viernes, 26 de junio de 2009
LAST OPTION CULTURAL ACTIVITY
The last choice for the extra cultural activity is EXPOYOGA. This is certainly a great example of a microculture! It will take place next weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) at the Barcelo San Jose Palacio. You don't have to pay if you don't want to take any classes, and you can visit the Green Market. You can find more information at: www.expoyogacr.com.
CULTURE AND GENOCIDE: RWANDA AND CONGO
After considering the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 and watching the documentary about rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo, discuss the problematic of ethnic conflict. Your personal reaction is welcome, but the emphasis should be analytical.
lunes, 25 de mayo de 2009
Extra Activity on Thursday and Weekend
For those of you taking British Lit, I'm sorry but you can't miss class on Thursday... at least not with the professor's blessing! So, for you, the Cartoon Festival is still open. For the others, if you can go, I think it's a great opportunity to expand on this week's topic as well as a space to learn about the work being done by various organizations to help defend the Costa Rican LGBT community.
Reaction on Culture and Violence towards Women
Comment on the topic discussed last Thursday. Take into consideration all the aspects of our discussion, the readings we did in class, the presentation on FGM, and the video. What do these misogynist practices have in common? Did you know about them? How can you relate them to your own culture?
lunes, 4 de mayo de 2009
ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE
Read the following review and discussion about the movie, taken from Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things, then, write your own opinion, both about the movie itself and the comments you read.
From: http://boingboing.net/2007/08/06/jay-kinney-reviews-z.html
Jay Kinney reviews Zeitgeist, the Movie
Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, August 6, 2007 4:13 PM | permalink
I don't know enough about politics, history, or religion to have a valid opinion of Zeitgeist, but I was interested in getting a well-informed person's assessment of the documentary. I could think of no one better suited than Jay Kinney. He was the publisher of the late, great Gnosis Magazine, the author of several books on Western esoteric and occult traditions, and the author of The Masonic Enigma, "a journey of discovery into the real facts (and mysteries) of Masonry's history and symbols." He's also an amazingly talented cartoonist, and contributed to The Whole Earth Review which is how I first learned about him. (His 1987 article, "If Software Companies Ran the Country," where he compares Al Capp's Shmoos to infinitely-copyable software, remains as fresh and powerful today as it did 20 years ago).
At my request, Jay watched the movie, and kindly wrote the following review for Boing Boing:
Zeiting the Geist
The latest bit of guerrilla media to take the online universe by storm is “Zeitgeist, the Movie.” Clocking in at close to two hours’ length, and with over a million views on Google Video since its June 26th “official” release, Zeitgeist is a grabby, cranky, can’t-stop-watching-it documentary that purports to tell the real truth about Christianity, 9/11, and the International Bankers.
Exactly who is behind the video is unclear, although someone with the moniker of “Peter J.” has posted an online letter claiming credit and explaining Zeitgeist’s message to those who may have somehow failed to grasp the worldview that the video hammers home.
And what is that worldview, pray tell? Religions in general, and Christianity in particular, are primarily systems of social control. 9/11 was an inside job and the destruction of the WTC twin towers and building 7 were aided by controlled demolition. And finally, International Bankers, through the Federal Reserve and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), control our money and our future, leading to, ta da, the coming One World Government and the microchipping of everyone.
Exactly how all this fits together is left to the viewer’s imagination or, presumably, the film-maker’s hash pipe. Are those who manipulate Christianity for control purposes in cahoots with the Bankers, and were the Bankers in on the 9/11 caper? Zeitgeist sidesteps such logical questions through the use of the all-purpose term, “the elite,” a shadowy group of rich and powerful men who want nothing more than to enslave humanity and reap block-buster profits through the promotion of wars and financial crises.
For conspiracy buffs, this is all pretty standard fare, and, indeed, aficionados of the genre will find little new in “Zeitgeist.” The notions that most religions were originally a kind of solar worship, and that the Jesus Christ story recapitulated the mythos of numerous other “dying gods,” were floating around in the late 1700s. Fittingly, the video features a quote from Thomas Paine reducing Christianity to warmed-over sun worship, which was a daring bit of religion-baiting 200 years ago, albeit not so earth-shattering today.
The nefarious International Bankers meme has been propagating itself since at least the mid-1800s and has long been a mainstay of radical right-wing circles where it has often overlapped with mutterings about Jewish cabals.
The 9/11 truth segment of the video is, of course, of much more recent vintage, but, here too, it mostly repeats accusations that have gotten widespread play in the uber-skeptic milieu.
