THRIVE

It's over two hours long and you're free to make of it... what-you-will. Many will consider it but a compilation of every "conspiracy" theory imaginable, from: free energy and UFO's, to our collapsing environment and The New World Order. The production values vary and it can be a tad "new Agey" at times, but keep in mind this is a man born to privilege, groomed for power and success, who mixed and hobnobbed with the monied elite. Some will dismiss it out of hand, others as the food for thought that it is...

The Stanford Prison Experiment

A few observations on The Stanford Prison Experiment:

1) First, the age old truism of what can happen when ya give someone a uniform.

2) How closely the study environment resembled a real life prison- and how true to life the accompanying results mimicked real life prison culture (in just 6 days), from Attica to Abu Ghraib.

3) How big a dick Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo was at the time for allowing himself to become so personally involved in the study and not conducting the "experiment" as an actual scientific experiment, so that his research and conclusions would be beyond reproach.

4) How easy it is to create a Nazi (see #1)- although can't help but think had the study been done with some say... students from NYC (rather than the burbs of CA), the "prisoners" would have been considerably more rebellious- though with probably similar results, considerably faster.

5 Israeli Talking Points- BUSTED...

via TYWKIWDBI

I find it ever curious how we the public are somehow supposed to actually equate "the terror" of possibly being hit by a missile (in Israel), with the reality of so many Palestinians who have actually been blown apart in Gaza.

Meanwhile, these myths get repeated in corporate media, over and over and over again- so they must be, gotta be, true...

The Hunt...

What happens when someone accuses you of something you simply can't disprove, something that will ruin and condemn you the rest of your life- whether guilty or innocent. And it's pretty easy to do...



And it is precisely because it is such an utterly heinous crime, and one that can also be so utterly impossible to prove with 100% certainty either way, that it is so highly emotional, socially divisive and forever life altering. The horror of convicting innocents, or freeing perpetrators hangs heavy on the mind. One always wants to protect the most vulnerable, particularly when it comes to children- but when the "evidence" is circumstantial at best, the problem of how to choose, how to determine guilt or innocence, can devolve into an epic nightmare of Shakespearean proportions.

The way the prosecution handled The Wee Care Nursery School Scandal was almost as grotesque as the charges themselves- videos show investigators (both law officials and child psychologists) posing the most leading of questions to nervous, young children anxious to please, over and over again. It was a modern day witch hunt of the highest order as the accusations grew more and more bizarre, without any real evidence.

On the other extreme, have no doubt that monsters do lurk about, and well organized ones at that. "The Finders," were child abusers of the highest order discovered in a park with disheveled children in tow. It has since become "conspiracy theory" domain of the highest order (since mainstream media quickly ceased reporting on it)- but the fact remains that you had an incensed Washington, DC police force that had their investigation quashed at the behest of... the CIA.

The CIA also sponsored the infamous cold war, mind control program known as MK-Ultra, that was also formerly relegated to the realm of "conspiracy theorists," before it was eventually proven to involve: drugs, torture, sensory deprivation, and ritual and sexual abuse (involving children). It is now a matter of Congressional Record- and official apology... for what it's worth. Throw in False Memory Syndrome, of which you have numerous supporters and detractors, and you have a veritable witches' brew of possible nightmare scenarios, suspects and victims...

Dirty Wars...

"The American Taliban- that is what we call the American soldiers with beards." 
--Afghan grandfather who had half his family killed (mistakenly) by American Special Ops

One has to wonder if the dozens, hundreds, thousands of new enemies we create every single time we kill innocent men, women and children all over the world is the real goal all along- a never ceasing supply of potential enemies the world over to feed the perpetual war machine ad infinitum!?!? An endless stream of money for the merchants of death- Gen. Smedley Butler's War Is A Racket on remote control steroids...

No One Has Apologized...

It was 1989, and if memory serves, my second full year of teaching Spec Ed in Harlem when I first heard the news, and like all the other teachers in my school (and no doubt so many others in schools throughout the immediate area)- was hoping none of them were any of ours. Praying none of our kids had done the deed- and that none had been picked up for being Black and convenient, and now in the fight of their lives...

