Wednesday, January 31, 2018

A Post-Mortem On The Corpse Of ‘Social Justice’

This article was originally published by Brandon Smith at Alt-Market.com


alien-corpse


I have been commenting on social justice propaganda for quite some time; long before it was fashionable to do so, and long before there was an organized movement of support to defend commentators who dared to question the insane dictates of the cult of political correctness. In my article ‘The Twisted Motives Behind Political Correctness’, published in early 2014, I outlined the basic philosophical underpinnings of political correctness and what these beliefs tend to lead to. At the time, the future for champions of individual liberty and reason appeared rather bleak. Today, I am happy to say the backlash against “third-wave feminism” and cultural Marxism has expanded beyond anything I could have dreamed.


I do not want to diminish or underestimate the threat still posed to personal freedom by the adherents of the social justice cult, but at this stage I think it is safe to say that political correctness is effectively a dead movement walking.


Recent statistics without bias are hard to come by. That said, the latest available numbers show that people who agree with “gender equality” are many, but those who identify as “feminist” are slim. In the U.S. this constitutes 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 that identify as feminist depending on which polls you look at, while in the U.K. feminists make up only 7 percent of the population.


According to the CDC, abortion rates from 2008-2014 fell to historic lows post Roe v Wade. Abortion being a primary platform and leverage issue for social justice warriors, I take it as a good sign that even in a time of severe economic instability people are backing away from abortion as an acceptable option.


Just as a general observation, social justice has not been a reliable driver for political success, considering the abject failure of the Clinton Campaign in 2016, which clung tightly to SJW ideologies throughout the election cycle.


And finally, social justice has also not been selling so great in the marketplace. This is most evident in the entertainment world, where movies created by producers with open social justice agendas continually fail to bring in expected box office numbers.


For example, the feminist-produced and-directed Ghostbusters reboot ended with a dismal showing compared to many other blockbuster movies of with the same production costs, ending its run with an estimated $70 million loss.


Feminist action films perpetuating the fantasy of physical parity between the sexes, like the movie Atomic Blonde, though receiving accolades from mainstream critics (like all social justice films do), have had embarrassing showings in theaters.


And finally, perhaps the biggest sign of a sea change against social justice in pop culture, even massive brand names like Star Wars are suffering when social justice propaganda is injected into the franchise. The latest installment, The Last Jedi, with its obvious and heavy-handed social justice messages, had one of the worst second week showings of all the Star Wars movies (adjusted for inflation) and only generated a little over half of the revenues brought in by The Force Awakens. Not to mention the highly critical audience reviews and the complete bomb the movie suffered in the Chinese market, which was supposed to help elevate revenues that were expected to be much higher.


So, what has spurred this societal rush for the exits when it comes to cultural Marxist ideals? There are many reasons why Americans in particular cannot stand these people. Here are just a few…


Deliberate Deconstructionism Of Root Mythologies


One of the core tenets of cultural Marxism is the destruction of a society’s vital mythologies and symbols. In other words, the very psychological archetypes that make up the collective unconscious are targeted.


This is one of the reasons why SJWs are so obsessed with the entertainment industry. Much of the art and stories that inspire us in modern times are found in film and television. Identity politics has been the premier staple of Hollywood the past decade, so much so that it is no longer even hidden. In fact, despite the reality that the SJW ideology has been proven to be a money loser, production companies are STILL pushing the issue, choosing political messages over profits. Parables are often more powerful than real events and present a tempting tool for mass mind control.


Social Justice deconstructionism is often mistaken as an unintended “business blunder,” but the truth is that these companies are absolutely aware of what they are doing. Cultural Marxists want to dismantle social and biological norms, moral principles and beloved heroes because they hope to create internal chaos within a nation. Once this occurs, they desire to then instill their ownideology on the confused and fearful populace.


Unmitigated Self-Indulgence


Social Justice is also rooted in the notion that self-indulgence and gluttony on every level should be celebrated as healthy and “progressive.” Sexuality is a purely recreational affair without consequence or physical and psychological responsibility. Not only this, but it should be pursued in as many forms as possible, and if a person sees something wrong with this or has a natural inclination to avoid these behaviors, then they are “homophobic,” “transphobic,” racist, fascist, etc.


Obesity is defended as “beautiful” and “wholesome” through the “body positivity movement,” even though it has been proven in every notable study to result in incessant health problems including diabetes, heart disease, birth defects, cancer and clinical depression.


