Wanna Get Scared?
No this isn't about halloween, this is scary cause it's real. This is a real reality check.
It's amazing how much i've been learning here at GH and i'm loving it but the downside is that it's really opening my eyes to some major prolems in out world.
We choose to live in a democracy over another kind of government why? because there is not only one person making the decisions and we select the people that govern our country right? Do you really think that we can make the best possible for our country when the people we are voting for are all just coming up with the bestg story to tell to get them into office. I don't know how Mr.Miguinty (can't spell) is still in power. Can't the people do something when a Leader doesn't do what they said they were going to do? why do they go unpunished? Anyways I'm getting sidetracked. My point is that we put our trust into certian sources of media. The medium of newspaper for example, we like to think that they report without an agendum and tell it as it is. This may be true but we can never know the stories that they DON'T tell. The fact that newspaper don;t report on certian things is a scary thought isn't it? But it's a real thing. Also Newspapers can lie.
Just because a newspaper is sucessful doesn't mean that they are trustworthy. Look at the story about New York Times reporter Jayson Blair. He resigned when people found out that faked stories and quotes, plagiarized other publications and filed fake expense reports to make it appear he was traveling on assignment when he was actually at his home in Brooklyn.
This man made up news, for at least 36 of his stories. And it slipped past the Editors or they read it and believed it without checking Blairs sources. I'm not saying that the Times isn't trust worthy i 'm just saying you need to just as careful when reading the paper as when reading articles or webpages on the internet. Oh yeah i forgot to mention this man was reporting fake news in 2003, so new technology wouln't have helped the editors check Blairs sources this story could have happened last week, or can happen again it's just a matter of time before it comes to our knowledge. Check out the story your self at
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/05/10/ny.times.reporter/index.html
Some scary stuff no? And i don't mean to pick on the times but it's just that they are such a trusted BIG paper that influence so many peoples lives. I talk about influence so much because i am relating to Marshall McLuhans "rearview mirror" theory in which he tells us how the Future's Future is the present. In essence Two steps forward one step back. The way we are in the future is judged and formed by what happened before. We are all influenced by every event in our lives, every word we hear, every T.V show we consume, and every newspaper article we read. McLuhan states that the only people capable of living in the present are artists. If you want to see the present you should look toward modern art. For example right before the industrial revelution was over modern artists were using scraps of metal from abandoned factories to make their art work. If people look at this for what it was they would have realized that the industrial revelution was over.
Sorry again getting sidetracked but i was just making the point that in order to see the present we need to look toward the artist. And the new medium for artists is the Internet. Yes the internet can be used for art, and not just posting pretty paintings in the textbook defenition of art but i'm talking about multimedia art. New technology that allows artist to get their message across. The greatest example of this is www.theyrule.net This is a website. This is art. Not what's on the website but the site itself. If you haven't clicked the link yet i'll tell you what They Rule. net is about. It allows users to see who owns what and who sits on what board of directors but that's only a fraction of what you can do. You can run searchs on the companies through google and other sites right from theyrule.net . You can search what lobbists companies support and where they donate their money, same with the individual directors of the companies. One of the most interesting links I've found on the site is the very close link between Coke and Pepsi, sworn enemies? think again. they are linked to the same pharmasutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb. Robert E. Allen who sits on the Pepsi board of directors also sits on the Bristol-Myers Squibb board along with James D. Robinson III who sits on the Coca Cola board of directors.
The funny part of this is that Bristol-Myers Squibb's website, which is given to me by theyrule.net, tells us that and i quote
"Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and related health care products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. Bristol-Myers Squibb's 43,000 employees are dedicated to discovering, developing and providing innovative medicines that address significant medical needs of patients worldwide. And by living our mission and growing our company for well over a century, we are also making a difference in the lives of our shareholders, employees and neighbors."
Extend and enhance human life? The 2 biggest soft drink companies make energy drinks like Full Throttle which contain large amounts of caffine and recommend that you do not exceed more than one serving of the product a day. They make these along with their original products which contain huge amounts of sugar and caffine. These drinks are not good for us we know this but 1 man from each Pepsi and Coke sit on Bristol-Myers Squibb board of directors why? I'll let you think about that for yourself, i'm providing you with facts you do what you like with them. See the Map connecting the 2 companies at www.theyrule.net/2004/index.php?mapid=2479
Alright Back to newspapers, I'm sorry if this is hard to follow but i'm writing this watching the clock hit....2:20am so yeah. The New York Times has to have sponsers, it has to have advertising agreements, you think it would do anything to harm the companies that are giving them this money? No. Take for example if Johnson and Johnson make a defective batch of something, the NYT is not going to make a big deal out of this. It won't be on the front page i can garentee that. Unless the article is about how well the company handled the situation that was not their fault and you can bet nothing goes to print about J&J unless Henry B. Schacht reviews it. Henry B. Schacht is on both the J&J board of directors and the NYT board. Check this map i created on theyrule.net to see what other companies share a board member with the New York Times. http://www.theyrule.net/2004/index.php?mapid=2478 on this map you can also see the connection between Pepsi and Coke again.
Influence is a scary thing. These Board members are controling what media we consume. What information to give us and how to give it to us, the masses. And we have no control, we do not elect these people. We buy and consume their products we are doing exactly what they want.
Just take what you have learned here, if anything, and use it to help you think twice about what you do and what you read. I also encourage you to use www.theyrule.net to make and view maps for yourself. If you find an interesting map let me know. I want to leave you with a link to another very interesting modern art website http://mccd.udc.es/orihuela/epic/
This artists medium of choice is flash animation, another modern form of art. Listen to the ideas expressed here, they are very real and possible in the near future.
