Blog for William's Intro Group

I'm so sorry but I had to...

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:10:00 +0000

Watch with the sound right up! :) (it will be in your head all day!!)

Final Post!

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Firstly I'd like to say, I've really enjoyed our group meetings. I've learnt alot from the lectures, but most of all I've learnt alot from the different views from everyone in our group. It's helped me understand how diverse the topics in our lectures can be. :)
Now, after that heart-warming moment, my final blog. And amazingly enough, its NOT about healthcare!
My website that I've chosen, doesn't typify America, not in a conventional way anyway, I think it shows a different side to America, one that isn't always visible and is considered slightly tabboo to talk about. I will try and explain as best I can...
Frank Warren set up Post Secret, a mail art project. Initially he placed blank postcards in libraries, banks and shops with written instructions and addressed to himself. The intructions said to remain anonymous. They also said to write a secret down that you had never told anyone and try to make it as creative as possible. Immediatley Frank began to recieve secrets, and he recieved more than the amount of postcards he had given out. He then began to exhibit the postcards in art galleries, on a small scale. The idea behind post secret then became extremely well known through a music video, by All American Rejects- Dirty Little Secret, which showed postcards from Frank's first book PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives.

After this, Frank set up a blog spot, where every Sunday he posts 20 new secrets. To date he has exhibited over 2,500 postcards, and recieved hundreds of thousands.
According to Youth Trends' February 2008 "Top Ten List Report" PostSecret was the 10th most popular site amongst female students in the USA, with 7% of those polled naming the site as their favorite. Frank Warren is currently hosting events at numerous colleges to speak about the many different secrets of today's society. An art exhibition, also currently traveling the country, showcases many of the hundreds of thousands of secrets Warren has received.
Frank has released 4 books, and is currently compiling the 5th book. However the publishing of the books lead to people placing their own postcards with their secrets on in the actual books, allowing the person who buys it to keep their own anonymous secret.
The subjects of the secret could be anything, ranging from hopes and regrets, embarrassing habbits and criminal activity, memories from childhood and sexual misconduct. The only rule is they must be true and they must never have been told to anyone.
Ive been following Post secret for around 3 years now. I have the books and regularly read the blog spot. Some of the secrets are funny.

Some are shocking.

When Ive read some of the secrets, I can imagine them to be cathartic for people. Its not just Americans, everyone has secrets, but Postsecret has allowed for confrontation of the self, it has allowed people to take a look at themselves and not be so worried. Its a typical situation of 'I'm the only one'. Post secret enables people to band together and realise that our secrets arent really secrets atall. They are unifying qualities amongst people.
I think it does typify America in a way. Its the unseen America, the things that people dont want to talk about, but know is there and wont go away.
Post secret has made me laugh, it has made me cry but most of all has shown me that people dont have to unite over social groupings, religious views or have to be a slave to the media, but can find a common ground in their secrets. Shameful, embarrassing, shocking, funny and cringeworthy. :)

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Have a look, maybe see if the library has any of Frank's books, you should definitley have a look at them.

The coca cola company

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra Whitehead) — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:18:00 +0000

As company's still exploit there customers and workforce, we need to look at exactly how they sell there products in the first place.
The coca cola company which first started in 1886 in Atlanta was at first marketing there drink as a medicinal drink which then later became the coke we know today.
The coca cola company also made other types of coke to attract other markets for example cherry coke and vanilla coke etc there are over 15 different types of coke on the market today including raspberry and orange.
The company's adverts have also change over time as well.

This is the older version of many well know ads like the Christmas Santa truck.

Other adverts are mainly based on TV and have also changed over time.

This is one of the newest adverts which is of a strange world which only makes coca cola and should how much effort the strange looking characters go to to make coca cola.

This ad is trying to show that by drinking coca cola you are a part of the world and that you can all make music together.

noreply@blogger.com (Megan Lawton) — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:00:00 +0000

American Consumerism is a topic I find really interesting to deconstruct and analyse as when considering any form of advertisements produced by American for brands such as Mcdonalds, Wal-mart, Apple etc, there is always a hidden meaning hidden within the product which is most commonly found within the American Dream. I have chosen to research the food outlet "Wendy's" as firstly it is a brand which is easily recognised on a high street and secondly I feel it is a brand which most typifies America.

"Wendys" began its long history in Nov 15th 1969 when Dave Thomas "Opened the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers Restaurant, he created something new and different- high quality food made with the freshest ingredients, served the way the customer wanted". With the 6000th Wendy's restuarant introduced in 2001 the statement above reflects a somewhat replected notion of fast-food restaurants throughout America, trying to create a restaurant which produces high quality food yet is aimed at the mass market. Wendy's in itself is therefore not just a brand, but an identity. Not only does it produce food, it creates and recreates an ideology of American society.

When researching the "Wendy's" website, you are immediatly drawn to the homepage portraying a selection of 3 burgers at a cost of 99 cent each (which from my calculations is about 50p each?) Each burger and its fillings look mass made whereby the ability to create a burger at this cost questions its use of ingredients, staff and manufacture costs, therefore in producing the ideology of fast-food chains within America. what affect is this having on people's income?

http://www.wendys.com/

Consumerism in America

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:46:00 +0000

When thinking about consumption in America of commodities, instantly springing to mind is Mcdonalds, Starbucks, Apple and Walmart. Iv done my blog on the clothing company GAP.
GAP was founded in 1969, by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher, and has since become the largest apparel retailer in America. There are 3465 GAP stores across the world in over 15 countries.
In 2003, Gap was sued by sweat shop workers in Saipan, The allegations included "off the clock" hours, where workers were not paid for working overtime, unsafe working conditions, and forced abortion policies. However in 2006, Gap was named in the top 100 most ethical companies. However in 2007, a documentary broadcast on the BBC, showed child labor in India in GAP factories.
The idea of GAP as a lifestyle rather than the products themselves really showed in an advert campaign from around 4 years ago

The ad campaign features Madonna and Missy Elliot, the idea of the advert is that if you buy GAP jeans you could look like Madonna and Missy Elliot, (Although I'm not too sure if there are many people out there who would volutarily look like Madonna, and if GAP make jeans big enough to fit Missy Elliot how come I struggle so damn much to find them?!) The advert epitomises the consumerist society, the advert is not selling clothing. It's selling an ideology and a lifestyle.

Crash review

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra Whitehead) — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:08:00 +0000

Crash review

BBC Review
It's hard to describe Crash without it sounding earnest. But while this provocative drama tackles racism, class and looking beyond appearances, it's anything but worthy or dull. Following several lives as they, yes, crash together during one day in LA, it's fuelled by powerhouse performances from an outstanding cast. Sandra Bullock is startling as a bitchy housewife, Don Cheadle brings beaten-down grace to the role of a weary detective and, as a racist cop, Matt Dillon's steely presence holds everything together.

Some critics have criticised Crash for its reliance on coincidence. Which, given it's a deliberately structured modern parable, is a bit like damning War Of The Worlds for having aliens. Writer/director Paul Haggis (who scripted Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winner Million Dollar Baby) sets out to address difficult issues: why middle-class whites are afraid of working-class blacks, why being racist doesn't necessarily mean being inhuman, and how politics confuses the truth ("What are you, the ****ing defender of all things white?" yells William Fichtner's scheming internal affairs officer at Cheadle).

"FEW FILMS ARE AS DARING"

It perhaps isn't as accomplished as Magnolia (a great film, which revels in its absurdity) or Short Cuts (another LA story dominated by a twisted cop). But Crash's problems (a self-important score and overwrought finale) pale next to its emotional impact. Few films feature scenes as powerful as the contrasting car clashes between Dillon and Thandie Newton (both moments heart-in-mouth horrifying in different ways ). Few films are as daring. Few films this year are as deserving of your attention.

Although this is a good review of crash it does not look at class and how this effects the characters and the issues.
It also doesn't look at how smaller issues effect the characters such as area,age and educational background.