And, perhaps the worst indulgence of all; the psychological indulgence of intellectual isolation is encouraged. “Safe spaces” are enforced as a means to protect the social justice cult from challenging ideas and people. Willful ignorance is applauded as ideological strength and an act of loyalty to the collective. All intellectual opponents are treated as monstrous criminals rather than merely informed adversaries with a different point of view.


The Attempted Erasure Of Masculinity


In my article ‘Will Manliness Make A Comeback In 2018‘ I outlined why masculinity in particular has been so often targeted by SJWs. In fact, masculinity represents an element of unpredictability to a society that is important to individual liberty but dangerous to the establishment. Femininity tends to lend itself far more to collectivism and, by extension, the desire to rely on an outside force like the government as a provider and for security when a masculine presence is not available.


When masculinity is repressed in a society and matriarchy is entrenched, such systems are historically doomed to failure and collapse. Superior production, invention, organization and security are a staple of a masculine foundation within a culture. The war on men is yet another product of cultural Marxist deconstructionism.


By extension, the assertion that masculinity is evil within men is often followed by the assertion that masculine displays by women are empowering and good. In this way, true femininity is also under attack, as women that enjoy and naturally gravitate towards biologically feminine roles are admonished by feminists as being “slaves of the patriarchy” or “breeders” that hold back the social justice movement.


Life Is About Emotional Validation


Validation without merit and demanded empathy without discrimination are time bombs within any culture. Social justice thrives on these disturbing ideals.


It is important to point out that these mindsets are often an extension of narcissism. Narcissists make up about 10% of any given population at any given point in history, which is interesting because latent sociopaths and psychopaths (as well as full blown sociopaths and psychopaths) also make up approximately 10% of any given population. SJWs are liable to display both narcissistic and sociopathic qualities, desiring constant emotional validation from all the people around them while also holding morally relativistic stances on most issues.


This does not mean that SJWs do not appear empathetic. Quite the opposite. Most narcissists and sociopaths are highly adept at hiding their aberrant character flaws behind causes, platitudes and virtue signaling. They have to believe that the things they do and the ideals they seek to enforce are grounded in moral soil, even though the consequences of these ideals are usually destructive. When confronted with reality, that they are the villains rather than the heroes they imagine themselves to be, they can become erratic and violent.


SJWs have effectively turned sociopathy and narcissism into a civil rights movement.


Identity Politics


SJWs see group identity as the defining factor in a person’s personal worth, as well as the worth inherent in their ideas and claims. Now to be fair, SJWs are not the only group guilty of this idiocy. The so-called “Alt-Right,” which is actually a tiny contingent of pretenders that claim to be “conservative,” is rampant with people that think skin color is somehow immediately reflective of mindset. While SJWs see all white people as inherently dangerous, the Alt-Right sees all non-white people as inherently dangerous. This of course ignores all cultural factors and individual factors for the sake of lazy broad brush politics and absurd non-solutions. These groups are basically two sides of the same coin.


That said, it is true that SJWs are the most aggressive and vicious of the two sides so far.


SJWs adore identity politics because they see victimhood as a currency. Victim group status can be used within a socialist/collectivist system to purchase entitlements from the state, which is the only god-figure that these people know or love. The more oppressed you are on the list of victim groups, the more stuff you can get from government, as long as that government is also collectivist in nature.


This helps to explain the sudden explosion in the trans-person fad over the past few years. White people in particular are extremely disadvantaged within the identity politics ladder of oppression, UNLESS they identify as transgender. This allows them a quick route to victim status and social entitlements, swiftly surpassing other ethnic groups.


Innocent Until Proven Guilty – Trial By The Mob


Whenever I see SJWs in action I am always reminded of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, in which a man is prosecuted for a crime that is never explained to him and sentenced without understanding how or why. As his trial commences, he makes a rousing speech appealing to logic and reason but is laughed at by the hordes and the courts as if what he is asking for is ridiculous.



This is the social justice standard — to attack all opponents as inherently criminal. To label them racist, misogynistic, homophobic or privileged from birth by virtue of their skin color or gender. This argument even extends to “implicit bias” which they claim makes all white people specifically racist and advantaged without them even being consciously aware of it. They also accuse all men of being innately sexist and violent.


This allows SJWs to make indictments without evidence, for how can anyone ever prove or measure such a thing as “implicit bias” and show that they DON’T suffer from it. Proving a negative (a virtual impossibility) becomes the task  the accused must perform to purify themselves before the court of social justice. It’s simpler for many to apologize for whatever they are accused of and sublimate in the hopes of redemption.


