Reality is scarier than any book, TV, or movie.

And no one stands up or does anything about it!
All due respect, but the US has become the biggest cesspool of abuse and slavery in the world. The Government uses the people and controls them. The leaders treat everyone as tools to suck wealth out of and then dispose of them when they see fit.

I'm saddened by this incredible system of control, human right's abuses, and degradation of an entire society, for the profits of the 1% -- and no one in the US will stand up for themselves - in fact, people are so brain washed, that they stand up and defend the systems of abuse that keep them confines and abused.

@harlequinn

Yeeeaaaaaah...

Judging by the incoherent rambling of that last post, it looks like I struck a nerve. I mean, come on man. You claim you can't remember everything you read, but in this case you somehow didn't remember that the Christian god is omnipotent--a fundamental doctrine of every major denomination of Christianity in existence today? That's seriously your defense?

Quit your bullshit. You tried to shut down @newtboy and got yourself shut down instead. I'm sure that's frustrating and contributed to the nonsensical nature of that last post, but still....

To answer in all seriousness your subsequent questions:

1) Yes, atheism has brought me immense peace. It felt great to let go of religion--Christianity specifically--especially all the guilt-tripping and fire-and-brimstone bullshit that went along with it. As a side bonus, I felt relieved that I was no longer financially subsidizing a bunch of pedophiles (I left long before the major scandals broke in mainstream media).

2) No, I'm not angry but I am certainly annoyed at all the numb nuts who keep blowing themselves up, discriminating against the LGBT community, and trying to tell women what they can and can't do with their bodies using only their Bronze Age (or older in the case of religions like Hinduism and Buddhism) superstitious beliefs as the rationale for their behavior.

3) No, I am not vegan. Just had fried chicken for dinner tonight.

4) Yes, I had to Google the exact passages but I knew the bible said somewhere that god was omnipotent because, as a former Christian, I'd read through it several times before. Sorry to hear you are so "forgetful" about the holy text that forms the backbone of your religion. Actually, I know you're not forgetful; the point the guy in the video is making is that most Christians choose not to look at the parts of the bible they don't like or even worse make ridiculous convoluted arguments to try to explain them away (as you tried to do here in explaining away god's omnipotence/omniscience).

Moving on, the "tenability" of Christianity has nothing to do with "Tradition." The whole thing is a house of cards. It doesn't matter in the slightest whether you want to interpret any holy text in the world literally or through some collective interpretation by an ostensibly educated priest-class. What makes all religion untenable is the fact that it is 100% made up bullshit. There is as much evidence for the existence of a Christian god as there is for Zeus, Thor, Santa Claus, or the tooth fairy (i.e. none).

Finally, no, I don't need to come up with a system to replace religion. It already exists and it is called "using reason and compassion." The idea itself that we need some system to control us or protect us from ourselves is archaic and frankly anachronistic in this day and age.

Now, I mean this in all seriousness--I wish you the best. I was you once, a long time ago, trying to stave off the cognitive dissonance of being a rationale human being yet also believing in a religion. I'd argue with atheists just like you're trying to do now. But the thing is... they made good arguments. The stuff they pointed out stuck with me. At first I'd shrug it off, but the facts nagged at me and nagged at me until I finally set out to prove those pesky atheists wrong--only to find out through research that everything they were saying was 100% correct.

Like I said in the previous post, you'll either face the facts or turn away and hide from them. I can't tell you if you'd be happier or not without religion--no one can. What I can tell you is that at the very least you would no longer be contributing to a collective hive-mind that has very real and very negative effects on the world we live in, regardless of whatever benefits the religion may bring to you personally. Either way, I sincerely wish you peace.

Funny that I was literally thinking about this on my way home 10 minutes ago. But, in a different context: These days corporations are looking for your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter accounts... especially if you work in marketing/tech/apps. It's all an annoying system of control; more layers added to their elitism. Fuck them, stay out of my life, you are just a fucking job! Companies should be absolutely required to stick to resumes & CVs by law....

