"Dumb & Getting Dumber!"

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I have written quite a few blogs about stupidity, stupid people and the stupid things they say and do and it never ceases to amaze me the depths of stupidity that can be found among the American population. Even though I am well versed in the Laws of Stupidity, I always cringe when I read education polls or see "Jaywalking" on Leno and hear some of the answers that people come up with or don't know and the thing that really get's me is the college students and educators and wannabe educators that don't know squat!

Another big mistake people make like underestimating the amount of stupid people in circulation is the mistake of assigning stupidity to deliberate willful acts of evil. The first thing folks say is the Shrub is a moron and him and his administration are incompetent and I got to ask, "you can't possibly think all of these mistakes and failures are not deliberate"? No group of people can possibly be that incompetent. The evidence is clear that they have done whatever they have wanted, when they wanted and not a dam thing is going to be done about it.

A big part of the problem unfortunately is that Americans are dumb and they have been being dumbed down since the late 80's and the Reagen era. Kids are filled up with triggers and reactions and information to pass standardized tests. They get a few months in the summer to forget everything they were "taught" (using the term very loosely) so that teachers have a clean slate to fill up next school year. We are no longer being taught to think just react to triggers. All of the programs or curriculum that promotes critical thinking like art or dare I say it "liberal arts" and civics, not his-story are no longer in place. Science shouldn't have to compete in schools with silly shit like "Intelligent Falling" but it is. There have been several studies over the past few weeks and the results are disturbing to say the least. From Alternet:

Ignorant America: Just How Stupid Are We?

By Rick Shenkman, Tomdispatch.com. Posted July 2, 2008.

Millions of Americans are embarrassingly ill-informed and they do not care that they are.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson

Just how stupid are we? Pretty stupid, it would seem, when we come across headlines like this: "Homer Simpson, Yes -- 1st Amendment 'Doh,' Survey Finds" (Associated Press 3/1/06).

"About 1 in 4 Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half of Americans can name at least two members of the fictional cartoon family, according to a survey.

"The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just 1 in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms."

But what does it mean exactly to say that American voters are stupid? About this there is unfortunately no consensus. Like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who confessed not knowing how to define pornography, we are apt simply to throw up our hands in frustration and say: We know it when we see it. But unless we attempt a definition of some sort, we risk incoherence, dooming our investigation of stupidity from the outset. Stupidity cannot mean, as Humpty Dumpty would have it, whatever we say it means.

The article goes on to cite 5 defining characteristics of this pox on America...Coincidentally there are 5 Basic Laws of Stupidity...Go figure...From that same Alternet article:

Five defining characteristics of stupidity, it seems to me, are readily apparent. First, is sheer ignorance: Ignorance of critical facts about important events in the news, and ignorance of how our government functions and who's in charge. Second, is negligence: The disinclination to seek reliable sources of information about important news events. Third, is wooden-headedness, as the historian Barbara Tuchman defined it: The inclination to believe what we want to believe regardless of the facts. Fourth, is shortsightedness: The support of public policies that are mutually contradictory, or contrary to the country's long-term interests. Fifth, and finally, is a broad category I call bone-headedness, for want of a better name: The susceptibility to meaningless phrases, stereotypes, irrational biases, and simplistic diagnoses and solutions that play on our hopes and fears. MORE!

Religion employs a lot of these same characteristics, not too mention most religions fit perfectly in the categories of cults with Christianity leading the way! just a quick reminder of the characteristics of a cult:

Cults have the following characteristics:

1. Attachment to a teacher, book or belief system.

2. Regular displays of intolerance or arrogance towards others.

3. Humiliation of those who ask questions that could make the leader or the group feel insecure.

4. Feelings of superiority born from comparison with others.

5. An inability to support, endorse and appreciate the wisdom and compassion of others.

6. A wish to expand their religious empire.

7. Eviction of those who show doubt. (excerpt from Christopher Titmus "Light On Enlightenment" pg. 67)

The Cult of Bush comes to mind. Blind allegiance and nationalism is another big problem, I have said it numerous times that most people will vote against their best interests over the stupidest stuff and not what benefits them.

Law 3 states A stupid person is a person who caused losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

So when there is no other excuse there is actually only one excuse, the person in question is stupid!

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I caught this next story about a new book called "Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter" by Rick Schenkman over at Crooks & Liars:

–Only 2 in 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government.

–Only 1 in 7 can find Iraq on a map.

–Only 1 in 5 know that there are 100 federal senators.

And the most chilling…

–Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.

Now in defense of the 49% the Shrub has suspended the Constitution so I can understand the confusion but his changes ARE against the law. He is only allowed to suspend certain parts of the Constitution when America is in crisis or is being attacked. Another reason 911 happened! But that is a Conspiracy Corner post for another day.



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"When Grampa John McSimpson Sold Out!"

