Internet giant Google urges regulators to scrutinise Microsoft's proposed $44.6bn move to buy Yahoo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/business/7225599.stm

Here is the image one student showed interest in during my presentation. I'm not sure if I did in fact get it from that website which is why I wanted to post it.

In response to the project critisizing ads for prescriptions

I agree that there are over diagnosed illnesses as a result of pharmaceutical marketing campaigns. The most noted would probably be ADHD. However, there are drugs that have benefited the public through advertising. One example would be the Gardsil vaccine. This vaccine, passed by the FDA a little over a year ago protects women (and soon men) from three types of HPV. HPV causes infertility in women and in men can lead to an equal amount of oral and throat cancers as smoking. Another drug that is beneficial is the morning after pill.

Some advertisements may turn some American's into hypochondriacs and cause them to seek assistance from their medical professionals. Others, may spread awareness and protect against potential dangers (preventative medications like Gardisil). If people have such a low concept of themselves and their stability bolstered through anti-depression/ anti-anxiety ads then it may be best that they seek profession help in the form of cognitive therapy.

People that do not take any medicines (Christian Scientists) have been known to die when they get treatable diseases. I hope that this is not the trend. I do not wish to sound bitter but if it is the new way we are dealing with the inundation of pharmaceutical advertisements at least we can cut down on pollution and a swelling population.

I also think pharmaceutical companies are vilified all to frequently. Don't people dislike them because of the costs of their medicine? This is because of intellectual property...within 10 years or so they stop making money because the patent expires and generic companies bid. They they need a new break through. Soon enough they will all be owned by the government.

I am a daughter of a pharmaceutical man...forgive my defense. My dad only went to the FDA to get drugs passed. Since I find him to be honorable I have trouble finding his profession incredibly dishonorable.

Commodifying Dissent

Here is a good article that touches on the discussion we began yesterday on the cooptation of resistance. Please read it by tomorrow if possible. Enjoy!

graffiti

hi everyone,

i know we talked about graffiti yesterday. i just wanted to share a few images i have captured over the years. both, at least in my opinion, contain loaded political messages. the "smash capitalism" pic was taken in tijuana, mexico. the "BU..SH.." pic was taken in denver the first time i visited the city. it is no longer there however.

i know yesterday we spoke of the power of graffiti, whether it was aesthetically pleasing or not... while i appreciate works like the tank more, i do think there is a lot to be said about the second, more basic work...

let me know what you all think.

roberto

Dove Real Beauty Remix

ryeclifton says: "Someone pointed out that Axe and Dove are both owned by Unilever... yet the two brands have very different views when it comes to women."

Steal This Film

I just finished watching part II of this great film about piracy, intellectual property and the future of culture. Its got lots of famous talking heads, but the best part is how they illustrate media innovations as the main force in cultural development (all using public domain images and footage, by the way). Part I is a little less interesting, focusing mostly on the power of filesharing.

The best part is that the whole movie is free and available for download in a few different formats, and is completely funded by donations.

I'm pretty sure the title is based off Abie Hoffman's Steal This Book all about subversive activity.

FAIR: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

I found this website, http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=119 , that contains a 'Media Activist Kit'. This kit contains information on how to detect bias in the news, how to communicate with journalists, how to organize a demonstration, information about the media as a business, resources to check accuracy, and local activists in your area. It is a jump start for anyone who is willing to challenge mainstream media and break away from the hegemony it creates. While a lot of the information may seem obvious to those who care about the media, for many people, it is a wakeup call. Because of the hegemony in the media, many people may not even notice the bias and unfairness in the media. This kit is great for those who are looking for a way to fight mainstream media but do not even know where to begin.

True Majority's Serious Fun Games

Truemajority.com has a section called "Serious Fun" that has the operation game I mentioned in class, in which you "remove President Bush's cabinet." I thought it was a really interesting use of games as propaganda.

I also wanted to point to another really interesting in-game performance art piece called dead-in-iraq where an artist recites all of the killed Iraq soldiers in a game called America's Army which was funded by the government.

Gitlin discussion questions

Hi everyone. I know this reading is dense. Here are some questions to guide you through. Please be prepared to discuss them on Monday. And please don’t be frustrated. Once we get some of these complex ideas down we will be moving on to the fun part—enjoying and critiquing radical media products!

1. What does Gitlin mean by ideology and by the statement “the mass media have become core systems for the distribution of ideology”.

2. What does he mean by the statement “Just as people as workers have no voice in what they make, how they make it, or how the product is distributed or used, so do people as producers of meaning have no voice in what the media make of what they say or do, or the context within which the media frame their activities.”

3. What happens when political movements rely on mass media?

4. What is a media frame? And what were some of the frames used in coverage of SDS described in the chapter Preliminaries?

5. According to Gans, what accounts for prevailing frames?

6. How do standard frames shape coverage of insurgent movements?

7. What is the difference between alternate and oppositional?

8. What do salaries and vacation spot preferences of journalists have to do with hegemony?

9. What are some of the prevailing news standards that dictate how news is covered?

10. What does this mean: “Through the everyday workings of journalism, large-scale social conflict is imported into the news institution and reproduced there: reproduced, however, in terms derived from dominant ideology. Discrepant statements about reality are acknowledged—but muffled, softened, blurred, fragmented, domesticated at the same time.”

11. How do political crises influence hegemonic journalistic routines? Think of a contemporary example?

Hi

I was just wondering if I could possibly borrow a copy of the book from someone for the readings by Sunday? The bookstore is out and the copy from the library is checked out already. I hope my book comes in the mail really soon but I'm not 100% sure it'll get here before Monday.

