It is nearly as disturbing as the mass shootings themselves to witness after tragedies like this the predictable reflexive advocacy of increased restrictions on gun ownership. The dearth of imagination and critical thinking in this country is appalling, perhaps equaled only by its faith in the redemptive power of the legislator’s pen. In fact, the former often leads to the latter. In other words, the inability to imagine and reason results in the general loss of confidence in one’s instinct and impulse. This loss of self-confidence therefore diminishes individual initiative, relegating humans to mere sheep passively waiting to be manipulated and herded by opportunistic manipulators and herders. Whenever such a preponderance of fear and impotence befalls a nation, a predilection for oppressive security measures soon follows because the disappearance of self-initiated problem solving leaves behind a void usually filled by megalomaniacs and their agents in uniform.
French village went insane after CIA spiked its bread with LSD
For 50 years, residents of the French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit have tried to understand the “cursed bread” incident, a moment of terrifying mass insanity and hallucinations that left at least five dead and dozens in asylums. Now the mystery is solved: the CIA secretly spiked the bread from the bakery with enormous quantities of LSD […]If you have Netflix this was on Dark Matters: Twisted but True You should watch season one
(Source: thefreelioness)
(Source: thinksquad)
Report: HSBC allowed money laundering that likely funded terror, drugs
HSBC’s U.S. division provided money and banking services to some banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh believed to have helped fund al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, according to an Al-Jazeera story on the report.
While the big British bank’s problems have been known for nearly a decade, the Senate probe detailed just how sweeping the problems have been, both at the bank and at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a top U.S. bank regulator which the report said failed to properly monitor HSBC.
The violent Boston rampage triggered a local and federal response that, according to journalist Glenn Greenwald, adds a new dimension to troubling questions about government secrecy, overreach, and what we sacrifice in the name of national security. Greenwald joins Bill to peel back layers that reveal what the Boston bombings and drone attacks have in common, and how secrecy leads to abuse of government power.
Haha, awesome.
Pirates and Emperors
An amazing animated clip that shows how terror is terror regardless of who perpetrates it, us or them.
It is logically inconsistent and incoherent to proclaim the State as your servant (as implied in a “social contract”) and then in moments of need call upon it as your savior. Unlike spiritual saviors, governments cannot create ex nihilio. What the State gives, it must first take by force, unbecoming of a servant. This is why liberty must always remain a priority above security, and why uniforms and badges don’t a savior make.
If you’ve never checked out John Perkins before, you’re way overdue.
'Tsunami bomb' tested off New Zealand coast
The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a “tsunami bomb” designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves.
(Source: banaltrite)
My reaction to the public’s reaction to Sandy Hook
The imperial mentality summed up by a former Latin American CIA Chief: “Well, that’s just tough… Get used to it world. We’re not going to put up with nonsense.”
