Sunday, April 28. 2013
Applications Now Open For One-Way Ticket To Mars
'It's time, if you're so inclined, to plunk down a reservation for a one-way ticket to Mars. The privately funded Mars One foundation recently opened up applications for astronauts to take a journey to the Red Planet in 2022/23. Return trips, the organisers said, just aren't feasible with the technology we have.
'From a wide field of applicants, organisers said two women and two men will be selected to make the journey. The technology that takes them there has been tested before, and the potential for a worldwide audience will be there given four billion people will have the internet by then, said Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp.
'However, a cost breakdown of the £3.93 billion budget - as well as a concrete plan for how reality television deals and other sponsorship money will be secured - was not provided to the public at the press conference, prompting some scepticism among journalists as to whether the plan could be achieved.
'Lansdorp remained optimistic in the face of questions concerning the project's viability, pointing out the London Olympics in 2012 generated nearly £2.62 billion in revenues for a three-week spectacle. This makes Mars One a bargain deal for investors, he said.' (Wired article & Mars One website).
Tuesday, March 19. 2013
The Modern Day Hobos
Having been interested in the old-time American hobo lifestyle for some time, it has come as a great surprise and pleasure to find a thriving subculture of modern hobos still riding freight trains across the US. PBS has a superbly evocative film about hobos here.
Indeed, some old-timers are still out there migrating by freight-train to find work but there is a new wave of hobo riding simultaneously. It would appear that the new younger generation of 'bos' brings a decidedly 'punk-attitude' that simply rides the rails just for the sake of riding the rails - wonderful stuff. This creates an amazing mixture of young punks and old hobos doing the same thing, just for different reasons.
Riding the rails is also referred to as 'freight-hopping' or 'train-hopping' and there is quite a bit of stuff out there. Railroad Semantics is the website of Aaron Dactyl who publishes his own 'freight zine' about his adventures and is well worth a read. Northbank Fred has a very comprehensive website that has loads of hobo stories and links.
There is also a ton of stuff on YouTube and I particularly liked the videos from Wizehop.
Sarah George's documentary Catching Out is also a good all round study of the modern hobo. (Isohunt torrent download).
Friday, March 15. 2013
The Sergeant Matron's New Pipe Smoking Revolution
Having taken up the briar a little over a year ago (as a result of a few pals accusing me of being a 'Chap' and saying that "you should smoke a pipe"), I began investigating the unusual world of contemporary pipe smoking. What at first glance appeared to be a moribund pastime soon revealed a distinct, thriving, colourful, and even subversive subculture, with adherents from all over the world.
Wishing to do my bit for the new wave of the pipe smoking revolution, I suggested to a couple of pals - whilst sitting in the remote Scottish bothy of Kearvaig one night - that we form the 'Kearvaig Pipe Club' (KPC). It seemed so bizarre that they immediately agreed, and the rest, as they say, is history.
With smoking of any kind being almost completely banned in any indoor public space, the Scottish bothy offers a last 'off-grid' bastion where one may legally sit in warm comfort with friends (and strangers), and enjoy a good smoke. Even folk who are not in the 'brotherhood of the briar' tend to enjoy the 'room note' emanating from some wonderfully fragrant pipe tobacco. So if you are interested, why not get yourself a pipe, head for the hills and seek out fellow pipe-smoking oddballs? (Kearvaig Pipe Club website).
Thursday, February 7. 2013
Andy Andrist: Groomed For Destruction
'A judge's ruling Friday paves the way for two comedians to show their videotaped confrontation with a Port St. Lucie man one of the comics claims sexually molested him nearly 40 years ago.
'Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn dissolved a temporary injunction he had previously granted to Stephen P. Spleen of Port St. Lucie to keep Andrew J. "Andy" Andrist of Eugene, Oregon, and Doug S. Stanhope of Bisbee, Arizona, both standup comedians, from playing a tape of the pair's November 4th interview with Spleen at a Port St. Lucie hotel.
