Exponential Advancement

Another scandal emerges under Obama: Antiwar.com sues FBI over spying of its staff

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:19:35 -0600

Another scandal emerges under Obama: Antiwar.com sues FBI over spying of its staff:

againstpower:

Antiwar.com is taking the FBI to court.

The website’s founder and managing editor Eric Garris, along with longtime editorial director Justin Raimondo, filed a lawsuit in federal court today, demanding the release of records they believe the FBI is keeping on them and the 17-year-old online magazine.

Antiwar.com says this is one more example of post-9/11 government overreach, and a stark reminder that the First Amendment has been treated as little more than a speed bump on the road to a government surveillance state. The lawsuit is particularly timely, considering recent scandals in which the Department of Justice secretly seized months of journalists’ phone records at the Associated Press, and did the same and more to a FOX News reporter, while the IRS is acknowledging it singled out conservative groups that criticize the government for extra scrutiny.

Antiwar.com had been the target of unlawful spying under the Bush administration which continued under the Obama administration.

woah holy shit

yearoftheglitch: Transcoding raw binary data into fabric at 100...

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:16:49 -0600

yearoftheglitch:

Transcoding raw binary data into fabric at 100 threads/cm using 8 colors and 32 different weaving patterns. @ the TextielLab in Tilburg, NL.

laughingsquid: Petcube, A Smartphone-Controlled Cube For...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:49:41 -0600

laughingsquid:

Petcube, A Smartphone-Controlled Cube For Playing, Watching, and Interacting With Pets Remotely

motherjones: Here are the 20,000 shipwrecks in US waters. Some...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:40:57 -0600

motherjones:

Here are the 20,000 shipwrecks in US waters. Some of them are still leaking oil, because of Hitler. (No, really, they were sunk by German U-Boats—it’s a serious environmental problem.)

broternia: i was just out taking a walk and some woman slowly stopped her car next to me and she...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:36:41 -0600

broternia:

i was just out taking a walk and some woman slowly stopped her car next to me and she was all like “excuse me” and i was freakin out like oh my god she’s going to kill me or ask for directions or something, my life is over, and she was like “take this” and she handed me a 10 dollar bill and she was like “get yourself a haircut so you can get a job you fucking hippie” i’m laaughing so hard i am a 16 year old girl this is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me

Duh.

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:30:17 -0600

Duh.

neurosciencestuff: The Fractal Nature of the Brain: EEG Data...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:33:17 -0600

neurosciencestuff:

The Fractal Nature of the Brain: EEG Data Suggests That the Brain Functions as a “Quantum Computer” in 5-8 Dimensions

The brain has been traditionally viewed as a deterministic machine where certain inputs give rise to certain outputs. However, there is a growing body of work that suggests this is not the case. The high importance of initial inputs suggests that the brain may be working in the realms of chaos, with small changes in initial inputs leading to the production of strange attractors. This may also be reflected in the physical structure of the brain which may also be fractal. EEG data is a good place to look for the underlying patterns of chaos in the brain since it samples many millions of neurons simultaneously. Several studies have arrived at a fractal dimension of between 5 and 8 for human EEG data. This suggests that the brain operates in a higher dimension than the 4 of traditional space-time. These extra dimensions suggest that quantum gravity may play a role in generating consciousness.

(Image courtesy: Kookmin University)

Photo

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:32:19 -0600

4 Inhumane Realities About The Guantanamo Hunger Strike, Which Is In Its 100th Day

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:28:40 -0600

4 Inhumane Realities About The Guantanamo Hunger Strike, Which Is In Its 100th Day:

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Latest reports say at least 102 of 166 prisoners are participating in the action.

Friday marks 100 days since the beginning of the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay that has recaptured international attention on the offshore prison President Obama promised to close when seeking office five years ago.

As of Thursday, military officials say that 102 out of 166 detainees are participating in the strike. Lawyers say that number is closer to 130.

Since the hunger strike began 100 days ago, international groups including the European Parliament, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several nations with detainees at GITMO have stepped up pressure on the Obama administration to release detainees or close the prison altogether.

As the strike continues past its 100th day, here are four of the most disturbing facts about the situation at Guantanamo.

1. The torturous force-feeding

Thirty of the 166 prisoners held at Guantanamo are being subjected to force-feeding—a practice that’s considered torture and in violation of international law by the UN human rights office. Earlier this week, the ACLU, as well as a handful of human rights organizations, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urging a halt to force-feeding at GITMO.

While the military says it’d be “inhumane” to let the prisoners starve themselves, several human rights and medical groups disagree.

