By focussing on the theory and not on the practice of making media (except in some exceptions where women make zines – although this practice was more popular with older teenagers and young women and has now been relegated to an ironic “indie” activity) Kearney exposes the media programs as weak on the practise side of things.  She argues that many media that girls end up learning how to use are internal, such as writing “for purposes of self reflection.  In other words, girls are encouraged to see writing as a means to ‘dump’ their emotions privately rather than as a form of public expression” (Kearney, 95).

Science class is taken really seriously

Personally, I don’t feel that I experienced these issues to the same extent as other girls did, since I went to an all-girls secondary school.  We were taught to be empowered modern women who could break the mould of gender stereotypes – not to rely on men, or allow them to treat us like pieces of meat and be disrespectful of us.  They also pushed science in our faces hardcore, at my school, if you weren’t in sciences, a kind of subconscious belief was that you would wind up living in a cardboard box.  So from grades 7 – 11 if I wanted to make a movie the girls would be the writers, producers, actresses (even the male roles) and the directors.  We were in charge (or as much as high school girls can be).

Anyway, even though I haven’t paid dues to the party in years, I’m still on their mailing list. Now, usually their letters get marked as spam and I don’t bother with them, but this one arrived in my Inbox, titled: “NON au campagnes de peur.” So, with a title like that, for some reason I’m thinking about those attack ads from the federal election, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Remember those childish attack ads belittling all of the potential leaders? Yeah. Boring.

Unfortunately, I’m dead wrong. Here is what the Liberal Party of Quebec really had to say (bad translation job is mine):
Chère amie, cher ami,

Voici ce que j’ai déclaré ce matin devant l’Assemblée nationale, en marge de la campagne électorale. Here is what I stated this morning in front of the National Assembly in regards to the election campaign.

Comme premier ministre du Québec, je veux aujourd’hui rassurer nos aînés et nos retraités. As Premier of Quebec, today I want to reassure our elderly and our retirees.

Je vous donne ce matin l’assurance que les pensions de retraite de la Régie des rentes du Québec ne sont pas menacés. This morning I am giving you assurance that retirement pensions of the Association of Revenue Quebec are not threatened.

Aujourd’hui, des mises au point s’imposent. Today, the talking points impose themselves.

La solidité de la Caisse n’est pas compromise. Les revenus de retraite de la Régie des rentes du Québec ne sont pas menacés. The stability of the Caisse is not compromised. The Association of Revenue Quebec’s retirement pensions are not threatened.

Des gestes irresponsables ont été commis dans cette campagne. There have been some iresponsible actions during this campaign.

L’équipe de Mme Marois a tenté de faire peur aux Québécois en évoquant une crise de liquidités et en disant que la situation est alarmante. Mrs. Marois’s team has attempted to make Quebeckers scared of a liquidity crisis by saying that our situation is alarming.

Or, la haute direction de la Caisse de dépôt a révélé qu’elle avait des liquidités de 20 milliards $, que ses entrées de fonds demeuraient supérieures à ses sorties et qu’elle n’avait aucun problème à faire face à ses obligations envers ses déposants et ses partenaires. However, the director of the Caisse de dépôt has revealed that they currently have a liquidity of $20 billion,  that they are spending less than their costs, and thus have had no problem facing their obligations towards their depositors and partners.

J’estime qu’en temps de crise financière internationale, la première responsabilité de tout leader politique est de rassurer les citoyens et de protéger l’intégrité de nos institutions. I feel that in a time of international financial crisis, the first responsibility of every political leader is to reassure the citizens and to protect the integrity of our institutions.

Mme Marois demande qu’on publie d’avance les résultats de la Caisse or, tous les économistes, experts et observateurs sont d’avis contraire. Mrs. Marois demands that we publish in advance the results of la Caisse, but experts and consultants have advised otherwise.

Yvan Loubier, ex porte-parole du Bloc québécois en finances et ex-candidat du PQ : «La polémique entourant les résultats de la Caisse… n’a pas sa place… Certains se font les artisans d’un vent de panique qui pourrait coûter cher au Québec». Yvan Loubier, ex-financial spokesman for the Bloc Quebecois and ex-candidate for the PQ stated, “the debate that surrounds the results of the Caisse… has no legs to stand on… Some people create panics that could cost Quebec a lot of money.”

Jean-Paul Gagné, Journal les Affaires : «Où est l’urgence de connaître le rendement global obtenu par la Caisse… Veulent-ils amener la Caisse à gérer à court terme? Ce serait totalement stupide». Jean-Paul Gagné, Journal les Affaires has said, “Where is the urgency to know the total output of the Caisse… Do they only want to manage the Caisse in the short-term? That would be completely idiotic.”