The crime had been particularly brutal, vicious. A woman had been raped, beaten and left for dead in the showcase that is Central Park. People wanted justice, in fact, people wanted vengeance. The whole city wanted to make an example of these guys- if you had set them free in Central Park the following day, the park would have been over run by a tsunami of outraged citizenry that would have left them every bit as tattered as the jogger herself- or else hanging from trees. And one of the people leading that potential lynch mob was none other than The Trumpster with his $85,000 ads for vengeance.

They just had to be guilty. Even I pretty much succumbed to the scenario that at least some of them were probably in on it; after all, there were no other suspects, no other evidence, no other logical explanation... the best minds in criminal justice vehemently assured us so...

Only problem, of course, was that each one of The Central Park Five, each one of those vicious, (underage) sub human excuses of humanity was, in fact, as completely innocent of said crime as you or I. They finally got the real perp years later- it was his DNA that matched, theirs never did.

 Each one convicted, sentenced, jailed. And no one has apologized.

The Truth On Torture

Both yesterday and today...

Hate Speech Pure And Simple!

Scheduled to go up in NYC subways this Monday!?!?!?!!

And shouldn't the federal judge who ruled on it have recognized it as such, declared it as such, and banned it as such? Isn't this the worst kind of pornography? Haven't we had enough hate speech, disguised or otherwise, in this country against Blacks, Gays, Hispanics, women, Asians, Jews and Indians to last us a goddamn lifetime? Will Pamela Geller be held responsible for anyone who gets hurt or killed because she chooses to purposely incite hatred- has she apologized to or helped the victims of the anti-Muslim propaganda film which she helped fund?

"The point is any war on civilians is savagery..." - Pamela Gellar

The hypocrisy of that statement from that person is beyond any and all measure- although perhaps not beyond the measure of the thousands of Palestinian civilians (many women and children) that have been maimed and killed by very civilized Israeli tanks, planes, missiles, bombs and small arms fire both inside and outside their homes- the survivors herded into walled in camps and ghettos with no means of support... learned behavior from another "civilized" people in history.

I hope there is, in fact, a special corner of hell reserved for those who delight in the suffering of others, those who dedicate their lives to maintaining, fomenting and increasing hatred, strife and blood lust-  as if their cause was in any way noble.

What EVERYONE In The USA Needs To See!

Available for free viewing 9/15-9/22 only.  Must Watch!

And FYI...

Wiping It Off Here, Boss!

Remember that line from Cool Hand Luke? The Democratic Party pissed in the faces of their own constituency during their own convention as the latter proceeded to wipe, forget and forgive. Fortunately, this Stan chose to write about it- and if you haven't already, treat yourself and catch his blog TYWKIWDBI... 

Compliance- Reality vs Disbelief

People walked out during screenings of this movie because "nobody could be that stupid." Apparently, they either knew nothing of the the facts, or were not as finely attuned (as they themselves thought) to what human nature is capable, or incapable of... I myself thought there were several times where the film probably took "artistic license" simply to advance the original premise of the escalating (and increasingly unbelievable) storyline.

Compliance was made on a shoestring budget, and at times it shows; and perhaps in part, because it did, in fact, choose to so closely adhere to the actual facts of the case, is not likely to go down in the annals of iconic film making. The facts that inspired it however are both compelling and undeniable, and what they reveal about us as Americans, and as human beings, are less than complimentary. For that insight alone, Compliance is well worth the look.

A Separate (Winning?) Reality

Remember when Bush era, White House operatives said, "We create our own reality." That little premise seems to have survived W and become part of the overall Republican platform- and we all know how well things work out when we replace reality with... fantasy- we get everything we always wanted, and more, much, much more... Like two (unnecessary) wars, a bubble economy (thanks to getting rid of those pesky reality based regulations), record breaking heat waves, droughts and storms...

"We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," Romney pollster Neil Newhouse said at a panel organized by ABC News.

And doing it without shame whatsoever, in a country ruled by ignorance, fear and threat- it may just be the winning ticket...

TOP(PED)!

I submitted this photo (containing approx. 8 security cameras) to Mike Johnston at TOP as a "counter balance" (if such is the appropriate term) to his post Friday concerning how we as photographers (professional and otherwise) continue to be unduly harassed by "authorities" (of what I'm not quite sure), as we go about doing what we are legally and unquestionably allowed to do. So I was quite honored to have it suddenly appear in a Random Excellence post...