'According to a motion filed by Fort Pierce attorney Jonathan Jay Kirschner, Spleen admitted on the tape that he had abused Andrist. A compliant filed by Spleen's attorney, J. Garry Rooney of Vero Beach, claims Andrist and Stanhope tried to obtain "money, possessions and/or notoriety to enhance their stand-up comedy careers by falsely accusing (Spleen) of committing disgraceful, deplorable and heinous acts."
'Kirschner countered that Andrist wanted closure and to publicize Spleen's activities for the sake of any other past and potential victims. Andrist claims he was molested by Spleen several times from June 1976 and 1981 when Andrist was between 11 and 13 years old. He said Spleen massaged him several times, and each time Spleen touched Andrist's penis. Andrist also claims Spleen served him alcohol and showed him pornographic movies.' (TC Palm article).
Friday, December 7. 2012
Private Company 'Golden Spike' To Go To The Moon
A bunch of ex-NASA executives have formed a company with the objective of landing on the moon. Money well spent...
'A team of former NASA executives has launched a private venture to send two people to the Moon for $1.4bn (£871m). Golden Spike Company says it will use existing rocket and capsule technology, and will aim for a first launch before the end of the decade. The firm is one of many new private firms hoping to follow the success of Space X, which has ferried cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).
'The US became the first and only country to reach the Moon in the 1960s. But costs and waning interest have prevented any other lunar mission. US President Barack Obama cancelled a planned NASA return to the moon, saying the US had already been there.
'Golden Spike, run by former NASA associate administrator Alan Stern, says it is looking into offering voyages to the governments of other countries - such as South Africa, South Korea and Japan - expecting interest for scientific research or national prestige.' (BBC News article & Golden Spike website).
Tuesday, November 20. 2012
The Copiale Cipher
'The master wears an amulet with a blue eye in the center. Before him, a candidate kneels in the candlelit room, surrounded by microscopes and surgical implements. The year is roughly 1746. The initiation has begun.
'The master places a piece of paper in front of the candidate and orders him to put on a pair of eyeglasses. “Read,” the master commands. The candidate squints, but it’s an impossible task. The page is blank. The candidate is told not to panic; there is hope for his vision to improve. The master wipes the candidate’s eyes with a cloth and orders preparation for the surgery to commence. He selects a pair of tweezers from the table. The other members in attendance raise their candles.
'The master starts plucking hairs from the candidate's eyebrow. This is a ritualistic procedure; no flesh is cut. But these are “symbolic actions out of which none are without meaning,” the master assures the candidate. The candidate places his hand on the master’s amulet. Try reading again, the master says, replacing the first page with another. This page is filled with handwritten text. Congratulations, brother, the members say. Now you can see.' (Wired article).
Monday, October 29. 2012
Elon Musk's Mission To Mars
How exactly is it that SpaceX can do everything so cheaply? Well, it would seem from this recent interview with Elon Musk that there are a couple of reasons in particular. The first being that there’s a tendency for big aerospace companies to outsource everything to subcontractors who then, bizarrely, outsource work to other subcontractors who subsequently - in what seems to be little more than an utter bureaucratic shambles by this point - outsource to other subcontractors and so on and so forth... ad nauseum. As one commenter aptly points out at the foot of this Wired article: "One reason for all that expensively administered subcontracting is that it pleases exactly those committees [who control NASA's funding]. The large projects they favor can subcontract in many different districts, whose congressmen then have a good reason to vote for NASA's budget. This means the committee members need not trade away any more of their political capital to get the projects that support contractors in their districts."
In short, SpaceX don't engage in this subcontracting farce but do it all themselves from the bottom up.
The other reason SpaceX can manufacture rockets so cheaply is to use an advanced welding technology called "stir welding" which can create as strong a structure as is currently manufactured using more conventional construction methods - but without the material wastage of machining thick aluminium plate. How can Elon tell us about this without generating competition from rival companies?
"The reason I can talk about it is that nobody else knows how to build a rocket this way," he laughs.
I have high hopes for Elon Musk and Space X despite some of his seemingly more outlandish pipe dreams like making a privately funded human trip to Mars possible. Is Elon Musk's head in the clouds? Hopefully, because that's the only sensible place to have it when talking about making humanity a multiplanetary species.