Take care,
As Always,
-Pete-
It's amazing how much i've been learning here at GH and i'm loving it but the downside is that it's really opening my eyes to some major prolems in out world.
We choose to live in a democracy over another kind of government why? because there is not only one person making the decisions and we select the people that govern our country right? Do you really think that we can make the best possible for our country when the people we are voting for are all just coming up with the bestg story to tell to get them into office. I don't know how Mr.Miguinty (can't spell) is still in power. Can't the people do something when a Leader doesn't do what they said they were going to do? why do they go unpunished? Anyways I'm getting sidetracked. My point is that we put our trust into certian sources of media. The medium of newspaper for example, we like to think that they report without an agendum and tell it as it is. This may be true but we can never know the stories that they DON'T tell. The fact that newspaper don;t report on certian things is a scary thought isn't it? But it's a real thing. Also Newspapers can lie.
Just because a newspaper is sucessful doesn't mean that they are trustworthy. Look at the story about New York Times reporter Jayson Blair. He resigned when people found out that faked stories and quotes, plagiarized other publications and filed fake expense reports to make it appear he was traveling on assignment when he was actually at his home in Brooklyn.
This man made up news, for at least 36 of his stories. And it slipped past the Editors or they read it and believed it without checking Blairs sources. I'm not saying that the Times isn't trust worthy i 'm just saying you need to just as careful when reading the paper as when reading articles or webpages on the internet. Oh yeah i forgot to mention this man was reporting fake news in 2003, so new technology wouln't have helped the editors check Blairs sources this story could have happened last week, or can happen again it's just a matter of time before it comes to our knowledge. Check out the story your self at
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/05/10/ny.times.reporter/index.html
Some scary stuff no? And i don't mean to pick on the times but it's just that they are such a trusted BIG paper that influence so many peoples lives. I talk about influence so much because i am relating to Marshall McLuhans "rearview mirror" theory in which he tells us how the Future's Future is the present. In essence Two steps forward one step back. The way we are in the future is judged and formed by what happened before. We are all influenced by every event in our lives, every word we hear, every T.V show we consume, and every newspaper article we read. McLuhan states that the only people capable of living in the present are artists. If you want to see the present you should look toward modern art. For example right before the industrial revelution was over modern artists were using scraps of metal from abandoned factories to make their art work. If people look at this for what it was they would have realized that the industrial revelution was over.
Sorry again getting sidetracked but i was just making the point that in order to see the present we need to look toward the artist. And the new medium for artists is the Internet. Yes the internet can be used for art, and not just posting pretty paintings in the textbook defenition of art but i'm talking about multimedia art. New technology that allows artist to get their message across. The greatest example of this is www.theyrule.net This is a website. This is art. Not what's on the website but the site itself. If you haven't clicked the link yet i'll tell you what They Rule. net is about. It allows users to see who owns what and who sits on what board of directors but that's only a fraction of what you can do. You can run searchs on the companies through google and other sites right from theyrule.net . You can search what lobbists companies support and where they donate their money, same with the individual directors of the companies. One of the most interesting links I've found on the site is the very close link between Coke and Pepsi, sworn enemies? think again. they are linked to the same pharmasutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb. Robert E. Allen who sits on the Pepsi board of directors also sits on the Bristol-Myers Squibb board along with James D. Robinson III who sits on the Coca Cola board of directors.
The funny part of this is that Bristol-Myers Squibb's website, which is given to me by theyrule.net, tells us that and i quote
"Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and related health care products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. Bristol-Myers Squibb's 43,000 employees are dedicated to discovering, developing and providing innovative medicines that address significant medical needs of patients worldwide. And by living our mission and growing our company for well over a century, we are also making a difference in the lives of our shareholders, employees and neighbors."
Extend and enhance human life? The 2 biggest soft drink companies make energy drinks like Full Throttle which contain large amounts of caffine and recommend that you do not exceed more than one serving of the product a day. They make these along with their original products which contain huge amounts of sugar and caffine. These drinks are not good for us we know this but 1 man from each Pepsi and Coke sit on Bristol-Myers Squibb board of directors why? I'll let you think about that for yourself, i'm providing you with facts you do what you like with them. See the Map connecting the 2 companies at www.theyrule.net/2004/index.php?mapid=2479
Alright Back to newspapers, I'm sorry if this is hard to follow but i'm writing this watching the clock hit....2:20am so yeah. The New York Times has to have sponsers, it has to have advertising agreements, you think it would do anything to harm the companies that are giving them this money? No. Take for example if Johnson and Johnson make a defective batch of something, the NYT is not going to make a big deal out of this. It won't be on the front page i can garentee that. Unless the article is about how well the company handled the situation that was not their fault and you can bet nothing goes to print about J&J unless Henry B. Schacht reviews it. Henry B. Schacht is on both the J&J board of directors and the NYT board. Check this map i created on theyrule.net to see what other companies share a board member with the New York Times. http://www.theyrule.net/2004/index.php?mapid=2478 on this map you can also see the connection between Pepsi and Coke again.
Influence is a scary thing. These Board members are controling what media we consume. What information to give us and how to give it to us, the masses. And we have no control, we do not elect these people. We buy and consume their products we are doing exactly what they want.
Just take what you have learned here, if anything, and use it to help you think twice about what you do and what you read. I also encourage you to use www.theyrule.net to make and view maps for yourself. If you find an interesting map let me know. I want to leave you with a link to another very interesting modern art website http://mccd.udc.es/orihuela/epic/
This artists medium of choice is flash animation, another modern form of art. Listen to the ideas expressed here, they are very real and possible in the near future.
Take care,
As Always,
-Pete-
posted by -Pete- at 2:47 a.m.
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