Archive for February, 2010
Perform Amateur Home Surgery to Implant Tech Into Your Body
Lepht Anonym writes on h+ magazine:
“Biohacker” Lepht Anonym discusses amateur home surgery to implant technology into her body — and challenges the media portrayal of cyborg prosthetics “that only the elite can afford…”
“I’ve made scalpel incisions in my hands, pushed five-millimeter diameter needles through my skin, and once used a vegetable knife to carve a cavity into the tip of my index finger…”
“Anesthetic is illegal for people like me, so we learn to live without it.”
Now RFID readers can recognize her hand-implanted biochip, and she’s added a series of implants that also sense electromagnetic fields. The implants can register power lines, an active hard drive, and even signals sent by a cell phone, while its magnetism can hold screws to the back of her hand.
“I’m an idiot, but I’m an idiot working in the name of progress. You just need curiosity and the willingness to withstand some pain.”
Read More: h+ magazine
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Try to Find New Island on a Map: You Can’t, Even Though People Have Lived There for 43,500 Years…
Sounds to me like where Lost takes place. Fascinating story from Annalee Newitz on io9.com:
You can’t find New Island on most maps of the Indian Ocean because its location was a secret for most of the twentieth century. But now one man has chronicled the long, strange history of its ancient inhabitants.
The ruins you see here come from a group known locally as the “Old People,” who probably started living on the island 43,500 years ago. In the modern age, the island was discovered in the late eighteenth century by two convict ships that crashed there on the way to Australia. One of those ships was filled with hundreds of female convicts, who eventually founded their own civilization on the island, based on sexual equality and paganism. Today the island is a bustling place, full of trains and welcoming visitors.
Unfortunately, you can only visit via a website created from the imagination…
Bill Maher: ‘Corporatist’ Evan Bayh Is What’s Wrong With Senate (Video)
Reports Huffington Post on a Bill Maher interview with Anderson Cooper:
Evan Bayh is not a centrist, he’s a corporatist, according to Bill Maher.
Maher appeared on “Anderson Cooper 360″ Tuesday night to comment on the state of affairs in Washington, D.C. He argued that Evan Bayh, the retiring Senator from Indiana, is what’s wrong with Congress. The Senate is “where legislation goes to die,” Maher says, because “corporatist Democrats” like Bayh act like Republicans.
Maher told Cooper that politics are not polarized enough and that the U.S. lacks a real progressive party.
New Virginia Governor Re-Allows Discrimination Against Gays
Christina Bellantoni writes on Talking Points Memo:
Gay and lesbian state workers in Virginia are no longer specifically protected against discrimination, thanks to a little-noticed change made by new Gov. Bob McDonnell.
McDonnell (R) on Feb. 5 signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination “on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities,” as well as veterans.
It rescinds the order that Gov. Tim Kaine signed Jan. 14, 2006 as one of his first actions. After promising a “fair and inclusive” administration in his inaugural address, Kaine (D) added veterans to the non-discrimination policy — and sexual orientation.
Disinformation Interviews June Sarpong of ‘Conspiracy Theory’
Learn more about the popular cable TV series in this behind-the-scenes interview with June Sarpong from Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.
Disinformation founder Gary Baddeley chats with June about her research for the show, HAARP, and working with Jesse.
About Conspiracy Theory: Jesse Ventura and a team of expert investigators are on a mission to examine some of the most frightening and mysterious conspiracy allegations of our time. They examine available evidence as well as talking to experts and eyewitnesses to learn more about such topics as global warming, possible 9/11 cover-ups, secret government weapons and apocalyptic prophecies.
Senator Bayh Calls Senate “Broken and Dysfunctional”
By Dan Balz for the Washington Post:
Sen. Evan Bayh’s surprise decision not to seek reelection touched off a debate Tuesday among strategists and scholars about whether the Indiana senator’s depiction of the “brain dead” politics and hyper-partisanship of Congress is accurate or overblown — and, if accurate, whether walking away was the right decision.
Bayh dealt a triple blow to his Democratic Party and to President Obama with his announcement Monday that he is sick of the partisanship in Washington and will not seek a third term…
Sarah Palin Criticizes TV’s ‘Family Guy’
Becky Bohrer for Yahoo News/AP:
JUNEAU, Alaska — Sarah Palin is lashing out at the portrayal of a character with Down syndrome on the Fox animated comedy Family Guy:
In a Facebook posting headlined “Fox Hollywood — What a Disappointment,” the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and current Fox News contributor said Sunday night’s episode felt like “another kick in the gut.” Palin’s youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome.