'When a man tells you about the time he planned to put a vegetable garden on Mars, you worry about his mental state. But if that same man has since launched multiple rockets that are actually capable of reaching Mars - sending them into orbit, Bond-style, from a tiny island in the Pacific - you need to find another diagnosis. That’s the thing about extreme entrepreneurialism: There’s a fine line between madness and genius, and you need a little bit of both to really change the world.
'All entrepreneurs have an aptitude for risk, but more important than that is their capacity for self-delusion. Indeed, psychological investigations have found that entrepreneurs aren’t more risk-tolerant than non-entrepreneurs. They just have an extraordinary ability to believe in their own visions, so much so that they think what they’re embarking on isn’t really that risky. They’re wrong, of course, but without the ability to be so wrong - to willfully ignore all those naysayers and all that evidence to the contrary - no one would possess the necessary audacity to start something radically new.' (Wired Science article).
Thursday, October 25. 2012
Skylon - The Key To Economic Access To Space?
'SKYLON is the successor to Britain's HOTOL spaceplane concept, being developed by Reaction Engines Ltd (REL). It is an unpiloted fully reusable aircraft-like vehicle capable of transporting 12 tonnes of cargo into space and is intended as a replacement for expensive expendable launchers in the commerical market.
'The SKYLON vehicle consists of a slender fuselage containing propellant tankage and payload bay, with delta wings attached midway along the fuselage carrying the SABRE engines in axisymmetric nacelles on the wingtips.
'The vehicle takes off and lands horizontally on it's own undercarriage.
'The SABRE engines have a dual mode capability. In rocket mode the engine operates as a closed cycle Lox/Lh2 high specific impulse rocket engine. In air-breathing mode (from take-off to Mach 5) the liquid oxygen flow is replaced by atmospheric air, increasing the installed specific impulse 3-6 fold. The airflow is drawn into the engine via a 2 shock axisymmetric intake and is cooled to cryogenic temperatures prior to compression. The hydrogen fuel acts as a heatsink for the closed cycle helium loop before entering the combustion chamber.
'The vehicle takes off and lands using a relatively conventional retractable undercarriage. By special attention to the brake system it has proved possible to achieve an acceptably low undercarriage mass. However, a heavily reinforced runway will be needed to tolerate the high equivalent single wheel load.
'At the start of the take-off roll the vehicle weighs 275 tonnes, whilst maximum landing weight is 55 tonnes. At take-off the vehicle carries approximately 66 tonnes of liquid hydrogen and approximately 150 tonnes of liquid oxygen for the ascent.
'The ground handling operations will be carried out using a standard aircraft tractor and a bonded goods cargo building permitting overhead loading and protection from the elements. For safety and operational simplicity the cryogenic propellants are loaded subcooled without venting of vapour. Cryogen loading is automatic through services connecting in the undercarriage wells whilst the vehicle is stood on the fuelling apron.'
Wednesday, October 10. 2012
Quantum Suicide: Why We May Never Die
'In quantum mechanics, quantum suicide is a thought experiment. It was originally published independently by Hans Moravec in 1987 and Bruno Marchal in 1988 and was independently developed further by Max Tegmark in 1998.
'It attempts to distinguish between the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics and the Everett many-worlds interpretation by means of a variation of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, from the cat's point of view.
'Unlike the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment which used poison gas and a radioactive decay trigger, this version involves a life-terminating device and a device that measures the spin value of protons. Every 10 seconds, the spin value of a fresh proton is measured. Conditioned upon that quantum bit, the weapon is either deployed, killing the experimenter, or it makes an audible "click" and the experimenter survives.
'The theories are distinctive from the point of view of the experimenter only; their predictions are otherwise identical.
