An Entertaining War???

The video Militainment, Inc. offers a fascinating, yet disturbing glimpse into the militarization of American popular culture.  It shows how U.S. news channels use the war as a source of entertainment to keep viewers interested.  How does presenting war as entertainment affect the ability of citizens to evaluate the necessity and real human costs of military action?
Honestly, I feel like the most popular TV channels like Teen Mom and Jersey Shore get more views than updates on the war and politics.  Can we be mad at people for not knowing their facts about miltary when the news doesn't even tell us the truth?
And are you kidding me! -- U.S. Army is using video games to recruit new soldiers and to train current soldiers.  They say it is "preparing the mind for war." Ridiculous.
My father was in the Marine Corps and took part in the Vietnam War.... Got an image of respect? Now when you learn the truth about what he had to do, your image will change.  My father had the "clean up" job.  He had to kill the remaining women and children.  He had no choice.  My point to this example is that people are constantly being hidden from the truths about the military.  It was a bit difficult sitting through this film and reliving the remaining memories I have left of my father, but, isn't it better to know the truth than to know lies?
I wish there were more ways to keep people alert and updated other than the news channel's scandalous tricks of gaining more views for their shows.  This video was a real eyeopener.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Militainment:-Helpful-or-Hurtful?&id=5601143
http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/politics-links-and-videos-thre/743743?page=7
http://aeconomics.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-counter-recruitment-website.html

Copyright Criminals

Music is a huge part of our lives.  Music can transform the emotions we feel into words.  Music is everywhere we go.  But, lately the controversy over music prices is a constant boiling pot.  Copyright Criminals was the documentary that we watched in class.  There were many disputes over what is copyright and what isn't.  In all honesty, I don't get how a cover song is okay to do, but taking a small sample from another song can in some cases break your bank...
The late pop singer Whitney Houston is one of the greatest singers of all time and hearing the cover songs people have created in tribute to her, by singing her uniquely sounding songs, almost ruins it for me.  I prefer the original, but I must admit the remixes these days that have been created between funk and hip hop have been pretty catchy.  I really enjoy when artists take withering songs from history and let them relive in their songs to bring back the past.  It's a mixed emotion for me...I don't know whether copyright should be a right or a left

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl105.html
http://www.publicknowledge.org/tutorial/copyright-for-musicians
http://www.prsformusic.com/aboutus/essentialinformation/aboutcopyright/Pages/aboutmusiccopyright.aspx