@Asmo
i get what you are saying but i think you are missing the insidious implications that this new system of indoctrination represents.

i think @ChaosEngine's term 'stealth totalitarianism" is rather clever..and apt.

i agree with you on the points of peer pressure and how people can easily be manipulated.we are all,to varying degrees,subjected to a plethora of propaganda and targeted rhetoric,all meant to mold and shape our opinions in order to sustain the status quo while giving the impression that somehow our conclusions are an organic and natural response,when in reality we have been duped.

on that point we agree that this is not actually something new or novel but an old,tried and true method of social control.

what is new about this 'gaming" system,is that it is not taking the more subtle and passive approach of what current and supposedly "free" societies now implement to control public opinions and attitudes in order to either remain in power,sway the public into policies against their own interest,or create an atmosphere of fear to foment opposition.

this new system is actually aggressive.
this system will actively use its own population to do the oppressing,manipulating and controlling FOR them.

it is brilliant in it's simplicity.
it will use very human attributes we all possess in order to enact a better system of control,all the while having the appearance of being a harmless and innocuous social media competition.

but it is anything but harmless.
nor innocuous.
it will and can affect every facet of someones life.from their job to where they will be able to live,to even HOW they live.

think back to the times of east germany and the stasi,or the weimar republic,or even the soviet union of the 80's.

all used elements this new gaming system is representing,but those systems of control,while relying on the public to do much of its surveilling,all had one thing in common that they ALL relied heavily on:fear.

fear of reprisal.
fear of exposure.
fear and suspicion were the driving forces that kept those systems in power and the people in a perpetual state of paranoia.

the dread of the midnight knock.
of jackboots and black bags.

but those systems of control were fragile and once even a little resistance was exerted those systems crumbled incredibly fast.

this new system is far more subtle and devious in my opinion,because it removes the spectre of an imposing and oppressive government that will respond with violence and replaces it with the citizen to do the work for them.

the government does not have to do anything.
your neighbor will,and not because of some fear-based reason but rather for points to propel their own ambitions.their own selfish desires.

the wholesale implications are absolutely terrifying if you really think about it.

i would speculate that within a very short amount of time dissent and criticism of the chinese government will all but have vanished.replaced by a obedient and compliant population.

not because they are afraid of reprisal from the government but rather fueled by their own selfish desires for a better job,better living quarters,more privileges etc etc.

so a seemingly benign system utilizing social media will become of a self-propelled system,where those who do not tow the party line soon face joblessness,homelessness and ostracization.

not because the government strong armed them into submission,but rather their own neighbors.

so you are right.
there is nothing new here,but this system has taken the old forms of social control and brilliantly utilized one of humanities greatest weaknesses:selfishness.

it is the simplicity that makes this so brilliant and yet so horrifying at the same time.

Although this woman was authentically traumatized by the experience of living outside her box, I kind of feel sorry for her. Sorry she is so close minded to living and learning. Sorry she has been brainwashed to the extent that she can't function beyond her religious upbringing. and I feel bad for all those who have to endure her and her beliefs. Her convictions will go on to traumatize her children, and her children's children, and so many more generations to come.

Her physiologic internal belief system will control her until the day she dies, and she will never see any of it from within her bubble. Such a waste of human potential. She obviously has potential for strong convictions, and deep emotion that, I'm sure, could have been put to use in more productive ways in her life.

What a catchy jingle for all of you who love tyranny and/or communism over liberty! Maybe this could be the new anthem for Police State USSA!
Not only do cops not feel bad about all the people they kill, they celebrate it. This is the direct result of having centrally planned theft and violence based on systems of control.

@ChaosEngine

i think you fell into the same trap that bc did i.e:only one flavor of anarchy and that simply is an untruth.

i also think you are aware that on some issues we are in total agreement.

what i find most interesting is that latter part of your comment actually makes an argument FOR an anarchal system.all the things you listed that you hate,well..im right there with ya and so is the majority of not just your and my respective countries,but globally!

anarchy has worked but usually on smaller scales and there are certain criteria that most people are unwilling to meet.
for anarchy to work there must be:
an informed citizenry.
and a citizenry that participates.

which is a tall order here in america.

another problem is that societies will build structures that will become institutions that will become sensitive to corruption.that governments will eventually become bloated beasts that seek to only perpetuate its own continued existence,at the cost of the people and the virtues they have tried to uphold.

this we see playing out all over america and europe.

the anarchist realizes that the TRUE power in a society is NOT the government but rather the very people in that society.if that government no longer serves the people then it must be dismantled,on morals grounds alone this is the right thing to do.

in an anarchal society the corporation could not and would not exist.they would go back to being temporary business alliances in order to complete an assigned project and then disbursed.

in an anarchal society the federal reserve would lose its charter.

in an anarchal society,if a company wanted to move its plant over-seas and would leave thousands un-employed,effectively destroying that community.they would first have to seek permission from that township and/or sell the plant to the town in order to change base of operations.

in an anarchal system,there would be no war on drugs.no criminalizing the poor.no war on terror or wars of aggression.

in an anarchal system there would be no surveillance state,nor system of controlled indoctrination because that would be anathema to the very goals of an anarchic system.

look,the argument is always,and i mean always:power vs powerlessness.

anarchy is about power to the people in its purest form.
and i hold zero illusions that it may be remotely perfect but if i have to choose..i will always choose YOU over some wealthy elite power broker.