Okay I had a few drinks and by a few I mean like 7 or 8...Well, I'm on 8 now! I normally do the Conspiracy Corner post but I am about to pass out so that is not going to happen tonight. I guess I could do it tomorrow and I might but tonight it's not happening...I am about to go curl up in a fetal position and swear I'm never drinking again! While I'm passed out please take the next few minutes and view the moment John McLame sold his soul to the rethuglican party and turned into McSame, as seen through the eyes of Robert Smigel:

Y'all see the dog and how disgusted he was with old Johnny Boy?! I'm sure it was just about like that too! Rove and the BCS obliterated McLame in 2000, it was a complete smash job on his ancient ass! Now you can't tell where one ends and the other begins.

It's just disgusting I tell ya! I used to have a lot of respect for this guy until he "crossed over"! After that pic and that speech I just didn't see him the same, well maybe the same as Shrub but that is the reason they call him McSame!



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"Maniac Mondays - NBRA: Not Based in Reality at All!"

This story is not new in fact it actually surfaced a few years ago during the midterm elections when the rethugs got bounced out of the majority and the democrats were given a clear mandate to reign in Lil' king george and the neo-clowns, which they haven't. But I am getting off topic here. The point is that this story has popped back up here recently with billboards this time, like the one in the pic. The last time it was radio ads and the four or five people who make up the NBRA spewing that nonsense on radio programs. Thank god they didn't do the talking head shows spouting this garbage. Because you know how the sheeple believe everything they see on TV!

Now MLK may have been republican, but that was before the republicans turned into the rethuglicans, sometime in the early 60's! Today it would be utterly absurd if you know anything at all about the man to even suggest that he would support this current clusterfuck pretending to be conservatives, with pre-emptive forever war, corporate welfare not too mention all of the corruption. MLK despised everything the rethugs have become.

The NBRA's sad pitiful attempt to bring this issue back up is nothing more than smokescreen stuff, to keep our minds off the real issues. No one black is going to believe those billboards nor are the rethugs going to "woo" any black voters with ads that should insult every hardworking black person in this country who has a dream. From Rawstory:

Billboards Claim Rev. King Was Republican
Associated Press
Published: Saturday July 5, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - A black Republican group has put up billboards in Florida and South Carolina saying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, a claim that black leaders say is ridiculous.

The National Black Republican Association has paid for billboards showing an image of the civil rights leader and the words "Martin Luther King Jr. was REPUBLICAN." Told about the billboards, the Rev. Joseph Lowery let out a soft chuckle that grew stronger as he began to think more about the idea.

"These guys never give up, do they?" said Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King. "Lord have mercy." MORE!

What comes to mind when I think about groups like the NBRA (Not Based in Reality at All) I think of this pic:

This is almost as silly as the GOP claiming to be the party of Lincoln. Speaking of Lincoln I just recently read that his ethnicity is back in the news and that he was actually a black man. I had read about this a long time ago and I remember my grandfather telling me that he was black too and that is the reason why he was put on the penny. His image was opposite all the other coin profiles because as the story goes he turned his back on them when he freed the slaves. When in actuality they all turned their backs on him. Let's add some more context to this. There hasn't been a real election decided by the people since Lincoln. After Lincoln the Electoral College was formed in part so that the "uninformed voters" would not elect anyone that was not of a certain lineage or bloodline. Remember folks Barack is related to Cheney...I'm just saying!

I am hoping that a lot of rednecks see this and decide not to vote because they don't want to be associated with MLK. there are a lot of stupid people out there and that is a fact, but regardless you know no matter how many times this has been trashed over the past 2 years there is still some idiot somewhere that is going to claim it's gospel. This just proves how divorced from reality the GOP is in it's backard thinking. They may have once been the party of Lincoln but no longer.

No it is NOT okay that your Rethuglican!


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"Have A Happy Fourth of July!"

Since I have to work today I will have to leave ya with this...I read this over at Crooks & Liars and it is a great follow up to the recent court ruling, that allowed Viacom to get access of all of YouTubes user data. This was posted by a guy that goes by the name mrbill...

People are missing the real significance of this ruling. The 4th Amendment has been trashed since the Reganites on the SC killed the Warren’s Courts rulings starting in the mid 80s. Give up on any notion of privacy - you have none - abeit anonymity and that isnt worth much in today’s electronic world.

The real significance of this ruling is that the law suit by Viacom(a firmly established M$M corporatist propaganda machine) is just a flimsy discovery argument being used to justify destroying the emerging alternative media. It is a clear fact that Youtube and Goolge Video are the main sources of spreading the truth about all the crap the ruling elite is involved in. Mass exposure to real news and the real world are what YouTube and Google video are.

No one in there right mind can argue any lost revenue by the display of Viacom materials on YouTube. The quality is generally so awfully poor than no pirate organization would use anything posted on those sites as master material for any large scale distribution of copyrighted video material. It is just a smoke screen to cover the true intentions. Large volume piracy occurs off-shore or utilizes BitTorrent to transfer production quality video. No this law suit has more nefarious purposes.

People are becoming aware of the 9/11 Truth Movement, Dennis Kucinich, Cynthia McKinney, the real Iraq war, CIA/Illegal-Drug Cartel, Oil Price/Futures Scam, the lies of the ruling elilte, Bilderburger, NAU, SPP or what ever new plot being sprung on the massive naive “We the People” and the rest of th 99%ers (Iran War).

