Tuesday, January 10. 2017
Abby Martin Blasts RT 'Bashing' By ODNI Report And NYT
'Former RT journalist Abby Martin has blasted the US intelligence agencies’ ODNI report along with the New York Times for publishing “egregious lies” about her and RT.
'The NYT article, titled: “Russia’s RT, The Network Implicated in US Election Meddling,” claimed that two RT anchors “quit during live broadcasts” as a result of RT’s propaganda, including Martin. The NYT also claimed that Martin said “the network [RT] is a propaganda outlet.”
'Speaking to RT on Monday, Martin addressed accusations that her work for RT was part of a Kremlin propaganda effort and explained how the NYT falsely reported on her resignation.
'“I’ve never actually gotten directions from Putin himself,” she joked, explaining she was simply “trying to present issues that affect Americans and their communities,” on her show, Breaking The Set, “like reporters in a vibrant democracy should be able to do.”
'“The New York Times is no stranger to false narratives,” Martin said, adding that the media outlet “latched on” to the ODNI report, despite admitting it contained no evidence. “The so-called paper of record,” Martin explained, “hadn’t even bothered to reach out” to her before publishing the story.
'In reality, Martin voiced her views over Russia’s involvement in Crimea during an episode of Breaking The Set. While her statements garnered global press coverage, Martin remained working for RT for a full year after her statements, continuing to voice her opinions and disagreements with Russia’s actions in Ukraine and in relation to the downing of Flight MH-17.' (RT article).
Monday, January 9. 2017
Xmas Avoidance Strategy 2016
As someone who utterly despises everything and anything to do with the dreaded Retailmas, I once again took to the wilderness for the safe and sane option of blissful isolation...
Saturday, August 27. 2016
Unleashing Scotland - Resisting The Chorus Of Caution
Danny McGregor of the Scottish Green Party provides some personal insight into the timing of a second Scottish Independence Referendum...
'There is a view held by some commentators that it is “only a matter of time” before Scotland obtains independence and so we should wait it out for more favourable conditions to manifest.
'Implicit in this argument is that the devolution process started a one-way train towards independence and there is nothing that can be done to stop it, regardless of political developments in the meantime.
'Resting on the idea of a permanent SNP juggernaut or, more broadly, a pro-independence majority being present at Holyrood, may be comforting for some. However, this is based on the erroneous assumption that the status quo will continue to prevail. Political developments often surprise even the most astute political commentators.
'The only reason people can argue indyref2 is only a matter of time is because the SNP dominance is assumed to be in a fixed position come what may. If we remove this assumption, holding to the “only a matter of time” argument becomes considerably more difficult.
'In just over the last year or so, the list of political events that were near impossible to accurately predict include: the Corbyn victory, the Sanders surge, the SNP landslide at the last UK elections, and the victory for Leave in the EU referendum.
'On the specific question of the SNP, the last Scottish election showed how much voting patterns are consolidating around the constitutional question. Although we shouldn’t read too much into a by-election with a meagre 20 per cent turnout, Tory transfers in the recent North Ayrshire Council by-election helped Labour scrape over the line. Whatever the exact cause, the impact of increased Tory representation reflects a rejuvenated right and, unfortunately, it is not a guarantee that their vote share won’t grow. It wasn’t so long ago that the Tories were thought “dead” in Scotland.
'The debate around tactical voting seems likely to sharpen at the next Scottish election and not in a way that benefits advocates of independence. Aside from anything else, the last result helped to make the Tories seem like a legitimate alternative to a struggling Labour Party - Ruth Davidson’s party is no longer isolated after years in the wilderness.
'Furthermore, the political landscape in the UK could change sufficiently in such a way that could make blocking a second independence referendum more likely. For example, if the Corbyn/PLP dynamic ends badly, the prospect of an increased Tory majority is not so farfetched. In this political climate, it is entirely possible that attitudes in England towards granting a second independence referendum could harden.' (Bella Caledonia article & Scottish Independence podcast).
Thursday, August 25. 2016
2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: Is The Universe A Simulation?