Crash Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (Megan Lawton) — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:37:00 +0000

When researching the movie Crash, I found the "Rotten Tomatoes" film review website to be of great help. Not only does it give numerous reviews of the film from various critics, but also states its popularity (on the Tomatometer) and the number of positive reviews (75%) circulated after its initial theatrical launch in 2005. One particular review which caught my eye detailed the difficulties with having a multi-culturalist society where unspoken racial disagreements exist:

"A film teeming with solemn recognition of the nasty complexities of living in a multi-cultural society, and much of what remains unspoken racially in America being neatly shoved under a complacent rug"

Crash

"Set logically in LA, the road rage capital of the world, Crash weighs in on the explosive mix of cars and race that notoriously tends to play out there. Paul Haggis, who just struck it rich with his screenplay for Million Dollar Baby moves on from baby's skid row to for his directing debut in a movie that weaves in and out of the harrowing and yet often deeply touching high anxiety network along the California race and class divide....Haggis, unlike the typical filmmaker who sees no value in connecting to the larger world around him, let along history, creates raw candid and bracing drama out of all the unspoken race and class tensions that surround and on occasion intrude into our waking lives. This is by no means a simple task, and Haggis is sometimes lured into the pitfalls of emotional excess and contrived coincidences. Latching onto the current popularity of inverted narrative, where a connection among the characters is revealed later rather than sooner, Haggis builds his story with a measured and haunting pace. Spontaneous racial hostility and fear break out around a series of car crashes. A pair of young ghetto carjackers cause otherwise upstanding elites, like the wealthy housewife played by Sandra Bullock, to morph into perpetrators of foul racism, as against the Latino locksmith securing the newly paranoid women's front door. Matt Dillon, a cop who is stressed out by a medical bureaucracy that isnt properly caring for his ailing Father, irrationally retaliates by hurling mean spirited racial epithets over the phone to a Black medical office worker, and further on later works of his resentments by molesting an affluent Black female motorist (Thandie Newton) under the pretext of frisking her. These are just some examples of a film teeming with solemn recognition of the nasty complexities of living in a multi-cultural society, and much of what remains unspoken racially in America being neatly shoved under a complacent rug. But far from just a self-critical expose, Crash is also a search for goodness even in the darkness heart in real world we live in. And potential redemption that is in no way the easy happy ending, but tentatively seeks to lead in that enormously difficult direction"

by Prairie Miller, May 22nd 2007

As we can see from this review, Crash is not simply a film highlighting racism, but racism in all its forms. It reflects the need for a multi-culturalist society, to prevent the seperation of different cultures but also shows the inevitable difficulties whereby each race is taken advantage of and no respect is given or recieved. Focussing particularly on Sandra Bullocks character, we see a strong independant women fearful of her families safety within their own home after a car robbery, whilst on the contrary, the thieves themselves feel anger towards people sterotyping and being fearful of them because of their background. This presents a somewhat interesting analogy whereby sterotyping different cultures prevents the initial problem from being solved and in many ways makes the problem worse through exaggeration (i.e. Bullock wanting the locks changed again after she chooses not to trust the Latino locksmith).

The film poster above I also found to be quite iconic, where the man pictured holds his daughter in a strong embrace, at the part of the film when he thinks she has been shot, obviously reflecting gun crime as a major part of society. This is one of many film posters of which may in particular cause a discussion as the the film title does not immediatley relate to the image depicted, therefore creating controversy around the proposed reading of the text and what the director is trying to say to his audiences through this portrayal.

markwbicknell@hotmail.com (markwbicknell) — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:17:00 +0000

As the movie was heavily centred around issues of race, i decided that to throw a unique twist on this weeks blog task, i would endeavour to track down a review from an organisation such as the KKK. I wasn't able to find any review from their site but i found this one from a white supremacist.

The review is very long and is often filled with nothing more than racist rhetoric. I have however, placed intersting sements of this review in italics to make it easier to read. I would though, consider the whole interview to be read.

Crash : Hollywood makes a Racist Movie
by Shaun Walker

American Dissident Voices Broadcast of March 18, 2006
(Racist American website)

A scene from Crash

Hello, welcome to American Dissident Voices, I'm your host, Shaun Walker.
The Academy Award for the best film produced in 2005 was a big surprise this year. The movie Crash won three Academy Awards. It won Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. The Jews in Hollywood are not omnipotent and occasionally good movies are made. About 10 years ago, the movie Braveheart swept the Academy Awards. Braveheart, written and directed by Mel Gibson, had many historical errors, but the content of White men, acting as healthy White men, without any pro-Jewish messages, made that a really good film. But, Braveheart wasn't racial.

Prior to this Academy Awards ceremony, the Jew newspapers and TV shows started to build up a really sick movie that is openly pro-faggot. That movie is called Brokeback Mountain. I have not seen that film, but if all the Jews and powerful government officials in America agree that it is a film that portrays faggots in a good light, then it must be very sick.

Personally, I don't care for horror movies. I just think they are pointless and socially speaking they have nothing of value to add to our society. I recall the Russian President Putin has stated that the horror movies that Hollywood produces are sick and demented and only harm society. He went further to state that the very productions of these sick horror movies are socially irresponsible and, I agree, although I really haven't given the matter too much thought.

The matter of judging movies for their moral contents is not popular with Americans. America's culture has a deep-rooted sense of independence that some see as anarchistic. But, however one views this, it is a fact that Americans do not look at movies from a sense of "right or wrong," but rather from an entertainment value alone. In this regard, the comments by President Putin might sound cold and authoritarian to many Americans. Americans are really quite unaware of the fact that movies, just like TV shows, music, books, etc., are media tools that mold public opinion and can be very influential, both good and bad. Americans view certain politicians as being "Right-Wing" or "Liberal," and some Americans view some newspapers and magazines in the same manner. There is a very rare case where the movie director and producer, Michael Moore, has been labeled as being very liberal and his movies reflect this. In the same manner, the Negro Producer/Director Spike Lee is viewed as having a bias for his Negro race, which he does. Also, after the movie The Passion of the Christ became so controversial, Mel Gibson is now regarded as the most "Right-Wing" of movie producers.

This really is nothing new. Throughout the existence of making films, like all written and spoken words, movies are biased to the views of the person that makes them. But, great directors such as Alfred Hitchcock or Francis Ford Coppola have never been labeled as such. The greatest of all the Silent Movies was directed by D.W. Griffin and called Birth of a Nation. This movie was openly pro-White and still holds the unbeatable record of being continuously in the movie theatres for over 29 years non-stop. With home entertainment what it is today, it is practically guaranteed that there will never be another movie to ever be in theatres that long again. But still, D.W. Griffin wasn't really labeled as a Liberal or Conservative. He was really just mainstream. When Birth of a Nation was made, Americans were very racially aware and proud, so the movie didn't shock anyone. It was just a film about the when the Negroes went ape after the Southern states were conquered and the cruel period called the "Reconstruction." The KKK was a natural manifestation from Southern Whites to stop the violence that the Negroes were committing against them. Birth of a Nation was simply a film of this event, taken from a popular novel around that time called The Clansmen, written by Thomas Dixon. It was a good film, but certainly not revolutionary or out of the norm for its time.

There have been a few movies that do seem to sneak under the Jewish radar and make it through. The movie Crash is one of those types of movies. There was a movie made in the 1980s, starring Tom Berenger and Debra Winger, called Betrayed. This movie was a fairly good movie that very loosely portrayed the life of Robert Mathews and The Order, also known as the Silent Brotherhood.

There was another movie in the 1980s called They Live starring the then famous wrestler, Rowdy Roddy Pipper. In the film Mr. Pipper was the blue-collar worker who stumbled upon a pair of glasses. When you put the glasses on, they showed that all the media was controlled by one group of people, who were using the power of the media to totally control the planet. The movie They Live was science fiction, because it had the group that controlled the media as space aliens. But, if you were to just look at the ugly space aliens as Jews, then the entire movie is very, very poignant to our current struggle against the Jews. Both of these movies are very much worth watching for racially aware people. And, so is this new movie Crash .

The two movies I just mentioned from the 1980s were both laced with many aspects that were basically "political disclaimers," which lowered the social value for our racial struggle, but the movie Crash doesn't really have any of those blatant falsehoods. In fact Crash has so many different angles going on at once, that it really reminds me of Russian literature. I'm not saying this was as convoluted and mysterious as Russian literature, but Crash really did have a sense of unknown and variety, while maintaining a solid plot. For those White Nationalists that are not familiar with Russian literature, you are missing out. If you want to treat yourself, then read anything written by Michael Lermontov. Not only was Lermontov the greatest Russian writer during the peak of the 19th century Russian classics, but he also was very racist, very nationalist, and hated the Jews with a passion.

But, this is what makes the movie Crash so unique. I don't know when I have seen a Hollywood movie that reminded me of classic Russian literature.

During the 1990s there were a few movies that delved into the dynamics of racism a bit further. The now very famous actors Russell Crowe made his big break into film with the now skinhead classic film called Romper Stomper. It is very fitting that this film was made in Australia about a group of young Aussie skinheads trying to keep their country White. With all the racial violence in Australia that is currently taking place, Romper Stomper has proved prophetic.

A '90s film that touched on racial problems was Falling Down starring the Jew Michael Douglas. This wasn't nearly as racist as Romper Stomper, but there were some really powerful points in the movie. Falling Down was also very strongly loaded with political disclaimers.