'The probability of surviving the first iteration of the experiment is 50%, under both interpretations, as given by the squared norm of the wavefunction. At the start of the second iteration, if the Copenhagen interpretation is true, the wavefunction has already collapsed, so if the experimenter is already dead, there's a 0% chance of survival. However, if the many-worlds interpretation is true, a superposition of the live experimenter necessarily exists, regardless of how many iterations or how improbable the outcome. Barring life after death, it is not possible for the experimenter to experience having been killed, thus the only possible experience is one of having survived every iteration.' (Wikipedia article).
Saturday, October 6. 2012
The Missing Times: News Media Complicity In UFO Cover-Up
I think I've read this book three times cover to cover. One of the best books ever written on the UFO phenomena. It doesn't look like it's on BitTorrent yet because it hasn't been converted to an ebook but you seriously need to get a copy. I promise you won't be disappointed.
'Pratt went on to say he couldn't recall how or when he first learned about the Minuteman over-flights. He said he had been working at the time with a number of different UFO researchers who were pursuing several military-related cases using the Freedom of Information Act. Among his notes, though, Pratt said he'd found a typewritten statement with another researcher's name on the bottom saying that on May 17, 1977, an anonymous caller had phoned and told him about the over-flights and allowed him to tape the conversation. "This whole thing surprises me because I have no recollection of receiving such a phone call, nor do I remember working with Brad Sparks on these incidents," Pratt added.
'The truth of the matter may be lost in the mists of time. However, the likelihood that military sources purposely leaked the story to the Enquirer, possibly via one of several UFO researchers known to be working with Pratt, remains and must be considered, particularly in light of the Enquirer's surprising history.'
'In many ways the National Enquirer is a conspiracy theorist's dream come true. The newspaper's historical ties to powerful organizations such as the OSS, the CIA, the Pentagon, the White House, and the Mafia, raise troubling questions about its true agenda. To the uninitiated, though, the Enquirer seems hardly worth taking seriously. With its blaring, often absurd headlines and near-ubiquitous location alongside grocery store checkout stands across the nation, the Enquirer has become both a cliché and the butt of jokes among those who consider themselves sophisticated media consumers. There's much more to the National Enquirer than meets the eye, however. To see why, we need to review the Enquirer's fascinating origins, with particular emphasis on its ties to the U.S. intelligence establishment.' (Missing Times Website).
Friday, October 5. 2012
Media Underground Welcomes Back James Inman
Media Underground is glad to welcome back James Inman as one of our regular contributors. James used to write for us several years ago as a guest and he's been bugging me ever since to put a good team of contributors together (with him included) to restore Media Underground to its former glory.
There are many words one can use to describe the anomaly known as James Inman. ‘Stand-up Comic’ is one such phrase, ‘Rural Punk Gen-X Anti-Hero’ is another. One might also refer to him as a ‘Recurring Alcoholic’ or ‘Angry Middle-Aged Man’. Yet whatever James is he certainly loves to torture himself, and in so doing can occasionally manifest ‘Genius’. Author of the depressingly hilarious travel guide Greyhound Diary, James works the comedy circuit travelling state to state on the Greyhound bus. He is also one of the main characters in the fly-on-the-wall documentary The Unbookables.
If you've never heard of James Inman before, then the following video is a good place to start...
Big Bad Pharma
When you go to your doctor do you assume he/she prescribes medicines to you based on what the best thing is to fix what is wrong with you? Or maybe they prescribe just what the best deal is for the NHS? Some doctors do one or both, many don't. A lot of doctors fall foul of the corporate megalith known as 'Big Pharma' and it's massive marketing machine. Many doctors are willing participants working with the Big Pharma machine because they get to go to Acapaulco and drink free cocktails. Having worked for a good while - much to my eternal shame - for Big Pharma, I was so glad to see the new book Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre published. It pours withering fire on a multi-billion pound industry that exists to pay its own greedheads rather than find effective and reasonably priced cures to human diseases. Don't be surprised if we hear about Ben Goldacre being found dead in a skip somewhere...