YouTube is an entry point for people who are finally waking up from the coma of ignorance. Easy to access and view videos stimulate the basic curiosity that humans possess and the ruling elite despises. No this is direct attempt to finish off the 1st Amendment, after they have already killed the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th ones.

The ruling elite’s corporatist propaganda arm (5 companies already own over 80% of all the traditional media sources) want is to eliminate the growing remainder (20%) of what they dont control.

The data being supplied has nothing to do with protecting copyrighted material - not one single real-life thing. The IDENTITY of who views any source of material has NOTHING to do with copyright infringement - not one single thing. The sole remedy that a copyright owner has is against the parties who KNOWINGLY MASS produce or publish the materials in violation of the owner’s copyright.

If Viacom claims that YouTube is an active co-conspirator or negligent party to the publishing or production of the violated materials, then only the QUANTITY not the IDENTITY of the publishing is could possibly be an issue. And then, the QUANTITY of the publishing will only be an issue once VIACOM proves that YouTube either knowingly or negligently published KNOWN copyright infringed materials. The QUANTITY can be used only to infer negligence, active knowledge or damage calculation. IDENTITY has no relevance to the real common/tort/IP laws involved here.

This ruling is typical of Neo-con/fascist judges. It is results oriented Scaliaeque obfuscation, lies and fiat. These appointed fascist enablers are the same types that all ruling classes infect a judicial system with to control any opposition to their rule. Rubberstamping Neanderthals Brownshirts who represent the worst in human nature. They do the bidding for their feudal lords and will only be removed by force once their over-seers are eliminated.

History has shown that these enablers and their rulers will come to a violent ending. Many innocents have suffered in the process. But it is becoming increasing clear, that we as a species have not progress sufficiently to perform self-enlightenment/correction.

The “straw that broke the camels” back will come again - it always has come. But sadly not before many more will suffer under the throws of the fascists. No, Natures medicine is harsh, uncaring, but effective. If the world’s population does not stand up very soon to the likes of these feudal lords, then the cure to the ills which they infected mankind will be painful for all involved.

Celebrate the words and spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution this Fourth of July, not the current temporary occupiers of the offices of public trust. No, re-discover the the Rights of Man, the Federalist Papers, the note of the Constitutional Conventions and renew the independent revolutionary spirit that once identified this nation as unique. Do not fall for the jargon, propaganda and subjugation being spewed by the 1%’s propagandists.

YouTube is the modern day pamphleteer. In 1776 and 1798 it was undergound presses, in 1860 is was the same, now it is Youtube. Be a real patriot and honor the spirit and words of the Founding Fathers - fight these Neo-con fascist and their lackeys now - using strength and intelligence. For failing to defeat them peacefully, America will become just another footnote in long list of fascist states destroyed by violence with untold and unnecessary suffering.

FU trolls, lackeys, Brownshirts and Quislings.

Power to “We the People” and the “Spirit of 1776″!!!

But hey it's the Fourth of July and your only as free as you mind allows you to be! If I didn't have to work I would be firing up my grill today! Enjoy it while you can, might not be this free ever again!

Fireworks & Frankfurters~!

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"The Revolution Started Years Ago..."**UPDATED!

nasa pic of the vampire planet/star

The Revolutions started years ago THEY just didn't tell the American people. They have no idea by the way they act that they are at war. However, by now it should be getting painfully obvious! I am not talking about Iraqnam or Afghanistan either but here in America! Full on Psychological Assault!

Here we go again yet another court ruling in which our privacy rights are being trashed. A federal judge ruled to let Viacom have access to all of Youtubes records of every video watched in an effort to find infringement and copy rights violations or some such BS. Guess Viacom is feeling the financial crunch too. Viacom has a billion dollar copyright infringement lawsuit on going with Google. Now the government has been data-mining us for about 20 years or more so that is nothing new but the fact that they decide to tell us about it is what is troubling me. As if they want us to know to be scared and also to kind of rub our faces in it too. For those of us paying attention to what is really happening in the world this is torture watching our march toward being slaves to the rich and powerful. To see our Constitution constantly subverted and spit upon is just unreal and everyone is so afraid of nothing but constant propaganda and fear mongering and we are supposed to be home of the brave?! Most people cannot see the harm in what's going on but this is an ever increasing slippery slope and no one and I mean NO ONE is trying to stop it and EVERYONE is being dragged along in it's wake also! By the time people realize what is going on it will be too late and all these warnings will be in vain, in fact it maybe already too late.

However, as long as there is a little bit of hope there is a possibility of turning it around. I guess it's going to have to take something personally happening to you the individual to realize what is really happening. The fear has us paralyzed and add to that the constant drumbeat of the media and everyone becomes numb and as long as they keep the shiny shit in the Matrix lit up folks keep submitting more and more to this ever creeping erosion of America.

To hell with Viacom and everything Viacom. We have to start talking in the only language these idiots hiding behind these corporations posing as citizens know! We have to start organizing boycotts and shit like that to make these idiots understand. However, the power lies with us and as long as THEY can keep us divided THEY win. We are fighting over skin color, color of political parties and even sillier religion. This is a tried and true formula and it works every single time without fail as you can see now!