Yeah, but they are looking for funding, so someone is going to pony up. I watched the video. Most of what they show is a Hubsan FPV quad that you can get through places like Banggood it uses a spreadspectrum 5.4 system to broadcast the video and a 2.4 system for control, but it does not have any autonomous capabilities. Hubsan makes some of the best stuff out there and we work very closely with them. The wrist thing is cludgey, and while it conveys the idea (You can see the needed twist I was talking about), it wont get them anywhere near their presented final design. Wifi would be an option, but it would require a wifi hotspot be built into the quad. I know we aren't talking about components that require a bunch of power, but we are talking about small batteries, so every mV counts. Especially for something that is wearable.
Now the Hexo+ is very much like the Airdog. Both seem very viable and are using existing technologies. My only concern about either is what do they do about object avoidance and low battery response. In either situation you can wind up losing the vehicle or injuring someone. Most higher end quadcopters have the ability to Return To Home (RTH) which is great since the pilot is in a stationary position, but put a pilot on the move and things get weird. If you are out surfing and the quad gets a low battery warning due to either a battery failure or having been waiting for 30 minutes for you to catch a wave, where does it go? It could go back to the take-off position, but if you drifted from there then it will need to calculate that distance and make sure it can get back. Salt water and electronics don't play well together. If you take your quad with you for a ride on a skateboard down the boardwalk, how do you make sure it doesn't hit a light post or a tree while it is zipping after you? You could fly at a higher altitude, but the zoom lens on the camera may not be enough. Hexo+ has a video of the founder riding a skateboard while the quad films. Notice that he stops short of going into the wooded area. I wonder why?
There are issues, but at least in both cases I think they are starting from proven technologies and have footprints that are achievable.

Sorry lurgee, Charlotte Iserbyt has not been popular with sifters American or otherwise due primarily to collective denial of her message-That message being that it is by design to create a large majority of dysfunctional cretins incapable of critical thinking who feed on a steady diet of bullshit like media news outlets for their "news of the world' in order for them to be herded more effectively by the state and her systems of control.

Think North Korea with coca-cola and Gucci, rap music and video games as primmers for the next generation of wage-slaves with a cult of personality of excess cash to spend on campain (misspelling intended) fleece and bullets, and you have the finished product ready for coffins and pharmaceutical oblivion.

Oh, and fuck this stupid bitch on TV Grimm, and fuck your leading title for your paltry embed. The few Americans left without their head up their own asses may be few, and we detest the same tools used as those of the television.

Sounds like you still believe we live in a democracy. Obama went into office with the intention of ending torture, restoring habeas corpus, ending the patriot act, ending the war in Iraq and creating public health care system. He was not allowed to achieve any of these things in earnest. If Ron Paul were to be miraculously elected in 2012, he would encounter all the same roadblocks to the parts of his agenda that do not fall in line with corporatism. It would be nice for you to experience a politician you admire get worked by the system.

If we could all suspend our partisanship just long enough to get our campaign finance system under control and get some separation between corporation and state, we would all benefit. But it's not going to happen on its own, and it won't gain attention from politicians until we have mass strikes and mass protests. Unfortunately, partisan feuds and the focusing of attention on political celebrities like Bush and Obama always seems to keep our attention off that industrial boot on our collective throat. I don't think the kind of unity required is likely until things get much, much worse... if ever. The Machiavelli in me wonders if it wouldn't be wiser to vote for the greater of 3 evils. >> ^blankfist:

None of this matters. If you voted for him in 2008, you'll most likely vote for him again in 2012. Why break the trend towards fascism and imperialism?

bugger. mis voted (wrong vid!) - it's an interesting point. but, not really selling the idea, once again this is a pitch Against a Healthcare system this is a right rather than a privalige. I have lived in UK and Sweden, bother with a central healthcare system and this problem is a non issue for me. If you want to see a doctor, you do. If you need medicine, you get it, discounted. Sure I pay through taxes, but I get it, and I don't get rejected or told my treament is "experimental"

This guy making the response, seems to think that a central system (gov. controlled or influenced in this case) is just plain bad. But the truth is, if it is done properly, the results often mean everyone gets the right healthcare. In the UK you can still get private insurance on top of the NHS (and like all insurance this does not cover asthma, and a whole bunch of other (unsupported) ailments.