Breaking new factual ground is not what Zeitgeist is about, however. Rather, the video is a powerful and fast-acting dose of agitprop, hawking its conclusions as givens. Unfortunately, like most propaganda, it doesn’t play fair with its intended audience. At times, while watching it, I felt like I was getting Malcolm McDowell’s treatment in Clockwork Orange: eyes pried wide open while getting bombarded with quick-cut atrocity photos.
At other times, Zeitgeist engages in willful confusion by showing TV screen shots of network or cable news with voice-overs from unidentified people not associated with the news programs. If one weren’t paying close attention, the effect would be to confer the status and authority of TV news upon the words being spoken. Even when quotes or sound bites are attributed to a source, there’s no way to tell if they are quoted correctly or in context.
Late in the video, there’s a supposed quote from David Rockefeller, which, if genuine, would be an astounding confession of complicity in mass manipulation. But, of course, the quote is not sourced or dated, which renders it useless. (The video’s website does feature a Sources page, but a hodge-podge list of books, with no page numbers cited, is of little value for source verification.)
The over-all temper of the video is rather like the John Birch Society on acid, with interludes by Harry Smith. Incongruously, after spending nearly two hours trying to scare the bejeezis out of its viewers, Zeitgeist ends on an oddly upbeat note, telling us that Love — not Fear — is the answer, We are all One, and featuring sound-bites from Ram Dass and Carl Sagan.
It’s a shame, really, that Zeitgeist is, ultimately, such a mess. There are plenty of legitimate questions about what transpired on 9/11, just as there are plenty of shady doings in international finance or puzzling aspects of religious history, for that matter. And what is coming down in the name of National Security is truly unnerving. Yet, bundling them all together in disjointed fashion does justice to none of them. Time and again, Zeitgeist maximizes emotional impact at the expense of a more reasoned weighing of evidence. But, perhaps that’s the intention.
I’ve often pondered about what it might take to snap everyone out of the walking dream we collectively entered on 9/11/01. Just as the fall of the Berlin Wall provided the emotional pivot for the end of the Cold War, only a collective experience of an intensity equal to that of 9/11 might jolt us awake as to what is really happening in the corridors of power and certain undisclosed locations.
It’s my hunch that Zeitgeist is one attempt to provide such a jolt, and it does indeed pack a certain punch. Too bad it also runs off in three directions at once, and is so indiscriminate in its sources and overly certain of its conclusions. Zeitgeist may be powerful, but its power is tainted with some simplistic and pernicious memes that have already received more propagation than they deserve. The video’s producer does inform us that “It is my hope that people will not take what is said in the film as the truth . . .”
Indeed.
Discussion
#1 posted by Anonymous, August 30, 2007 8:31 PM
You, like many others, attack the credibility of the sources, rather than look at the facts and dispute them. There is a video of our president getting upset when asked why he and vice president cheney would not answer questions individually, not under oath, not recorded and no press or family present! When the police have 2 suspects, what is the first thing they do? Seperate the 2, question them individually and record it.
There are also facts, rather evidence of the author's claims, in the sky! There are 3 stars, after the star in the east, that align with the sun on december 25th! The stories line up and the proof is in the sky. Look up and wake up! You are being lied to! While all of the claims and details in this movie may not be true, the general idea is supported by very solid EVIDENCE. Look at the profits of the defense contractors, and cheneys involvement, and then all of the legislation that has taken place on the heels of 9/11, and you have your proof. You people are ignorant and unwilling to consider that your president has an agenda simply because he quotes the bible. Again, I'm sorry to say it, but you are brainwashed folks. Keep blindly obeying the man, see where we end up. Shame on you for not asking questions.
#2 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 1:54 PM
Kinney opposes the movie's stance yet makes no stance of his own.
#3 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 3:35 PM
AMEN
or if you prefer
I BELIEVE
we all need to wake up
#4 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 4:40 PM
It sounds like you had the recorder going after sharing a few cocktails together. Where's the rebuttal of facts etc?.....If you're going to question some the quotes and statements presented in the film, you better put in some time with your research and offer up something substantial...your critique sounds as lightweight as you accuse the film of being. I think this film is just meant to awaken a few people from their stupor and provoke them in to engaging in their own inquiries as to the veracity of received dogma, and hopefully spread the word. Questioning the status quo shouldn't throw you out to the fringes.
#5 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 4:58 PM
Great review! Thanks!