I had stopped using youtube anyway because it was messing up my videos now I am going to stop using youtube altogether and just might cancel my account. It's too bad too because there is a lot of information out there and this is THEIR attempt to start trying to eliminate it. For those who think this is just fine and dandy please wake up, because this is just where it starts and please believe they are just getting started! You may think your not doing anything but you no longer decide that!

Good thing the Supreme's allowed DC residents to own guns! Now they will think twice about just running up in peoples houses with that bullshit! The only thing that is keeping those NWO punks at bay now is that they know for a fact that America and Americans are WELL ARMED! They are making a big statement but we can make an even bigger statement by putting these corporations out of business. Want to make gas prices go down? Stop buying it for a day or two. Tired of banks fees and shit?! Put your shit under the mattress, let them gamble with their own money! This is our only recourse to make these fools hears us short of taking to the streets burning and looting! The revolution is here the question is are there enough warriors to man the front lines?! Are enough people going to wake up in time?!

**Update**

I just went out and looked up what Viacom is publicly disclosing that they own and the list is pretty impressive...from Who Owns What:

WHO OWNS WHAT
Viacom

One of the largest global media empires, Viacom has a financial interest in broadcast and cable television, radio, Internet, book publishing, and film production and distribution. Some of this vertically integrated conglomerate's highly recognizable properties include the CBS network, MTV, Infinity broadcasting, Simon & Schuster, Blockbuster and Paramount Pictures. With such a diverse portfolio of properties, Viacom is one of the most profitable media giants as CBS is a top draw for older viewers while MTV remains the most popular teen orientated media outlet.

Viacom, Inc. Headquarters 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036 Ph: 212-258-6000 fax: 212-285-6100 www.viacom.com

Corporate History

• Viacom Corporate Timeline

Cable

• MTV
• MTV2
• mtvU
• Nickelodeon
• BET
• Nick at Nite
• TV Land
• NOGGIN
• VH1
• Spike TV
• CMT
• Comedy Central
• Showtime
• The Movie Channel
• Flix
• Sundance Channel

Film

• Paramount Pictures
• Paramount Home Entertainment

Other

Famous Music

last updated 7/10/06

I guess the new question becomes, how hooked are you to their crap and can you let it go?!



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"Waterboarding IS Torture!"

Torture by mosquitoes in a Soviet gulag.
Painting by Nikolai Getman,
provided by Jamestown Foundation.^[1]

First off I guess we need to establish a baseline as to what torture really is. From Wikipedia:

Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."^[2] In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may inflict torture on others; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of the torturer. MORE!

The big argument going on now is whether or not waterboarding is torture. Well in an effort to find out pro-war atheist, drunkard and occasional correspondent for Vanity Fair Christopher Hitchens decided to find out first hand. Make sure you check out the Vanity Fair link it is a good read. Hitchens response after it was all said and done:

"I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture."

What is waterboarding? It is nothing new and has been around for centuries. In the 1500 it was the preferred method of interrogation at the Italian inquisition and as of 2005 was listed as a CIA approved "enhanced interrogation technique". What happens is a person is strapped down on a inclined board with their legs raised and head lowered. The person is bound so that they cannot move at all. Then their face is covered with a towel or some type of fabric and then the interrogator (torturer) pours water over the person face and it makes them feel like they are drowning.

I can see how this would be a very effective technique to getting people to say whatever you want them too. I cannot stand to have to covers of the bed on my face let alone being strapped down and having something covering my face and having water poured all over. The CIA loves it. From HowStuffWorks:

CIA members who've undergone water boarding as part of their training have lasted an average of 14 seconds before begging to be released. The Navy SEALs once used the technique in their counter-interrogation training, but they stopped because the trainees could not survive it without breaking, which was bad for morale. When the CIA used the water-boarding technique on al-Qaeda operative and supposed "9/11 mastermind" Khalid Sheik Mohammed, he reportedly lasted more than two minutes before confessing to everything of which he was accused. Anonymous CIA sources report that Mohammed's interrogators were impressed.

Most CIA officials say water boarding is not torture, although many see it as a poor interrogation method because it scares the prisoner so much you can't trust anything he tells you. Senator John McCain, who was tortured as a POW during the Vietnam War, says water boarding is definitely a form of torture. Human rights groups agree unanimously that "simulated drowning," causing the prisoner to believe he is about to die, is undoubtedly a form of psychological torture. The international community recognizes "mock executions" as a form of torture, and many place water boarding in that category. In 1947, a Japanese soldier who used water boarding against a U.S. citizen during World War II was sentenced to 15 years in U.S. prison for committing a war crime. MORE!

Hitchens wouldn't say how long he lasted but he did go under twice and he was ready to tell them anything they wanted to hear. As with most torture the person who is being tortured is either going to die or tell the torturer anything he wants to hear to get the torture to stop!

The Big question is does torture really work? Here are the 5 myths about Torture from the WaPo:

1 Torture worked for the Gestapo.

Actually, no. Even Hitler's notorious secret police got most of their information from public tips, informers and interagency cooperation. That was still more than enough to let the Gestapo decimate anti-Nazi resistance in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Russia and the concentration camps.