Un ancien premier ministre et ministre des Finances du Québec, Bernard Landry a déclaré : « Si on les évalue aujourd’hui, ça peut donner un chiffre. Et si on les évalue dans trois mois, ça peut en donner un autre? C’est pour ça que la Caisse dit : nous ferons notre rapport quand ce sera le temps». Il ajoutait également : «Il n’y a pas lieu de s’alarmer ». A former Premier and Minister of Finance of Quebec, Bernard Landry, has stated, “If we evaluate them today, we will get one number. And if we evaluate in three months time, won’t we get a different number? This is why the Caisse says: we will make our report when the time comes. ” Landry added to this, “Now is not the time to panic.”

La raison est fort simple. Les actifs de la Caisse sont composés d’obligations, d’actions, et de participations dans des entreprises privées ou  de l’immobilier dans une  proportion d’environ 1 tiers, 1 tiers, 1 tiers. The reason for this is loud and clear. The credits of the Caisse are composed of obligations, actions and participations in private industry or real estate, where each is allotted one third.

Il y a un processus d’évaluation qui doit se faire comme il se fait toujours avant la publication des résultats, en février, en même temps que les autres caisses de retraite du monde. On pourra à ce moment comparer son rendement à celui de ses pairs. There is a process of evaluation that has to be done like it is always done before the publication of the results in February, at the same time as the other pension funds of the world. At this time we will be able to compare our output with that of our peers.

Le faire avant ne donnerait pas le vrai portrait et compromettrait la Caisse et serait à l’encontre des intérêts de ses déposants et des Québécois. To do the evaluation before everyone else will not give us the real picture, will compromise the Caisse and would be against the interests to its depositors and to the Inhabitants of Quebec.

Dans cet esprit, il s’est produit hier un incident que j’estime être d’une extrême gravité. In this vein, an incident happened yesterday that I consider to be very serious.

Le chef de l’ADQ, Mario Dumont s’est rendu dans une résidence pour personnes âgées de Mascouche. Devant cet auditoire, il a soutenu que « la Caisse de dépôt pourrait être obligée d’envisager de couper les pensions de la Régie des rentes du Québec. » The leader of the ADQ, Mario Dumont went to a residence for the elderly in Mascouche. In front of this audience, he declared that, “the Caisse de dépôt may be obliged to cut pension funding from the Association of Revenue Quebec.”

Ce qu’il a dit est totalement faux. What he said was completely untrue.

M. Dumont a choisi d’exploiter l’inquiétude. Mr. Dumont has chosen to exploit peoples’ worries.
Il a choisi de semer la peur. He has chosen to spread fear.
Il a choisi, au nom de son bénéfice partisan, d’alimenter l’insécurité de nos aînés. He has chosen to benefit from feeding on the insecurities of the elderly.

Rarement j’ai vu un tel niveau de cynisme. It is rare to see such a cynic.

En versant dans cette campagne de peur odieuse, M. Dumont s’est rendu indigne de représenter les citoyens. By spreading these odious lies, Mr. Dumont has become unworthy of representing the citizens.

Un élu qui traîne nos institutions dans la boue et qui exploite l’insécurité de nos parents et de nos grands-parents mérite d’être jugé sévèrement par la population. An elected official who drags our institutions through the mud and exploits the insecurity of our parents and our grandparents deserves to be judged severely by the populations.

Nous avons tous des parents, des grands-parents ou des proches âgés et on sait à quel point l’insécurité est pour eux une préoccupation. We all have parents, grand-parents or old close relations and we know at which point the insecurity is a concern for them.

La décence élémentaire impose de ne pas en rajouter. Common decency says that one should not unnecessarily increase those concerns.

Je demande à monsieur Dumont de reconnaître que les propos qu’il a tenu sont faux et qu’il s’amende. I demand Mr. Dumont to recognize that the remarks that he made are false, and that he amend them.

Jean Charest
Premier ministre du Québec et chef du PLQ

Premier of Quebec and head of the LPQ

————

Hmmm, I guess the game is on and the gloves are off…

This is exactly how useful debating over the Internet has become

The second problem is often encountered with political activism.  I have engaged in political debates with a stranger halfway around the world, where they have ultimately decided that I was a liar, many curse words, and not to be trusted as I was some sort of “brainwashed Jew.”  Now, I don’t think I should be preaching to the converted, but this has definitely taught me a couple of things: a) tell them in person, because then they are more likely to listen to you like you’re a human being, and b) don’t pick a fight with the loudest and angriest person around (this includes reality).

