Friday, June 21. 2019

Happy Summer Solstice, National Indigenous Peoples Day and the last day of classes.

Today's schedule is DCBA

D Block Law / B Block Human Geography / A Block Physical Geography - Today is the last day in the learning commons for you to work on your major assignments.  You have assignments due today...please do not give me any "My dog ate my homework" or "My computer crashed with all my work on it" excuses. Turn in your work today please.

And Geography family if you're feeling defeated or down about climate change consider the following:
100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming
Campaigns to combat Climate Change
Citizen's Climate Lobby

C Block Criminology - Today we'll finish our look at the big picture of crime, media and society. Today we'll watch Patrick Jane's "antics" on the Mentalist. We'll watch "Paint it Red" from Season 1 in which a business tycoon's son-in-law is found dead near where a $50 million painting once hung in his father-in-law's office. Jane and the CBI try to find out how he might have been involved and who else is responsible.

Possessing exceptional knowledge of human behavior, extensive meditative and hypnotic training, a refined memory and superhuman deductive skills, Patrick Jane is one of the most valuable agents of the CBI in the fight against crime. Though technically he's not a cop, just a consultant.In The Mentalist, Patrick Jane does have that "Sherlock Stare" and he confounds his team members and keeps them in the dark about his plans until Voila...crime solved. Jane has what can only be described as potentially a high functioning personality disorder but with supreme intellect that assuredly saves the day for the police who clearly can't do their job properly without his help. Hmmm...sound familiar?

Does the media merely reflect society's beliefs about crime and the police or does it create an image that we buy into? Should we care - is it fine to turn the critical parts of our psyche off and merely be entertained for 44 minutes?...or should we try to find meaning in the message? Remember, my question is how do these shows represent society?

"What do these shows reveal about what we think is the reality of crime and the control of crime in North American society"?