Yes, the Gestapo did torture people for intelligence, especially in later years. But this reflected not torture's efficacy but the loss of many seasoned professionals to World War II, increasingly desperate competition for intelligence among Gestapo units and an influx of less disciplined younger members. (Why do serious, tedious police work when you have a uniform and a whip?) It's surprising how unsuccessful the Gestapo's brutal efforts were. They failed to break senior leaders of the French, Danish, Polish and German resistance. I've spent more than a decade collecting all the cases of Gestapo torture "successes" in multiple languages; the number is small and the results pathetic, especially compared with the devastating effects of public cooperation and informers.

2 Everyone talks sooner or later under torture.

Truth is, it's surprisingly hard to get anything under torture, true or false. For example, between 1500 and 1750, French prosecutors tried to torture confessions out of 785 individuals. Torture was legal back then, and the records document such practices as the bone-crushing use of splints, pumping stomachs with water until they swelled and pouring boiling oil on the feet. But the number of prisoners who said anything was low, from 3 percent in Paris to 14 percent in Toulouse (an exceptional high). Most of the time, the torturers were unable to get any statement whatsoever.

And such examples could be multiplied. The Japanese fascists, no strangers to torture, said it best in their field manual, which was found in Burma during World War II: They described torture as the clumsiest possible method of gathering intelligence. Like most sensible torturers, they preferred to use torture for intimidation, not information.

3 People will say anything under torture.

Well, no, although this is a favorite chestnut of torture's foes. Think about it: Sure, someone would lie under torture, but wouldn't they also lie if they were being interrogated without coercion?

In fact, the problem of torture does not stem from the prisoner who has information; it stems from the prisoner who doesn't. Such a person is also likely to lie, to say anything, often convincingly. The torture of the informed may generate no more lies than normal interrogation, but the torture of the ignorant and innocent overwhelms investigators with misleading information. In these cases, nothing is indeed preferable to anything. Anything needs to be verified, and the CIA's own 1963 interrogation manual explains that "a time-consuming delay results" -- hardly useful when every moment matters.

Intelligence gathering is especially vulnerable to this problem. When police officers torture, they know what the crime is, and all they want is the confession. When intelligence officers torture, they must gather information about what they don't know.

4 Most people can tell when someone is lying under torture.

Not so -- and we know quite a bit about this. For about 40 years, psychologists have been testing police officers as well as normal people to see whether they can spot lies, and the results aren't encouraging. Ordinary folk have an accuracy rate of about 57 percent, which is pretty poor considering that 50 percent is the flip of a coin. Likewise, the cops' accuracy rates fall between 45 percent and 65 percent -- that is, sometimes less accurate than a coin toss.

Why does this matter? Because even if torturers break a person, they have to recognize it, and most of the time they can't. Torturers assume too much and reject what doesn't fit their assumptions. For instance, Sheila Cassidy, a British physician, cracked under electric-shock torture by the Chilean secret service in the 1970s and identified priests who had helped the country's socialist opposition. But her devout interrogators couldn't believe that priests would ever help the socialists, so they tortured her for another week until they finally became convinced. By that time, she was so damaged that she couldn't remember the location of the safe house.

In fact, most torturers are nowhere near as well trained for interrogation as police are. Torturers are usually chosen because they've endured hardship and pain, fought with courage, kept secrets, held the right beliefs and earned a reputation as trustworthy and loyal. They often rely on folklore about what lying behavior looks like -- shifty eyes, sweaty palms and so on. And, not surprisingly, they make a lot of mistakes.

5 You can train people to resist torture.

Supposedly, this is why we can't know what the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques" are: If Washington admits that it waterboards suspected terrorists, al-Qaeda will set up "waterboarding-resistance camps" across the world. Be that as it may, the truth is that no training will help the bad guys.

Simply put, nothing predicts the outcome of one's resistance to pain better than one's own personality. Against some personalities, nothing works; against others, practically anything does. Studies of hundreds of detainees who broke under Soviet and Chinese torture, including Army-funded studies of U.S. prisoners of war, conclude that during, before and after torture, each prisoner displayed strengths and weaknesses dependent on his or her own character. The CIA's own "Human Resources Exploitation Manual" from 1983 and its so-called Kubark manual from 1963 agree. In all matters relating to pain, says Kubark, the "individual remains the determinant." MORE!

I tend to beleive it is more a method of fear and intimidation not too mention in the case of the BCS and New America they are doing this to keep enemies and conflicts going on. This is another reason the BCS was pissed about the Supremes allowing Gitmo detainees access to counsel. These prisoners can really start talking about how they were being treated and the BCS don't want that type of information out there because it is evidence for their upcoming trails at the Hague for war crimes!

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"Are You Guy's Serious...Really?!"

snagged this pic from The General

These guy's are just beyond belief! So get this...The GOP has been getting beaten all over the place here lately and they only thing they could think of doing to fix the problem is the do a little "base jumping"! Base jumping is an extreme "sport" where you jump off a mountain, building or other tall structure with a parachute on...ie DUMBSHIT! Well in politics "base jumping" refers to pandering to the most extreme views, prejudices and fears of the people that support you...Which in turn gets your political base "jumping".

