Poverty and poor health are intertwined, experts say
Yes, poverty in the US.
Found an article via Bruce Schneier's blog that proposes we treat at terrorists as pirates in the legal sense. That's the problem with conventional thinking when dealing with insurgents/terrorists/guerillas. Having a nation to nation type conflict did not work in Vietnam, in Lebanon for the Israelis, or even our own American Revolution for the Brits.
2 American Citizens refused entry back into the US unless they agree to questioning...in Pakistan, a country known not to adhere to international laws about interrogation and torture. That's right, American Citizens who have not been charged with a crime.
Christian zealots destroy ancient Arctic petroglyphs. Sort of reminds me of when the Taliban were destroying buddha statues. Those whacky fundies!
I have been taking part in a program that chooses random households across the US to ask surveys. Companies pay this company to take a random rampling of people so they may get a better idea of what the average American citizen thinks. Usually the surveys are pretyt boring. Questions about shaving, toothpaste, etc... Today, however, the survey was about the Reserves and National Guard. Specifically about the effectiveness of their recruitment advertisements via TV, radio, and print media. I was asked about any advertisements I had seen, my reaction to it, how it made me feel about that particular branch, and whether I could relate to the main character or not.
It seems that they are seeking to better their recruiting via the media since levels are at an all time low. From the questions I was asked, it seems likely that new advertisements will be made so a connection can be made about the character and the viewer. So the average American family man/woman by day, (insert branch name here) reservist by weekend. At the end, they asked my political persuasion... I'll have to go more in detail about my political beliefs one day. Suffice to say, I am neither Republican, nor Democrat. Don't even start with saying "Liberal".
Looking through some of the headlines today.
- Suspicious package leads to bomb threat - turns out to be birthday present
- Bomb scare at Seattle Port
- Radioactive injection causes Vancouver man to trip border alarm
- Flight diverted to Logan International after passenger found with a screwdriver, matches and a jar of vaseline
I gave up looking for more after a while...
Lately I've seen a dramatic increase in the use of words that by all definitions are tied to an ideology and are now used to invoke a Pavlovian response. Instead of providing facts and logical arguments, the easiest way to win an argument these days is to call the opponent evil, a terrorist, fascist, Communist, Nazi, and my new favourite, Godless. Misuse of these words only serves to take away from their true meanings. It is time we learn the true definitions of these words so that we may address those that misuse them.
Today I had the opportunity to watch the original unedited version of "Gojira (1984)". It's been very hard finding the original Japanese version with English subtitles. I would really like to find the original black and white "Gojira (1954)", but that is for another day. I watched many Godzilla movies when I was a child and have always had fond memories of the series. The significance of finding the original unedited copy is that in the case of the 1984 version (titled Godzilla 1985 for the US audience) it was re-edited as some of the subjects appeared "un-American". The Japanese version states that Godzilla himself was mutated from the nuclear tests performed by the Americans in the 1950s. There is also a significant section of about the use of nuclear weapons to attack Godzilla as proposed by both the Americans and the Russians (USSR). The US edit shows the Americans in a totally different light. We are the trying to aid Japan with this threat while the Russians almost started a full out nuclear war. One has to remember that we were in the cold war when the movie was released. The underlying theme of the original version is the danger of nuclear weapons. That theme is not apparent in the US edit.
What is the point of all of this? I've explained things in an excruciating manner to show that while we may not be aware of it, the media we are subject to contain hidden meanings and agendas. That which does not go with the current policy is altered to fit. If a simple movie designed for children was altered, it makes one wonder what other agendas are being passed along in our everyday media. Instead of teaching the same lesson about the dangers of nuclear weapons to our children, it was used as propaganda. Over time, this would be reinforced from many different fronts. Unfortunately, things have not changed much since then. If anything, methods have grown in sophistication. All forms of media are subject to abuse by those that seek to further their agenda. It is up to us, the consumer of such media to determine objectivity and not be afraid to question.
In other news, I saw "World Trade Center"
Found a great link to a report put together that compares statistics of deaths by other means (smoking, car crash, etc...) vs 9/11. Slightly dated, but quite an eye opener.
