I confess: looking at Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model for Wednesday’s post depressed me. The attached video, which inspired me to dedicate this week to media issues, cinched my melancholy. While I had been familiar with the Herman and Chomsky model since taking media studies in community college, and indeed recognized the role it played …
Author: Aaron Miner
A Taste of Propaganda in America
Have you seen this video? Shocking, isn’t it? Disturbing, no? Is it not an outrage that Fox would cave to Monsanto in such a fashion? Yet another reason not to watch Fox News. Except it isn’t just Fox. Welcome to the American propaganda machine, my friends. In their 1988 work Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy …
The Internet vs Television: How They Affect Us, How We Affect Them
Literature on the deleterious effects of television on our minds has a long history. From garden-variety paranoia, to studies indicating an increase in passivity after viewing, to scathing social critiques like Neil Postman’s in Amusing Ourselves to Death, and literary condemnation through Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian” and Fahrenheit 451—the Box will forever live in infamy. With …
This Week On Runicfire: March 25 – March 31
Monday sees two posts: a Space Edition of the usual links, and the piece on the effects of the Internet versus television as a medium originally scheduled for last Friday. Wednesday continues the media focus as I delve into the unusual face of propaganda in the United States. Dinner is served with a side of Noam Chomsky …
Monday Links: Space Edition
If someone tells you to get your head of out of the clouds, you have two options: plant your feet on the ground, or fly into space. This last Thursday, Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, posted a summary of the Planck mission data. Planck is a space telescope operated by the European Space Agency. Its …
Moving Today’s Post
Dear Readers, I have been fighting a cold all week, and while I’m feeling better, I have not had the opportunity to complete today’s post. I will be moving the subject I was going to discuss today to Monday. I will post new material on Wednesday and Friday as usual, as well as Monday’s links. …
The Renaissance Man Versus the Industrial Machine
In my continuing research for my novel, Rosaria of Venice, and its sequels, I came across an interesting book. It is titled, simply and appropriately, The Italian Renaissance, and is authored by J.H. Plumb. So far, it is at once the most concise and comprehensive resource I have found on the time period. I find …
This Week on Runicfire: March 18 – 24
This Monday’s links cover store mannequins, the Higgs boson, meteorites and water on Mars. Wednesday‘s post examines the Renaissance and its role at the root of modern Western civilization, and how today’s industrialization contrasts with the values of that period. And on Friday, a look at the effects of the Internet versus television as the new …
Monday Links: Mannequins, Higgs, Meteors and Martian Water
A clothing store in Sweden now features mannequins which represent the curvier (and more common) spectrum of the female figure. The reception of their decision is overwhelmingly positive. While I must comment on how the picture in the article appears to obscure the largest of the three mannequins in its photograph, I do believe this …
Fullmetal Alchemist: An Example of the Possibilities of Animation
I cannot say, as I did years ago, that animation is a maligned art form in America. The success of Pixar, Dreamworks and the rebirth of Disney have proven me wrong. Avatar: The Last Airbender spawned The Legend of Korra—both being beloved series which address contentious and mature topics. Still, it remains true that an …