I guess after these latest setbacks with the Supreme's allowing the Gitmo detainees habeus corpus, lifting the gun ban in DC and the big one, the gay marriage amendment in California, the GOP decided to fight back and bring back the federal marriage amendment. Now that isn't the sad part of this story but it is such a waste of time and effort when there are much more pressing matters facing our country. The truly sad part is the fact that the bill is co-sponsored by, of all people David "Diaper Rash" Vitter. You guy's remember the Vitter right?! The DC Madame scandal?! Quick refresh...Alternet:

This post, written by Howie Klien, originally appeared on Down With Tyranny!

This Vitter thing just doesn't want to go away. One of the Madams he was working with to procure women for him says he should be prosecuted (it is true that what he was doing actually is a crime) while another Madam says he "wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary" with her girls over the years (except that he was into a diaper fetish, just like Holy Joe).

The whole thing is certainly an embarrassment for the Louisiana Family Values Republican Party. Mike Cromartie a far right wing former chairman of the Commission on International Religious Freedom isn't taking this as lightly as Vitter's political cronies-- who all say, basically, "Well, if God has forgiven him, who am I to hold a grudge?" Cromartie's comment today was more in touch with a less forgiving branch of religionists: "It's the hypocrisy that people can't stand. It's not the fact that people are frail and given to sinful behavior. It's when they try to pretend to be morally upright and end up being self-righteous because they preach one thing and live another."

Preacher and GOP presidential contender Governor Mike Huckabee doesn't seem too proud to have Vitter's hypocrisy making a statement about GOP phony-baloneys either. "Many of us became a part of the Republican Party so that we could find a home for traditional beliefs regarding marriage and family and the sanctity of human life. If those things really don't exist in the party, then we have to ask, 'Why are we here?'" (I wonder that same sentiment huck) MORE!

You can tell that Lieberman has some type of baby fetish, just listen to him talk...Here's another kicker (Hollywood can't make this shit up!)...Another Senate sponsor of the bill is Senator Larry "Wide Stance" Craig! Incredible! Why are these people still carrying around the titles of Senator?! What does that say about our elected officials? Even deeper yet, what does that say about the rest of us for not demanding these hypocrites get their walking papers?!

snagged this pic from The General also

I mean this has got to be a joke right? Those two perverts are co-sponsoring a marriage bill?!



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Conspiracy Corner - What's Happening To The Honey Bee?

I remember a few years hearing rumors and scattered stories about how the honeybee was disappearing and how cell phones and cell phone towers were the culprit and it is a concern because cell phone radiation does have an impact on the bees navigation but does not prove that it is the cause for whole colonies just dying off. In April 2007 a team of scientist at Landau University placed some phone bases in two hives and timed how long it would take for the bees to return to the hives. After 45 minutes one group had still not returned to their hive. Again this hinted at a cause not a real reason. From PBS Nature:

Silence of the Bees
Introduction

• Silence of the Bees ~ Impact of CCD on US Agriculture
• Silence of the Bees ~ Video: Full Episode
• Silence of the Bees ~ Interview: Dennis van Engelsdorp (June 2008)
• Animal Guide: Honeybee
• Silence of the Bees ~ How can you help the bees?
• Silence of the Bees ~ Video: Podcast
• Silence of the Bees ~ Additional Web and Print Resources
• Silence of the Bees ~ Interview: Filmmaker Doug Shultz

In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives. A precious pollinator of fruits and vegetables, the disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and threatened our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers — and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further.

There are many reasons for the disappearance of the honey bee but the one that stuck out to me is the use of Genetically Modified Organism Crops or "Terminator Seeds". Here is a pretty persuasive argument from Global Research.ca:

Genetically modified seeds are produced and distributed by powerful biotech conglomerates. The latter manipulate government agricultural policy with a view to supporting their agenda of dominance in the agricultural industry. American conglomerates such as Monsanto, Pioneer Hybrid and others, have created seeds that reproduce only under certain conditions, often linked to the use of their own brands of fertilizer and/or insecticide.

The genetic modification of the plant leads to the concurrent genetic modification of the flower pollen. When the flower pollen becomes genetically modified or sterile, the bees will potentially go malnourished and die of illness due to the lack of nutrients and the interruption of the digestive capacity of what they feed on through the summer and over the winter hibernation process. MORE!

What scientist found out is that something was in effect poisoning the bees and giving them what amounts to colon cancer in humans. Now this was a big breakthrough but it did not explain the millions of hives that were abandoned and that other bees and predators would avoid. With no real answers scientist started calling the phenomena CCD (colony collapse disorder) then in September 2007 another major breakthrough was discovered. From PBS Nature:

A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Pennsylvania State University, The Pennsylvanis State Department of Agriculture and Columbia University linked CCD with a virus imported from Australia, IAPV or Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus. Over the past three years, genetic tests on bees collected from stricken colonies around the U.S. found the virus in 96 percent of bees from hives affected by Colony Collapse Disorder.

