do you think times are a changin?

[Courtney]

with obama and jackass now being a part of the presidential election, do you think this represents a positive change in terms of inequality in our society?
I'm just curious what other people think of this...I have mixed thoughts

[miss.myra]

a positive change to me would mean that candidates of different races, sexes, religions, ethinic origins, etc. could run for politics without that being the focal point of who they are. I would rather we saw Sarah Palin for who she was and what she has done not WHAT she is. I would rather we saw Barack Obama for what he stands for, not for the colour of his skin.

know what i'm saying?

[cubed]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

a positive change to me would mean that candidates of different races, sexes, religions, ethinic origins, etc. could run for politics without that being the focal point of who they are. I would rather we saw Sarah Palin for who she was and what she has done not WHAT she is. I would rather we saw Barack Obama for what he stands for, not for the colour of his skin.

know what i'm saying?

I agree fully.

America has always claimed to be this great progressive nation, but it's hardly the case when you look at their political structure. They're light years behind the rest of the world.

[NinjaBoy]

America has the worst political system I have ever seen and thank heaven every day that we don't have the same style of media pandering America suffers from.

I've heard reports saying that "this election will be based on personality and family".

Why is that such a large factor? Jesus.

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoy

America has the worst political system I have ever seen and thank heaven every day that we don't have the same style of media pandering America suffers from.

I've heard reports saying that "this election will be based on personality and family".

Why is that such a large factor? Jesus.

are you serious? i'm guessing you haven't seen or heard any of the canadian political attack ads? holy shit those should be outlawed. they are just as bad if not worse than the ones in the US.

[Courtney]

I think that it is kindof like a band-aid, surface type change. However I do think that it might open doors for the future. I mean, ten years ago the idea of having a black president would have been very out there. This change may provide certain individuals with more hope for their futures and give them the motivation that they too can be whatever they choose.

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

a positive change to me would mean that candidates of different races, sexes, religions, ethinic origins, etc. could run for politics without that being the focal point of who they are. I would rather we saw Sarah Palin for who she was and what she has done not WHAT she is. I would rather we saw Barack Obama for what he stands for, not for the colour of his skin.

Yes but the GOP sadly doesn't want that, because then they'd never be able to win the election.

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

are you serious? i'm guessing you haven't seen or heard any of the canadian political attack ads? holy shit those should be outlawed. they are just as bad if not worse than the ones in the US.

Ads are one thing, those are paid for airtime. It's actually quite hard for a media outlet to prevent them.

But CBC newsworld doesn't fall into nearly the same trap, with reports in the same vein as CNN and Fox news.

[ebbomega]

Which is interesting, considering in the states the media and the government are supposed to be separate and CBC gets government funding.

I can't really think of a single American news source I really trust. Dan Rather used to be great on CBS but he had principles so he got fired.

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Which is interesting, considering in the states the media and the government are supposed to be separate and CBC gets government funding.

I can't really think of a single American news source I really trust. Dan Rather used to be great on CBS but he had principles so he got fired.

It comes down to the attitude of the CBC.

It's ran by idealist. Pretty much in media if you are going to work for the CBC you're an idealist because it's good to work for in some aspects, but terrible in others.

CNN and Fox being large corporations want money. And what makes money?

CBC doesn't need to make huge profits.

[ebbomega]

One of the most prophetic movies of the latter half of the 20th Century

It's funny because it was often criticized on how unrealistic it is, but it's about how FOX News came about, and it was made 10 years before FOX was even a television network.

I always wondered if they would kill Bill-O to improve ratings. They'll have to do it live.

[Revolver]

If you want to look for REAL change look for changes of major CEO's in the wests most powerful corporations and banks.

[Ragga_Wh0re]

Originally Posted by Courtney

I think that it is kindof like a band-aid, surface type change. However I do think that it might open doors for the future. I mean, ten years ago the idea of having a black president would have been very out there. This change may provide certain individuals with more hope for their futures and give them the motivation that they too can be whatever they choose.

case in point. Making dreams more accesible to everyone, but I mean really...will they make whats needed to materialize those dreams like schooling and health care more accesible to someone who lives just above,at or below the poverty line?

i dont think so.America does not have a strong enough economy to facilitate the restructuring of social policies so that it would benefit those that need a hand up the most.

[SEAN!]

things always change, they never stay the same. A positive change, maybe.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoy

America has the worst political system I have ever seen and thank heaven every day that we don't have the same style of media pandering America suffers from.

I've heard reports saying that "this election will be based on personality and family".

Why is that such a large factor? Jesus.

american media:

barack means blessed in arabic, does this mean he's muslim?

average canadian:

so what? is homie gonna put an extra tax on beer? how am i gonna put my kids through school?