'What may have started as a science fiction speculation - that perhaps the universe as we know it is a computer simulation - has become a serious line of theoretical and experimental investigation among physicists, astrophysicists, and philosophers.
'Neil deGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, hosts and moderates a panel of experts in a lively discussion about the merits and shortcomings of this provocative and revolutionary idea. The 17th annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate took place at The American Museum of Natural History on April 5, 2016.'
Note: It's amusing to watch scientists try and grapple with the simulation hypothesis. Consciousness rarely comes into their argument and they never question their assumption that there is an external reality in the first place (simulated or otherwise). A computational universe does not require the whole to be simulated continuously, but rather it is only the observed parts that need to be simulated. For example: if I look at a tree, the simulation of what is going on inside the tree is not required, until I chop down the tree and observe what's inside the tree. Then that part of the tree can be simulated for the consciousness observing it. Equally, if I don't observe the cells within the tree, then it doesn't need to be simulated until I pick up a microscope and see what is happening at the cellular level. In short, the computational nature of the universe does not need to be infinitely complex, it only needs to be as complex as the scope of what is being observed. Think 'procedurally generated universe' like the game No Man's Sky.
Monday, June 13. 2016
The Evolutionary Argument Against Reality
'As we go about our daily lives, we tend to assume that our perceptions - sights, sounds, textures, tastes - are an accurate portrayal of the real world. Sure, when we stop and think about it - or when we find ourselves fooled by a perceptual illusion - we realize with a jolt that what we perceive is never the world directly, but rather our brain’s best guess at what that world is like, a kind of internal simulation of an external reality. Still, we bank on the fact that our simulation is a reasonably decent one. If it wasn’t, wouldn’t evolution have weeded us out by now? The true reality might be forever beyond our reach, but surely our senses give us at least an inkling of what it’s really like.
'Not so, says Donald D. Hoffman, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine. Hoffman has spent the past three decades studying perception, artificial intelligence, evolutionary game theory and the brain, and his conclusion is a dramatic one: The world presented to us by our perceptions is nothing like reality. What’s more, he says, we have evolution itself to thank for this magnificent illusion, as it maximizes evolutionary fitness by driving truth to extinction.' (The Atlantic article).
Thursday, June 2. 2016
Now Available: 'Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters'
'Gerald Suster (1951-2001) can be considered one of the most important occultists of the late-20th century. A prolific writer, esteemed historian and advocate of Thelemic Magick, he is best known for his biographies of Aleister Crowley (The Legacy of the Beast) & Israel Regardie (Crowley’s Apprentice). Often described as a somewhat controversial and provocative character, Gerald made best use of these attributes in his published books and writings, employing common sense and wit to demolish all preconceived notions of what Magick is and how it might be utilised to further advance and accelerate human evolution. Note: my sincerest apologies for the somewhat hefty price of £24.99 which is due primarily to the greed of third party retailers like Amazon. For a company that has cornered the market in just about everything, they certainly like a large slice of the pie in return for promotion and quick turnaround delivery. Rest assured, however, that I am currently looking into setting up an individually run online store in an effort to undercut the set price of this book quite considerably, and I hope to also offer signed copies for those who want it. That said, the book comprises of 428 pages in A4 format (20.98 cm x 29.69 cm) and publishers Lulu have done an outstanding job on the quality and production. If you are going to buy it, please consider buying direct from the publisher. Even though they can't offer as quick a turnaround in delivery as Amazon, it is worth doing just to stick the finger up to multinational corporate greed. (Lulu shop).
'This volume comprises of the full collection of personal letters he wrote in correspondence with occult student George T. Mortimer, spanning over eight years from 1992 until near his death at the beginning of 2001. They reveal an exclusive insight into this unique and complex character, and will undoubtedly be of value to anyone engaged in studying the occult arts from a Thelemic & Crowleyan standpoint.'
Note: be sure to keep an eye out for Lulu discounts on their promotions page. (Lulu discount codes).