#6 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 6:05 PM
No matter what, the narrator is not forcing any views on us. The beauty of left-wing "propaganda" is that it leaves you to do all the work. Now religious views are stated as implied. The justification of numerous and continual war crimes is always stated as implied. And many involved in the institutions attacked by the movie are racing away from skeptics. What do they have to hide. A simple no comment would suffice. An arrogant refusal always works. But the lengths to which they go to hide so much information that is more than readily available to us is preposterous. Now I wouldn't have ever been interested in politics had I never read any Chomsky or publications such as Znet and the American Free Press. But they only managed to confirm suspicions that I've had purely from an assesment of the news. And all that libertarian speakers can do is point you towards the truth. It's hard to call them activists because they offer few solutions but as long as they're able to report facts freely I am obligated to trust and accredit them as genuine. Now you yourself stated having little knowledge of the topics addressed by the movie so at a first glance, to an observant person, the hypotheses would seem perfectly concordant. And as a natural skeptic,I always make sure to do my own research.
Every ten minutes while watching the movie, I would pause the movie and check out things that seemed uncertain. The stated points were all easily confirmed.
So before you can so easily denounce these overstated views, I'd suggest to always check the facts for yourself because we as typers of the web age are rarely hard up for every single possible view.
#7 posted by Anonymous, September 1, 2007 6:06 AM
I love it.
I love reading these reviews that use name calling and accusations of radical conspiracy groups as basis for the argument, it supports the film even more.
Like the other reviews I have read that question its validity, this one, again, summarizes by saying nothing at all.
I've yet to see a review that can hold its ground against the movie's claims as it is hard to argue against logic.
If you can't see how the three parts tie together, maybe it's because the pathetic education system never asked you to critically analyze anything but merely to regurgitate what you've heard.
Reform your brain or remain sheep.
The Rockefeller quote was from Alex Jone's interview with Aaron Russo - R.I.P.
#8 posted by Anonymous, September 1, 2007 2:24 PM
There are literally hundreds of statements in the first portion of the movie that contradict everything I have read about ancient mythology and world religions. There are also a great many statements that seem absolutely correct, and many more on which I am not qualified to have an opinion.
I can't really trust any of the claims made in this movie, since it makes so many false statements in part one. I'm no fan of Christianity, by the way. It does raise a lot of legitimate questions, however, and it makes me want to know more.
The Rockefeller quotations are just that - not tape recordings or documents written in his hand. It is intriguing, but it's what the law calls hearsay as far as evidentiary value goes.
From: http://boingboing.net/2007/08/06/jay-kinney-reviews-z.html
Jay Kinney reviews Zeitgeist, the Movie
Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, August 6, 2007 4:13 PM | permalink
I don't know enough about politics, history, or religion to have a valid opinion of Zeitgeist, but I was interested in getting a well-informed person's assessment of the documentary. I could think of no one better suited than Jay Kinney. He was the publisher of the late, great Gnosis Magazine, the author of several books on Western esoteric and occult traditions, and the author of The Masonic Enigma, "a journey of discovery into the real facts (and mysteries) of Masonry's history and symbols." He's also an amazingly talented cartoonist, and contributed to The Whole Earth Review which is how I first learned about him. (His 1987 article, "If Software Companies Ran the Country," where he compares Al Capp's Shmoos to infinitely-copyable software, remains as fresh and powerful today as it did 20 years ago).
At my request, Jay watched the movie, and kindly wrote the following review for Boing Boing:
Zeiting the Geist
The latest bit of guerrilla media to take the online universe by storm is “Zeitgeist, the Movie.” Clocking in at close to two hours’ length, and with over a million views on Google Video since its June 26th “official” release, Zeitgeist is a grabby, cranky, can’t-stop-watching-it documentary that purports to tell the real truth about Christianity, 9/11, and the International Bankers.
Exactly who is behind the video is unclear, although someone with the moniker of “Peter J.” has posted an online letter claiming credit and explaining Zeitgeist’s message to those who may have somehow failed to grasp the worldview that the video hammers home.
And what is that worldview, pray tell? Religions in general, and Christianity in particular, are primarily systems of social control. 9/11 was an inside job and the destruction of the WTC twin towers and building 7 were aided by controlled demolition. And finally, International Bankers, through the Federal Reserve and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), control our money and our future, leading to, ta da, the coming One World Government and the microchipping of everyone.
Exactly how all this fits together is left to the viewer’s imagination or, presumably, the film-maker’s hash pipe. Are those who manipulate Christianity for control purposes in cahoots with the Bankers, and were the Bankers in on the 9/11 caper? Zeitgeist sidesteps such logical questions through the use of the all-purpose term, “the elite,” a shadowy group of rich and powerful men who want nothing more than to enslave humanity and reap block-buster profits through the promotion of wars and financial crises.