What many SJWs don’t seem to realize is that by using broad and abstract ideas such as “hate speech” as a means to attack and criminalize their opponents as guilty until proven innocent, they also open the door for governments to do the same using similar justifications.


A recent and horrifying example is the Spanish government’s implementation of “hate speech laws” against eight teachers that are vocal proponents of the Catalan separatist movement!  What do Catalan issues have to do with hate speech?  It doesn’t matter. As we critics of social justice have been warning for years, literally anything can be labeled “hate speech” without due process, and one day this might even come back to bite cultural Marxists on the ass.


A saying comes to mind which was popularized by Michael Savage, but stated first as far as I can tell in Ecclesiastes 9:10:


Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening.


In other words, hell is a place without reason, and SJWs are seeking to construct hell on Earth.


Are Social Justice Warriors Actually Aliens From Another Planet?


This would help explain a lot, and I wish it were that easy. SJWs act like they cannot fathom humanity and despise the dictates of human nature. They display elements of moral relativism and lack critical thought. They seem to operate on a completely different set of intellectual and emotional rules. That which has sustained human society for thousands of years and hundreds of generations is not of any value to them. They almost seem to be studying how to dissect humanity rather than participate in humanity.


Unfortunately, these people are indeed entirely human, which is a depressing fact to say the least. They are what Carl Jung describes in his book The Undiscovered Self as an expression of the “collective shadow.” That 10% (and sometimes greater) of a nation that embraces sociopathic tendencies and organizes in the worst of economic and cultural conditions.


Luckily, this “invasion” is being squelched in the U.S., at least in the past couple of years. Before long, the term SJW may be a distant memory of a time that history will consider a brutal hallucination, rife with a mob based mental illness that almost consumed the world.


***


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You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com


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Soros Declares War on Bitcoin

George Soros Hack

(ANTIMEDIA) Switzerland — Cryptocurrencies were a hot topic at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with the world’s financial elite essentially split on how to view a technology that’s still less than a decade old.


One market player in attendance, however, George Soros — who, as of December 2017, is worth $8 billion — appeared far more confident in his assessment.


“Cryptocurrency is a misnomer and is a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding,” the 87-year-old Soros said in a speech in Davos on Thursday.


“Bitcoin is not a currency because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value and the currency that can fluctuate 25 percent in a day can’t be used for instance to pay wages because wages drop by 25 percent in a day,” Soros said. “It’s a speculation. Based on a misunderstanding.”


On the subject of usability, the business magnate claimed that at the present date, cryptocurrencies are primarily a tool of the criminal element:


“Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad.”


This sentiment echoes that of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who also spoke on the subject while in Davos.


“In areas like cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, we should be looking at these very seriously,” May said in a television interview with Bloomberg, adding that action on cryptocurrencies may be needed “precisely because of the way they are used, particularly by criminals.”


However, research published earlier this month found only one percent of Bitcoin transactions were actually linked to suspected criminal activity.


Other financial experts, however, appeared less eager to denounce the technology. Speaking at a panel discussion on Thursday, Index Ventures general partner and co-founder Neil Rimer said it’s simply too early to make a judgment call:


“We’re nine years into this experiment. It’s gone well at times and quite poorly. It could fail completely and go to zero, but it has accomplished a number of things I think are remarkable.”


Jennifer Zhu Scott, deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank, appeared to agree. She noted that the fact that so many of the world’s financial heavyweights are being forced to address the issue of cryptocurrencies is evidence of the technology’s power:


“The fact that people keep talking today that bitcoin is below 10,000, it’s a disaster, or bitcoin is above 10,000 and that’s crazy. I think the fact that bitcoin is still alive, and attracting so much attention, the fact that we’re talking about bitcoin in Davos with a Nobel Prize winner, a central bank governor and a seasoned investor, I think that’s a powerful tool.”


Robert Shiller, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, was also on the panel.


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Watch: The Moment Fox News Caught Itself Broadcasting Fake News on Live TV

fox news
Over the course of one broadcast, the Fox News host went from denying the New York Times‘ report to confirming it to suggesting it was insignificant.

(COMMONDREAMSViewers of the Sean Hannity Show watched in real-time Thursday night as their host was forced to admit that reports of President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller were true, after he’d spent part of the broadcast attacking the New York Times’ story.