Photo: S. Banos

I've always looked upon our flag with mixed emotions- proud for all the great good it inevitably stands for, shamed for all the... well, undeniable evil perpetrated in its name not only upon its own citizens, but on those of countless other countries. Of course, most citizens either conveniently choose to dismiss or deny the latter (eg- racism, economic enslavement both foreign and domestic, wars of convenience, etc). If only the average citizen was as aware of the abhorrent injustices committed in our name to this day as they are of the everyday occurrences of their favorite celebrities and sport teams! Still, I've always tried to maintain some small semblance of hope that America would continue to improve, if only by increment. Americans after all, like most people anywhere, are a generally generous and decent lot.

I wish I could be as proud, as confident, as hopeful for the future as that young father posing with his infant child! I suppose parenthood demands it. But optimism is no longer part of my outlook, and I'm not even talking economy. Basic liberties and cherished civic guarantees are gradually and purposely being eroded and eradicated- and they are as nothing compared to the sacrilege we have savaged upon our environment.

Cliche as it may be, and is, even the most cursory acquaintance with history will reveal our growing and undeniable parallels with The Roman Empire, particularly the part labelled- The Fall. Our obsession with celebrity and spectacle, consumerism and self have deluded and blinded us to the inevitable consequences of our own actions.

The roar of the Coliseum beckons...

Betrayal Of The American Dream...

We'll Never Know...

John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King- we will never know the names and faces of all their shooters (and killers). There was plenty of circumstantial evidence that Sirhan Sirhan was the perfect Manchurian Candidate before this most recent revelation- the incredible suppression and denial of evidence in all three of these cases (that so shaped the latter 20th century) by the authorities of law and justice continues to boggle to this day...

License To Lie

It's... curious hearing NPR prostrate, humiliate and flagellate themselves publicly as they apologize for the This American Life episode on Foxconn that took a few shortcuts towards "the truth." Curious because they did the right thing; curious because whenever The Right gets caught purposely distorting, perverting or inventing their facts whole cloth- they simply tell us to live with it, or go fuck ourselves. Their main mouthpiece at FOX doesn't ever have to apologize because they have full license to lie to each and every American, each and every day- legally, openly and with full US judicial sanction and approval!

And more sadly, because the people who watch and support them want to be lied to...

The Thanksgiving Massacre

William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth, wrote: "Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire...horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them." 

Mason himself wrote: "It may be demanded...Should not Christians have more mercy and compassion? But...sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents.... We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings."

Lawyer, Pin Up, Chemical Analyst & TV "News" Something Or Other...

I really have no intention of turning this site into a petition signing forum- but Megyn Kelly really needs to get slapped upside the head with this one- (along with Dildo Bill).

What's Worse Than Not Knowing Anything?

"...the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all."

Didn't think I'd be quoting this again quite so soon:

"To me, FNC reporters' laziness was the worst part of the bias. It wasn't that they were toeing some political line (though of course they were; see the embarrassing series on property rights from 2000), it was that the facts of a story just didn't matter at all. The idea was to get those viewers out of their seats, screaming at the TV, the politicians, the liberals -- whoever -- simply by running a provocative story," he wrote in October 2003.   --Matt Gross

How Republicans "Win" Debates

Not by logic, adherence to facts or the ability to break down complicated issues into understandable truths- but with threats, backyard bullying and sheer intimidation. Doesn't matter if it's a Republican politico or a FOX Views pundit. Whoever yells the loudest while repeating the mantra of unsubstantiated dogma wins...   

"Let me just say that the right-wing bias was there in the newsroom, up-front and obvious, from the day a certain executive editor was sent down from the channel to bring us in line with their coverage. His first directive to us: Seek out stories that cater to angry, middle-aged white men who listen to talk radio and yell at their televisions. (Oh, how I'd love to stick quotation marks around what is nearly a direct quote.)"

"To me, FNC reporters' laziness was the worst part of the bias. It wasn't that they were toeing some political line (though of course they were; see the embarrassing series on property rights from 2000), it was that the facts of a story just didn't matter at all. The idea was to get those viewers out of their seats, screaming at the TV, the politicians, the liberals -- whoever -- simply by running a provocative story," he wrote in October 2003.   --Matt Gross