Of all the movies I've cited, Falling Down has a story plot more on the same lines as Crash . Now I don't want to get into details about Crash , because I would like you, the listeners to watch this movie. I've always hated when people give away the movie plot or tell me what is going to happen next, so I'll avoid doing that. But in Falling Down and Crash they are just a series of events taking place in Los Angeles, California. Both have racial problems that come to the fore. But, after that is where Crash becomes a soon-to-be cult classic of it own.

I know other cult classics, such as Clockwork Orange has a deeper message within it, but Crash isn't the same. Crash is just a never-ending series of very normal events, very good acting, very interesting circumstances, and this movie seems to intentionally avoid those annoying political-disclaimers. In fact, this might be the most Politically Incorrect movie made since the German classic "Jud Suss," which was back in 1944. There are so many little racial digs and cut-downs throughout the movie Crash , that I literally just sat waiting to see some very unrealistic political disclaimer thrown in, to neutralize the overtly racial material. Crash didn't do this. Instead there were some scenes of deep emotional circumstances with non-Whites, which might slightly annoy hardcore White Nationalists. In fact, there are so many non-Whites in this movie, that when most White Nationalists look at the video cover when renting a video, they would probably pass it by because of so many non-White actors.
Actually, the cast in Crash was really surprising with so many big names such as Matt Dillon and Sandra Bullock. These people all play believable characters and there is one more twist to this story. For those listeners that enjoy Ancient Greek classics or have ever read an Ancient Greek Tragedy, then you will be familiar with another aspect of Crash .

Most films made in Hollywood these days are just simple with their plot. They are so simple that they all repeat the same message. It's almost like a childhood "right and wrong" where the good guys always win and the bad guys are always caught. I am so sick of these stupid plots. These films are not reality therefore they cannot teach anything. In reality, there is a little good and bad in everyone. In the Ancient Greek Tragedies, it was hard to find a good guy and often, the entire cast was a pack of backstabbers. William Shakespeare brought events into focus with a similar manner, which is why his stories are so powerful, aside from his unique, masterful command of the language. Shakespeare's plays, the event and characters are timeless and realistic. All the Hollywood "shoot-em-up" action movies are so focused on explosions and special effects that a plot is often left out.

I once saw an ancient Roman play performed that was just done for historical purposes to show how they were conducted. It was only about five minutes long. After that another play of sorts called a "mime" was performed, also about five minutes long. I don't recall the name of either of these, but that's not important. These were plays that survived intact and I was amazed at how, in just five minutes, a few actors in togas could grab my attention and form a complex plot. The "mime" was even less so, materially speaking, but just as powerful. The "mime" was one single actor on stage, which never talked. There was a loud voice that boomed out behind the stage that represented the "thoughts" that the acting "mime" was thinking. It was fantastic. It also showed how much more intellectually superior was the Roman entertainment compared to our own.

This is one obvious fact in America, since the trouble-filled 1960s, in which the US has lowered the standards for US schools to such a low level that allows the majority of Negroes to graduate. At this lower, dumb-down level, everything has been lowered, including literature and movies. Hollywood can produce a movie costing $100 million dollars that might bring $200 million in profits, but has the stupidest plot. This is just a part of the decline of America, and with the Jews at the helm, this is unavoidable.

In Crash , the plot does not revolve around any of the characters in the story. The different scenarios taking place in the movie form a mosaic of a society that is being torn apart by racial conflict in the most subtle manner. This is similar to "death by a thousand pin-pricks." All of the scenarios have true-to-life racial strife imbedded within them. This movie goes out of its way to be racial. Many of these racial matters are very subtle and are not highlighted. There are cases were very openly racial dialog starts, but there are cops that are trying to suppress that angle and they do just that in the movie. This gives a very true-to-life ring in the movie. There are parts of the movie where non-Whites share a tender moment with other family members. Those scenes are not racial, but they are needed to build up those particular characters for other aspects of the movie. There is one particular disgusting sex-scene that only lasts about five seconds between a light-skinned Hispanic and a Negro. But, that again is used to set the stage for racial statements. And the best part to all the racism in Crash is it is almost all funny. This is a movie that White Nationalists can and will laugh loudly while watching. And it is so, I mean, just SO rare to have Hollywood produce such a high quality film, that uncovers so much racial tension and social animosity. This movie shows the Jew-led America in 2006, which has been transformed from a race-based White America of the 1950s to an anti-White America of 2006, but it doesn't apologize or try to sneak in Jewish PC disclaimers. The world that the Jews have now created is an anti-cohesive nation. There are no aspects about "diversity" that have united America in any fashion, but the Jews just stick to their plan and pretend it is a marvelous success. The Jews have pushed the diversity propaganda so far that it is just gone stale. It doesn't fit into any day-to-day problems and is nothing other than a Jewish pipe dream. Racial diversity is quite simply racial conflict with one race being overwhelmed and dispossessed by many other races. There is absolutely nothing beneficial to racial diversity and this movie, Crash , in one subtle content after another, portrays this in a very believable manner.

I don't recall when this movie was playing in the theatres. I never heard about it. Only after it won Best Picture did I hear about it. I rented it, with the thought that I might stop the movie midway, as it most likely was just another Hollywood film about nothing. But, after about 10 minutes of watching this film, I knew why it won Best Picture.

The thing is, this is not a film that would have ever been produced by a White Nationalist, and in that is a problem. If a White Nationalist made a film today, they would make another Triumph of the Wills, which was produced by the late Leni Riefenstahl. But, that would be a waste. Americans have been conditioned and are now a brainwashed society, who tries to make sense of the world with a hundred and one disjointed, illogical Jewish myths. This makes many White Nationalists angry at the portion of the White public that is non-racial. White Nationalists will say these people are stupid, which they are not. The non-racial White masses of America are a cross section of every aspect of this country, with very brilliant and very responsible people in the non-racial category. The oversimplification of labeling these people as "stupid" is useless. These people have been brainwashed with lies and errors and the vast majority of them can be brought back into our White family. But, there needs to be media produced that they can find, that they can relate to, and if it's going to be a movie, it also has to be a movie that they can enjoy. Such a movie has to be able to present racial intricacies in such a manner that it starts from a point of what they think to be true of racial matters. White Nationalists have such a clear understanding of the topic of race that we are just way above their heads on this topic. This is like having one physics research team discussing technical problems with their nuclear accelerator, and then having it filmed and made into a movie. Without any real understanding of this field of physics, the subject matter will bore everyone. Hollywood knows this, so when they produce such a movie, they avoid the many vast technical aspects to the job of the physicists and instead make a love story to surround the movie to keep people's interest. This is something that most White Nationalists don't understand. I've often seen many White Nationalists who try to talk to the general public with racial information that was too far removed from the public's understanding on the existing Zeitgeist on race. I've seen this problem in the most glaring manner. I really do believe we will need to eventually set up an entire school of our own where we can teach "public interaction on the topic of race, 101."

That is why Crash is good for White Nationalists to watch Crash . It is made at a starting level of racial understanding. So many stereotypes on racial matters, which most White Nationalists dismiss as meaningless, are used in this movie. White Nationalists don't address the topic of the evil racist White cop, because we know the truth about this matter. But herein again is the failure with communications. The general public believes in this mythos and it is a big issue to many. Therefore it is a topic the vast majority of Whites can relate to. So, in many regards the movie Crash , is a "back to the basics" of race conflict in America. And, this is something we really need to do in the White nationalist outreach.
There are rules in advertisement and when we promote a socio-political message those same rules for advertisement apply. We must present our message to the public in a manner they understand. If the way we package that message is done poorly, it will be useless. If the subject matter is too advanced for the people it reaches, it is useless. If the material presented does not interface with the public's existing Zeitgeist, then that gap in understanding also makes the material presented useless.

Crash is not a movie designed to help our racial struggle, but the brilliant and fresh approach to presenting the topic of race, as done in Crash is just right on the mark with where the public understanding is racially. I would like to urge all White racial activists to watch Crash and think about how they present OUR CAUSE to the public. I personally think Crash is easily the best movie Hollywood has done on race this decade. Rent it for yourself.

Thanks for listening today, this is Shaun Walker for the White race.

How did this pretentious drivvel win an Oscar? [Insert Ali-G-ism here]

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:19:00 +0000

I have some pretty major issues with this film. I will try and set them out as clear as possible.

1. The high level of racist attitudes within this film- I found that every character in this film attributed an event to race. I.e. The black guys not getting served because they were black, the Asians getting raided because they were Asian. I don’t think this is a relevant attitude in modern day society. I don’t believe everyone attributes negative events solely to ethnic minorities. The only people who tend to do this, are the older generation who grew up with racist beliefs and the hardcore racists which make up a very very insignificant part of society.