Later, countless people online witnessed Hannity’s coverage as the clip went viral.


Early in the show, Sean Hannity dismissed the Times’ report that Trump had ordered the dismissal of Mueller, who stepped in to run the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia after the president fired former FBI director James Comey last spring.


The New York Times is trying to distract you,” Hannity told his audience. “They have a story that Trump wanted Mueller fired sometime last June, and our sources, and I’ve checked in with many of them, they’re not confirming that tonight…And how many times has the New York Times and others gotten it wrong?”


He later said that his sources could indeed confirm that the story was true.


Watch:




Although Hannity’s tone in his first mention of the story suggested that the Times’report, if true, would be a significant development, he took on a dismissive attitude when acknowledging that the president wanted to fire the official in charge of investigating him.


“Yeah, maybe Donald Trump wanted to fire the special counsel for conflict. Does he not have the right to raise those questions?” he said, shrugging, before quickly changing the subject to a high-speed car chase in Arizona.


Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said that attempting to fire Mueller is a red line that the president must not cross.


On social media, Hannity’s backtracking garnered attention from journalists and critics.


By Julia Conley / Creative Commons / Common Dreams / Report a typo


This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.

Watch: Scientists Recorded a Thought Traveling Through the Brain in Real Time

Recorded Thought

(ANTIMEDIA) Berkeley, CA — Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have managed to record single thoughts as they travel through the brain, and in doing so have clearly shown how the prefrontal cortex acts as a coordinator when human beings respond to perception.


Berkeley researchers used electrocorticography (ECoG), a precise but highly invasive method of recording neural activity that requires placing hundreds of electrodes directly onto the brain’s surface.


Due to the extreme nature of the method, the team focused its study on 16 epilepsy patients, all of whom were already scheduled to undergo brain surgery and agreed to participate in the research beforehand.


Using ECoG, the team found that for simple tasks, such as repeating a word, the visual and auditory cortexes react first to perceive the word. The prefrontal cortex then kicks in to interpret meaning before the motor cortex activates in preparation for the response.



The team found that for more complex tasks, when the brain needs a few seconds to calculate, the prefrontal cortex stays in control, recruiting other areas of the brain to formulate a proper response before handing operations off to the motor cortex.


The team’s findings, which were published in Nature Human Behaviour, appear to confirm what previous studies have shown to be the function of the prefrontal cortex.


“These very selective studies have found that the frontal cortex is the orchestrator, linking things together for a final output,” said study co-author Robert Knight, UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience.


“Here we have eight different experiments, some where the patients have to talk and others where they have to push a button, where some are visual and others auditory, and all found a universal signature of activity centered in the prefrontal lobe that links perception and action,” Knight said. “It’s the glue of cognition.”


Avgusta Shestyuk, senior researcher at UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and lead author of the paper, describes the prefrontal cortex as the multitasker of the brain.


This persistent activity, primarily seen in the prefrontal cortex, is a multitasking activity,” she said.


Shestyuk also says the Berkeley team’s research is leading the way into truly discovering how human beings respond to environmental stimuli:


“This is the first step in looking at how people think and how people come up with different decisions; how people basically behave. We are trying to look at that little window of time between when things happen in the environment and us behaving in response to it.”


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

‘90% Accuracy Rate’: New Artificial Intelligence Can Predict Your Death

AI Algorithms Predict Death

(ANTIMEDIA) — New deep learning algorithms, commonly referred to as artificial intelligence, are increasingly finding a home in the medical industry, where health care professionals are often overwhelmed. In palliative care centers, which include nursing and end of life care, an aging population has stretched medical and personnel resources to the limit, which just may mean this is the perfect time for AI to step in and help with both monitoring patients’ vital signs and making potentially life-saving prognoses.


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved the first algorithm that can monitor a patient in critical care and anticipate a life-threatening change in condition by up to 6 hours. The algorithm, called Wave Clinical Platform and developed by medical technology company ExcelMedical, is able to keep a 24/7 vigil over a patient, which is simply not possible for already overworked human care workers triaging in busy hospitals. The AI can also monitor patterns in vitals so as to determine whether, say, a sudden and simultaneous drop in oxygen saturation and a spike in blood pressure could be lethal.


Meanwhile, a research team at Stanford University is using an AI algorithm to predict patient mortality. A notoriously difficult task, predicting when a patient will die involves assessing a variety of factors from age and patient history to drug response and the illness itself. But it’s important to be as accurate as possible. Admitting a patient into end-of-life care too soon consumes valuable resources; admitting them too late risks leaving the patient cut off from their family.


