exzess

out of all this, control makes the most sense to me. nicely said jsa3mm

jsa3mm

I've been saying that fear is used as a control for a long time. The fact that the media is helping the government try to control each of us with their banter of fear is the reason I no longer watch the news or read news papers. There wouldn't be most of the social problems we face to day if were not for the government trying to control us. I started looking deep into it all when I heard (most people will think less of me...who cares) Marilyn Manson talk to Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine. What he says in his very small interview got my gears turning. I knew he was intelligent, but until that point I really had no idea.

Here's some of what Marilyn Manson Said during that interview:
"I definitely can see why they would pick me, because I think it's easy to throw my face on a TV, because I'm, in the end, sort of a poster boy for fear. Because I represent what everyone's afraid of, because I do and say what I want."

"The two by-products of that whole tragedy were, uh...violence in entertainment and gun control.
And how perfect that that was the two things that we were gonna talk about with the upcoming election. And also, then we forgot about Monica Lewinsky and we forgot about...The president was shooting bombs overseas, yet I'm a bad guy because I sing some rock'n'roll songs. And who's a bigger influence, the president or Marilyn Manson? I'd like to think me, but I'm gonna go with the president.
Do you know the day that Columbine happened, the United States dropped more bombs on Kosovo than any other time during that war? I do know that and I think that's really ironic, that nobody said, "Well, maybe the president had an influence on this violent behavior. Because that's not the way the media wants to take it and spin it and turn it into fear.
Cause then you're watching television, you're watching the news; you're being pumped full of fear. And there's floods, there's AIDS, there's murder. You cut to commercial, buy the Acura, buy the Colgate. If you have bad breath, they're not gonna talk to you. If you got pimples, the girl's not gonna **** you. It's a campaign of fear and consumption. And that's what I think that's it's all based on is the whole idea that: keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume. And that's really as simple - as it can be boiled down to."

matt_a

It's true that the news focuses on bad news. It's all about ratings. Bad news sells. But I'm also not naive enough to sit back and say that there is no reason to fear anything. Bad things DO happen. I would rather be proactive not reactive. If we can stop bad things from happening at the source, before they happen, that's better than crying about them after the fact. People who understand this and have the vision and drive to get it done are often labeled as using fear tactics.

HeathenBrewing

HA....amusing how many people thing the big oil cabal is plotting ways to pull a few more dimes out of your pocket when you fill up.

Its simple really, supply and demand. India and China are becoming bigger and bigger consumers of oil of which there is a finite amount. There is more competition for the same amount of oil that is out there. Oil company profits up because demand for oil is greater and the costs of producing it have gone up.

We here in the US have seen artificially low fuel prices for decades. Don’t expect to see gas under $4/gal by the end of this year and don’t expect it to ever go below that mark ever again.

Higher prices force conservation. Embrace it.

HeathenBrewing

The California Energy Commission released a Q&A explaining high gasoline prices.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/gasoline_q-and-a.html

HeathenBrewing

You hit on some good points there jsa, much of which I agree with. But I dont think these applies to higher gas prices (Im not sure you are trying to make that connection though).

The US is built on consumption and I wonder if the populace would know what to do with itself if it didnt have "things" to buy and tv to watch, which completes the circle.

jsa3mm

I wasn't trying to make that connection, HB. I was off on a whole different tangent there. Not a threadjack, but not quite on topic.

I know if my girlfriend didn't have car parts or shoes to buy she wouldn't be happy.

The world is consuming more, yet I am one American who would rather consume less. I don't have the money, but if I did I would want to make my home as self-sufficient and efficient as possible.

Another reason gas prices are so high is the fact that America is no longer allowed to build more oil refineries. It's so many variables as well. You can't really pick out one thing.

Just to focus more of what I was talking about earlier when I said media and government's control causes many of our social problems. Let me pick on one particular social problem: racism. Look at all the shows like COPS that portray black people and hispanic people as bad people that live in bad neighborhoods. People start to believe this junk because it is force feed to them. It's bad enough it already human nature to group things together then they go and give us more of a reason to do so. It's the old divide and conquer idea. If they can divide us with color, fear, and hatred they can move right in and take over.

SW_08

jsa....that was well said....

matt_a

We are really getting off topic now, but I'd like to adress this one. How exactly is COPS being racist? It's a show about police ride-alongs. Of course the entire show is going to be about people commiting crimes. What else would they show? As far as it being racist....I don't watch it that often, but from what I've seen they show whites being arrested too. Most of them are drunk and only have a few teeth, but they are white! I don't think the show is trying to have you belive that all white people are like that. The fact is, they aren't going to spend the time and money to put a film crew in a police car to have them patrol a nice upper-middle-class neighborhood. There wouldn't be enough "action" to make a show. They send them to larger cities and more urban areas so they have an increased chance of getting police calls to film.

HeathenBrewing

But you cant have the populace thinking about real issues - its best to distract and confuse them.


Proof that mainstream health information continutes to become increasingly detached from reality:

Skip the Water, Have a Soda Instead
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345576,00.html

FYI - Its not just Faux news.

This is how money is made in the medical industry these days: Rig some junk science, announce it as scientific fact, and wait for the mainstream media to jump on the bandwagon and declare water to be dangerous, or drugs to be safe, or sunlight to be deadly, or whatever current nonsense theyre spewing that drives more customers into their offices to be poisoned by medication, radiation or chemotherapy.

Think about it, for a moment. It is now the position of conventional medicine that:

- Water is bad for you.
- Sunlight is bad for you.
-Nutritional supplements are worthless.
- Herbs are dangerous and might kill you.
- Meditation and prayer has no medical benefit.

And what, might you ask, do these doctors recommend that patients do to enhance their health? Heres what they recommend:

- Poison your body with chemotherapy.
- Slather your skin with sunscreen that blocks vitamin D production.
- Take medications that cause permanent liver damage.
- Drink processed beverages and eat processed, cooked foods.
-"Manage" your biochemistry with medication, not nutrition.
- Have your breasts surgically removed to prevent breast cancer...

Gee, it should have come as no surprise to learn about this latest finding that "water has no health benefits."

End rant.

jsa3mm

matt_a, you want a show about crime? Let's do a show in a big corporate building like...Phillip Morris...I think I'd get more out of a show that shows even people who believe they are above the law are vulnerable, get arrested, fined, and sent to prison.

HeathenBrewing

Is anyone familiar with James Madison?

During the constitutional convention he spoke about how the main goal of the new system has to be "to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority," and has to be designed so that it achieves that end. This is the founding of the constitutional system.

matt_a

No, not really. I wasn't saying I like the show COPS. I don't care for it but I have seen it. I was just saying that I don't think it's racist. Heck, over half the officers on the show are black or hispanic...not just the criminals.
Let me ask you a question. Let's say there is a store that gets broken into frequently. Now suppose a TV producer decides to put a hidden camera inside that store to record anything and everything that happens for one year. Let's say that at the end of the year the camera has recorded 20 break-ins. If 18 of those 20 just happened to be done by black people, would showing that footage as a TV program be racist? While I agree with what you are saying, you have to remember that these shows are about ratings. Ratings are money. There is a huge portion of our population that wants to watch trashy shows like COPS. If the show actually had substance or made a social/political statement (like your idea) it would tank in a week. That's why I watch very little network TV.

jsa3mm

Footage is footage...it can't be racist. It is what it is. The producers can pick and choose whomever, whenever, and whatever they want to be shown on the show. Sometimes it just seems narrow and one sided. I guess racist wasn't the right word to use.