IAPV had not historically been present in U.S. bees. In fact, it was only discovered in Israel in 2004, the same year American beekeepers started importing packaged bees from Australia. “Before that, nobody knew to look for it,” says Jeff Pettis of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Bee Research Laboratory. “As people began to look for it, it was found in China, Australia and the U.S.”

A CCD-affected hive

Though the discovery of IAPV was indeed a big break, the case of CCD was not closed. Scientists have much to learn about how IAPV affects colonies and how it may have brought on CCD. Future studies will tell researchers if they are dealing with just one strain of the virus or if there are other strains to look for. “Discovering the IAPV was a lead but not the end of the story. We’re looking at IAPV as a marker. It’s there. It’s present in colonies but viruses by themselves are not known to be that dangerous,” says Pettis. Pettis and other scientists believe that CCD is not caused by one single factor, but by a whole host of forces including pesticides, parasites, poor nutrition, and stress. Any of these may leave bees vulnerable to infection and make IAPV lethal. “We know all of those things have affected bees in the past,” says Pettis. “We have to look at combination's of factors.” MORE!

Now while the bees do not need us we do need them and here is what the impact of losing the honey bees would have on our nation...Again from PBS Nature:

Silence of the Bees
Impact of CCD on US Agriculture

• Silence of the Bees ~ Introduction
• Silence of the Bees ~ Video: Full Episode
• Silence of the Bees ~ Interview: Dennis van Engelsdorp (June 2008)
• Animal Guide: Honeybee
• Silence of the Bees ~ How can you help the bees?
• Silence of the Bees ~ Video: Podcast
• Silence of the Bees ~ Additional Web and Print Resources
• Silence of the Bees ~ Interview: Filmmaker Doug Shultz

In the winter of 2006/2007, more than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies — accounting for tens of billions of bees — were lost to CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder. This loss is projected have an $8 billion to $12 billion effect on America’s agricultural economy, but the consequences of CCD could be far more disastrous.

The role honeybees play in our diet goes beyond honey production. These seemingly tireless creatures pollinate about one-third of crop species in the U.S. Honeybees pollinate about 100 flowering food crops including apples, nuts, broccoli, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, celery, squash and cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melons, as well as animal-feed crops, such as the clover that’s fed to dairy cows. Essentially all flowering plants need bees to survive.

A daunting question is: If honeybee colonies were so severely affected by CCD that pollination stopped, could we lose these crops from our markets and our diets forever?

Honeybees pollinate about 100 flowering crops.

“We’re not there yet,” says Jeff Pettis of the USDA. Pettis says there are steps researchers and beekeepers can take to ensure that the bee population doesn’t plummet to catastrophic levels. “One measure beekeepers have been taking is to keep bees as healthy as possible — improve nutrition and reduce stress,” says Pettis. Consumers have become more demanding and expect to have fruits and vegetables available to us all year round. In order to achieve this, commercial beekeepers haul colonies of honeybees across the country so their pollination services can serve all growing seasons. The season may start with almonds in California, then move on to apples in the Northwest, cranberries in New Jersey and Maine blueberries. The constant moving about places stress on the bees. In addition, certain crops that may be in the pollination circuit, like cranberries and cucumbers, are not very nutritious for bees. To keep the bees healthy, beekeepers may need to ease up on their schedules. It may be necessary for them to retire bees for a particular season or skip some less nutritious crops entirely.

Of course, nature has its own safeguards to keep crops pollinated. Honeybees aren’t our only pollinators. Other insects and birds pollinate fruits and vegetables as well. The problem with other natural pollinators picking up the bees’ slack is that today’s agricultural industry has simply grown too large for them to keep up. The leviathan that is U.S. agriculture creates a huge demand for pollination. Because honeybees are relatively mobile and can pollinate a generous number of crops, they have been the ideal recruits to meet our crop needs. But honeybees don’t perform such feats naturally without help — lots of it. Commercial beekeepers keep colonies nourished and healthy and move their hives from state to state in semis, selling their pollination services to farmers at a premium. MORE!

Now when you add up all the factors we can see this is more of a major concern than a conspiracy theory but it ultimately boils down to rampant capitalism and the honey bees just being another victim left in its wake!

Make sure you go over to PBS Nature and check out the complete video "The Silence of the Bees". It's a really interesting an informative watch!



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"Maniac Monday's - The Bold March Backards!"