Ben Goldacre: 'My new book Bad Pharma is out today. It describes how drug companies harm patients, around the world, by distorting evidence on an industrial scale. More than that, it shows how doctors, academics, and regulators have all failed to fix these problems. Bad practices have been perpetuated, because the public have not understood the true scale of the disaster. If this book is not ignored, it will make certain current public positions from industry, and from regulators, untenable. That will be the beginning of fixing the problem, and for the rest, I need your help.' (Bad Science article).
Sunday, September 23. 2012
Media Underground Welcomes The Sergeant Matron
Here at media underground, it is with pleasure that we welcome new contributor Stephen Lewis to the site. Stephen (or the 'Sergeant Matron' as he is often referred to) is some kind of bizarre human hybrid prototype with a keen eye for everything that is fucked up with the planet.
Author of Boots On The Line: Walking 1000 Miles Of Britain's Dismantled Railways, The Matron spends much of his free time either wandering around seriously remote parts of rural Scotland for extended periods, smoking peculiar and unusual tobacco blends out of one of his vast collection of briar pipes (a pastime that he's somehow managed to get me interested in), or rallying against corporate corruption wherever it rears its ugly head.
A staunch atheist and anti-royalist, we are delighted to have him onboard and look forward to his perfectly sane take on the ills of the 21st century.
Sunday, August 26. 2012
Space Pioneer Neil 'Balls Of Steel' Armstrong Dies
'Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died aged 82. The former US astronaut, who will go down on history as the most famous pioneer of space exploration, passed away as the result of heart complications following surgery.
'As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, he became the first person to set foot on the moon, on 20 July 1969, fulfilling the longheld dream of the United States to get there before the Soviet Union. His first words as he stepped on to the surface - "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" - instantly became one of the most recognisable phrases ever uttered.
'Armstrong underwent heart bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on 5 August, to relieve blocked arteries.
'His family released a statement on Saturday describing him as a "reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job".
'It read: "We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his nation proudly as a Navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut.' (Guardian article and CPA Australia video interview).
Wednesday, August 22. 2012
Free Pussy Riot
Sunday, May 13. 2012
Unblock The Pirate Bay By Switching DNS Settings
'This is a note to our friends across the pond, friends who may be freaking out about the news of The Pirate Bay potentially being blocked in the United Kingdom. While the news may come as a shock, especially in a country that’s so outspokenly against ACTA, all hope should not be abandoned.
'In fact, there’s an easy fix, one that clearly demonstrates the futility of uninformed government officials trying to regulate something they don’t understand. Simply put, if you want to “unblock” TPB, just switch DNS servers.
'Much like defeating SOPA measures with IP addresses (instead of domain names), users who want to access TPB but can’t, you might want to think about switching your DNS server, something that is easier than the idea may suggest. However, thanks to a quick how-to by Torrent Freak, you’ll see it’s not that complicated at all. In fact, all you need to know in order to do such a changeover is the IP address for the DNS server you’d like to use:
'For the two main alternatives, these are:
- OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
- GoogleDNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
'You can configure an alternative DNS server on a per-computer basis, or for your whole network. The first one is the quickest, probably easiest solution, the last one has the huge advantage that all devices on your network will use the new DNS automatically, without the need to configure them all.' (WebProNews article & TorrentFreak tutorial).
Monday, March 12. 2012
We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists
Sunday, March 11. 2012
Live Video Stream From The International Space Station
Wednesday, December 7. 2011
Orbiter Space Flight Simulator
Tuesday, October 18. 2011
Seeking Major Tom
William Shatner's new album is out and it's pretty damned good.
'Seeking Major Tom is a fourth studio album by William Shatner. It was released October 11, 2011 by Cleopatra Records. The album features many noted musicians, including Sheryl Crow, John Wetton, Patrick Moraz, Ritchie Blackmore, Alan Parsons, Peter Frampton, Nick Valensi, Zakk Wylde, Mike Inez, Chris Adler, Steve Howe, Michael Schenker, Dave Davies, Johnny Winter, Brad Paisley, Bootsy Collins, and Toots.'
Tuesday, July 19. 2011
Adam Curtis: Rupert Murdoch - A Portrait Of Satan
'Rupert Murdoch doesn't like the BBC. And sometimes the BBC doesn't seem to like Rupert Murdoch either.