2. The Ali G approach to racism- ‘is it cuz i is black’. Attributing other’s attitude to the colour of their skin, the black guys say they didn’t get served in the restaurant because they were black. I know its only a film but maybe the waitress was busy? Maybe she hadn’t seen them come in?

3. Stereotypes- each and every skin colour in this film was played up to in a relentless way
• If your white you must be a racist
• If your black you must be a criminal
• If your Asian you must be controlling and ignorant
• If your oriental you must be stupid
• If your Latino you must be in a gang
I hated the way people were portrayed to match their stereotype. Within 2minutes of the black men entering the film they had stolen a car and produced guns, all opinions aside, in America black men make up a large proportion of the crime. So why play to this stereotype? This film shows that the only way an ethnic minority man solves a problem is through violence (the black guys with the guns, the Asian shooting the Latino) yet another stereotype played up in this film. Why play up to the stereotype? Why not dispel them? Why not show a black man doing well in his life? Why not show a white man being nice to a black woman? Why not show an oriental woman in a high powered job?

4. Everything reduced to issue of race- the exploitation of race in Crash is unrelenting. There’s a part where a TV show or film is being made with one of the main black male characters. The producer/director talks to him about a fellow actor saying he’s speaking less ‘black’ so their worried about black people being able to relate=attributing success as an actor because of ‘how black’ he is. Realistically, this doesn’t really occur. I don’t attribute my success to the fact I’m white, or the fact that I got a job over a black person because I’m white. My success is down to my hard work, the fact I managed to get a job is because I possess the skills others didn’t.

5. Generalisation- shortly after Brendan Fraiser’s car is stolen, he is offered a media deal to show that he doesn’t have negative views of ethnic minorities, because of his car being stolen by a black man, is told all they can get is an ‘Iraqi’ called Saddam. And just because of Saddam Hussein, Fraiser decides that he won’t go near press like that because he doesn’t want anything to do with Hussein, therefore generalising the whole Asian population in with a vicious dictator. This generalisation is grossly unfair, it is also a very odd view to have. I don’t think views like that are evident in society today. Just because Al-Qaeda flew into the twin towers, doesn’t mean that the whole of Iran and Iraq is going to do the same.

Rick: Fuck! Why do these guys have to be black? I mean, why? No matter how we spin this thing, I'm either gonna lose the black vote or I'm gonna lose the law and order vote!
Karen: You know, I think you're worrying too much. You have a lot of support in the black community.
Rick: All right. If we can't duck this thing, we're gonna have to neutralize it. What we need is a picture of me pinning a medal on a black man. Bruce? The firefighter - the one that saved the camp or something - Northridge... what's his name?
Bruce: He's Iraqi.
Rick: He's Iraqi? Well, he looks black.
Bruce: He's dark-skinned, sir, but he's Iraqi, his name's Saddam Hassif.
Rick: Saddam? His name's Saddam? Oh, that's real good, Bruce. Yeah, I'm gonna pin a medal on an Iraqi named Saddam. Give yourself a raise, will you?

6. Thinking that most white people are owed something by black people- Matt Dillons character in an exchange with Shaniqua the HMO, says –

Officer Ryan: You don't like me, that's fine. I'm a prick. But my father doesn't deserve to suffer like this. He was a janitor. He struggled his whole life. Saved enough to start his own company. Twenty-three employees, all of them black. Paid 'em equal wages when no one else was doing that. For years he worked side by side with those men, sweeping and carrying garbage. Then the city council decides to give minority-owned companies preference in city contracts. And overnight, my father loses everything. His business, his home, his wife. Everything! Not once does he blame your people. I'm not asking you to help me. I'm asking that you do this small thing for a man who lost everything so people like yourself could reap the benefits. And do you know what it's gonna cost you? Nothing. Just a flick of your pen.
Shaniqua: Your father sounds like a good man. And if he'd come in here today, I probably would've approved this request. But he didn't come in. You did. And for his sake, it's a real shame! Get him the hell outta my office!
This was one of the most confusing things I found in this film, the stereotype that white people take the ‘glory’ of freeing black people. It’s just not relevant as a view because I don’t believe it exists.

Crash just creates fictional events, to manipulate people into thinking this is relevant. I found the whole thing extremely frustrating. I think it shows the power of the word ‘nigger’ in the film industry. The only reason this film is successful is because is shows racism in its most extreme form, and everyone admits to liking it because it is that, entirely fictional. If everyone agreed with the racist attitudes in the film they wouldn’t admit to liking it through fear of being persecuted by society. It frustrates me, because we saw it again this year at the Oscars. The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke’s comeback film, was the clear winner by a mile, personally its one of the best films I’ve ever seen, it was a dead cert. But Milk won it. Why? Milk wasn’t even that good a film. It won because it showed Homosexuals getting segregated from society and the fight of one man, not surprisingly, who was gay, fighting for gay rights. But oh god forbid, if the Academy ignored the fight of Gay Pride, all hell would break loose. I’m not saying that both Crash and Milk won purely based on their messages, but it has a lot to do with it. I find Crash pretentious and imposing, it portrays a completely fictional and insignificant attitude to racism that frustrated me. I hated the way stereotypes were rammed down my throat, I hated the way everything negative was reduced to race, I hated the way black were shown, white people and Asian people were shown. Asian people got it worse; they were shown with little or no redeeming qualities. I found the whole thing to be a massive racial slur against anyone of any colour. I felt incredibly insulted as I was watching it, I don’t need to be told there is racism in this world because I know it is, but its not as extreme as it makes out to be. I cant decide whether the director is racist or incredibly clever and manipulative, because he’s made enough money from it to merit a glorious retirement. It has began the trend of politically motivated films which frankly are no better than the next film, but win massive appraisal ‘because their showing it like it is’ and ’ its real and deep’. I don’t need this constantly flung at me all the live long day. I go to the cinema to enjoy it, not receive a lecture in social politics.

Obama week 8

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra Whitehead) — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:42:00 +0000

I enjoyed reading The audacity of hope as it seem to flow well and obama laid out his arguments well.The only problem I did find with some of his arguments were that the policys he wished to introduce wouldn't all beable to fit into one term of office.
Learning about parts of his life help me to understand the new president more but I could see that he was trying to win over the reader with these parts of the book.

Obama's first 100 days show us how he can impliment policy and get results weather the results are good or bad.

Obama's first 100 days: Foreign policy
By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Washington

Barack Obama's presidency has been dominated by the economic crisis, but that has not stopped him from trying to launch a massive recalibration of US foreign policy.

Mr Obama has been reaching out to America's foes
The breadth of issues he has tackled in this short time is unprecedented, prompting former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to write recently in the Washington Post that "the possibility of comprehensive solutions is unprecedented".

There is no guarantee that any of it will lead to success over the next four years, but the new administration is aiming high.

Within a few days of his inauguration, Mr Obama started checking off the long to-do list he had discussed during his campaign.

Mending relations

He announced the appointment of a special envoy to the Middle East to tackle the intractable conflict, declaring that peace in the region was "important to the United States and our national interest [and] important to me personally".

He shifted attention away from a war he opposed, in Iraq, back to the "clear and focused goal, to dismantle, disrupt and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan," a mission started under President George W Bush but which lost steam as the Iraq War unravelled.

He reached out to the Muslim world and started mending America's image around the world, declaring he would close the controversial detention centre in Guantanamo Bay.

The administration has launched the country on an important diplomatic enterprise. It now needs to fulfil its vision with a diplomatic plan

Henry Kissinger
Former secretary of state
He sought to reset relations with Russia - and mark what could be turning points in America's relations with Cuba and Iran.

On every foreign trip, in every meeting with a foreign leader, President Obama has said he wants to listen, not dictate, hoping to set the stage for a more co-operative foreign policy.

"I think it's been very important, the tone that President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates have fashioned," says Wendy Sherman, a former Clinton administration official who is now a Principal at the Albright Group, a global strategy firm.

"It is a tone of leading and listening... [Understanding] that the world is a complicated place [and] the United States alone cannot solve all of these problems," she says.

"But also understanding that the US has a responsibility to lead, accepts that responsibility, will be held accountable for that responsibility.

"So, I think they've gotten off to a tremendous start in probably the most complex world I've seen in my lifetime."

But critics say that President Obama's attempts to reach out to allies to win their co-operation is a gamble that has not (so far) paid off.

Commentators writing about Mr Obama's trip to Europe said it was a success on many levels, but he had still come home empty-handed on issues like European troop commitments for Afghanistan.

Changing landscape

So far Mr Obama has delivered plenty of foreign policy vision, but less in the way of substance.

Many experts say that is what the first 100 days are all about - but the gaps need to be filled out soon.

"The administration has launched the country on an important diplomatic enterprise. It now needs to fulfil its vision with a diplomatic plan," wrote Mr Kissinger.

Complicating some of the policy formulations is a fast-changing world.