Since its Monday it's time to mention those Maniacs...Seems like Bobby Jindal is just the perfect candidates for Maniac Monday's and he really makes my job easier. He was in a spotlight a couple of Monday's ago when he was actually considering a proposal for teaching "Intelligent Design" in Louisiana schools as it was also revealed that he is an exorcist, demon slayer and faith healer. The lady he helped perform the exocist on had cancer that apparently went into remission after Bobby J and his buds "laid hands" on her.Anyway it seems Bobby J went one step beyond Friday past and signed the "Stealth Creationism Bill". From HuffPo:

While American progressives propose forward-looking plans for improving American public education, whole sectors of America nonetheless stubbornly persist in a bold march backwards. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has just given a green light for a new, national "Stealth Creationism" initiative by signing into Louisiana state law a "stealth" Creationism bill, SB 733. Barbara Forrest, author of [with Paul R. Gross] Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design describes the national controversy surrounding the bill in a Thursday, June 26, 2008 Talk To Action story:

The stealth-creationist SB 733, the "Louisiana Science Education Act," which in its pre-amended version as SB 561 was entitled the "LA Academic Freedom Act," received final passage in the Louisiana legislature on June 16, 2008, and is now (June 26) on Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk. The governor can either sign it, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it. Gov. Jindal, who in his June 15 appearance on Face the Nation reiterated his previously voiced support for teaching intelligent design (ID) creationism, is expected to sign the bill. At the behest of the LA Coalition for Science, e-mail petitioners from across the country and national scientific organizations have urged him to veto it. Both the New York Times and National Review columnist John Derbyshire have also publicly called for Jindal to veto the bill. Since Louisiana's passage of SB 733 could be a bellwether for such "academic freedom" legislation, advocates for science education and church-and-state separation in other states had better start preparing now. MORE!

Now the good thing about all of this is that Jindal has come under fire and they even have a recall initiative and petition going around to recall him however it is not over teaching the kids fairy tales and myths and undercutting true scientific theory, and there are still some progressive voices in Louisiana that wanted the Governor to veto the education bill also but the petitions went out for big pay raises...From NOLA.Com:

Recall petition filed against Jindal

by Robert Travis Scott, The Times-Picayune

Friday June 27, 2008, 3:58 PM

BATON ROUGE -- In a sign that the public frustration over the legislative pay raise has spread to Gov. Bobby Jindal's base, a political novice and former Jindal supporter from Jefferson Parish has filed a recall petition against him.

Ryan and Kourtney Fournier of Jefferson submitted paperwork to the Secretary of State's office that allows them to attempt to collect the nearly 1 million signatures needed over the next 180 days to force a recall election of the governor. The papers were mailed Thursday and arrived Friday.

Ryan Fournier, 32, said he is a registered Republican and was "a huge supporter for Bobby."

"Everybody feels a little frustration with the governor right now," Ryan Fournier said. "He's not doing what we elected him to do."

Ryan said he was the one behind the effort and that his wife Kourtney has been shocked at the media attention for their recall petition.

Public anger over a legislative pay raise has bubbled up in the past two weeks, with several House members targeted with recall petitions. Lawmakers during the recent legislative session raised their base salary from $16,800 to $37,500 effective July 1. MORE!

Now I can understand the anger behind this! They doubled their base salary, but you would think there would be a little bit of grumbling about the education bill too it is sort of a side issue when it comes to money like that in this economy. Especially for a legislature making these kinds of stupid backwards laws! Hopefully it will get challenged in court and the ID will be thrown out of Louisiana schools like it was in Pennsylvania. More from the Huffpo:

The Kitzmiller et. al v. Dover Area School District discredited, shredded even, "Intelligent Design" but ID partisans have managed to get an D bill through the Louisiana state legislature and facts have nohing whatsoever to do with this new efforts that's backed by Christian right heavyweight groups such as child-beating advocate Dr. James Dobson's 200-plus million dollar a year nonprofit Focus On The Family and by key Reconstructionist USD history falsificationist David Barton. SB 733 is about the stealth advancement of theocratic Christian nationalism and it's probably more or less a codification of what's already typically getting taught in Louisiana public schools but the bill will silence a minority at least, of teachers who still pay attention to science rather than push the US even faster down the slope towards developing-world and Third World status by foisting incoherent and Medieval "Intelligent Falling" and "Intelligent Grappling" on America's public school students. MORE!

Check out the video

Kitzmiller et. al v. Dover Area School District-Intelligent Design on Trial

If you really want to know more about this check out the rest of this NOVA documentary...it's very good and really emphasizes how stupid Intelligent Design and it's supporters are! I really seriously tried to watch a group of scientist that happened to be Christians, try to describe "intelligent design" as real science. You could tell they didn't believe the bullshit themselves!

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"He Who Controls The Youth, Controls The Future!"

I apologize for not doing the Weekly (C)Wrap-Up this week but this Friday was a very busy day! First of all I forgot I had jury duty yesterday and then on top of it the other guy I work with called in sick so I had to work yesterday and I also have to go in later this afternoon. I was half expecting the police to come get me and take me to court but they didn't, guess I wasn't missed and in this instance it is a good thing. I guess I could write a late edition or an early Saturday edition but that type of post is a in the minute type thing and the day is long gone.

However, I just read something at a friends page on 360 that is really shocking and apparently true. Now while it has been shown that pedophilia has been running wild lately especially if your catholic, but to pass a law that requires parents to get government permission to kiss their own kids or take them to a public swimming pool borders on the truly paranoid and sounds like some NWO bullshit...From INFOWARS:

Government Permission Required For Parents To Kiss Children

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Thursday, June 26, 2008

Sweeping new policies set to be introduced in the UK will mandate parents to get government permission to kiss their children or take them to the swimming pool in public, measures that are "poisoning" relationships between the generations, according to respected sociologist Professor Frank Furedi.