Archive for January, 2011
Space Oddities: Strange NASA Items Go Up For Auction
If you have a few thousand dollars to blow, now is your shot at owning some of the least-inspiring artifacts from the history of space exploration — from decades-old “space roast” to pornography snuck aboard the Apollo 12 mission. Via AFP:
A freeze-dried beef pot roast, the business card of the first man to walk on the moon, and a Playboy calendar that rode to space in 1969 are among a mishmash of old space items on US auction this week.
While space enthusiasts will not find the highly coveted items that NASA keeps under lock and key, like spacesuits, many of the offers have a connection to the space program that shows an unusual side of the collectors’ passion.
For instance, the muddy brown block of space roast, complete with plastic bag and nozzle for injecting hot water.
There is also a cube of strawberry cereal marked “Space Food” for the Mercury, Gemini,…
Murder in Memphis: Classic Out There Podcasts on MLK
Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this little nugget from my archive of past podcasts. 
Out There Radio: Episode 28 – Murder in Memphis
This episode is the first of two dealing with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In this first part, we deal with the events leading up to the assassination, including FBI surveillance and harrassment of Dr. King. Included in this episode is Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, in its entirety, recorded on April 4, 1967 (one year to the day before he was murdered).
Out There Radio: Episode 29 – Murder in Memphis, pt. 2
This episode is the second of two dealing with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. This episode features a short discussion about the Military Commissions Act of 2006, followed by the second part of our look at the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
10 Modern Methods Of Mind Control
Nicholas West, writing at Activist Post:
The more one researches mind control, the more one will come to the conclusion that there is a coordinated script that has been in place for a very long time with the goal to turn the human race into non-thinking automatons. For as long as man has pursued power over the masses, mind control has been orchestrated by those who study human behavior in order to bend large populations to the will of a small “elite” group. Today, we have entered a perilous phase where mind control has taken on a physical, scientific dimension that threatens to become a permanent state if we do not become aware of the tools at the disposal of the technocratic dictatorship unfolding on a worldwide scale.
Modern mind control is both technological and psychological. Tests show that simply by exposing the methods of mind control, the effects can be reduced…
MLK On Being Maladjusted
On his blog, Juan Cole highlights a speech that Martin Luther King Jr. gave at Western Michigan University on December 18, 1963, in which he extolled the virtues of being a misfit. It rings truer than ever in 2010:
Modern psychology has a word…”maladjusted.” Certainly, we all want to avoid the maladjusted life. In order to have real adjustment within our personalities, we all want the well-adjusted life in order to avoid neurosis, schizophrenic personalities.
But I say to you, my friends, as I move to my conclusion, there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men of good-will will be maladjusted until the good societies realize. I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination.
I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry.
I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions…
The Psychological Implications Of 9/11
Laurie Manwell, a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Cognitive Sciences at the University of Guelph, explains the psychological barriers that prevent humankind from understanding the uncomfortable facts regarding September 11, 2001.
I Have a Dream … To Go To War?
The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to end it must be ours. — Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking of Vietnam.
This week the Pentagon sank to a new low: claiming that Dr. King would “understand” the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. King’s legacy is clear: he opposed war and other violence and condemned war as “an enemy of the poor.”
Schumer Pushes For Military To Report Applicants’ Drug Use to Prevent Gun Purchases
Charles Schumer
Thanks to Chris W. for sending this along, commenting, “Admit you’ve used illegal drugs? You may be disqualified if Senator Chuck Schumer has his way” (reported by Fox News):
If someone admits to a federal official that he’s used illegal drugs, that information should be sent to the FBI so that person can be disqualified from purchasing a gun, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday.
Noting that the alleged shooter in the Tucson massacre had admitted to military recruiters that he had used drugs on several occasions, Schumer said he is proposing to the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that the military be required to notify federal officials about such admissions. The New York Democrat said such a process does not require new legislation.
Jared Lee Loughner is charged with five federal counts in the killing of a federal judge and shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The…
Climate Change “Already Visible,” Say Insurers
Photo: Mila Zinkova (CC)
In 1980 there were just 60 floods, blizzards, or thunderstorms, but in 2010 there were 247. “It’s likely that the number of strong storms involving rain, snow and hail is also rising because of warming temperatures,” says the head of the Corporate Climate Center at Munich Reinsurance, adding “we believe we have indications that climate change is already, at least to some extent, visible.”