'Following the principle that you should know your enemy, the BBC has assiduously recorded the relentless rise of Rupert Murdoch and his assault on the old "decadent" elites of Britain. And I thought it would be interesting to put up some of the high points. It is also a good way to examine how far his populist rhetoric is genuine, and how far its is a smokescreen to disguise the interests of another elite. As a balanced member of the BBC - I leave it to you to decide. (BBC article).
Tuesday, July 12. 2011
The Occultist Who Took On Murdoch's Empire
With all the current sordid revelations emerging concerning the appalling criminal practices conducted by Rupert Murdoch's News International, I am reminded of an account my late friend and mentor, Gerald Suster, gave about the deceitful way in which a News Of The World "journalist" ruined his career back in 1989.
Suster, who was working at the time as a history teacher at Boarzell College in Sussex, had been approached by a NOTW hack called Chris Blythe about his life-long interests in the occult and, most notably, his book The Legacy Of The Beast - The Life, Work & Influence Of Aleister Crowley (which had just made the front cover of Publisher's Weekly).
What transpired back then is very much comparable to the kind of practices that we are hearing about today, and whilst there were no mobile phones around to get hacked into back then, it is clear that the methods and motivation News International employ to get a sensationalist story have changed very little in the last twenty-odd years.
In the Autumn 1996 edition of Talking Stick magazine, Gerald gave an account of how a News Of The World article cost him his job, home and salary in the blink of an eye.
For those of you who still doubt the level that Murdoch and his ilk will stoop to in order to line their pockets and manipulate public perception, I have scanned in the relevant documentation here for your own scrutiny.
Devil Teacher - News Of The World (April 16th 1989)
Gerald Suster's Own Account - Talking Stick (Autumn 1996)
High Court Of Justice Documentation (October 18th 1991)
Looking over this material again today, and viewing it in the context of recent events, I am reminded of the final interview that dramatist and playright Dennis Potter gave to Melvyn Bragg just before his death in 1994.
He said: "As a writer, you will know that one of the favourite fantasy plots is where a character is told: you've got three months to live (which is what I was told) - who would you kill? I call my cancer - the main one in the pancreas - Rupert, because Murdoch is the one. I've got too much writing to do, and I haven't got the energy, but I would shoot the bugger if I could. There is no one person more responsible for the pollution of what was already a fairly polluted press, and the pollution of the British press is an important part of the pollution of British political life, and it's an important part of the cynicism and misperception of our realities that is destroying so much of our political discourse."
Thursday, June 16. 2011
Julian Assange Being Treated 'Like A Caged Animal'
'After six months under virtual house arrest, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange acknowledged Thursday that his detention is hampering the work of the secret-spilling site. His supporters accused Britain of subjecting him to "excessive and dehumanizing" treatment.
'The 39-year-old Australian is living at a supporter's rural estate as he fights extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over claims of rape and sexual molestation made by two women. Assange's bail conditions require him to observe an overnight curfew, wear an electronic tag and report to police daily.
'His supporters released a video to The Associated Press condemning the conditions. In it, WikiLeaks associate Sarah Harrison accuses authorities of treating Assange "like a caged animal."
'British prosecutors, who initially opposed bail, say the strict conditions are necessary because the claims against Assange are serious and he is a flight risk.
'The video also claims police have set up surveillance cameras near the house to record license plates of visiting cars.' (ABC News article).
Wednesday, June 15. 2011
Charlie Veitch: Scots Will See Parasite Monarchy End
'In an interview with Press TV, Charlie Veitch, political activist, elaborates on Queen Elizabeth II's recent comments that she may be the last royal head of state.
'Press TV: When the Queen of England is quoted as saying she's concerned about a UK break-up, what is she referring to?
'Veitch: She's referring to a 304-year-old union called the United Kingdom that was enacted in a document called the Act of the Union.