Friday, March 4. 2016
Rupert Sheldrake's Banned TED Talk: The Science Delusion
On January 12th, 2013, Rupert Sheldrake gave a talk entitled 'The Science Delusion' at TEDxWhitechapel. The theme for the night was 'Visions for Transition: Challenging existing paradigms and redefining values (for a more beautiful world)'. In response to protests from two militant materialist bloggers in the US, the talk was later taken down by TED and placed in a special corner of their website. Before it was removed from their main website it had had about 35,000 views. Since it was "banned" it has been seen by at least half a million people...
Tuesday, March 1. 2016
Coming Soon: 'Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters'
A sneak peak at a cover concept I have for Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters which I hope to release before the summer 2016:
Sunday, February 28. 2016
Decentralisation: An Evolutionary Biologist's Standpoint
One thing that rarely gets expressed by the Corporate Controlled Media is that Scottish Nationalism is in essence Civic Nationalism, meaning that it is inclusive of different cultural backgrounds and that the only nationalistic element of it is the acceptance that Scotland is made up of people from all corners of the globe but needs its independence in order to survive and flourish. In order for a country to function as a successful decentralised organism it is imperative that it is able to generate its own wealth, use its own resources, and trade the excesses of these resources successfully with other decentralised organisms for the resources in which it lacks but requires for a healthy and fruitful society. It’s how biology has evolved over the millennia and decentralisation will happen to humans if we are to evolve. I found this video interview a year or so ago with an evolutionary biologist whilst researching something that was completely unrelated to politics. I was stunned by the common sense expressed regarding the importance of decentralisation within evolutionary biology, and the parallels between how the human body operates and the clear way in which the world as a global society needs to operate if we are to survive as a species...
Friday, February 26. 2016
Rushkoff & Oeming Take On 'Aleister & Adolf'
Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff has teamed up with Michael Avon Oeming, the artist behind Powers And Hammer Of The Gods, to spin a tale about Aleister Crowley being recruited to oppose Adolf Hitler’s magick with his own. Apparently a connection between Nazi magick and 21st Century corporate culture is also part of the premise. (Comics Alliance article).
Tuesday, January 12. 2016
VICE on HBO: Our Rising Oceans
'Our oceans are rising. With human use of hydrocarbons skyrocketing, waters around the globe are getting hotter and, now, this warm sub-surface water is washing into Antarctica’s massive western glaciers causing the glaciers to retreat and break off. Antarctica holds 90% of the world’s ice and 70% of its freshwater, so if even a small fraction of the ice sheet in Antarctica melts, the resulting sea level rise will completely remap the world as we know it - and it is already happening. In the last decade, some of the most significant glaciers here have tripled their melt rate.
'VICE founder Shane Smith travels to the bottom of the world to investigate the instability of the West Antarctic ice sheet and to see first hand how the continent is melting - and VICE follows the rising oceans to Bangladesh for a glimpse into the world's underwater future. From the UN Climate conference to the People's Climate March to the forces that deny the science of global climate change, this special extended episode covers all sides of the issue and all corners of the globe, ending with a special interview with Vice President Joe Biden. '
Sunday, January 10. 2016
The Simulation Hypothesis
'Are we living in a virtual reality? Is the universe emerging from an information processing system? And if so, could we ever tell? Is it possible to 'hack' the system and change reality? Take a look at the evidence and decide for yourself!'
Saturday, January 9. 2016
From The Archives: Gerald Suster (1951-2001) - A Remembrance
This article was published on media underground and disinformation back in the summer of 2001.
Gerald Suster, the esteemed British writer, occultist and historian, died on Saturday the 3rd of February 2001 at the age of 49. As a devoted advocate of Thelemic Magick, Gerald’s fascination for the occult, and in particular the esoteric theories of Aleister Crowley, developed in his very early teens. Later, at the age of 21, his interests in occultism were undoubtedly fuelled by his meeting with Crowley’s former secretary, Dr. Francis Israel Regardie, whom he later wrote about in his biography Crowley’s Apprentice (Weiser, 1990).
It was this biography which first inspired me to contact Gerald in 1992. At the time I was 21 myself and having first been introduced to Aleister Crowley through Gerald’s biography The Legacy Of The Beast (W.H. Allen, 1988), I was curious and keen to find out what this excellent writer had to say. I was not disappointed.