But as mentioned above, you have the fire brigade and postal service as public services, as well as education. Why is healthcare seen as exempt?

>> ^dag:

Yeah the scare tactics on the nukes is cheap and probably very misguided. If anything, a global push for nuclear power would lead to a better system of control and monitoring of fissile materials.


Yeah, putting bombs into the debate was stupid.

But seriously: Controlling the distribution of nuclear material by putting more of it out there?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Yeah the scare tactics on the nukes is cheap and probably very misguided. If anything, a global push for nuclear power would lead to a better system of control and monitoring of fissile materials.

The nuclear genie is out of the lamp - we need to deal with a world where many countries have the technology to create a nuclear weapon - because it's happening whether we like it or not.

I actually liked it. It's a tremendously complex video that rewards watching it several times and expending effort interpreting it. The man with the gun--did he shoot Gaga, or is planning to shoot himself? Perhaps he--Alejandro, apparently--is meant to signify a gay man trapped in a straight marriage. Note that in the bedroom, he and Gaga are both constrained by cables from the ceiling, as if they are marionette puppets. Perhaps he killed himself, and is thus the man buried by Gaga in the funeral procession.

What's the with the man wearing the Star of David with a cage around his head, and the man nearby wearing a stylized pyramid? Is Gaga just throwing a bone to the conspiracy theorists, or do they play a more significant role in the video? I am tempted to say that they do. They are presented with the lockstep march of the soldiers, offering commentary on the way they are closely regimented and controlled.

Just a few points: Every costume Gaga wears appears to symbolize some means of control or liberation. Nazi Dictator Gaga, as I have dubbed her, in the black outfit with the goggles, is a symbol of externalized, nefarious control. Cabaret Gaga, in the underwear, seems to represent purely carnal sexual liberation--just plain sex--which is outside her system of control, but does not seem to seriously subvert it. Machine Gun Madonna Gaga might is a woman who--like Dictator Gaga--has seized masculine, phallic power to herself, but in a rather dangerous way. Following the appearance of the M-16 bra, we see that the soldiers are led to violence and domination. Red Latex Nun Gaga symbolizes is like Dictator Gaga in that she represents control--but passive, internalized control, rather than external control--but is nonetheless just as controlling; she has, by accepting the system of control into herself, enslaved a man into a desperate, entirely inappropriate heterosexual marriage. The flip side is Anti-Christ Gaga, who, like Cabaret Gaga, symbolizes sexual liberation from control--but in a spiritualized, highly subversive form--though the flash of an appearance of Dictator Gaga may indicate that this, too, is part of the machinations of the system of control.

There's plenty more one can say. A number of narrative threads, occurring simultaneously, can be teased out of the video.

Also, lots of man-candy. Yay!

>> ^RedSky:
Calling the US a constitutional republic instead of a democracy actually makes a lot of sense. Too many people don't seem to understand the difference between the two and by definition the prior is more correct.


It would not be accurate to call the place now, a constitutional republic when in effect, decisions made on the nation's course resembles a more Monarchistic Plutocracy. Consider if you will, the bloodlines of most of the fucking presidents, and the largest mega-corporatist entities which hold the lion's share of capital:

Petro-Chemical-Control of Energy, production and distribution
Pharmaceuticals=Eugenics carried out on the masses in the guise of medicine.
Agri-Business=Control of Food Production

With walmart as number 3 in the wealthiest of corps over the world, now we have a family of inbred redneck fucks who sold out the US to the lowest production and manufacturing sector on the planet....China/Mexico


^^The above is an example of what would be in a choggie world history textbook, reflects a common-sense, no-bullshit approach to properly chronicling the history of empire and subjugation of the majority by a psychotic minority, the same in fact, who provide you the sheeple, with the illusion that you have any power to change the system at all from within.

The problems' not Texas' textbooks-the problem is that those of you who find it disturbing at all, are making issue of a SYMPTOM, and not going for the jugular to cure the bullshit-IT'S A DISTRACTION!!

The power is still yours-Stop buying into the bullshit-Collectively boycott broken systems of control, including one of the worst of all, state-funded and sponsored education of our children.