“Under those circumstances, to go ahead and force-feed a person is not only an ethical violation but may rise to the level of torture or ill-treatment,” said Peter Maurer, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The military’s force-feeding procedure involves shoving a tube into a prisoner’s nose, through the sinuses, throat, and eventually, stomach. The process inflicts severe pain and discomfort. According to an analysis of military documents by Al Jazeera, prisoners are forced to “to wear masks over their mouths while they sit shackled in a restraint chair for as long as two hours” while a liquid nutritional supplement is pumped into their stomach. “At the end of the feeding, the prisoner is removed from the restraint chair and placed into a ‘dry cell’ with no running water,” Al Jazeera explains. “A guard then observes the detainee for 45-60 minutes ‘for any indications of vomiting or attempts to induce vomiting.’ If the prisoner vomits he is returned to the restraint chair.”

2. Alleged attempts to “break” hunger strikers

Several reports have emerged that Guantanamo guards are mistreating hunger strikers in an effort to “break” them. Lawyers for Yemini prisoner Musaab al-Madhwani says guards are targeting strikers by denying them drinking water, forcing them to drink non-potable tap water, and keeping their cells at “extremely frigid” temperatures, reports AFP. In a complaint, lawyers said, “When Musaab and his fellow prisoners requested drinking water, the guards told them to drink from the faucets … The lack of potable water has already caused some prisoners kidney, urinary and stomach problems.”

Another lawyer tells RT that guards are removing striking detainees from communal living spaces and forcing them to live in single cells to break their spirit.

3. More than half of GITMO’s prisoners have been cleared for release. Ninety percent haven’t even been charged with a crime.

Eighty-six of 166 prisoners at GITMO have already been cleared for release, yet legal and bureaucratic barriers have kept them detained indefinitely. First of all, Congress imposed restrictions on detainee transfers, requiring proof that potential transfers would never pose a threat to U.S. national security in the future. In a press conference last month, President Obama reiterated this fact, saying that he’s “going to need some help from Congress.” Yet, as several commentators have pointed out, Congress also granted Obama the power to use waivers to transfer detainees, a power he has not exercised once.

Complicating things is the 56 Yemeni nationals detained at Guantanamo. As AlterNet’s Alex Kane explained, Yemen is “a strong U.S. ally that also has a problem with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has plotted attacks against the U.S. After a 2009 terrorist plot that purportedly originated in Yemen was halted, the Obama administration decided to halt repatriation of detainees to Yemen.”

4. No alternative to leaving — except in a coffin

The hunger strike reportedly began as a response to prison guards mishandling personal property and detainees’ Qu’rans. But as several commentators, organizations and detainees themselves have pointed out, that was just a tipping point. The strike represents prisoners’ boiling frustrations for being kept from their families in inhumane conditions, some being held for more than 11 years.

”Officials say two detainees have attempted suicide since the strike began.”

“The men are not starving themselves so they can become martyrs…They’re doing this because they’re desperate,” said Wells Dixon an attorney representing five GITMO detainees. “They’re desperate to be free from Guantanamo. They don’t see any alternative to leaving in a coffin. That’s the bottom line.”

Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, through a phone call with his lawyer, explained that the hunger strike is driven by a last-resort mentality in an op-ed for the New York Times last month:

The situation is desperate now. All of the detainees here are suffering deeply … I have vomited blood.

And there is no end in sight to our imprisonment. Denying ourselves food and risking death every day is the choice we have made.

I just hope that because of the pain we are suffering, the eyes of the world will once again look to Guantánamo before it is too late.

CLOSE IT GODDAMNIT.

"As sometimes happens, the legislation that emerged was far too broad, and would have had..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:25:10 -0600

“As sometimes happens, the legislation that emerged was far too broad, and would have had ramifications that neither he nor the Commonwealth’s attorney’s office ever intended. Sen. Obenshain is strongly against imposing any added burden for women who suffer a miscarriage, and that was never the intent of the legislation.”

- The Virginia GOP’s nominee for attorney general says his bill to criminalize unreported miscarriages was a big misunderstanding—it was just a poorly written law. So, you know, it’s a good thing he wants to be attorney general. (via motherjones)

lickypickystickyme: Creamy Margarita Popsicles Ingredients• 1¼...

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:31:00 -0600

lickypickystickyme:

Creamy Margarita Popsicles

Ingredients
• 1¼ cup fresh lime juice (about 8 limes), plus 4 limes for stabilizing the popsicle sticks
• 1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup tequila
• 2 tablespoons orange juice (optional)
• Kosher salt or margarita salt

You will also need:
• 12 (3oz) cups
• Small popsicle sticks or craft spoons
• A pitcher or large cocktail shaker

Directions
1. In a pitcher or large cocktail shaker, combine the lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, water, tequila, and orange juice. It is important to combine the ingredients in a container that has a spout because it will make it much easier to pour the mix into cups.

2. Line out the cups on a baking sheet. Fill each cup 90% of the way with the tequila mixture.

3. Slice the limes into ¼ inch thick rounds. Push a craft spoon through the center of each lime round, so that half of the stick pokes out from each side. Top the mixture with the lime sticks. Make sure the lime is resting directly on top of the tequila mixture.

