Andy Opel

Surviving the inevitable future : Preemption in an age of faulty intelligence

With the successive introduction of electronic tabulation and counting machines, followed by mainframe computers, databases, spreadsheets, and a phalanx of data visualization programs, generations of public and private sector infonauts have gazed at their new flickering lights, screens, and interfaces, and uttered the mantra for our time traveling age: ‘What if . . . ’. And while Wall Street investment firms warn us against taking ‘forward looking statements’ as fact albeit in small print such new technologies have seemingly fixed our gaze on a probable future. Predicting the future, as Foucault reminded us, however, is as much about the past as it is about present economic and governmental needs. What if we reduce taxes? What if we increase production? What if we lay off half our workers? What if . . . Today answers to such questions draw upon a dense and interlinked information environment organized by a complex algorithm that predicts ripple effects through a multiplicity of variables. The ability to accurately answer ‘what if’ questions relies upon the stability of data the more unstable, abstract, and variable the data the less likely one can predict the future. For many infonauts predicting future relationships, consumer confidence, market opportunities, revenue streams, voting patterns, (etc.) begins by identifying and then subtracting risky or unwelcome scenarios and outcomes. Uncertainty is, of course, the very first variable to be subtracted. Since the devastating attacks on 9/11, and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, conventional ‘what if’ wisdom has seemingly gone out the window. With the non-discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq almost every political player in the US including top administration officials themselves have called into question the reliability of foreign intelligence. Yet in this murky fog of war, one question is seldom asked in public: What if the United States is attacked again? In the contemporary ‘War on Terror’ what if scenarios are being reconfigured by ‘when, then’ scenarios, ie. ‘when the terrorists strike again then we can mitigate the effects’. The difference between the two modus operandi is quite striking, the ‘what if’ scenario is a preplanning strategy that attempts to surveil, locate, and isolate significant relationships and their effects, in an attempt to subtract the variable from the equation. In other words, ‘what if’ simulations typically operationalize and

Structural Change? Environmental Documentary and Globalization

The year 2006 was a big year for environmental film. With the Academy Award for Best Documentary awarded to March of the Penguins in February and the release of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, environmental films carved out a small*but prominent*space in the consolidated movie-theater system. This opening, combined with a rising tide of new media, signals a coming sea change in both the media system we know and the kind of media we consume and create.

Taking Root in the Sunshine State The Emergence of the Media Reform Movement in the State of Florida

This paper explores the emergence of the media reform movement in the state of Florida in 2008. Focusing on the development of a statewide coalition, the paper details the tensions between local and national policy agendas, the barriers faced by local activists as they attempt to build support for the concept of media reform in their communities, and the diversity of interests represented under the banner of media reform. This case study also reveals an ideological bias toward the left among the movement activists currently working in Florida, signaling a need to harness the broad-based dissatisfaction that exists across the political spectrum.

The Impact of Training Videos on Attitudes About Parenting After Divorce

ABSTRACT Many U.S. states require divorcing parents to take education classes about the impact of divorce on parents and children. As educators, psychiatrists, social workers, and others create these classes, it is important to evaluate what elements of the curriculum are effective in achieving targeted outcomes. Successful Coparenting After Divorce (https://coparenting.fsu.edu) is a free online divorce education course that focuses on issues such as the emotional impact of divorce, conflict reduction, and skills for parental cooperation. The course also includes videos covering topics including examples of negative and positive parental behavior, and testimonials from children. Pilot testing of the videos and the overall course impact with divorcing parents (n = 218) suggested that the videos’ utility were significantly related to the positive change in parents’ perceptions of their relationship with their former spouse, and their child-focused attitudes. Implications for practitioners who design or provide divorce education to parents are discussed.