Crisis and conflicts have erupted in Mexico, Pakistan and even Iraq where violence is rising again.

Elections are changing the political landscape in which the administration has to operate and the interlocutors it ends up with, from Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel to potential new governments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.

Mr Obama made a video message aimed at reassuring Iran
By the president's side is a straight-talking secretary of state with her own star-power and some 60,000 air miles already under her belt - Hillary Clinton.

The administration's new emphasis on diplomacy means the state department is squarely back at the heart of America's efforts to engage with the world, from allies to rivals.

The policy formulation in this administration is a tightly controlled process, closely co-ordinated between the White House, the National Security Council and the Pentagon, with everybody so far seemingly on-message.

The rivalries that plagued the first term of George W Bush have been avoided, despite a cast of very powerful players.

Contrition 'does nothing'

But as he undoes past policies, Barack Obama is also facing criticism, albeit from expected sources.

"I think going abroad and being so contrite for so many alleged sins of the United States is not something that Americans want to see in their leaders when they're travelling abroad," says John Hannah, who was an adviser to former Vice-President Dick Cheney.

He added that the policy of contrition was not even proving effective in changing the behaviour of countries in the world that were of concern to the US, like Iran or Cuba.

President Obama has tried to engage with America's long-time foe, Iran, issuing a video address to both the people and leaders of Iran and calling the country by its official name, the Islamic Republic Iran, to signal that Washington was not seeking regime change.

On Cuba, he has lifted restrictions on travel and remittances for Cuban-Americans, but his handshake with Washington's bete noire, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, prompted critics to say the president had to avoid turning engagement into pandering.

The new approach is helping to change the mood and perhaps even the internal dynamic in places like Tehran and Havana, as Cubans and Iranians start to debate the benefits of engagement with the US.

On her first trip abroad, Mrs Clinton said that by engaging "something positive might actually happen, you never know".

"But if you stand at opposite sides of the room and refuse to engage, it's guaranteed nothing will happen," she added.

The momentum and goodwill are still there and the vision has been laid out in the first 100 days, but the next 1,000 days will determine whether this administration will be able to implement its vision and achieve results or whether it has bitten off more than it can chew in a complex world.

The biggest tests are yet to come.

I agree.

More on feminism...

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:40:00 +0000

As I just logged in to my email a big new page popped up and one of the topics was this...

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/features/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13842140>1=61503&ocid=msntoday
'Where have all the strong women gone?'

I suppose quite relevant from a media point of view too, and considering the topic of todays lecture, quite useful!
and for once its not about healthcare!! :)

weeks 8 and 9 blogs....

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:52:00 +0000

Week 8 Blog- Barack Obama

Considering Obamas political campaign message was for ‘change’, from what I can tell change is happening. His top priorities were health care and carbon emissions, both of which are massive issues in America. I think he is the right president but appointed at the wrong time. If the world wasn’t in a massive economic crisis I think that he would be able to make bigger changes quicker if he didn’t have to deal with the economic recession. He still seems to be a beacon of hope for the American people. 100 days, in my opinion, is not enough time to make any significant changes to base a whole presidency on, however I still think he has made vital decisions to have an impact on Americans. The closure of Guantanamo bay was something which people welcomed, it showed that he wasn’t just sitting around in the white house planning the new desk for his office, but was actually doing something (which I think in our government is quite a rarity!!!) this was on his second day of presidency. One of his main objectives which I agree with is his views on healthcare. He wants universal health care for all Americans. In the podcast I have previously posted, there was talk about introducing a government funded insurance system, (not too dissimilar to the NI payments we make from our wages) but would be an opt in system for the poor and those in poverty. In the book ‘The Audacity of Hope’ he talks about merit systems and strategic placements of teachers for under-achieving schools. Even if he doesn’t achieve this, the way he writes and is presented in the media, gives you faith in him. He seems liked a honest descent politician (yes I know who would have thought those words in the same sentence!!!) I like Obama, I think he is exactly what this world needs, he’s not offering radical and fantastical ideas of positive change, he’s not even a guarantee of a total optimistic change, but he is a friendly, honest and hardworking man, who provide hope if not permanent solutions for the long term.

Week 9- Feminist Figures

I’ve picked Jennifer Aniston for my feminist figure. Open any magazine or look at any celebrity news pages and Aniston always seems to have a spot. I think in a way she represents the women of our era, better than anyone from sex and the city. Similarly to them, she’s beautiful, successful and is adored by many people. But unlike them, in the real world, she’s been through a very public divorce from Brad Pitt, (once voted the sexiest man alive). I am firmly on team Aniston when it comes to this divorce issue. I believe she is a role model to many young women, unlike sex and the city, she’s happy being single, and is happy with her career, rumour has it Pitt wanted children and Aniston didn’t want to give her career therefore Angelina Jolie made an appearance! I think she’s incredibly dignified, she lost her husband to someone who let’s face it, is a bit mad, (full of French kissing her brother, the crazy blood stuff with her ex.-husband etc.) She married the all American heart-throb, had a beautiful wedding, then lost it all very publicly, but has managed to keep her dignity and her success. She played the comic part ’Friends’ and was highly liked as Rachel, she played Justine in ‘The Good Girl’ showing a sincere side to her acting ability. In a day when female celebrities would rather be known for their partying skills rather than their talent, I think Aniston stands quite well in stardom.

Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson

markwbicknell@hotmail.com (markwbicknell) — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:33:00 +0000

Full Name: Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson
Location: Section:Republic Hill, Section 1 (C1)
Row:V Number:1
Reason for Eligibility: Survivor of the Alamo; Concurent Resolution
Birth Date: 1814
Died: October 7, 1883
Buried: Cenotaph
Biography:
DICKINSON, SUSANNA WILKERSON (ca. 1814-1883). Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson (Dickenson), survivor of the Alamo, was born about 1814 in Tennessee, perhaps in Williamson County. Her first name has also been recorded as Susan, Susana, and Suzanna; her maiden name is sometimes given as Wilkinson. On May 24, 1829, she married Almaron Dickinson before a justice of the peace in Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee. The couple remained in the vicinity through the end of 1830. The Dickinsons arrived at Gonzales, Texas, on February 20, 1831, in company with fifty-four other settlers, after a trip by schooner from New Orleans. On May 5 Dickinson received a league of land from Green DeWitt, on the San Marcos River in what became Caldwell County. He received ten more lots in and around Gonzales in 1833 and 1834. The Dickinsons lived on a lot just above the town on the San Marcos River, where Susanna took in at least one boarder. A map of Gonzales in 1836 shows a Dickinson and Kimble hat factory in Gonzales. Susanna's only child, Angelina Elizabeth Dickinson, was born on December 14, 1834.

Susanna and her daughter may have joined other families hiding in the timber along the Guadalupe River in early October 1835, when Mexican troops from San Antonio demanded the return of an old cannon lent to Gonzales four years earlier. The resulting skirmish, the battle of Gonzales, was the first fight of the Texas Revolution. Susanna said goodbye to her husband on October 13 as the volunteers left for San Antonio under command of Stephen F. Austin. She remained in Gonzales through November, when newly arriving troops looted her home.

She joined Dickinson in San Antonio, probably in December 1835, and lodged in Ramon Musquiz's home, where she opened her table to boarders (among them David Crockett) and did laundry. On February 23, 1836, the family moved into the Alamo. After the battle of the Alamo on March 6, Mexican soldiers found her-some accounts say in the powder magazine, others in the church-and took her and Angelina, along with the other women and children, to Musquiz's home. The women were later interviewed by Santa Anna, who gave each a blanket and two dollars in silver before releasing them. Legend says Susanna displayed her husband's Masonic apron to a Mexican general in a plea for help and that Santa Anna offered to take Angelina to Mexico.

Santa Anna sent Susanna and her daughter, accompanied by Juan N. Almonte's servant Ben, to Sam Houston with a letter of warning dated March 7. On the way, the pair met Joe, William B. Travis's slave, who had been freed by Santa Anna. The party was discovered by Erastus (Deaf) Smith and Henry Wax Karnes. Smith guided them to Houston in Gonzales, where they arrived after dark about March 12.

Susanna Dickinson probably followed the army eastward in company with the other Gonzales women. Illiterate, without family, and only twenty-two years old, she petitioned the government meeting at Columbia in October 1836 for a donation, but the proposed $500 was not awarded. She needed a male protector, and by June 1837 she was cohabiting with John Williams, whom she married about November 27, 1837. He beat her and Angelina, and she petitioned in Harrisburg (later Harris) County for a divorce, which was granted on March 24, 1838-one of the first divorces in the county.