Over the years that followed I enjoyed a healthy correspondence with the man and delighted in the intelligence, wit and charm that was always present within each of his missives. Despite the fact that we both shared a profound interest in Thelemic philosophy, the diversity of subject matter in our correspondence was of great value to me as a growing youth, and ranged in anything from boxing, woman and politics to science, art and occultism.
On one instance I remember being particularly nervous about informing him of a Qabalistic theory I had been working on which I felt expounded further his solution to the riddle and cipher of The Book Of The Law as published in the Thelemic journal Nuit-Isis in 1989. To my utter astonishment, he was delighted with my research and sent a copy of my theories to virtually everyone he thought would find it of interest. Having believed that I had solved the cipher, he then encouraged me to write more and kindly put me in touch with certain individuals whom he felt would aid me in the circulation of my work.
His kindness to me was exquisite and in June 1995 I travelled down to London and met him for the first time in an Islington pub called The Four Sisters.
Continue reading "From The Archives: Gerald Suster (1951-2001) - A Remembrance"
Friday, October 30. 2015
Two Scientists Who See The Same Reality
Tom Campbell, physicist (formerly with NASA), and Bruce Lipton, biologist (author of The Biology Of Belief), discuss what they have discovered about the nature of reality from their own unique perspectives...
Tuesday, October 27. 2015
London Real Interviews Dennis McKenna
Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He is the brother of the late well-known psychedelics proponent Terence McKenna and is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.
He was a key organizer and participant in the Hoasca Project, an international biomedical study of ayahuasca used by indigenous people and syncretic religious groups in Brasil. He recently completed a project, funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, to investigate Amazonian ethnomedicines for the treatment of schizophrenia and cognitive deficits. At the Heffter Research Institute, he continues his focus on the therapeutic uses of psychoactive medicines derived from nature and used in indigenous ethnomedical practices.
Sign up for free and watch this fascinating interview in full at London Real Academy. (London Real video stream).
Saturday, October 24. 2015
'Geriatric X' - A Work In Progress
Here's a sneak preview of a cover concept that I have for my current work in progress:
Friday, October 23. 2015
'Bothy Culture' Now Available On Kindle
My book, Bothy Culture, is now available to buy on Amazon Kindle. (Amazon book listing).
Friday, October 16. 2015
Scopolamine - The World's Scariest Drug
'Ryan Duffy went to Colombia to check out a strange and powerful drug called Scopolamine, also known as "The Devil's Breath." It's a substance so intense that it renders a person incapable of exercising free will. The first few days in the country were a harrowing montage of freaked-out dealers and unimaginable horror stories about Scopolamine. After meeting only a few people with firsthand experience, the story took a far darker turn than we ever could have imagined.'
Friday, October 9. 2015
An Interview With Dr. Christopher S. Hyatt
'Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D., Adv. M.ED. was trained in experimental and clinical psychology and practiced as a psychotherapist for many years. As Alan Miller, he used the 18 units earned from his military GED towards his first academic career at Los Angeles City College, where he studied accounting for two years. He later changed his graduate to General Psychology, earning Masters Degrees in Experimental Psychology and Medical Education and Counselling. He was a member of a Freudian clinic in Southern California. He spent almost a year studying hypnosis at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Los Angeles and also studied hypnosis at the University of California, Irvine. Miller possessed Ph.D.s in both Clinical Psychology and Human Behavior and was a Postdoctoral researcher in Criminal Justice. Some of his techniques blended Reichian physiotherapy and tantric yoga. He also incorporated hypnosis alongside his body work with patients and students. According to his website: "He left academia and state sponsored psychology to become an explorer of the human mind."
'Hyatt claimed on his website that as a research scientist he had published "numerous" peer reviewed articles in professional journals and was a Research Fellow at the University of Toronto and the University of Southern California. However, his website does not provide any references or name any of the journals he claims to have published in, making verification of his academic credentials difficult.
'Christopher Hyatt died of cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 64.'
Wednesday, October 7. 2015
Empire Files: Chris Hedges
'Abby Martin interviews Chris Hedges on American myths, war and revolt. Hedges explains the "Folly of Empire", the dangers posed by right-wing extremism and the urgent need for a new system.