The episode features the character Chris falling for a girl with Down syndrome. On a date, he asks what her parents do.
She replies: “My dad’s an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.”
Palin resigned as Alaska governor last summer. Palin’s oldest daughter, Bristol, also was quoted on her mother’s Facebook page, calling the show’s writers “heartless jerks.”…
Birth of the Illuminati Conspiracy
By Mike Jay at Brainwaving.com:
At the beginning of 1797, John Robison was a man with a solid and long-standing reputation in the British scientific establishment. He had been Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University for over twenty years, an authority on mathematics and optics, and had recently been appointed senior scientific contributor on the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, to which he would eventually contribute over a thousand pages of articles. Yet by the end of the year, his professional reputation had been eclipsed by a sensational book that vastly outsold anything he had previously written, and whose shockwaves would continue to reverberate long after his scientific work had been forgotten. Its title was Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, and it launched on the English-speaking public the enduring theory that a vast conspiracy, masterminded by a covert Masonic cell known as…
The Disappearing Science of Global Warming
For those who have asked that we feature a wider variety of articles on climate change, here’s a “special report” from, of all places, the American Spectator:
Establishment figures intone about the substantial “body of science” supporting the notion of man-caused global warming. But based on recent events, they need to check the body’s pulse. The body is dead, and rapidly wasting away before our very eyes.
Over the past 3 months, a circus of scandals has played around the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its periodic Assessment Reports on global warming. The latest report issued in 2007 proclaimed a consensus regarding a 90% probability that mankind’s activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, were causing global warming that would lead to catastrophic results if drastic steps were not taken to reverse it.
The lasting scientific upshot of that circus of scandals is that the historical global surface temperature record…
Japanese Baby Simulator
Another in the long line of creepily amazing products from Japan — a glowing, sweating, simulated baby (with a large, cartoonish, orb-like head). Want something to love that you can also unplug? This is it.
America’s Lesser-Known Political Dynasties
To commemorate the retirement of Senator Evan Bayh, son of former Senator Birch Bayh, Talking Points Memo has put together a slideshow of current Congressmen and women whose families are knee deep in the business of politics. The lesser Kennedys, if you will. Below, Sen. Chris Dodd with his brothers and father, Thomas Dodd, who was a Connecticut senator from 1959-71.
South Africa: Zuma Bodyguards Raise Spectre of ‘Police State’
From the Mail & Guardian:
The arrest of a student for “swearing” at President Jacob Zuma’s convoy is a tactic of a police state, not a democracy, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Wednesday.
DA leader Helen Zille said the way the police acted was a reminder of the actions of the apartheid-era security police.
“They are reminiscent of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, which the African National Congress is increasingly trying to emulate,” said Zille.
Chumani Maxwele was arrested on Wednesday last week when he allegedly showed his middle finger to Zuma’s convoy while he was jogging in De Waal Street in Cape Town. He was arrested at gunpoint by police officers.
He allegedly had a bag pulled over his head and was first taken to Zuma’s residence, before he was taken to Rondebosch and then the Mowbray police station, where he was allegedly interrogated by intelligence officers.
He was kept for just less than 24…
‘It’s Complicated’, JFK Told Swedish Lover in Secret Letter
From The Independent:
A month before marrying Jacqueline Bouvier, the future President was writing amorous notes to another woman.
If there was ever any doubt that John F Kennedy, the slain American President, was a hopeless romantic, if not an out-and-out rake with a foggy grasp of the commitments of marriage
, a newly revealed collection of love letters written in his own hand to a straw-haired Swedish siren will surely put it to rest.True, the then young senator from Massachusetts first met the woman in question, Gunilla von Post, before his marriage to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier – but only one month before. It was the summer of 1953 and the pair – he 36 and she just 21 – were both on holiday on the French Riviera. They danced all night and parted with a moonlit kiss.
Most about-to-be-married men might consider such a night as a last fling of bachelorhood with no…
Blather, Rinse, Repeat: An Ethnography of Conspiracy Theory
Here’s a lecture from my old buddy Damien at Blather.net. It is a good addition to the stories/discussions that are currently going around about the sub-culture of conspiracy theories.