Thanks,
Tati

Discussion questions for Monday 1-7

According to Downing...
1. What is the impact of small-scale radical media?
2. What is radical media?
3. What are textual poachers (and can you think of some contemporary examples)?
4. Why/how do the terms popular culture and audience contradict each other?
5. What is hegemony? (And can you give some examples?)
6. What is Scott's view of resistance?

Syllabus

Activist Media: A historical overview 1960-2008
MCOM 3150
DMST 3900
MW4:00 pm - 5:50 pm
Mass Communications Building 121
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
Professor Adrienne Russell
Adrienne.russell@du.edu
Office hours: Wednesdays 12:30-1:30 Sturm Hall 216 or by appointment

In studying 1960s-era Students for a Democratic Society, Todd Gitlin demonstrated how the group’s attempts to attract media attention ended with its giving over the movement message to reporters and editors. Today’s alternative cultures use internet and mobile technologies to access and circulate mainstream information, but also to rapidly exchange information that exists outside mainstream media channels. Activist movements today with access to digital tools and networks are no longer dependent on newspapers and broadcast networks to represent them, to disseminate their messages. On the contrary, these wired cultures are developing sophisticated public relations strategies. We are, however, just beginning to see how the proliferation of alternative networks of communication, and the content, practices, and identities they facilitate, interact with traditional political and business organizations, as well as with traditional media products and practices. This course focuses on media activism over the past half-century tied to various movements. We’ll examine the similarities and differences among media strategies with an emphasis on contemporary protest movements and their use of new and old media.

Books
John Downing, Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements
Graham Meikle, Future Active: Media Activism and the Internet

Assignments/Exam
Blog You will receive an invitation via email to join our blog group. Please follow the directions in the email. This is not an extended discussion format as much as it is a graffiti wall and an ongoing exercise in collaborative linking. At least 4 times over the course of the quarter you should contribute to our blog a link and a short review (1 paragraph) of a site, article, example of activist media, art project, news story, or other resource relevant to the reading assignments. Please also post on the blog highlights and links related to your presentation (see below).

Exam
There will be a midterm essay exam.

Presentation In order to integrate diverse material into the course, each student will be asked to present in class an example of media activism (an ad, a website, a video clip, an article, a video game, organization etc.) and present it, explaining how it exemplifies, problematizes, or in some way helps illuminate an issue or idea that we are discussing in the course. The assignment is intentionally not strictly defined. Here are a few guidelines to consider as you plan your presentation: 1) you must show something in class; 2) be prepared to talk to the class about how your media product is related to a particular topic, issue, or theory; 3) consider preparing some questions for the class to encourage involvement in the analysis of your media product; 4) be prepared to speak for at least 10 minutes and not longer than 20 minutes; 5) be absolutely sure to present on the day on which you signed up to present; 6) come talk to me or send me an email if you need help coming up with or refining an idea.

Paper Prospectus
The research prospectus should serve as a plan for your research paper. It should be 3-4 double-spaced pages and should include:
1) a clear statement of your research question;
2) a description of specifically what you are going to look at (ie, audiences/users/producers, media content, media institutions);
3) an outline of the theoretical and empirical literature that will inform your work;
4) a preliminary bibliography.
Final Paper
Choose a theory presented in class or in the readings and apply it to a historical or conteporary activist media product, practice, or phenomenon. Your paper should explore the extent to which your theory is a useful way of understanding your particular object of study.

Your paper should be between 10-15 double-spaced pages and should use either APA or MLA style of bibliographic reference. All papers must build on literature in the field and include a literature review.

Talk to me if you have a different idea about what you would like to research and how you would like to approach your material.

Evaluation
Attendance/Participation 20 percent
Presentation and Blogging 20 percent
Midterm 30 percent
Final Paper and prospectus 30 percent

Schedule
W 1-2 Introduction
M 1-7 Towards a Definition of Alternative/Radical Media: Examining the Relationships between Culture and Politics, Content and Tactics
Reading: Downing 1, 2
W 1-9 Theories and Approaches to Media and Resistance: Networks, Community and and Détournement
Reading: Downing 3, 4, 5
Wikipedia entry Detournment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detournement
Debord, Guy. "A User's Guide to Détournement." http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/detourn.htm
M 1-14 The Whole World is Watching: The relationship between mainstream and activist media in the 60s
Cases: American Civil Rights Movement and Students for a Democratic Society
Reading: Todd Giltin hand out
W 1-16 The History of Memory and Activist Media
Reading: http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/civilrights.html
Downing 7, 8, 9
Film: The Long Nights Journey into Day
M 1-21 MLK Day no class
W 1-23 no class
Radical Media and resistance in everyday life
Reading: Downing 10, 11, 12, 14
M 1-28 The press
Reading: Downing 13, 18, 22
Case studies: Portugual 1974-1975; Samizdot in the former Soviet Republic; and contemporary examples of radical print media
W 1-30 Radio
Reading: Downing 15, 19, 21
Case studies: FIRE; Italian Radiopop and Controradio; KPFA
Guest speaker Margie Thompson of FIRE (not yet confirmed)
http://www.fire.or.cr/indexeng.htm
M 2-4 Video
Reading: Downing 16, 20
W 2-6 Video
Guest speaker Kate Burns and/or Shiela Schroeder (not yet confirmed)
Reading: TBA
M 2-11 no class
W 2-13 Midterm
M 2-18 Introduction to Online activism
Cases: Zapatistas and the global justice movement
Reading: Downing 17, Meikle 1, 2
W 2-20 Power and the Politics of Representation
Reading: Meikle 3,4
M 2-25 Culture Jamming/Hacking
Reading: Meikle 5,6,7
W 2-27 Field trip to Denver Open Media
Reading: TBA
M 3-3 Final presentations
W 3-5 Final presentation
M 3-10 Final presentations
Last day of classes