Archive for July, 2011
Google Is Ruining Your Memory
Columbia University Professor Betsy Sparrow says we just don’t bother remembering anything anymore. From Columbia News:
The rise of Internet search engines like Google has changed the way our brain remembers information, according to research by Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow published July 14 in Science.
“Since the advent of search engines, we are reorganizing the way we remember things,” said Sparrow. “Our brains rely on the Internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member or co-worker. We remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where the information can be found.”…
Crikey! FBI Opens Inquiry Into Murdoch’s News Corp.
Richard A. Serrano, Jim Puzzanghera and Kim Geiger write in the LA Times:
The phone hacking scandal that has ignited a political firestorm in Britain jumped the Atlantic on Thursday as the FBI opened an investigation into whether British reporters tried to access cellphone messages and records of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in violation of U.S. law.
The preliminary probe further rattled the New York-based global media empire of Rupert Murdoch, who was forced this week to withdraw his $12-billion bid to take over Britain’s largest satellite broadcaster, and raises new questions about the future of News Corp.
U.S. officials said the FBI is trying to determine if a full investigation is warranted, and no evidence has yet emerged to confirm that News Corp. employees sought to hack phones in the United States. But the unfolding scandal sent the company’s battered stock down another 3% in trading.
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange to Address 9/11 Conspiracy?
Via Prison Planet Live:
Julian Assange may be about to address concerns over his comments last year that 9/11 truth was a “false conspiracy” which he found “annoying”. Assange made the statement despite Wikileaks’ 2009 release of half a million pager messages on the day of 9/11 from New York City officials, many of which contradicted the official story.
The Wikileaks founder is currently in London embroiled in an extradition appeal relating to allegations of rape, which many suspect are unfounded and part of a smear campaign against Assange.
An increasing number of activists are questioning Assange’s motives, including some of his former colleagues like Cryptome’s John Young. However, we have noted that Anonymous, the hacking collective that has vigorously defended Assange, is doing excellent work in exposing the power elite head on, particularly with their intention to shine a light on the secretive gathering of globalists at this week’s Bohemian Grove confab.
Ron Paul Won’t Seek Congressional Term In 2012
Ron Paul has declared that he’s all-in for his presidential bid. (Judging by a recent survey, he may very well stand a chance). John Tompkins writes for The Facts:
After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts exclusively this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat.
Paul, 75, will instead focus on his quest for the presidency in 2012. “I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul said. “It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”
His announcement will give enough time for anyone with aspirations for his seat to think about running, he said. Paul didn’t want to wait for filing in the 2012 primary to let people know he wasn’t seeking reelection.
“I didn’t want to hold off until in December,” he said. “I thought it shouldn’t be any later than now.”…
Secret CIA Prisons And Counterterrorism Sites In Somalia
There has been news recently of CIA operated secret prisons in Somalia, as well as sites with counterterrorism training for Somali intelligence agencies. Have these secret sites been funded by US tax payers? Via AlterNet:
Nestled in a back corner of Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport is a sprawling walled compound run by the Central Intelligence Agency. Set on the coast of the Indian Ocean, the facility looks like a small gated community, with more than a dozen buildings behind large protective walls and secured by guard towers at each of its four corners. Adjacent to the compound are eight large metal hangars, and the CIA has its own aircraft at the airport. The site, which airport officials and Somali intelligence sources say was completed four months ago, is guarded by Somali soldiers, but the Americans control access. At the facility, the CIA runs a counterterrorism training program for Somali intelligence agents…
Roger Ailes’ Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint For Fox News
If you suspected that Fox News was nothing more than a decades-in-the-making Republican plot to pipe propaganda to unsuspecting rubes…you were right down to a tee. Gawker dug up this amazing find:
According to a remarkable document buried deep within the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, the forerunner for Fox News was a 1970 plot by Ailes and other Nixon aides to deliver “pro-administration” stories to heartland television viewers.
The memo is called, simply enough, “A Plan For Putting the GOP on TV News”.
A Year’s Worth Of Makeup At Once
With the aim of highlighting the “cosmetic overkill” prevalent in modern life, directors Lernert & Sander applied the quantity of makeup typically worn over the course of a year, 365 layers, onto a model in a single day.
(Surely she will be 365 times as beautiful?) The results of the experiment are fairly unsettling.
Video: President Obama Says It’s ‘Time To Be A Dick’ (Parody)
With news of President Obama’s frustration with the debt talks, here is a parody from Funny or Die of what Obama may really want to say. As he said about the debt talks:
“I have reached the point where I say enough,” and added “I’ve reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this,” according to the Republican aide. After leaving the debt talks, Obama said this confirms the totality of what the American people already believe” about Washington politicians who are “too focused on positioning and political posturing.” (RawStory)
Radioactive Beef Circulating In Japan
Apparently, highly radioactive beef from cows that lived near the Fukushima accident site is unknowingly being served up as burgers at Tokyo eateries, AFP reports:
Radiation fears mounted in Japan on Wednesday after news that contaminated beef from a farm just outside the Fukushima nuclear no-go zone has been shipped across the country and probably eaten.
Meat from 11 cows at the farm was found at the weekend to be contaminated with up to six times the legal limit of caesium and the farmer has since admitted he fed the animals straw exposed to radioactive fallout.
Of the total amount, 3,165 pounds of beef were distributed to shops and restaurants in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, a Tokyo metropolitan government official said.
Food testing remains largely under the control of prefectural officials, who admit that they can only carry out spot checks for contamination. Fukushima prefecture officials said the farmer had stated in a…
Willy Wonka States: Enjoy Your Room of Half-Rooms (Video)
This is NOT a kids’ movie, at least in the first part of this scene. Yes, I admit, it has the hopeful message for the children in the end. Sure beats that crap that Depp and Burton did.