'Chris Hedges is a former New York Times journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of several books including his most recent, Wages Of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative Of Revolt.'
Tuesday, October 6. 2015
Panorama: Edward Snowden - Spies & The Law
'Smartphone users can do "very little" to stop security services getting "total control" over their devices, US whistleblower Edward Snowden has said.
'The former intelligence contractor told the BBC's Panorama that UK intelligence agency GCHQ had the power to hack into phones without their owners' knowledge.
'Mr. Snowden said GCHQ could gain access to a handset by sending it an encrypted text message and use it for such things as taking pictures and listening in. The UK government declined to comment.
'Mr. Snowden spoke to Panorama in Moscow, where he fled in 2013 after leaking to the media details of extensive internet and phone surveillance by his former employer, the US National Security Agency (NSA).
'He did not suggest that either GCHQ or the NSA were interested in mass-monitoring of citizens' private communications but said both agencies had invested heavily in technology allowing them to hack smartphones. "They want to own your phone instead of you," he said.
'Mr. Snowden talked about GCHQ's "Smurf Suite", a collection of secret intercept capabilities individually named after the little blue imps of Belgian cartoon fame.' (BBC iPlayer video stream).
Monday, October 5. 2015
Omega Tau Podcast - The Gemini Programme
'The Gemini programme of the mid-sixties is relatively unknown, even though it was an important stepping stone in the Apollo moon programme: Gemini is where NASA learned to fly in space. In this episode we cover Gemini with our two guests David Woods (who has been on the show talking about Apollo) and David Harland. Together they wrote a book on Gemini that serves as the rough outline of this conversation. We talk about the Gemini spacecraft itself, the launch vehicles, some of the achievements and learnings of the programme as well as some of the specifics of some of the missions.' (Omega Tau podcast).
Thursday, April 23. 2015
Peter Russell: The Evolution Of Consciousness
'For years Western Science has relegated consciousness to an epiphenomenon created by the brain. There are, however, serious problems with this approach and an alternative worldview is emerging in which consciousness is an essential quality of the cosmos.
'With human beings, this universal consciousness has evolved to the stage of self-reflective consciousness - we are aware that we are aware - opening us to new realms of imagination and innovation. Yet, at the same time, our newfound powers are also threatening our survival as a species. We are being asked to step beyond a limited ego-centric consciousness and awaken to our true nature, to discover for ourselves the inner peace and freedom spoken of by mystics the world over.
'Peter Russell is an author, public speaker, and multimedia producer who is recognized as a leading thinker on consciousness and contemporary spirituality. He coined the term "global brain" with his 1980's bestseller of the same name in which he predicted the Internet and the impact it would have on humanity. He is the author of nine books, including Waking Up In Time, and From Science To God.
'His principal interest is the inner challenges of the times we are passing through. Peter believes if we are to navigate our way safely through these turbulent times we need to listen to the wisdom of the world's spiritual traditions, as well as to our current scientific understanding.'
Wednesday, April 22. 2015
Omega Tau Podcast - The Apollo Guidance Computer
'This episode is a mix between computer architecture, programming and (historic) space flight. We cover the ins and outs of the Apollo Guidance Computer. Our guest is Frank O’Brien, who wrote an incredibly detailed book about this machine. In the episode we cover the hardware architecture, the instruction set, the various layers (native, executive and interpreter) as well as some mission programs.' (Omega Tau podcast).
Tuesday, April 21. 2015
David Cameron Met Sony Over Outlander UK Release
'David Cameron met with Sony representatives ten weeks before the referendum on Scottish independence to discuss the release date of TV show Outlander in the UK, according to leaked emails published by Wikileaks.
'The series, dubbed Scotland’s answer to Game Of Thrones, was shown on American television but its premiere in the UK was delayed last year.
'It was eventually released through Amazon Prime in March this year, after the firm acquired the rights to the drama.
'But leaked emails from Sony Pictures suggest the entertainment firm met with UK Prime Minister David Cameron in the lead-up to the referendum to discuss the historic vote as well as the TV show.