So while the theory of political activism is great, it can also be a serious breeding ground for hate. In any user-generated-content site, like YouTube, you can easily find over a thousand videos that call for other people to kill others. Just type in “anti Israel” or “anti Islam” and you’ll find about 10,000 videos. That’s sad, and depressing, and neither of those topics have anything to do with political activism.

It’s actually fairly honest and sweet compared to a lot of the BS that goes on.

Another great change with the advent of the Internet is how things have changed for programmers.  Once nameless, faceless nerds who spent too much time playing video games, some of these (predominately, white and educated) males have gained the world’s attention and the fame and fortune that comes with it.

Within the first paragraph, one of the most interesting facts I encountered was how much Napster was sold for. At the time anyone selling a programme for as much as $1 million was amazing, however times and standards have changed, with Rupert Murdoch having bought MySpace for $580 million in 2006. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/murdoch.html

In terms of Second Life, however, while it is the next step in digitizing our lives, personally I find it creepy and more important have real-life interactions.  While this game was because the created because of the creator’s difficulty with interacting in reality, people do not act the same way online as in real-life. (Although I do realize it’s a much more positive activity than getting high).

I think that Sandvig raises some interesting points about the different types of programmes one can acquire and how it transforms our computing experience.  However, most of the people that garner headlines have an extensive knowledge of computers past the average user.  So while it enables more accessibility and lowers peoples’ personal and corporate costs, the computer literacy required to get such professional results often comes with a higher price tag than he admits.  Usually it involves a post-secondary degree in Computers Sciences, which in the USA doesn’t come cheap.

Brilliant! Say it with me...

Found on a wall in New York.

Until now, I always had a pay-as-you-go plan, where I had to top up and save my minutes and not text that much.  The awesome part was with my Euro phones, incoming (even long-distance) calls were free!  So now I got pretty accustomed to using that as my standard phone, and it’s continued here.  So I can’t say I identify with the Japanese kids and their parents, I generally had to use the landline like everyone else, I mean $10 went a long way in cell phone bills back then!  Since I had a mobile before most of my friends, it was actually pretty much used to contact my parents for rides and to let them know where I was, whether I was going to be home late from play practice or whatever…  Or to call my friends’ houses once I finally got my act together and left my house, to let them know I was running late.

However, once I had a proper boyfriend and a mobile, things became complicated.  Then, my parents felt like they needed to be kept in the loop about my relationship (and only with this guy.  They didn’t care about my friends even if they had never met these new buddies of mine – even though they were a worse influence than the boy I was going out with.)  Oh the irony.

Today I want to write about youth and advocacy.  In regards to your (Leslie’s) article about Facebook, I don’t find that the Internet is the best place to promote a cause.  While Facebook has the “Causes” application where you can join the cause and even donate money to it, I find that the Internet is more of a research area than a recruiting ground.

I find that it’s much easier to recruit people to a cause in person, but you have to be a very charismatic (and not annoying) person.  This is because it’s a lot easier for people to be indifferent to a message online.  Generally speaking, no one’s watching their reaction to things, and they don’t have to read the entire article about the issue anyway.  In contrast, in person it’s quite rude to walk away when people are in mid-sentence, and so manners and social upbringing prevent most people from doing this.  Therefore, I feel that Facebook is ineffective for creating awareness and recruiting people to join forces for a cause (unless it’s to bring the old format of Facebook back).

In contrast, you can find all the information you would ever want about whichever cause, or issue, you please.  This can even be true for not completely fictional websites such as Wikipedia.  I find that Wikipedia tends to get a bad rap, which is not completely unfounded, but if the article has sources then you can get the same facts from a more trustworthy place.

In regards to the past election on October 14, 2008 and attack ads, I found them to be ridiculous.  To see my country’s (potential) leaders being shamed does not inspire faith in my civic duty, neither in the ridiculed candidate, nor in the party who paid for the advertisement.  While this may work on a subliminal level for some people, I find it childish and vulgar.  Personally, I’d rather not choose who to vote for based on which party acted least like a clique of teenaged girls.

In other words, for the next election (and can we wait a bit longer for the next one?!) I implore the candidates and their parties to please grow up.  Those of us who do vote already have.

Also, just because it seems on par with some of the stuff I’d seen, here’s a farce on a ridiculous attack ad.