'The Scottish nobility eventually surrendered by corruption to the English crown. We're seeing a big campaign now in Scotland with the Scottish National Party [SNP] going to run a vote to see if Scotland wants to break away from England. I've just been in Wales over the last week and there's been a resurgent Welsh identity there.
'I think what we're seeing is a spread of the “Arab Spring” revolutions coming to Europe.
'You've just mentioned in your report that Spainish people are camping. Let's not forget that all royal families are a parasite upon natural order and upon natural law because we are all created equal under the eyes of God, the universe, or whatever you believe in.
'We are seeing the Queen, which is very nice, expressing her very rational fears that the slave ship that she and her parents helped create is about to crash into the rocks.' (PressTV article & video stream).
Thursday, November 25. 2010
Jim Channon Explains The First Earth Battalion
'The First Earth Battalion was the name proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, a U.S. soldier who had served in Vietnam, for his idea of a new military to be organized along New Age lines.
'LTC Channon believes the Army can be the principal moral and ethical basis on which politics can harmonize in the name of the Earth. Since "Earthkind" has grown from pack to village, to tribe, to territory, and then to nation, LTC Channon envisions going from nation to planet next, and thereby declares the First Earth Battalion's primary allegiance to the planet. Making the planet whole requires the ethical use of force based on the collective conscience.
'According to the book The Men Who Stare at Goats by journalist Jon Ronson, Channon spent time in the seventies with many of the people in California credited with starting the human potential movement, and subsequently wrote an operations manual for a First Earth Battalion. This manual was a mixture of drawings, graphs, maps, polemical essays and point-by-point redesigns of every aspect of military life. In LTC Channon's First Earth Battalion, the new battlefield uniform would include pouches for ginseng regulators, divining tools, food stuffs to enhance night vision, and a loud speaker that would automatically emit "indigenous music and words of peace." Warrior monks will carry the best equipment modern technology can produce into the battlefield: lightweight laser stun guns, hallucinogen mortars, acupuncture kits, dowsing rods for locating hidden tunnels and mines, etc. Rather than using bullets and munitions, Channon envisaged how this new force would attempt to first win the hearts and minds of the enemy by: using positive vibrations, carrying "symbolic animals" of peace - such as baby lambs - into hostile countries, greeting them with "sparkly eyes," and then gently place the lambs on the ground and give the enemy "an automatic hug." If these measures were not enough to pacify the enemy, members would employ the use of unconventional but non-lethal weapons to subdue them. Lethal force was to be a last resort. Intuition would be consulted first and foremost by battalion members. A movie based on the book - released in Autumn 2009 - starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, retitled the First Earth Battalion as the New Earth Army.' (YouTube video stream & First Earth Battalion field manual).
Wednesday, September 29. 2010
The 1,905 Page Suicide Note
'In the end, no one really knows what led Mitchell Heisman, an erudite, wry, handsome 35-year-old, to walk into Harvard Yard on the holiest day in his faith and fire one shot from a silver revolver into his right temple, on the top step of Memorial Church, where hundreds gathered to observe the Jewish Day of Atonement.
'But if the 1,905-page suicide note he left is to be believed - a work he spent five years honing and that his family and others received in a posthumous e-mail after his suicide last Saturday morning on Yom Kippur - Heisman took his life as part of a philosophical exploration he called “an experiment in nihilism.’’
'At the end of his note - a dense, scholarly work with 1,433 footnotes, a 20-page bibliography, and more than 1,700 references to God and 200 references to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche - Heisman sums up his experiment:
'“Every word, every thought, and every emotion come back to one core problem: life is meaningless,’’ he wrote. “The experiment in nihilism is to seek out and expose every illusion and every myth, wherever it may lead, no matter what, even if it kills us.’’' (Boston Globe article & Suicide Note pdf download).
Tuesday, September 28. 2010
WikiLeaks' Underground Servers Bunker
'Several sources report, with accompanying photographs, that the Swedish ISP and broadband provider hosting WikiLeaks has moved its servers into an underground location first blasted from solid rock in the 1960s, yet recently refurbished and upgraded.
'First reported in a Norwegian paper, but then picked up by Forbes and several other online sources, it now looks like Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks organization are very media-savvy as well as smart and wily.