'The email, sent from Sony vice president Keith Weaver to chief executive Michael Lynton and other senior Sony figures, outlines the focus of the meeting, with particular reference to "overall investment in the UK".
'The email states [sic]: “From a SPE [Sony Pictures Entertainment] perspective, your meeting with Prime Minister Cameron on Monday will likely focus on our overall investment in the U.K. - with special emphasis on...the importance of Outlander (i.e. particularly vis-à-vis the political issues in the U.K. as Scotland contemplates detachment this Fall).”' (Scotsman article).
Thursday, December 11. 2014
Cuts? What Cuts?
Are you paying attention plebs? No? Well it's time you did. Why? Well, we are truly living in a golden age: the Age of the Bedroom Tax - an age where food banks are all-the-rage and our public services are being squeezed back to the 1930s. But how is our wonderful unelected Head of State doing in this golden age? Well, apparently she - and the other hangers-on - seem to be immune from Tory austerity as 'The Sovereign Grant Fund' (i.e. the replacement for the 'Civil List') for 2015-16 has just been announced (very quietly) and, lo and behold, they've scooped a 12.3% pay rise! See here for this joyous news.
This is such a good deal that the calculation is actually rounded UP to the nearest UKP100K by UKP35K, to a staggering total of UKP4.1million in total (for 2015-16). That should insulate those at the top of this stinking pile from the local food bank...
Thursday, December 4. 2014
Land Reform At Last!
Wow! For Land Reform anoraks such as myself, this last week or so has been truly inspiring. Behind Scottish Independence itself, Scottish Land Reform surely has to be the next biggest ticket on the agenda. I've posted before on the landmark Land Reform Group report, but it now looks like the SNP Government with Nicola 'The Sturge' Sturgeon at the helm is really pushing to make things happen. Hell, it's almost 'cool' to be discussing the future of our land, rather than the likes of me ranting on about it in a bothy to anyone who will listen.
Can you believe that not only do 'sporting estates' (i.e. playgrounds for our establishment fun-killers) get an exemption from business rates, but we actually subsidise them to the tune of £millions per annum? In fact this vile Tory-led Government - the Government of the 'Bedroom Tax' - has almost doubled this despicable subsidy - a subsidy that actually pays for landowners to lay waste to vast acreages of land by slaughtering all manner of wildlife, both 'legally' (e.g. stoats, weasels, foxes, corvids) and illegally (raptors) whom then sell it back to us as 'conservation'. Combine that with heather burning and bulldozing access tracks and you end up with huge upland deserts. If that constitutes 'conservation' then I'm proposing a movement that espouses shagging for virginity.
At last we have a real chance of some ancient wrongs being righted. Bring it on!
'Bring out the violins. The land reform programme announced last week by the Scottish government is the end of civilised life on Earth, if you believe the corporate press. In a country where 432 people own half the private rural land, all change is Stalinism. The Telegraph has published a string of dire warnings - insisting, for example, that deer stalking and grouse shooting could come to an end if business rates are introduced for sporting estates. Moved to tears yet?
'Yes, sporting estates - where the richest people in Britain, or oil sheikhs and oligarchs from elsewhere, shoot grouse and stags - are exempt from business rates, a present from John Major’s government in 1994. David Cameron has been just as generous with our money: as he cuts essential services for the poor, he has almost doubled the public subsidy for English grouse moors, and frozen the price of shotgun licences, at a public cost of £17m a year. (Guardian article, Land Matters article & Raptor Persecution article).
Wednesday, October 8. 2014
Writing Off Scotland: Press Bias In The IndyRef
'Writing Off Scotland explores the research of Dr. David Patrick (@DrDavidPatrick) into press bias during the independence campaign. Carried out over Scotland's most politically important year in centuries, the study's findings are a shocking indictment of the role of the UK press in the independence debate. We all know newspapers take political positions but, uniquely for a western democracy, the entire press industry united against independence in an intense systematic propaganda campaign to save the union. In the film, Dr. Patrick discusses the framing of the referendum and how front pages, editorial and commentary are used to get key messages across, the lack of media coverage for the research, strange BBC experience and how the Independence debate has damaged public trust in our press.'