By 1839 Almaron Dickinson's heirs had received rights to 2,560 acres for his military service; they sold the land when Angelina reached twenty-one. Subsequent requests to the state legislature in November 1849 were turned down. Susanna tried matrimony three more times before settling into a stable relationship. She wed Francis P. Herring on December 20, 1838, in Houston. Herring, formerly from Georgia, had come to Texas after October 20, 1837. He died on September 15, 1843. On December 15, 1847, Susanna married Pennsylvania drayman Peter Bellows (also known as Bellis or Belles) before an Episcopalian minister. In 1850 the couple had sixteen-year-old Angelina living with them. But by 1854 Susanna had left Bellows, who charged her with adultery and prostitution when he filed for divorce in 1857. Susanna may have lived in the Mansion House Hotel of Pamelia Mann, which was known as a brothel, before marrying Bellows. The divorce petition accuses her of taking up residence in a "house of ill fame." Nevertheless, Susanna received praise from the Baptist minister Rufus C. Burleson for her work nursing cholera victims in Houston, where he baptized her in Buffalo Bayou in 1849.

Susanna's fifth marriage was long-lasting. She married Joseph William Hannig (or Hannag), a native of Germany living in Lockhart, in 1857. They soon moved to Austin, where Hannig became prosperous with a cabinet shop and later a furniture store and undertaking parlor; he also owned a store in San Antonio. Susanna became ill in February 1883 and died on October 7 of that year. Hannig buried her in Oakwood Cemetery, and even though he married again, he was buried next to Susanna after his death in 1890.

Deborah Meaden ( dragons den lady)

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra Whitehead) — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:17:00 +0000

Deborah's career to date
From a very early age Deborah Meaden knew she wanted her own business. Having left school after O-Levels Deborah studied at business college and following graduation worked as a sales room model in a fashion house before moving to Italy.

At the age of 19, with very little capital she launched her own glass and ceramics import company supplying upmarket stores like Harvey Nichols. Dissatisfied with the franchise model, Deborah sold her share to her business partner. With several successful businesses in the leisure and retail sector under her belt, she joined her family's business.

Starting out on the shop floor, Deborah eventually became Managing Director of Weststar Holidays. In 1999 she went on to acquire the major shareholding in a management buyout, later selling the company in a deal worth £33m whilst retaining a 23% stake.

Deborah still retained an active role at Weststar, but began to devote more time to finding good investment opportunities, including those she found on Dragons' Den, which she joined from Series Three.

In August 2007, she sold her remaining stake in Weststar Holidays for £83m, before making her first investment in a market research company, reflecting her interest and experience in marketing, brands and communications.

Deborah supports a number of charities and this year she has been mentoring entrepreneur Sarah Lu on her new range of youdoodogs, with £1 from each doll sold going to the Dogs Trust.

This is the view of Deborah from the Dragons den website and paints her in a good light a strong power full women who has lots of business experience and power in the business sector.
Deborah Meaden has also had some failure as she and another dragon invested into an entrepreneur and lost out with 5 figure looses.Although deborah is a female buissness idol this also shows that not all women including herslef make buisness mistakes.
Buisness women also have problems with family copmitments and work they are discriminated against for haveing children or getting married while working for or owning a buisness.

Michelle Obama as a female public figure

noreply@blogger.com (Megan Lawton) — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:06:00 +0000

When researching Michelle Obama as an influential female figure and role model, I was surprised to find numerous websites detailing much more than her husbands polotics and principles, yet instead Michelle's own reasons and purposes for getting involved in the day to day running of American society. One website in particular which grasped my attention was an article written within Newsweek entitled "Baracks Rock, she's the one who keeps him real, the one who makes sure running for leader of the free world doesnt go to his head. Michelles story".

"Part of Michelle Obama's appeal- she routinely draws audiences of 1000 plus supporters even when she's campaigning on her own - is that she comes across so normal despite the withering glare of a national campaign. As a political spouse she is somewhat unusual. She isnt the traditional stepford booster, smiling vacantly at her husband and sticking to a script of carefully vetted blandishments....she travels the country giving speeches and attending events....but resists staying away for more than one night at a stretch....Michelle has made it her job ensure that Barack, who now lives full time inside the surreal campaign bubble of adoring crowds and constant attention, doesnt himself loose sight of whats normal"

This is a great statement in favour of Michelle Obama reflecting her many abilities as not purely wife and mother but also diplomat and political role model for women world wide. Since her husband came into power earlier this year, the media has portrayed this couple as a team rather than individuals of which go their seperate ways, consequently representing the architypal presidency whereby family values are enstilled within their every day lives and in many ways create stability for the public. In relation to feminism, we can see a somewhat liberating yet traditional appproach to the roles which women are expected to play within society. We see Michelle being a spokeswomen, public speaker, and style icon whilst first and foremost being a wife and mother, portraying two sides of the equation which within the earlier days of society would be seen as impossible.

Podcast on Obama's Plans for Healthcare or my constant rambling about healthcare... :)

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:41:00 +0000

I couldnt work out how to link the actual podcast file in this blog so I've searched high and low for it online. Hopefully this link should work but no guarentees I'm afraid!

Have a listen, its quite good! Full of information which I suppose is quite relevant to Obama's first 100 days.

If not go to the bbc homepage and type in 'Health check' into the search bar, and it should take you to the homepage, the podcast is called President Obama & Health Reforms in the US.

Hope you find it useful

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002ptkf

We were way before our time

markwbicknell@hotmail.com (markwbicknell) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:22:00 +0000

The Times Tuesday April 28th 2009

Obama Bounce

Barack Obama's election has prompted a rise in applications for American studies courses, according to George Lewis of the University of Leicester. Dr. Lewis said that there was a 22% increase nationally and a 60% increase at Leicester.

With Obama's 100 days reaching us tomorrow, he has been busy and certainly more successful than Regan who was the target of an assasin on his 100th day and has certainly fared much better than the 9th president who only lived to see his 32nd day in office before 'man flu' killed him.

I have just chosen a few significant events from his last 99 days, although Obama has been much busier than the list below represents. He has also travelled to Europe, revoked at least five orders of the previous government, taken presidency during a time of conflict on at least three fronts, not to mention keeping an eye on North Korea and Iran and their nuclear ambitions and taken on a role that the world will be watching to lead the way out of a global economic crisis.

Obama has come into office it would seem as just man, a man who wants to do the right thing but has shown that he is not a soft touch and although would appear as a man who would rather seek alternatives to conflict will not baulk at the idea of sending in the troops.

I was initially concerned when he won the presidential election, not for what he would do but for what that would be done to him. I still have my fears but would like to see Obama live to prove me wrong.

The biggest challenge and most pressurised decision was to fulfill his promise to his family to get a new dog. Obama fulfilled his promise and Bo, the 'first dog' moved into the White House on April 14th.

Day one of presidency saw Obama freeze the pay of senior White House officials earning $100,000 or more per year.

3rd day he signs executive order announcing the closure of Guantanamo bay within a year.

on day 4, Obama orders and airstrike on Pakistani territory, targetting insurgents using the border to cross between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

29th January sees Obama sign a bill promoting fair pay within the workplace regardless of sex or age.

4th February - Caps pay of senior executives at financial institutions that have been bailed out by the Federal government.

6th February - creates 'Presidents economic recover advisory board' to give economists outside of Washington a voice.

17th February - signs $787 billion into the economy with the 'Recovery and reinvestment Act'

He also approves the deployment of 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.

10th March - He meets for the first time the UN secretary.

12th March - renews sanctions on Iran

13th March - Outlines a new legal standard for detaining the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo. Suspects are now detained under international law.

26th March - Holds online town hall meeting at the White House for the first time.

12th April - Approves Navy SEALS to rescue ship captain from Somalian pirates.

Audacity of Hope - short assessment

noreply@blogger.com (Megan Lawton) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:59:00 +0000

When reading through numerous chapters of Obama's latest book "Audacity of Hope" I found his writing style and initial delivery to his audience to be somewhat of a friendly and laid back nature. Rather than being quite autocratic and domineering in order to get his points across he in many ways wishes to portray to the audience his humble and gentle side when going about his daily life as a politician. In particular, when reading chapters such as Faith and Race he seems to present a two-sided story to any arguement, therefore portraying in many ways an ideal leader with which listens to his supporters. On the contrary to this view, chapter 1 (Republicans and Democrats) is where Obama alternatively tries to get his own views across relating to his policies of which, I in particular, found quite difficult to get the hang of, purely because he seemed to address a whole host of how he wants areas of the American government to change without focussing on a few and going into detail. I found there to be too many areas of the American life that he wanted to change and therefore couldnt all be achieved immediately, which we may suggest gives false hope to his supporters. Therefore in tracking Obama's first opening weeks as President I've found it of great importance to look at the Politifact website and one particular section entitled "The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises". Not only does this give an over-view of the 514 promises Obama has said will become reality but also tracks their progress on an easy to read meter. So far, he is stated as keeping 27 promises such as to "Expand loan programmes for small businesses" however is seen to have broken 6 of his promises. From this wesbite we can therefore suggest that his first few weeks in office have in fact been monitored closley to ensure validity and ensure that he keeps to his word. We may also suggest, as mentioned in the lecture, that Obama initially became more popular for his personal dealings and his personality rather than purley for his policies and is therefore considered to be more of a celebrity figure. Consequently, I feel that Obama's first opening weeks in office will have proved to be of great difficulty to Obama in meeting his supporters expectations, in particular with websites such as Politifact of which will be watching his every step to determine whether his Presidency will be a success or failure in weeks to come.