From Blather:
This is the video of the talk I did at the Dublin Paracon 2009 on the subject of 9/11 and conspiracy theories. This talk resulted from a course called Digital Cultures, part of the MsC. in e-learning at the University of Edinburgh, where we were encouraged to carry out a ‘virtual ethnography’ on a community of our choice. I chose, for reasons passing understanding, the 9/11 conspiracy theorists, choosing some of the recent 9/11 films as a field site.
[Read more at Blather]
Health Insurers More Grotesquely Greedy Than Wall Street Bankers
From Alternet:
The great thing about Corporate America is that competition is always fierce for the national title of greediest.
By gollies, the top executives of health insurance corporations are not giving up without a fight! To paraphrase every high school football coach who ever lived, “When the going gets ugly, the ugly get going.”
During the past several months, the Barons of Wall Street had established themselves as the vilest and most reviled corporate team in the land. They’ve been lavishing bonuses on themselves even as their firms continue to benefit from government bailout measures and even as ordinary Americans continue to struggle with the economic collapse caused by the bankers’ arrogance and avarice. Wall Streeters were widely considered a shoo-in to take the coveted Corporate Greedhead Trophy this year — but, holy cow, what a comeback bid we’re now seeing from the Giants of Insurance!
Let’s recap their amazing charge: Last week,…
Another Newsweek “Conspiracy Theory” Claim Debunked
Paul Joseph Watson for Prison Planet:
Another of Newsweek’s ridiculous “conspiracy theory” claims has been debunked after a prominent former Mexican foreign office minister called for a North American Union and a single unified currency, adding to the voluminous reams of evidence that confirm an EU-style integration is being developed for the Americas, a notion Newsweek dismissed as “discredited” in their feeble “Know Your Conspiracies” hit piece.
As we detailed on Monday, Newsweek bosses gave intern David A. Graham the job of debunking the most prevalent “conspiracy theories” circulating today, but the result was a feeble, embarrassing and self-defeating example of…
IPCC: International Pack of Climate Crooks
Marc Sheppard for Science & Public Policy Institute:
Unquestionably the world’s final authority on the subject, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s findings and recommendations have formed the bedrock of literally every climate-related initiative worldwide for more than a decade. Likewise, virtually all such future endeavors — be they Kyoto II, domestic cap-and-tax, or EPA carbon regulation, would inexorably be built upon the credibility of the same U.N. panel’s “expert” counsel. But a glut of ongoing recent discoveries of systemic fraud has rocked that foundation, and the entire man-made global warming house of cards is now teetering on the verge of complete collapse.
[full report available as a PDF download.]
Rachel Maddow Calls Out Glenn Beck For His Lies About Her and Tells Him to “Back Off”
From Crooks and Liars’ Video Cafe:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Rachel Maddow calls out Beck for editing her criticism of him on her show and making sure his viewers didn’t see Rachel calling him out for his bullshit. I had said before that Dylan Ratigan was wasting his time engaging Beck. That’s because Ratigan actually thought it would be a good idea to either bring Beck on his show or go on Beck’s show. I do not think when Beck lies about one of them they should let it go unchallenged and am glad Rachel Maddow pointed out Beck’s hypocrisy here and how he edited her segment. Engaging him is a complete waste of time. He’s not going to come on MSNBC any time soon and he sure as hell isn’t going to bring either Ratigan or Maddow on his show any time soon and if he did they’d be in some debate box where he could hit the mute button any time he wanted instead of live on his set.
80% of Englishmen ‘Too Fat By 2020′
A shocking report from AFP shows that widespread obesity isn’t just an American problem:
Eight out of 10 men and nearly seven out of 10 women in England will be too fat by 2020, according to new data released Wednesday.
Researchers said that while recent research showed obesity among children levelling off, instances among adults show no sign of doing the same.
Some 41 percent of men aged 20 to 65 will be obese by 2020, with 40 percent overweight, according to the figures from the National Heart Forum, based on data from the Health Survey for England. That makes a total of 81 percent.
Among women, 36 percent will be obese and 32 percent overweight — a total of 68 percent.
By 2050, this will lead to sharp increases in the number of people suffering strokes, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, researchers said…
[continues at AFP]
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