For conspiracy buffs, this is all pretty standard fare, and, indeed, aficionados of the genre will find little new in “Zeitgeist.” The notions that most religions were originally a kind of solar worship, and that the Jesus Christ story recapitulated the mythos of numerous other “dying gods,” were floating around in the late 1700s. Fittingly, the video features a quote from Thomas Paine reducing Christianity to warmed-over sun worship, which was a daring bit of religion-baiting 200 years ago, albeit not so earth-shattering today.
The nefarious International Bankers meme has been propagating itself since at least the mid-1800s and has long been a mainstay of radical right-wing circles where it has often overlapped with mutterings about Jewish cabals.
The 9/11 truth segment of the video is, of course, of much more recent vintage, but, here too, it mostly repeats accusations that have gotten widespread play in the uber-skeptic milieu.
Breaking new factual ground is not what Zeitgeist is about, however. Rather, the video is a powerful and fast-acting dose of agitprop, hawking its conclusions as givens. Unfortunately, like most propaganda, it doesn’t play fair with its intended audience. At times, while watching it, I felt like I was getting Malcolm McDowell’s treatment in Clockwork Orange: eyes pried wide open while getting bombarded with quick-cut atrocity photos.
At other times, Zeitgeist engages in willful confusion by showing TV screen shots of network or cable news with voice-overs from unidentified people not associated with the news programs. If one weren’t paying close attention, the effect would be to confer the status and authority of TV news upon the words being spoken. Even when quotes or sound bites are attributed to a source, there’s no way to tell if they are quoted correctly or in context.
Late in the video, there’s a supposed quote from David Rockefeller, which, if genuine, would be an astounding confession of complicity in mass manipulation. But, of course, the quote is not sourced or dated, which renders it useless. (The video’s website does feature a Sources page, but a hodge-podge list of books, with no page numbers cited, is of little value for source verification.)
The over-all temper of the video is rather like the John Birch Society on acid, with interludes by Harry Smith. Incongruously, after spending nearly two hours trying to scare the bejeezis out of its viewers, Zeitgeist ends on an oddly upbeat note, telling us that Love — not Fear — is the answer, We are all One, and featuring sound-bites from Ram Dass and Carl Sagan.
It’s a shame, really, that Zeitgeist is, ultimately, such a mess. There are plenty of legitimate questions about what transpired on 9/11, just as there are plenty of shady doings in international finance or puzzling aspects of religious history, for that matter. And what is coming down in the name of National Security is truly unnerving. Yet, bundling them all together in disjointed fashion does justice to none of them. Time and again, Zeitgeist maximizes emotional impact at the expense of a more reasoned weighing of evidence. But, perhaps that’s the intention.
I’ve often pondered about what it might take to snap everyone out of the walking dream we collectively entered on 9/11/01. Just as the fall of the Berlin Wall provided the emotional pivot for the end of the Cold War, only a collective experience of an intensity equal to that of 9/11 might jolt us awake as to what is really happening in the corridors of power and certain undisclosed locations.
It’s my hunch that Zeitgeist is one attempt to provide such a jolt, and it does indeed pack a certain punch. Too bad it also runs off in three directions at once, and is so indiscriminate in its sources and overly certain of its conclusions. Zeitgeist may be powerful, but its power is tainted with some simplistic and pernicious memes that have already received more propagation than they deserve. The video’s producer does inform us that “It is my hope that people will not take what is said in the film as the truth . . .”
Indeed.
Discussion
#1 posted by Anonymous, August 30, 2007 8:31 PM
You, like many others, attack the credibility of the sources, rather than look at the facts and dispute them. There is a video of our president getting upset when asked why he and vice president cheney would not answer questions individually, not under oath, not recorded and no press or family present! When the police have 2 suspects, what is the first thing they do? Seperate the 2, question them individually and record it.
There are also facts, rather evidence of the author's claims, in the sky! There are 3 stars, after the star in the east, that align with the sun on december 25th! The stories line up and the proof is in the sky. Look up and wake up! You are being lied to! While all of the claims and details in this movie may not be true, the general idea is supported by very solid EVIDENCE. Look at the profits of the defense contractors, and cheneys involvement, and then all of the legislation that has taken place on the heels of 9/11, and you have your proof. You people are ignorant and unwilling to consider that your president has an agenda simply because he quotes the bible. Again, I'm sorry to say it, but you are brainwashed folks. Keep blindly obeying the man, see where we end up. Shame on you for not asking questions.