Evidence of Murdoch’s Newspapers Distorting News to Fuel Racism
Media disinformation and negativity against non-Western cultures in Australia is a terminal disease spreading into the bloodstream of the mainstream media industry in Australia. The following incident demonstrated how easy it is to demonize a Chinese restaurant in Melbourne through the manipulation of news using the techniques of factual omission, misleading heading, misleading bullet-point-highlight, misleading bold-highlight and the editorializing of content using a series of subjective and strong wordings to sell the personal opinion of the journalist or editor as news.
How did Murdoch’s Newspapers demonise a Chinese Restaurant in Melbourne?
Can you tell the problem with the following report by the Herald Sun?
St Kilda Chinese restaurant food bill handed to man in ambulance
By Jessica Craven From: Herald Sun April 26, 2011 7:21PM
- Man suffered seizure while dining at Chinese restaurant
- Man given bill as he was being loaded into ambulance
- Restaurant manager said someone had to pay for meal
A CHINESE restaurant that slapped a customer…
CIA Held Fake Vaccination Drive To Get Osama’s Children’s DNA
A-ha! For years I’ve been telling everyone that so-called “vaccinations” are a government scam to harvest our DNA (and render us autistic to boot). The Guardian reports on a beyond-bizarre CIA plot:
The CIA organised a fake vaccination program in the town where it believed Osama bin Laden was hiding in an elaborate attempt to obtain DNA from the fugitive al-Qaida leader’s family. A senior Pakistani doctor was recruited to organize the vaccine drive in Abbottabad, even starting the “project” in a poorer part of town to make it look more authentic.
DNA from any of the Bin Laden children in the compound could be compared with a sample from his sister, who died in Boston in 2010, to provide evidence that the family was present. It is not known exactly how the doctor hoped to get DNA from the vaccinations, although nurses could have been trained to withdraw some blood in the…
The Use Of U.S. Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2010
Presented by the Federation of American Scientists, the Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2010 chronologically lists the cases in which the United States has used its armed forces overseas in military conflict over the course of our nation’s history.
It’s fascinating, and a quick skim highlights both that the majority of military action is overlooked, forgotten or unknown by the much of the public, and that with each passing decade, we seem to engage in warfare with increasing frequency. A mid-eighties retro snippet:
Al Gore’s New Reality Show: 24 Hours Of Reality
Al Gore has a new reality program, 24 Hours of Reality, set to air its first live-stream on September 14. In his continuing campaign to raise awareness about global climate changes this program is a new step towards provoking action. The program will run 24 hours around the globe in multiple languages and featuring scientists, executives, celebrities and citizens around the world.
[More at The New York Times]
Theodore Roszak Dies At 77
Dr. Theodore Roszak died in his home on July 5th at the age of 77. Roszak was an expert on the ‘young generation’s drug-fueled revolt against authority’ during the 1960s and wrote the book on counterculture, literally. Best known for his writings, such as The Making of an Elder Culture: Reflections on the Future of America’s Most Audacious Generation and Where the Wasteland Ends: Politics and Transcendence in Postindustrial Society. Though he is now gone, his ideas and influences continue to affect America’s society. Via The New York Times:
Theodore Roszak, who three weeks after the Woodstock Festival in 1969 not only published a pivotal book about a young generation’s drug-fueled revolt against authority but also gave it a name — “counterculture” — died on July 5 at his home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 77.
His wife, Betty, in confirming the death, said he had been treated for liver cancer and other illnesses.
Dr.…
Should Parents Lose Custody Of Fat Children?
If your twelve-year-old is a 300-pound diabetic, have you failed as a parent to the point that your child should be taken away for his or her own safety? Health experts at Harvard say yes, it’s time to get tough and start removing fat children from their homes. It boggles the mind that we live in an age in which this is a pressing issue. The Atlantic Wire reports:
As the Western world gets fatter and fatter, the solutions to slimming it down get ever more draconian. Today, a pair of Harvard scholars writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association advocate stripping away the custody rights of parents of super obese children.
“Despite the discomfort posed by state intervention, it may sometimes be necessary to protect a child,” said Lindsey Murtagh, a lawyer and researcher at Harvard’s School of Public Health. The study’s co-author, David Ludwig, says taking away peoples’ children “ideally…
Restaurant Bans Children Under Six
Starting July 16, McDain’s, a Pittsburgh-area restaurant, will ban children under the age of 6 from its dining area. Restaurant owner Mike Vuick said the policy came in response to complaints he’d received from older customers about kids causing a ruckus. In an email to his clientele, Vuick wrote, “We feel that McDain’s is a not a place for young children … and many, many times they have disturbed other customers.” Via ABC News:
[Story continues at ABC News]
Zahi Hawass Conflicts Of Interest Exposed
Kate Taylor’s front page article for the New York Times suggests that Dr. Hawass, the controversial Egyptian antiquities minister, is on the way out. I know more than a few people who think it’s more than past due:
Until recently Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities minister, was a global symbol of Egyptian national pride. A famous archaeologist in an Indiana Jones hat, he was virtually unassailable in the old Egypt, protected by his success in boosting tourism, his efforts to reclaim lost artifacts and his closeness to the country’s first lady, Suzanne Mubarak.
But the revolution changed all that.
Now demonstrators in Cairo are calling for his resignation as the interim government faces disaffected crowds in Tahrir Square.
Their primary complaint is his association with the Mubaraks, whom he defended in the early days of the revolution. But the upheaval has also drawn attention to the ways he has increased his profile over the years, often…