Stanford’s AI has a 90% accuracy rate, which, according to some, is surprisingly and unsettlingly good. Created by feeding electronic health records (EHR) into a deep learning neural network, the AI is able to “sense” patient mortality within the next three to twelve months.


Jeremy Hsu of IEEE Spectrum described the model used as “an 18-layer Deep Neural Network that inputs the EHR data of a patient, and outputs the probability of death in the next 3-12 months.”


However, researchers admit they do not understand how the algorithm comes to its conclusion, a conundrum known as the “black box” problem. The Stanford team’s work is described in full detail in their paper, “Improving Palliative Care with Deep Learning.”


Ken Jung, a Stanford Medicine research scientist, and Anand Avati, whose team created the AI, hope the use of AI technology in medical environments could help with a number of problems, including palliative care and triage. Currently, while 80 percent of people say they want to die at home, only about 35 percent are able to. Employing new deep learning technology could enable better end of life care preparation and more personalized, consistent care once the patient is hospitalized.


That is, of course, if people can get past the stigma of having an advanced computer algorithm monitoring them when they’re ill.


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Real Life ‘Star Trek’ Tractor Beam Could Soon Levitate Humans, Scientists Say

Levitate Humans

(ANTIMEDIA) — Next to flying, mind reading, and teleportation, levitation is one of the superpowers humans most commonly wish for. But like the others, the ability to levitate has remained relegated to the annals of science fiction and superhero movies. But scientists testing a new technology called acoustic tractor beams say the day will arrive when humans can levitate.


Working principle of virtual vortices, intertwined short vortices of opposite directions are emitted to trap and stabilize the particle. (Credit: Univeristy of Bristol)

Acoustic tractor beams use sound waves to stabilize particles in mid-air. However, while they have been more effective at levitating solids and liquids than magnetic tractor beams, scientists did not think they would be able to sustain an object the size of a human without it spinning out of control. The new experiment, set to be published in Physical Review Letters, used fluctuating acoustic vortices in what has been described as a “tornado of sound” to create a stabilized beam with a silent core.


The study authors used ultrasonic waves with a pitch of 40 kHz — a pitch so high only bats can hear it — to levitate a two-centimeter polystyrene sphere. Previous attempts at levitating objects of that size had left scientists frustrated. In the future, the researchers say, they will be able to test much larger objects, including humans.


Working with ultrasonic waves at a pitch of 40kHz, a similar pitch to that which only bats can hear, the researchers held a two-centimetre polystyrene sphere in the tractor beam. (Credit: University of Bristol)

Dr. Mihai Caleap, a senior research associate who developed the simulations used at Bristol’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, confirmed the science is only headed up:


“In the future, with more acoustic power it will be possible to hold even larger objects. This was only thought to be possible using lower pitches making the experiment audible and dangerous for humans.”


Scientists also say this technology will have exciting applications in a variety of fields, including medical devices, like drug capsules or micro-surgical implements, as well as  “contactless production lines where delicate objects are assembled without touching them.”


Interestingly, the other superpowers mentioned above may someday be possible because of technological advances, too. Humans will likely attain solo flight with the aid of jetpacks, mind reading may soon be possible with brain-to-brain interface technology, and even teleportation is conceivable, scientists say, although anything more than a single photon is a ways off.


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

This Might Be the End for Anti-Media

Anti-Media-Logo-Protest-Fist

We’ve got some bad news: Facebook is trying to algorithmically kill Anti-Media. Following the social media giant’s failed effort to crack down on “fake news,” Zuckerberg has decided he’s simply going to remove posts from news pages from the newsfeed, and independent media outlets like us are being hit the hardest. We’ve already seen our post reach drop to less than one percent of our two million-strong Facebook following. In short: Corporate censorship of independent media is now in full effect. And unfortunately, website traffic from Facebook is how Anti-Media generates most of our revenue to pay our amazing team of brilliant writers, editors, fact-checkers, web developers, researchers, and graphic designers.


But don’t write our obituary just yet. We’re continuing to take the fight to the oligarchy to advance the ideas of freedom, liberty, and peace — and we have a plan. However, at this point, there’s simply no way we can continue our current operations without your direct support and engagement. As we cope with this very hard landing away from Facebook, we’ll need to generate the resources to keep going or face severe cutbacks on our ability to keep producing hard-hitting, anti-establishment content.