#2 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 1:54 PM
Kinney opposes the movie's stance yet makes no stance of his own.
#3 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 3:35 PM
AMEN
or if you prefer
I BELIEVE
we all need to wake up
#4 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 4:40 PM
It sounds like you had the recorder going after sharing a few cocktails together. Where's the rebuttal of facts etc?.....If you're going to question some the quotes and statements presented in the film, you better put in some time with your research and offer up something substantial...your critique sounds as lightweight as you accuse the film of being. I think this film is just meant to awaken a few people from their stupor and provoke them in to engaging in their own inquiries as to the veracity of received dogma, and hopefully spread the word. Questioning the status quo shouldn't throw you out to the fringes.
#5 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 4:58 PM
Great review! Thanks!
#6 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 6:05 PM
No matter what, the narrator is not forcing any views on us. The beauty of left-wing "propaganda" is that it leaves you to do all the work. Now religious views are stated as implied. The justification of numerous and continual war crimes is always stated as implied. And many involved in the institutions attacked by the movie are racing away from skeptics. What do they have to hide. A simple no comment would suffice. An arrogant refusal always works. But the lengths to which they go to hide so much information that is more than readily available to us is preposterous. Now I wouldn't have ever been interested in politics had I never read any Chomsky or publications such as Znet and the American Free Press. But they only managed to confirm suspicions that I've had purely from an assesment of the news. And all that libertarian speakers can do is point you towards the truth. It's hard to call them activists because they offer few solutions but as long as they're able to report facts freely I am obligated to trust and accredit them as genuine. Now you yourself stated having little knowledge of the topics addressed by the movie so at a first glance, to an observant person, the hypotheses would seem perfectly concordant. And as a natural skeptic,I always make sure to do my own research.
Every ten minutes while watching the movie, I would pause the movie and check out things that seemed uncertain. The stated points were all easily confirmed.
So before you can so easily denounce these overstated views, I'd suggest to always check the facts for yourself because we as typers of the web age are rarely hard up for every single possible view.
#7 posted by Anonymous, September 1, 2007 6:06 AM
I love it.
I love reading these reviews that use name calling and accusations of radical conspiracy groups as basis for the argument, it supports the film even more.
Like the other reviews I have read that question its validity, this one, again, summarizes by saying nothing at all.
I've yet to see a review that can hold its ground against the movie's claims as it is hard to argue against logic.
If you can't see how the three parts tie together, maybe it's because the pathetic education system never asked you to critically analyze anything but merely to regurgitate what you've heard.
Reform your brain or remain sheep.
The Rockefeller quote was from Alex Jone's interview with Aaron Russo - R.I.P.
#8 posted by Anonymous, September 1, 2007 2:24 PM
There are literally hundreds of statements in the first portion of the movie that contradict everything I have read about ancient mythology and world religions. There are also a great many statements that seem absolutely correct, and many more on which I am not qualified to have an opinion.
I can't really trust any of the claims made in this movie, since it makes so many false statements in part one. I'm no fan of Christianity, by the way. It does raise a lot of legitimate questions, however, and it makes me want to know more.
The Rockefeller quotations are just that - not tape recordings or documents written in his hand. It is intriguing, but it's what the law calls hearsay as far as evidentiary value goes.
martes, 28 de abril de 2009
IMPORTANT! Extra-class activities
Ok, I am sorry but the Japanese Fair was last weekend... So, apparently I need a new method of scheduling! Then, your open option at the moment is the Indian documentary, with the new information I posted. I will give you a new option soon (hopefully correct!)Also, on Monday the class will be held in the Mini-Auditorio because of the registration of the Conversation Courses of the school. I'll see you on Thursday in our regular classroom.
lunes, 27 de abril de 2009
IMPORTANT! Extra Class Activities
Dear Students,
I gave you an incorrect date for the documentary on Indian brothel children. This is the CORRECT information:
Wednesday May 29
5:00 p.m.
Miniauditorio Ciencias Sociales
Cineforo: "Los ninios del Barrio Rojo" (India)
About the other option that I gave you, the Japanese Festival, I am going to re-check and let you know tomorrow for sure because I seem to be a little confused about dates this week...
I apologize for the misinformation!
I gave you an incorrect date for the documentary on Indian brothel children. This is the CORRECT information:
Wednesday May 29
5:00 p.m.
Miniauditorio Ciencias Sociales
Cineforo: "Los ninios del Barrio Rojo" (India)
About the other option that I gave you, the Japanese Festival, I am going to re-check and let you know tomorrow for sure because I seem to be a little confused about dates this week...
I apologize for the misinformation!
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