4. Freeze for at least 6 hours, or overnight. When ready to remove the popsicles from the cups, simply snip a small cut in the rim of each cup and peel them away from the popsicle. Place the popsicles onto a dish with crushed ice to keep them from melting too quickly, Sprinkle the tops generously with salt, and serve.

Omg (minus the salt) like key lime pie pops with tequila. Yusssss

satans-advocate: The Four Companies That Control the 147 Companies That Own...

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:29:45 -0600

satans-advocate:

The Four Companies That Control the 147 Companies That Own Everything

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brendancoffey/2011/10/26/the-four-companies-that-control-the-147-companies-that-own-everything/

climateadaptation: Discovery Channel exploits wolf killing,...

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:11:47 -0600

climateadaptation:

Discovery Channel exploits wolf killing, garners highest cable TV ratings among males 25-54.

Lately, these shows have also filmed killing of wolverines, lynx, grizzly bears, rattle snakes, and crocodiles for no reason other than ratings. The wolf, above, was no threat to Tanana. The show exploits viewer’s naivete about guns by shooting this animal with an AR-15 semi-automatic gun. That’s not how Alaskans hunt, they use hunting rifles, not assault weapons that look good on camera. In fact, Alaskan outdoorsmen and women are appalled at this blatant exploitation of both the animal and the audience. There is no need for this.

My point is that we are at a critical time in human history. Species are going extinct at a rapid pace, science education is under attack from aging politicians, and young people are generally experiencing nature less and less.

I am genuinely worried about the future of this country’s environmental leadership. Federal conservation programs, which have taken decades to create, are weakening. The ethic of conservationism (a conservative ethos) is dwindling. Young people are being pulled in the direction of technology, and away from grandeur, away from fresh air and nature.

It seems to me that one important aspect of this messy new milieu are education based TV companies who heretofore have been untouched by healthy criticism.

I think it’s time to analyze the impact of these shows. I believe that the Discovery Channel et al are not contributing to a healthy planet nor are they assisting educating viewers. It seems to me they are mastering fear for short term gain and profits. If I am correct, and I believe I am, these companies need to stop and focus on their mission, which is non-fiction, education-based media - not sensationalism or harm.

I hope you agree with me.

Me snowboarding

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:07:05 -0600

Me snowboarding

….

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:03:02 -0600

….

"If we really saw war, what war does to young minds and bodies, it would be impossible to embrace the..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:00:55 -0600

“

If we really saw war, what war does to young minds and bodies, it would be impossible to embrace the myth of war. If we had to stand over the mangled corpses of schoolchildren killed in Afghanistan and listen to the wails of their parents, we would not be able to repeat clichés we use to justify war. This is why war is carefully sanitized. This is why we are given war’s perverse and dark thrill but are spared from seeing war’s consequences. The mythic visions of war keep it heroic and entertaining…

The wounded, the crippled, and the dead are, in this great charade, swiftly carted offstage. They are war’s refuse. We do not see them. We do not hear them. They are doomed, like wandering spirits, to float around the edges of our consciousness, ignored, even reviled. The message they tell is too painful for us to hear. We prefer to celebrate ourselves and our nation by imbibing the myths of glory, honor, patriotism, and heroism, words that in combat become empty and meaningless.

”

- Chris Hedges (via wakethesheeple)

"The root of the problem here is that most Americans have become unable to conceptually disentangle..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:56:55 -0600

“The root of the problem here is that most Americans have become unable to conceptually disentangle their individual human rights from their ideas about government. They do not view their rights as something they individually and irrevocably possess from God or nature, but rather as something given to them by the state. By viewing the government as either the source or legitimate final arbiter of human rights, they find it difficult to even conceive of situations in which the government would violate rights. Hence, they do not cry out when men claiming to represent “the government” throw 2 million of their neighbors or children in dungeons every year, for the supposed crime of having an arbitrary amount of alcohol in their veins. Nor do they cry out when the people claiming to represent “the government” propose to look at their testicles for doing nothing more than trying to board an airplane. Nor still do they cry out when people claiming to represent “the government” seize their income by force in order to drop bombs from robots onto wedding parties. When a man does not value and jealously guard his own rights from usurpers, it is exceptionally easy to ignore usurpations of those of other men.”

- Mark R. Crovelli (via allmarketsbecomeblack)

#turntup #latenight #oldschool

Sun, 19 May 2013 03:34:45 -0600

#turntup #latenight #oldschool

#real #80s #rainbowwarrior #oldschool

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:12:29 -0600

#real #80s #rainbowwarrior #oldschool

Vernon Bowman: The farmer who dared to challenge Monsanto

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:07:13 -0600

Vernon Bowman: The farmer who dared to challenge Monsanto:

This past Monday the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto against Vernon Bowman, a farmer from Indiana. Monsanto requires that the seeds purchased from them be used once by farmers…