'The whistle-blowing website is being hosted by Internet Service Provider (ISP) Bahnhof, and they recently moved their servers into an empty Cold War bunker 30 meters (100 feet) deep under the streets of Stockholm. The underground data center is 4,000 square meters large and Bahnhof put much effort into redesigning the old bunker into a modern data center that could easily be featured in a James Bond movie.' (Fotograf panoramic views & Digital Journal article).
Tuesday, August 24. 2010
The Web Is Dead
'Over the past few years, one of the most important shifts in the digital world has been the move from the wide-open Web to semiclosed platforms that use the Internet for transport but not the browser for display. It’s driven primarily by the rise of the iPhone model of mobile computing, and it’s a world Google can’t crawl, one where HTML doesn’t rule. And it’s the world that consumers are increasingly choosing, not because they’re rejecting the idea of the Web but because these dedicated platforms often just work better or fit better into their lives (the screen comes to them, they don’t have to go to the screen). The fact that it’s easier for companies to make money on these platforms only cements the trend. Producers and consumers agree: The Web is not the culmination of the digital revolution.' (Wired article).
Wednesday, August 4. 2010
Sleep Paralysis: Manifestation Of The Shadow People
A couple of nights ago I experienced what is commonly known as sleep paralysis. I've had a minor occurrence of it before, but on this occasion I found myself overcome with a feeling of intense terror. This coupled with what looked like a tall dark figure that appeared to be breaking into reality through one of the corners of my room next to the door. The figure was gaunt and somewhat Nospheratu-like in stature with what looked like a wide-brimmed had on it's head. I couldn't make out its features but my ears were filled with a pulsating sound and my body seemed to be vibrating as though I was somehow being phased out of reality, beamed up, or probed by some kind of scanner.
The terror that I felt wasn't so much due to the feeling of an evil presence in the room, but I got the impression that this thing was highly intelligent, had an agenda and that it regarded me as little more than an insect that stood in its way. All the while I couldn't move a single muscle.
"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods" as Shakespeare put it, and eventually after several minutes my girlfriend shook me out of it because I was "howling like a terrified animal," she said.
It happened twice more that night but on the last two occasions I managed to get myself out of it by realising that this was merely sleep paralysis. After each occasion my waking perceptions were filled with mild hallucinations and the experience instantly made me think that these symptoms could be synonymous with the alien abduction experience.
Now, I don't for one minute think that this was anything other than an exceptional case of sleep paralysis as defined by modern psychology, however, the archetypes of the Shadow People and, in particular, "The Hat Man" intrigues me considerably.
Here's an interesting ten part interview with Professor David J. Hufford, author of the provocative study The Terror That Comes In The Night. (YouTube video stream).
Wednesday, July 28. 2010
The Decline Of The US As A World Power
'Robert Anton Wilson was perhaps the first to popularize the observation that during the history of human civilization, power and money has always moved west. From the beginnings of civility in Sumer to modern day China, there has always been a westward flow of technology, money, power and manufacturing capacity. In the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, we witnessed the flow of influence from the Vatican to Britain, an empire on which it was said that the sun never set. As Britain's power waned in the early 20th century, so the flow moved westwards to America. Now in the 21st century we have witnessed a further flow westwards towards East Asia. While America still holds most of the cards as the world's richest economy, the focal point of industry and manufacture has long left its shores.
'It is an absolute mystery as to why this trend has continued without exception for nearly four millenia. Yet this trend isn't so powerful as to rend all countries utterly powerless before it. America is still the richest country in the world. It still possesses a near monopoly on the flow of culture, entertainment and ideas. It has the most powerful military industrial machine in all of human history, and the biggest financial and global corporate institutions are based there. So where is the decline? The answer to that lies not in GDP figures or Wall Street or the towering heights of financial markets, but in other social and economic factors. A fair measure on which to base America is by its own declaration as the 'land of the free'. Taking that freedom in both a political and economic context, we have a basis on which to judge America's decline.' (Helium article).