Catch up on blogs because I’ve been a bit naff with them...

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:59:00 +0000

My first blog will be from week 2, the historical images of the west.

This photograph shows the Mexican border in 2008 and 1898. Its the Nogales border of Mexico and Arizona. I thought this was interesting as you can see the direct split of the two countries in 1898. It shows the direct distinction between America and Mexico, which is still so relevant today. I think this is a good image of the west as it still shows that America wanted to be distinguished as its ‘own country’. In 1898 anyone could cross the border, there was no border control, and however there was still the need to differentiate between America and other countries. The Turner’s frontier plays on this by saying that America was made through ‘Manifest Destiny’ rather than European influences. I find it interesting that even back in 1898 there was this visible separation of America and the rest of the world. The settlement shown in Arizona, (the left hand side of the photo) is very built up, this surprised me was I never expected to find a photo of the west, showing a village/town that was so built up. This suggests to me that not the entire west was arid wasteland, with a few houses dotted across vastness.
Secondly I found a very interesting webpage, about a town called Virginia City. It accounts events within the city and its place in history and in the west.

This image is a painting of ‘C’ Street, I believe it is from the early 1900’s although no specific date is given, (I’m sure the automobile specialists amongst us will be determined enough to date this picture from the cars shown!) I found this image interesting as despite it being up to 20years after the first image it paints a different picture of the west. Obviously the first image is black and white, but this is shown with blue skies, orange sunset, calm and peaceful settlement. Also the cars in this picture suggest that residents in western towns, cities and villages weren’t entirely isolated from modern technology (as many films, pictures and stories depict). They also have either telephone masts or electricity pylons, which suggests technology defiantly wasn’t absent in west.
The website I found these images on is

http://www.greatstreets.org/MainStreets/MainVirginiaCityHistory.html

It actually makes quite an interesting read.
My next blog is from week 3, concerning the first person narrative on the west.
Once again I returned to my ‘first-person-narrative’ problem, again Google is trying to make me buy books, books that I cant afford, and randomly a pc game called ‘Call of Juarez’ a western themed first-person shoot em’ up! (not quite what I had in mind, someone is going to have to show me where all these first person narratives are!!!)

However I’ve managed to find a website all about life in the west, old, modern, stories, poetry, tales and films, Rope and Wire A Western Lifestyle Online Community.

http://www.ropeandwire.com/index.html

The website is run by Scott (no second name given I’m afraid!) who originally set up the website to create networking amongst farmers and ranch owners, however in his words ‘Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that either no one likes to brag or no one lives on a farm or a ranch. Whatever the case, no one submitted an article so I felt it was high time to try something different.’ He’s created a space in the internet for people to write fictional stories about the west, poetry, factual accounts of life in the west and appealing to my interest, jokes about life in the west. Despite it not being a truly academic, historical first person narrative, I think the website in itself shows the impact the west still has on modern Americans. I also emailed the website asking them a few questions-

Hi my name is Tiffany and I was wondering if you would be able to answer a few questions for me. I'm a student at Winchester University in the UK, and am writing about the American West in an assignment. I am also asking for your permission to put the questions and answers into my blog, it would be really helpful and I'm really grateful for the time you’ve taken to read this.
How many members/visitors have you had to website since you started it?

Do you get many visitors from anywhere other than Western America on your site?

Do you think that Western Lifestyle and Culture has a place in Modern America? Can modern Americans learn anything from Western Lifestyles?

Thankyou for taking the time to read this, I look forward to a reply if you choose to do so.
Many Thanks
Tiffany

About 18 hours later I received a reply from Scott

Tiffany
I'd be glad to answer your questions as best I can.

How many members/visitors have you had to website since you started it?

Although I don't have exact numbers as to the total number of visitors, I can tell you that Rope and Wire gets thousands of visitors each month. We have increased our viewership each month for the past two years.

Do you get many visitors from anywhere other than Western America on your site?

Rope and Wire has been visited by over 120 countries worldwide. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and China are our biggest fans.

Do you think that Western Lifestyle and Culture has a place in Modern America?

Absolutely. I'm not sure how the UK sees America, but I can tell you, modern America is more than just big cities and shopping malls. A large percentage of this country is open land. We have millions of acres of forested lands and open prairies. The stories found on Rope and Wire are reminiscent of how things were as the western portion of this country was being settled, during the 1800's. It was a time some people refer to as the "wild west". It's not like that now but there is still a western lifestyle and culture in this country that grew out of that time in our history. Like most things, it has changed over time and it's place in "modern America" may not be as prominent as the culture that promotes the lifestyle of those who live in cities like New York or Los Angeles, but believe me, the western lifestyle is still alive and well.

Can modern Americans learn anything from Western Lifestyles?

I think modern Americans can learn a whole lot from western lifestyles.
In my opinion, over the years, this country has drifted away from its core values.
There is something called "the code of the west". It's an unwritten code, I guess you could call them guidelines to certain rules of conduct that western cowboys held onto back in the day. I don't know if you have heard of it, but it's something that holds true to those who live the western lifestyle even today. They go something like this...
Be there for a friend when he needs you.
Honesty is absolute - your word is your bond, a handshake is more binding than a contract.
Do not practice ingratitude A cowboy always helps someone in need, even a stranger or an enemy.
Live by the Golden Rule.

There are more, but this is the jest of it. It's basically a moral compass and that is something I believe modern America is losing, or quite possibly abandoning. Quite frankly, it scares the hell out of me. I think modern America needs to take a look back to its western roots and rediscover its values. In my humble opinion, It's riding off the trail.

I hope I did you some good.
Scott

I find it interesting that someone can have so much passion in a lifestyle that helped create an American identity. I also find it very interesting when Scott talks about how America needs to take a look back to its western roots to rediscover its values. I think in turn this provides me with an insight into western lifestyle. Its not just about ‘cowboys and indians’ or pig farming or tractors, it’s a set of strong beliefs about your friends, your country and your morals. It makes me kind of happy in a way, that Scott believes in this so strongly, I don’t think enough people think of the events, the people in history who helped create their ideology and their culture. And I also agree with Scott on his last statement, ‘I think modern America needs to take a look back to its western roots and rediscover its values. In my humble opinion, It's riding off the trail’. During economic crisis I don’t know if people would make the time to ‘rediscover their values’, I don’t know if people of any country in the world thinks their values matter anymore. With the exception of highly religious people the only value that seems to be prominent in the world is ‘more money, more wealth, bigger car, bigger tv, latest ipod, latest film- more, bigger, latest’. And that’s why it makes me happy to see someone like Scott, who truly has faith in what he believes in.

My final missing blog is week 5, about the controversial issues in the west today.
I took my usual route of looking at healthcare within rural areas. Its well known that because areas in the west are sparsely populated healthcare is difficult to administer to those in need. I found a website which states that 1 in 3 adults are ‘poor to fair health’ and nearly half have at least one major chronic illness.

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/rural.htm

I found another website which includes data from all states concerning child poverty, pre and postnatal care, infectious disease rates and cancer death rates.

http://www.americashealthrankings.org/2008/index.html

Another issue that came to my attention was suicide rates in the west. One website I found covered West Virginia, but there were statistics available for other states.

http://organizedwisdom.com/Suicide_Statistics_in_West_Virginia

As I’ve said before in previous blogs, healthcare is of particular interest to me. Reading the first website, it made me wonder whether or not healthcare in rural areas is just a fantasy or an achievable vision. I don’t think its possible to put a hospital in a town with a small population, that has every kind of outpatient clinics, surgical theatres and doctors there is. It just wouldn’t be economic. Which lead me on to think as to how this could be dealt with? I think that maybe towns in the west, with small populations should make healthcare part of education in schools. I could be being naïve as I’m not sure if these kinds of classes already occur in American schools, but to tackle healthcare I think basic first aid should be taught in schools. At least that way if someone suffers from an injury at least the basic knowledge would be there to treat it. Also education about lifestyle is necessary. Smoking, drinking and drugs needs to be tackled, as well as eating habits and exercising. I think these things should be installed in the minds of young people at an early age in school.