We’ve devised a plan to keep Anti-Media going strong for years to come, and with your help, we’ll be able to keep up the good fight against the oligarchy.



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What Nobody Wants to Admit About the 2018 Women’s March

women

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) Las Vegas, NV — The 2018 Women’s March was promoted as an all-inclusive event designed to empower all types of women. According to the official Women’s March website:


“The mission of Women’s March is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change. Women’s March is a women-led movement providing intersectional education on a diverse range of issues and creating entry points for new grassroots activists & organizers to engage in their local communities through trainings, outreach programs and events. Women’s March is committed to dismantling systems of oppression through nonviolent resistance and building inclusive structures guided by self-determination, dignity and respect.”


The issues the march sought to bring to the forefront of Americans’ minds included reproductive rights (defined as “open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people, regardless of income, location or education”); LGBTQIA Rights (that’s lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual/allies, for the uninitiated); workers rights; civil rights; immigrants rights; and environmental justice. The Women’s March also called for “an all-inclusive Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”


Despite the wide range of issues listed on the Women’s March website, there was not an obvious mention of the ways that war affects women (and humanity at large). In fact, there was no upfront critique of issues that affect not only women of all types, but all Americans, such as the growing surveillance and police state or America’s destructive foreign policy. At the bottom of the “issues” page, there is a link to a PDF that further explains the importance of the listed issues. In that document, there is one comment about “accountability and justice for police brutality,” as well as calls for “an immediate end to arming police with the military grade weapons and military tactics.


At the very end of the document, the organizers of the Women’s March noted:


“We recognize that to achieve any of the goals outlined within this statement, we must work together to end war and live in peace with our sisters and brothers around the world. Ending war means a cessation to the direct and indirect aggression caused by the war economy and the concentration of power in the hands of a wealthy elite who use political, social, and economic systems to safeguard and expand their power.”


It may seem like nitpicking to critique the lack of a substantive anti-war/anti-police state message on the site, but while attending the marches in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, I did not hear or see these issues represented. In fact, during the speeches in L.A. — with hundreds of thousands in attendance — one speaker in the morning mentioned the need to end the war economy. She was met with near-total silence. Perhaps the crowd didn’t hear the speaker or didn’t understand the vernacular, but it seemed odd for such an important issue to be met with silence after the crowd cheered loudly for declarations on trans-rights, immigrants’ rights, and hate for Donald Trump. Contrast this with the fact that the crowd cheered wildly when one speaker called former President Barack Obama one of the best presidents ever. I am guessing they were not aware that the Obama administration was responsible for more deportations than any other president. And it’s not just the website or the speakers who lacked a critical look at the war and the surveillance state. While attending the Vegas and L.A. marches, I saw a single sign mentioning war (nuclear war, specifically). The focus was largely on identity politics and immigration.


Immigration was a heavy focus of the marches due to the latest government shutdown after Democrats and Republicans failed to come to an agreement on immigration reform related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Identity politics has increasingly become popular in left-wing progressive and Democratic circles. The Women’s March speakers made a point of discussing the need for an intersectional movement — that is, a movement that speaks to the needs of women of all colors, religions, and sexual orientations.


Some readers may be thinking, “So what? Immigration and identity politics are the norm for the American left.” But therein lies the problem: The march was promoted as an all-inclusive event for women. However, the politics of the organizers made it clear that the march was aimed specifically at left-leaning progressive women. In fact, 2017 march attendee Kristen Day, a progressive woman who opposes abortion, told Religious News Service that she was attacked because she had a sign that read “Pro-life for the whole life.” RNS wrote:


“Day is one of many progressives who oppose abortion while also touting left-leaning views on other issues, a position she says is increasingly tenuous in today’s polarized political climate.


‘A lot of Democrats believe in science, climate change and that life begins in the womb,’ Day said. She later added: ‘These are liberal people. They’re not conservative at all: They support minimum wage increases, maternity leave and immigration reform.’”


The experience of feeling unwelcome was echoed by activists who spoke to Anti-Media. Some women who attended the 2017 march decided not to come back because they felt it was more about being against Donald Trump than being for tangible solutions to the problems women face. Others said they were turned off by the pro-Hillary mentality. Based on what I saw at the L.A. and Vegas marches, it’s doubtful conservative women would have been welcomed at the 2018 march. The events were specifically aimed at left-leaning liberal women who prefer to use government as their tool for creating change in the world.