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

are you serious? i'm guessing you haven't seen or heard any of the canadian political attack ads? holy shit those should be outlawed. they are just as bad if not worse than the ones in the US.

there worse because they're such low budget cheese.

have you seen the one with the slot machine saying don't take a chance on dion? A four year old could put together an attack finger painting with higher production value.

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

there worse because they're such low budget cheese.

have you seen the one with the slot machine saying don't take a chance on dion? A four year old could put together an attack finger painting with higher production value.

I saw that one last night and couldn't stop laughing!!! it was clearly aimed at Canadians with little/no intelligence.

I think political attack ads are a complete waste of money and always way too negative. It's no wonder so many of us are apathetic about politics.

the ads should be made illegal and they shouldn't use them anymore. these days canadians have access to so many resources to educate themselves on the issues and they don't need horribly negative advertising that insults their intelligence to do so.

[Courtney]

Originally Posted by Ragga_Wh0re

case in point. Making dreams more accesible to everyone, but I mean really...will they make whats needed to materialize those dreams like schooling and health care more accesible to someone who lives just above,at or below the poverty line?

i dont think so.America does not have a strong enough economy to facilitate the restructuring of social policies so that it would benefit those that need a hand up the most.

I agree with this to a certain extent. I think America does have the ability to facilitate social reconstruction, it's just a question of whether people are willing to give up what they have which unfortunately they are not. I mean, Canada also has this ability yet to bring about social change those at the top will have to actually give up a lot of what they have and I know that not many are willing to do that. I'm not saying I am either, however I think that if we all make small changes that we can definetely make a positive dent in the system

[Courtney]

hopefully that made sense, i'm stoned

[cubed]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

the ads should be made illegal and they shouldn't use them anymore. these days canadians have access to so many resources to educate themselves on the issues and they don't need horribly negative advertising that insults their intelligence to do so.

I agree and disagree with this. I fully agree that slanderous campaign ads like these should be left out as they usually have limited or no factual legs to stand on. But what you need to understand from a marketing campaign these ads aren't geared towards the educated metropolitans who have the resources to make an intelligent decision on who to vote for at the polls, many of these people already have a good understanding of who they're going to vote for before the campaigns even begin.These ads are meant to swing the uneducated or politically isolated people that have no clue what's going on in the political world, and are merely going to the polls for some sense of civic duty.

You wouldn't bring Voltaire to a kindergarten class for story time would you?

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

I saw that one last night and couldn't stop laughing!!! it was clearly aimed at Canadians with little/no intelligence.

I think political attack ads are a complete waste of money and always way too negative. It's no wonder so many of us are apathetic about politics.

the ads should be made illegal and they shouldn't use them anymore. these days canadians have access to so many resources to educate themselves on the issues and they don't need horribly negative advertising that insults their intelligence to do so.

they should never make any form of political expression illegal as long as you're not advocating hate/violence.

i think the education system in canada is pretty good at making people sensible enough to realize their being lied to.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoy

Ads are one thing, those are paid for airtime. It's actually quite hard for a media outlet to prevent them.

But CBC newsworld doesn't fall into nearly the same trap, with reports in the same vein as CNN and Fox news.

as someone who watches cbc, it definitely has a bias.

its funded by the public so it doesn't have an overt bias, but its definitely more on the liberal side of things.

I think the BBC is probably the least bias news channel and surprisingly bloomberg is too, if you're focused on business.

[Ragga_Wh0re]

Originally Posted by Courtney

I agree with this to a certain extent. I think America does have the ability to facilitate social reconstruction, it's just a question of whether people are willing to give up what they have which unfortunately they are not. I mean, Canada also has this ability yet to bring about social change those at the top will have to actually give up a lot of what they have and I know that not many are willing to do that. I'm not saying I am either, however I think that if we all make small changes that we can definetely make a positive dent in the system

I really dont think so.As a society we are still in our infancy, look at europe. How long did it take them until they had a social structure that was user friendly? To create user friendly systems based on logic and need is overshadowed by a capitalist economy. America doesnt give a shit about its people nor the environment.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Courtney

hopefully that made sense, i'm stoned

it made sense to me.

but what i think people are missing is the impact culture/history has. sure the media and political structure does impact the way a society is but culture and history are antecedents that are reflected in politics/media and all that shit that kam can talk at length about.

we are culturally very different from americans, even with canadian conservatives a news channel like FOX wouldn't get any traction.

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

as someone who watches cbc, it definitely has a bias.

its funded by the public so it doesn't have an overt bias, but its definitely more on the liberal side of things.

I think the BBC is probably the least bias news channel and surprisingly bloomberg is too, if you're focused on business.

If we're looking to international news sources I'd say the most unbiased is Al-Jazeera.