There’s the people’s history, the counterhistory that you didn’t get in school or from the news: the history of the battles we’ve won, of the rights we’ve gained
There is a lot wrong with this report -- most of it reads like a statement from the Venezuelan political opposition, rather than a neutral third-party observer
The White House and national security elite are engaged in closed discussions about how many US troops and bases will remain following the “handover” to the Afghan regime
The idea that endless economic growth can occur on a finite planet amounts to mass delusion of the highest order. Learn more in this excellent short film 'Life After Growth' from enmedia productions
Satire Dept.
Today in 1963: CIA Accidentally
Overthrows Costa Ricafrom The Onion
Haiti Justice
Read my chronicle of working in
earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince,
Summer 2010.
Losing Sleep
Insufficient sleep, which is linked to decreased physical and mental health, is increasingly common in both the US and Europe due to recent social and cultural changes in Western society. More electronic media in the bedroom isn't helping, but the trend towards less sleep has been going on for a while. Read my summary of the research, includingconcrete things you can do.
Microwave Radiation and Health
How much do researchers know about the health risks related to the recent proliferation of environmental microwaves, such as those that emanate from cell phones, cell towers, and wi-fi networks? Short answer from the original expert: "What we're doing is a grand world experiment without informed consent."
For more, read the above article and listen to this interview from September 2010 (WNYC):
Neuromarketing
'Corporations and political candidates are using MRIs, EEGs, and other brain-scan technology to craft irresistible media messages designed to shift buying habits, political beliefs, and voting patterns.
By measuring activity in different parts of the brain in response to an ad or other media message, advertisers and political consultants can create advertising campaigns that tap into the pre-conscious brain.
This form of marketing, known as neuromarketing, undermines our core democratic values of freedom and self-determination.'
2009 French/Canadian documentary on the existential perils of the movement towards space weaponization. The english version is coming soon. In the meantime, read my summary of the issue and watch the trailer:
The "Vision and Goals" statement that Michael Moore quotes in this piece was presented at the General Assembly I attended in Zuccotti Park/Liberty Square in NYC on Sunday.
In the end, this depoliticized political rally against extremism that broadly celebrated contentedness, without including issues or candidates, showed how absurd American politics has become.
"The Century of the Self" by Adam Curtis (BBC, 2002)
A hundred years ago a new theory about human nature was put forth by Sigmund Freud. He had discovered, he said, primitive sexual and aggressive forces hidden deep inside the minds of all human beings. Forces which if not controlled led individuals and societies to chaos and destruction.
This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy.
Part I: Happiness Machines Part II: The Engineering of Consent Part III: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part IV: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering
Media Environments
"Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop" from Keiichi Matsuda.
1970s Americana
One Photographer's Look at Social Dislocation
[courtesy of Der Speigel]
'He was looking for adventure. But when the young Dane Jacob Holdt arrived in the US in the 1970s, he found a country deeply divided -- and spent the next five years photographing that divergence. His photos show a haunting America.'
Born in New York City in 1972, the author is a clinical psychologist.
To pay the bills, he helps... more
Born in New York City in 1972, the author is a clinical psychologist.
To pay the bills, he helps people understand themselves and their environment, and encourages them to imagine all possible changes, individually and socially.
His university courses include Media, Culture, and Society; Psychodynamic Psychology; International Business Ethics; and Geopolitics.
The general focus here is on issues related to social justice, health, media (e.g., media psychology, media democracy, media-as-environments), and U.S. and international politics. Debate is welcomed and encouraged.
Is there a point at which we could lose our humanity due to technological advance? What is that point?
Independent Media I Support
News media that refuse all advertising and underwriting and instead rely on donations are less constrained by corporate interests in what stories they run and how they frame them. Here are my favorite non-commercial sites for surfing, bookmarking, podcasting...and donating!