The number of damaging storms rose from 50 reported thirty years ago to 150 in 2010, notes this environmental blog, adding that “While politicians bicker over the reality of climate change, insurance companies are dealing with its reality.” In fact, altogether the past year saw 950 disasters worldwide, where 30 years ago the number was a mere 400.
But wouldn’t it be interesting if the single most powerful lobbyist on the issue of climate legislation became the insurance companies?
Detroit Globalized
Being from the Lansing and Detroit, Michigan area, it’s so heartbreaking visiting my former home state now. The state feels empty; the GM Oldsmobile factories that I drove past all the time have been flattened. Sad.
Detroit Globalized is a documentary explaining the effects that globalization has had on Detroit, MI.
Peter Vallone, Fluoride-Hating Councilman, Wants Your Teeth to Rot
Peter F. Vallone, Jr.
[disinfo ed.'s note: Phunkychic666, who posted this story, stresses that it's the comments to the Voice article that are worth reading, not the story itself.]
The comments on this article by Sergio Hernandez on the Village Voice site are well worth the read:
A city councilman from Queens apparently wants your your teeth to rot and fall out. The Daily News says Councilman Peter Vallone is planning to introduce a bill that would end New York’s 45-year practice of adding fluoride to its tap water, citing safety concerns and comparing the mineral to prescription anti-depressants.
Via the News:
“This amounts to forced medication by the government,” said Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), who plans to introduce fluoride-removal legislation at the next Council meeting, “What’s next? They decide we’re depressed and add Prozac to our drinking water?”
Of course, scientists and government agencies (including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have long held that water…
Genetically Modified Chicken Immune From Bird Flu
Photo: Andrei Niemimäki (CC)
I pose for you the question: if avian flu was created in a laboratory, as many think it was, is the right course of action to modify the genes of chickens to reduce their susceptibility? One ponders the law of unintended consequences, but there are certainly some scientists who think it is a good idea, as reported in the Daily Mail:
A genetically modified ’superchicken’ that doesn’t spread deadly bird flu has been developed by scientists.
The bird is intended to prevent the outbreaks of avian influenza which lead to millions of birds being culled.
It could also stop new strains of flu mutating in domestic fowl and spreading to people, leading to killer worldwide pandemics.
The British team behind the GM chicken say it is ‘inconceivable’ that its meat or eggs could be harmful. However, it will need rigorous safety checks before it could go into the food chain, they…
Smoking Damages Your Genes Within Minutes Of Lighting Up
Even the tobacco companies have had to concede that in the long-term smoking is disastrous for human bodies. Probably few people would have guessed just how fast the damage occurs, however. AFP reports on a new study that should give cause to even those who think just an occasional puff will do no harm:
Those first few puffs on a cigarette can within minutes cause genetic damage linked to cancer, US scientists said in a study released Saturday.
In fact, researchers said the “effect is so fast that it’s equivalent to injecting the substance directly into the bloodstream,” in findings described as a “stark warning” to those who smoke.
The study is the first on humans to track how substances in tobacco cause DNA damage, and appears in the peer-reviewed journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, issued by the American Chemical Society.
Using 12 volunteer smokers, scientists tracked pollutants called PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, that…
Arizona Shooting Victim Arrested After Threatening Tea Partier
The disease continues to spread. The “liberal” New York Times reports:
TUCSON — A victim of the shooting spree here that severely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was taken into custody on Saturday after the police and witnesses said the man spoke threateningly at a televised forum intended to help this stricken city heal.
Tucson, AZ. Photo: Motorrad-67
Eric Fuller, 63, a military veteran who was passionate about liberal causes and who had supported Ms. Giffords, was “involuntarily committed for mental health evaluation,” according to Jason Ogan, a spokesman for the Pima County Sheriff’s office.
Mr. Fuller, who was shot in the left knee and the back on Jan. 8, was among several victims, medical personnel and others who attended a special forum televised by ABC and hosted by Christiane Amanpour.
State Representative Terri Proud, a Republican, was sitting two rows behind Mr. Fuller. The topic of gun control had come up in the forum, she said,…
‘Zeitgeist: Moving Forward’ Launches Today In 60 Countries
If you’re wondering what movie to see this weekend, you would do well to avoid Hollywood pulp like The Green Hornet and instead check out the latest in Peter Joseph’s Zeitgeist series of films — the first to receive a “real” theatrical release. It’s still out of the mainstream so don’t expect to find it at your local mall cineplex, but it is screening in a lot of places (click here for a global screening map).