The organizers’ desire to push marchers towards voting for Democrats was not concealed, as the theme of the second annual Women’s March was “Power to the Polls.” The Las Vegas event was apparently only the beginning of a national voter registration tour designed to “channel the energy and activism of the Women’s March into tangible strategies and concrete wins in 2018.” The tour will focus on registering voters in swing states and encouraging them to vote for women and progressive candidates.This strategy may already be working. TIME magazine recently reported that a record number of women are running for political office:


“In dozens of interviews with TIME, progressive women described undergoing a metamorphosis. In 2016, they were ordinary voters. In 2017, they became activists, spurred by the bitter defeat of the first major female presidential candidate at the hands of a self-described pussy grabber. Now, in 2018, these doctors and mothers and teachers and executives are jumping into the arena and bringing new energy to a Democratic Party sorely in need of fresh faces. About four times as many Democratic women are running for House seats as Republican women, according to the Center for American Women and Politics; in the Senate, the ratio is 2 to 1.”


women
A sign carried by an activist at the 2018 Women’s March.

One look at the partners of the Women’s March makes it even more clear that the event was funded and supported by groups who have a history of supporting the Democratic Party. Interestingly, TIME notes that November’s midterm elections will be a “crucial first test” of new female candidates and “the well-oiled advocacy groups behind them.” Some of these advocacy groups are partners of the Women’s March and are working to use their influence and bank accounts to sway young women and first-time activists into supporting Democratic Party candidates.


Does this mean the Women’s March was completely co-opted and funded by the Democratic Party? Not exactly. So far, there is no clear pipeline from the Democratic Party to the Women’s March. However, these non-governmental organizations, political action committees, and non-profits essentially form a diffuse network through which individuals connected to the Democrats can direct their supporters towards the party. For example, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign arm, asked supporters to sign a petition endorsing the goals of the 2018 Women’s March. USA Today reported on the DCCC’s efforts to invest in the march:


“House Democrats, hoping to tap into the energy from the March, invested earlier than ever before in state parties to help hire full-time organizers who could partner at the local level with grassroots groups. One group, called Swing Left, helps progressives in safe Democratic districts support candidates in the closest competitive district. So far, Swing Left and allied groups have raised nearly $4 million to be delivered to the eventual Democratic nominees in swing districts.”


Further, Representative Ben Ray Lujan, current chairman of the DCCC, told USA Today it was critical for the DCCC to launch its 2018 field program immediately after the march. “Local organizers have been working from day one with incredible grassroots organizations like Indivisible and Swing Left,” Lujan told USA Today. It should be noted that the DCCC is not just some random committee. As the chairman of the DCCC, Ray Lujan holds the fourth-ranking position among House Democrats, after the minority leader, the minority whip, and the Democratic caucus chairperson. This means he has a reasonable level of influence and power in the House. His endorsement of the march as a tactic to gain more Democratic votes adds weight to the theory that the Women’s March was in some way co-opted — or at least exploited — by the Democratic Party.


At the end of the day, the only solution offered to marches was voting in upcoming elections. Even those who mentioned getting involved locally only focused on political action. I didn’t hear a single speaker mention any form of community volunteering or action that was not related to casting a vote. This reinforces the narrative that the only way for the people to achieve change is through the ballot box. For all the talk of respecting women’s bodies and their right to self-ownership and determination, the marchers were happy to use the force of government to enact their vision of a more female-friendly society. The message was “I own my body, but you don’t own yours.” The marchers were largely supportive of using government to take money away from working-class Americans (in the form of taxation) to fund health care, immigration rights, abortion, and all the other causes they believe are necessary for a better world. Frankly, however, it’s hypocritical to say you want the government out of your body while you promote the idea of using government to make decisions for other free people.


While it should be celebrated that women of all ages, races, backgrounds, and sexual orientations gathered in the hundreds of thousands around the world, we should not ignore the obvious influence of the corporate Democratic Party. We do ourselves no favors by choosing not to acknowledge the lack of an anti-war/pro-peace message. We should be willing to ask why the march organizers believe “Fight! Fight! Fight!” and “Revolution!” means voting for one of the two parties that contribute to America’s divided political landscape. Until the marchers are willing to ask these difficult questions and seek the truth, I fear the Women’s March is going to fail to achieve any sort of lasting empowerment for women.