Monday, September 29. 2014
Managing A Nightmare
This is old news in conspiracy circles but things are heating up. There's a new film coming out called Kill The Messenger. Glenn Greewald has just posted about the CIA/Cocaine connection on his blog The Intercept.
'Eighteen years after it was published, Dark Alliance, the San Jose Mercury News’s bombshell investigation into links between the cocaine trade, Nicaragua’s Contra rebels, and African American neighborhoods in California, remains one of the most explosive and controversial exposés in American journalism. The 20,000-word series enraged black communities, prompted Congressional hearings, and became one of the first major national security stories in history to blow up online. It also sparked an aggressive backlash from the nation’s most powerful media outlets, which devoted considerable resources to discredit author Gary Webb’s reporting. Their efforts succeeded, costing Webb his career. On December 10, 2004, the journalist was found dead in his apartment, having ended his eight-year downfall with two .38-caliber bullets to the head.
'These days, Webb is being cast in a more sympathetic light. He’s portrayed heroically in a major motion picture set to premiere nationwide next month. And documents newly released by the CIA provide fresh context to the Dark Alliance saga - information that paints an ugly portrait of the mainstream media at the time.
'On September 18, the agency released a trove of documents spanning three decades of secret government operations. Culled from the agency’s in-house journal, Studies in Intelligence, the materials include a previously unreleased six-page article titled Managing a Nightmare: CIA Public Affairs and the Drug Conspiracy Story. Looking back on the weeks immediately following the publication of Dark Alliance, the document offers a unique window into the CIA’s internal reaction to what it called “a genuine public relations crisis” while revealing just how little the agency ultimately had to do to swiftly extinguish the public outcry. Thanks in part to what author Nicholas Dujmovic, a CIA Directorate of Intelligence staffer at the time of publication, describes as “a ground base of already productive relations with journalists,” the CIA’s Public Affairs officers watched with relief as the largest newspapers in the country rescued the agency from disaster, and, in the process, destroyed the reputation of an aggressive, award-winning reporter.' (The Intercept article).
Brainlike Chip By IBM TrueNorth
'Scientists at IBM Research have created by far the most advanced neuromorphic (brain-like) computer chip to date. The chip, called TrueNorth, consists of 1 million programmable neurons and 256 million programmable synapses across 4096 individual neurosynaptic cores. Built on Samsung’s 28nm process and with a monstrous transistor count of 5.4 billion, this is one of the largest and most advanced computer chips ever made. Perhaps most importantly, though, TrueNorth is incredibly efficient: The chip consumes just 72 milliwatts at max load, which equates to around 400 billion synaptic operations per second per watt - or about 176,000 times more efficient than a modern CPU running the same brain-like workload, or 769 times more efficient than other state-of-the-art neuromorphic approaches. Yes, IBM is now a big step closer to building a brain on a chip.
'The animal brain (which includes the human brain, of course), as you may have heard before, is by far the most efficient computer in the known universe. As you can see in the graph below, the human brain has a “clock speed” (neuron firing speed) measured in tens of hertz, and a total power consumption of around 20 watts. A modern silicon chip, despite having features that are almost on the same tiny scale as biological neurons and synapses, can consume thousands or millions times more energy to perform the same task as a human brain. As we move towards more advanced areas of computing, such as artificial general intelligence and big data analysis - areas that IBM just happens to be deeply involved with - it would really help if we had a silicon chip that was capable of brain-like efficiency.
'Enter TrueNorth, the culmination of the six-year-old SyNAPSE project at IBM Research. The work, which has been partly funded by DARPA since 2008, resulted in a prototype chip with just 256 neurons in 2011, and the Corelet programming language in 2013. This new chip is a second-generation version of the 2011 prototype, based on a new process (Samsung 28nm vs. IBM 45nm) and is orders of magnitude more complex, functional, and efficient. TrueNorth is implemented in standard CMOS transistors, just like the CPU in your PC - but that’s where the similarities end.' (Smart Engineering article).