Of course Joseph is not without his critics (most recently because Jared Loughner was reportedly influenced by Zeitgeist), especially in connection with The Venus Project, but at the very least his film will make you think, unlike, say Little Fockers, also on wide release this weekend… Here’s the trailer:
Is America ‘Yearning for Fascism’?
Cynthia McKinney
To add to the discussion started by Danny Schechter’s post Does Fascism Lurk Around The Corner In The USA?, here is the beginning of Chris Hedges’ column from March of last year, Is America ‘Yearning for Fascism’?:
The language of violence always presages violence. I watched it in war after war from Latin America to the Balkans. The impoverishment of a working class and the snuffing out of hope and opportunity always produce angry mobs ready to kill and be killed. A bankrupt, liberal elite, which proves ineffectual against the rich and the criminal, always gets swept aside, in times of economic collapse, before thugs and demagogues emerge to play to the passions of the crowd. I have seen this drama. I know each act. I know how it ends. I have heard it in other tongues in other lands. I recognize the same stock characters, the buffoons, charlatans and…
Was Climate Change To Blame For The Rise And Fall Of Rome?
Photo: Pollinator (CC)
BBC News is reporting that new scientific research on tree rings shows some remarkable correlations with the ebb and flow of civilizations:
An extensive study of tree growth rings says there could be a link between the rise and fall of past civilisations and sudden shifts in Europe’s climate.
A team of researchers based their findings on data from 9,000 wooden artifacts from the past 2,500 years.
They found that periods of warm, wet summers coincided with prosperity, while political turmoil occurred during times of climate instability.
The findings have been published online by the journal Science.
“Looking back on 2,500 years, there are examples where climate change impacted human history,” co-author Ulf Buntgen, a paleoclimatologist at the Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape, told the Science website.
Ring record
The team capitalised on a system used to date material unearthed during excavations.
“Archaeologists have developed oak ring width chronologies from Central Europe that…
Graham Hancock Sees The Future In The Past
The good folks at Bear and Company recently mailed us a new release that’s been keeping us up nights.
Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: A Graham Hancock Reader
A book of essays by various authors certainly encourages grazing more than cover-to-cover reading, but no matter where one begins or ends this exploration of possible histories, one finds unexpected connections.
Lost includes essays by Robert Bauval, Mark Booth, Richard Hoagland, Robert Schoch, John Anthony West and Hancock himself. While the book is wide-ranging, covering topics from pole shifts to quantum philosophy to antediluvian history, its real strength lies in the themes that run throughout the book:
* The human race is much older than we think.
* There was a highly advanced human…
The Federal Reserve Is Going Broke
Everyone’s favorite private business pretending to be a government agency by using “Federal” in its name — no not Federal Express, I’m referring to the Federal Reserve — may be on its way to going broke according to economics professor (and consultant to the Minneapolis branch of the Fed) Varadarajan Chari. From Reuters:
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s journey to the outer limits of monetary policy is raising concerns about how hard it will be to withdraw trillions of dollars in stimulus from the banking system when the time is right.
While that day seems distant now, some economists and market analysts have even begun pondering the unthinkable: could the vaunted Fed, the world’s most powerful central bank, become insolvent?
Almost by definition, the answer is no.
As the monetary authority, the central bank is the master of the printing press. It can literally conjure up money at will, and arguably did exactly that when…
What Did We Learn From WikiLeaks?
The mainstream media’s coverage of WikiLeaks has largely focused on Julian Assange’s sexy exploits — to the extent that one might forget about the actual leaked files. CBS admirably has an overview of the wealth of enlightening and interesting information that WikiLeaks has revealed to us. For starters:
- The Obama administration worked with Republicans during his first few months in office to protect Bush administration officials facing a criminal investigation overseas for their involvement in establishing policies that some considered torture.
- Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC has infiltrated the highest levels of government in Nigeria.
- Pope Benedict impeded an investigation into alleged child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.
- BP suffered a blowout after a gas leak in the Caucasus country of Azerbaijan in September 2008, a year and a half before another BP blowout killed 11 workers and started a leak that gushed millions of gallons of oil…
