Dawkins talar um ópíum fólksins

Gerin oil (or Geriniol to give it its scientific name) is a powerful drug which acts directly on the central nervous system to produce a range of characteristic symptoms, often of an antisocial or self- damaging nature. If administered chronically in childhood, Gerin oil can permanently modify the brain to produce adult disorders, including dangerous delusions which have proved very hard to treat. The four doomed flights of 11th September were, in a very real sense, Gerin oil trips: all 19 of the hijackers were high on the drug at the time. Historically, Geriniol intoxication was responsible for atrocities such as the Salem witch hunts and the massacres of native South Americans by conquistadores. Gerin oil fuelled most of the wars of the European middle ages and, in more recent times, the carnage that attended the partitioning of the Indian subcontinent and, on a smaller scale, Ireland.

Meira hér:
It is a highly addictive drug, but governments everywhere encourage its use

Áhugavert viðtal við Chavez, forseta Venezuela

Hugo Chavez: "If the Imperialist Government of the White House Dares to Invade Venezuela, the War of 100 Years Will be Unleashed in South America"

Skotglaðir Bandaríkjamenn

US Troops In Iraq use 250,000 Bullets for every rebel killed

Summary:

A US government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.

Estimating how many bullets US forces have expended for every insurgent killed is not a simple or precisely scientific matter.

John Pike, director of the Washington military research group GlobalSecurity.org, said that, based on the GAO’s figures, US forces had expended around six billion bullets between 2002 and 2005

“If they don’t do body counts, how can I? But using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. Let’s round that down to 250,000 so that we are underestimating.”

Skrípaleikurinn um vitræna hönnun heldur áfram af fullri alvöru

Court case may determine how evolution is taught in US

Summary:

In the town of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 11 parents of children who already attend the nearby Dover High school or who will in future, together with the American Civil Liberties Union, are suing the Dover Area School District for voting in new rules that will encourage children to consider alternatives to evolution such as “intelligent design” (ID). The court’s verdict will only bind schools within the Dover district, but could influence how schools teach evolution across the country.

Bandaríkjaher fær hjálp frá anarkistum

Military Requests Medics from Anarchist Relief Project

Summary:

The Common Ground Clinic and other projects are being organized on a cooperative, non-hierarchical basis, which stresses the importance of solidarity instead of charity. This process requires lots of organization, communication and frequent meetings. The volunteers and residents have two meetings each day. . The first meeting in the morning is similar to the spokescouncil style seen at activist convergences. It brings together people involved in the various collective projects: medical care, food, media, and community clean up. In the evening, clinic volunteers have a meeting that focuses on the running of the clinic.

Dómari með réttu ráði í Bandaríkjunum

Federal judge declares Pledge unconstitutional

A federal judge declared Wednesday that the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional, a decision that could potentially put the divisive issue back before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case was brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words "under God" was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God."

Ríkisstyrktur vestrænn landbúnaður, böl þróunarríkjanna

Hér er að finna fína grein af hinu ágæta vefriti 3 Quarks Daily, þar sem Robin Varghese fjallar um þau alvarlegu áhrif, sem ríkisstyrkir í vestrænum landbúnaði hafa á kjör bænda í þriðja heiminum.

The link between farm subsidies in the West and poverty in the Third World is fairly straightforward, even if many don’t quite see the linkage. It’s no secret that farms subsidies in the West are enormous. Excluding subsidies in the form of research and development, food inspection and welfare support for poor citizens (mostly, the food stamp program in the US), subsidies in the OECD averaged 30% of farm receipts, meaning 30 cents of each dollar of revenue from farming in the West comes from state transfers, on average. Nearly, US$290 billion was spent by OECD member in direct support to farmers.

The funny-disturbing figure in these discussions is $2.50 a day in subsidies per cow in Europe; compare that with this one--nearly three in four people on the African continent live on less than $2 a day. And the connection is more than coincidental.

Vísindi og fjölmiðlar

Don't dumb me down

OK, here's something weird. Every week in Bad Science we either victimise some barking pseudoscientific quack, or a big science story in a national newspaper. Now, tell me, why are these two groups even being mentioned in the same breath? Why is science in the media so often pointless, simplistic, boring, or just plain wrong? Like a proper little Darwin, I've been collecting specimens, making careful observations, and now I'm ready to present my theory.

It is my hypothesis that in their choice of stories, and the way they cover them, the media create a parody of science, for their own means. They then attack this parody as if they were critiquing science. This week we take the gloves off and do some serious typing.

Andspyrnan í neysluþjóðfélaginu

Adbusters

Jæja, best að rúlla þessu af stað aftur...

...eftir þessa alllltof löngu letipásu.



Hér er nokkuð athyglisverð grein, þar sem einhver spekingur kennir brotthvarfinu frá Gaza um hamfarir síðustu viku í Bandaríkjunum og nefnir því til stuðnings afar gáfulega hluti eins og t.d:

Gaza's Jewish communities were located in Israel's southern coastal region; America's southern coastal region now lies in ruins.

og

Katrina, written in Hebrew, has a numerical equivalent of 374, according to a biblical numbering system upheld by all traditional Jewish authorities. Two relevant passages in the Torah share the exact numerical equivalent: "They have done you evil" (Gen. 50:17) and "The sea upon land" (Exodus 14:15).

Mikið vildi ég óska þess að mannkynið færi að vaxa upp úr þessari fjandans trú, henni fylgir ekkert nema heimska.

Hér er svo greinin:
Did God send Katrina as judgment for Gaza? Eerie parallels between forced evacuations spark speculation