Illegal Immigration

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra Whitehead) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:58:00 +0000

Although America was made for immigration of different peoples which we have seen from the first landing in Virginia to the influx of Irish and Italians America does not seem as friendly to Hispanics from any states.This could be because of the language ,cultural or educational gap but America is determined to keep them out hence the American-Mexico border and the border petrol's that go on there.I was trying to find out if there was any way to find out in a year how many illegal immigrants died trying to cross the border but I couldn't find any hard statistics.

I did find these pictures showing a dead dehydrated Mexican man and the border fence.
I also found this small article by Alan Wall explaining approx how many border crossing deaths there are.

The U.S.-Mexico border is a killing field. The Border Patrol reports that, in the past seven years, 2, 994 (at last count) illegal border crossers have perished on the border. About a third of them (1,133) died crossing into Arizona.

According to the New York Times, which ran a recent article on border deaths,

"Pima County, which includes the Tucson area, is one of the busiest areas for illegal crossings along the 2,000-mile border. The medical examiner’s office handled 177 deaths of border crossers in the first eight months of this year, compared with 139 over the same period last year and 157 in 2005, the year the most such deaths were registered." [At the U.S. Border, the Desert Takes a Rising Toll, By Randal C. Archibold, New York Times, September 15, 2007

First person narrative accounts of Immigrantion to the USA

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra Whitehead) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:49:00 +0000

I found it hard to find first person narratives of what it was like on the journey to America but found these two extracts on what it was like at Ellis Island where the Immigrants got processed.I found these 2 extracts on a site called immigration their stories.

They also questioned people on literacy. My uncle called me aside, when he came to take us off. He said, "Your mother doesn't know how to read." I said, "That's all right." For the reading you faced what they called the commissioners, like judges on a bench. I was surrounded by my aunt and uncle and another uncle who's a pharmacist-my mother was in the center. They said she would have to take a test for reading. So one man said, "She can't speak English." Another man said, "We know that. We will give her a siddur." You know what a siddur is? It's a Jewish book. The night they said this, I knew that she couldn't do that and we would be in trouble. Well, they opened the siddur. There was a certain passage they had you read. I looked at it and I saw right away what it was. I quickly studied it-I knew the whole paragraph. Then I got underneath the two of them there-I was very small-and I told her the words in Yiddish very softly. I had memorized the lines and I said them quietly and she said them louder so the commissioner could here it. She looked at it and it sounded as if she was reading it, but I was doing the talking underneath. I was Charlie McCarthy!

-Arnold Weiss, Russian, at Ellis Island in 1921, age 13

An official-looking lady came toward me and said, "Is somebody waiting for you?" I said, "Oh, yes, my relatives, they're waiting for me." And nobody was waiting for me, nobody. I had nobody. Then I saw the officials approaching another man and they asked him, "Are you Jewish?" He said, "Yes." "Anybody waiting for you?" "No." The official said, "Well, we'll take care of you. We have a Hebrew sheltering organization. Come with us, we'll feed you and take care of you until your relatives pick you up."" Then sheepishly I said to the woman who had approached me before, "I lied to you, because of what I've been through in Hungary." She put her hand on my shoulder. She understood. I didn't realize I was free, I wasn't going to be put in prison.

-Endre Bohem, Hungarian, at Ellis Island in 1921, age 20

The 2 extracts are very different as one explains how hard the tests and scrutiny was of immigrants coming into the country and the other explains America in a free and democratic light giving hope to people who have known and looking after their immigrants.

Healthy Changes or Change in Unhealthy Habit for Latino Immigrants?

t.hall@winchester.ac.uk (Tiffany) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Having worked in a hospital full time for over a year, (before I started university) I've always had interest in the hospital system in America. So I began to look at the current 'health' of Latino immigrants in America. I found some interesting sites, all of which I will post the links to, however it did make me think about wether or not Latino immigrants have the same rights to medical care as Americans, or if the American health care system actually provided any help atall to Latinos.
One website I found states that latino women are less likely to abuse drugs, however latino men who were born in America, (not in mexico) were more likely to have high rates of substance abuse, and 'Studies have found that Latino youth experience proportionately more anxiety-related and delinquency problem behaviors, depression, and drug use than do non-Hispanic white youth'.
This also goes onto say...'In 1990, about 40% of Hispanics either did not speak English at all or did not speak it well. While the percentage of Spanish-speaking mental health professionals is not known, only about 1% of licensed psychologists who are also members of the American Psychological Association identify themselves as Hispanic. Moreover, there are only 29 Hispanic mental health professionals for every 100,000 Hispanics in the United States, compared to 173 non-Hispanic white providers per 100,000.'
I find it interesting that Hispanics, despite making up a massive proportion of America, still, do not seem have access to appropriate medical care. The substance abuse in young latinos, suggests that there is not the appropriate lessons in school to teach about the dangers of drugs. (have a read of all the facts they are quite interesting)

http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/fact3.asp

Another website I found from washingtonpost.com talks about latinos adopting America's bad habits. Latinos appear to be getting fatter, especially latino children, who traditionally, if fat, were seen as healthy and called 'gordo' or 'gordita' meaning fatty. it also says 'One of the ironies of emigrating from poor rural life in Central America to poor urban and suburban life in an area such as Washington is that it doesn't necessarily make you any healthier -- it just changes the ways in which you are unhealthy, according to health-care providers and immigrant families here.
Instead of weeding fields and walking long distances, which make you burn too many calories, you vacuum floors and take buses, which make you tired and lazy. Instead of cooking rice and beans, which lack many vitamins, you stop off for pizza and fries, which have too much fat. Instead of catching tropical infections, you are at greater risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
You have acquired the habits of the promised land, and they are slowly killing you.'
To me this suggests a severe lack of education when it comes to teaching immigrant latinos about unhealthy lifestyles.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/04/AR2008080402002.html?hpid=sec-health&sub=AR

Another website suggests that latino healthcare is declining rapdily, with many latinos not able to recieve the healthcare they need, especially concerning diabetes which is on the rise in latinos.

http://www.fresno.ucsf.edu/latinocenter/research/Latino%20health%20care%20is%20being%20left%20behind.htm

The final website I found which is interesting is a website documenting culture bound syndromes, and it has a list for Latino Americans, which no doubt, wont be treated within the American Healthcare system.
http://homepage.mac.com/mccajor/cbs_cul.html#LAx

Is there such thing as Latino Identity? by Otto Santa Ana

noreply@blogger.com (Megan Lawton) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:42:00 +0000

"Within the community of people termed Mexican or Mexican-American, the latter phrase connotated someone willing to turn their back on their heritage, their family, their home language"
Whilst researching Latino identity, I came across this website named "American Family, Journey of Dreams". This is actually a TV series which is said to be the "first drama series ever to air on broadcast television featuring a Latino cast, and the first origional primetime American episode drama on PBS in decades". Yet what caught my eye the most is a section of the website written be a Professor titled "Is there such thing as Latino Identity":

"What is identity? Why do Professors insist on questionaing what is obvious? Arn't we just individuals, born male or female, unique selves from infancy, who grow up interacting with others...Isn't our unique identity a whole thing that is part of us from the beginning that really doesnt change across time?
The Linguistic problem of identity complicates this picture in two ways that I will mention. First I spoke about the issue of community: identity is usually associated with a community who have a locale or one shared community. Then there is the issue of lables, all ethnic and racial terminology changes over time...Our uniqueness as a person is not the same as our identity. Our identity changes across time. Our identities as human beings are fluid, not a fixed thing"

As we can see from the comments made above, definining identity is a topic which requires great thought and deliberation as the whether our identity changes over time to adapt to different circumstances or not. In particular, when associated with Latino identity, in order to create a new life within America, can we argue that their identity needs to adjust to America's current values and ideologies, whilst leaving behind their own heritage and their own values in pursuit of a better way of life? This in many ways is what is represented within the essay above, taking on a different persona in order to make a living, yet are unable to carry their own traditions as this may lead to exclusion within society.

From poverty to paradise

markwbicknell@hotmail.com (markwbicknell) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:42:00 +0000

I posted this news broadcast from an Hawaiian TV network as I found it incredible that Hawaii woul dhave an illegal immigration issue as it is so many miles form mainland USA. The issue truly exisits and Hawaiian immigration officials have their work cut out for them. The 21 illegal immigrants found at the construction site were not the first as 200 were rounded up previously. Out of these 21 that were arrested, many came from Mexico, some from Brazil and one from Slovakia. The determination is great to enter America and it now seems that the issue is not just limited to mainland America and it's borders.

markwbicknell@hotmail.com (markwbicknell) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:51:00 +0000

http://www.mainecr.org/umf-flag-desecration-video