Op-ed / Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Hillary Ignored Staffers’ Sexual Harassment Allegations

war-Hillary Clinton

(ZHE— The #MeToo movement is finally coming for Hillary Clinton, who has for years been dogged by accusations that she helped intimidate women accusing her husband of certain improprieties.


In a bombshell report, the New York Times reported that a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton was kept on her 2008 campaign despite allegations that he sexually harassed a young female staffer. Clinton’s campaign manager at the time advised the campaign to fire the adviser, Burns Strider, who served as the faith adviser to the campaign, and reportedly sent Clinton Bible verses every day.


Instead, Clinton intervened: Strider was kept on, but he was docked several weeks’ pay and underwent counseling. Notably, Strider was a founder of the American Values Network.


Five years later, Strider was hired by Clinton associates to lead Correct the Record, a group that supported Clinton’s candidacy. He was fired a few months later following allegations that he harassed a female staffer there.


A Clinton spokesman provided a statement from Utrecht, Kleinfeld, Fiori, Partners, the law firm that had represented the 2008 campaign.


“To ensure a safe working environment, the campaign had a process to address complaints of misconduct or harassment. When matters arose, they were reviewed in accordance with these policies, and appropriate action was taken, the statement said. “This complaint was no exception.”


The Times based its account on interviews with no fewer than eight former Clinton staffers.




Then-campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and other senior officials discussed the situation involving Strider and Clinton’s response at the time. Some of them were bothered by the fact he was allowed to remain.


Clinton memorably waiting nearly a week before issuing a statement rebuking her former friend and fundraiser, Harvey Weinstein.




But this hasn’t stopped her from offering her full-throated support for the Women’s March and young women everywhere who are trying to realize their dreams…




The woman who filed the initial complaint against Strider was 30 at the time. She shared an office with him and alleged that he had rubbed her shoulders inappropriately, kissed her on the forehead and sent her a string of “suggestive” emails.


The woman’s complaint was relayed to Clinton by Doyle, who urged the candidate to fire Strider – he was married at the time. Clinton refused.


But perhaps the most galling detail in the story is the fact that the accuser has been prevented from coming forward by the NDA she signed when she took her job.


Lena Dunam, a Clinton supporter, even told the Times that she warned Clinton campaign aides about Weinstein and the fact that his history of assaults “is going to come out at some point.”


Nick Merrill, the former director of communications for the Clinton campaign, said such a warning would not have been ignored.


By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / Zero Hedge / Report a typo


This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.

Anti-Marijuana Group Created a Poll to Demonize Weed — and It Backfired Epically

marijuana weed cannabis

(ANTIMEDIA) — A recent poll commissioned by an anti-cannabis group attempted to suggest that Americans don’t overwhelmingly want legalization, but the results actually show how unpopular federal prohibition has become.


Though Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) says it does not want to demonize cannabis and defines itself as a non-partisan group, it openly admits it campaigns against legalization.


This makes it unsurprising that despite its poll results, which found that 78% of Americans disapprove of current federal policy, they attempted to spin the findings as proof of dwindling support for access to the plant.


According to the press release about the survey, titled, “New National Poll Shows Support for Marijuana Legalization Dips Below 50% When Voters Are Given Other Policy Choices”:


In the poll, 49% of likely voters supported legalization whereas 50% supported other policies. One percent were undecided.


This is true, and it seems to indicate that the pro-legalization percentages from polls by organizations like Gallup skew high because those surveyed aren’t given other options to choose from.


This poll shows that we need to move beyond this false dichotomy between prohibition and legalization, especially for individual users,” said Kevin Sabet, Ph.D., President of SAM. “These results clearly indicate the oft-touted vast public support for marijuana legalization has a shakier foundation than marijuana investors would have you believe. This should give pause to politicians and marijuana financiers alike.”


However, the other “options” in the survey were decriminalization, defined as “removing the possibility of jail time for possession and also allowing for medical marijuana, but keep the sale of marijuana illegal,” and legalizing “the use of marijuana for physician-supervised medical use.”


Between the 49% of respondents who advocate full legalization, the 29% who prefer medical legalization, and the 5% who support decriminalization, the poll overwhelmingly shows federal policies are not lining up with what the vast majority of people want.


According to the anti-cannabis group, 78% of people polled oppose current prohibition measures, suggesting the poll backfired despite the organization’s efforts to cast doubt on growing tolerance for marijuana.


Medical marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, and federal drug laws still impose jail time and/or fines for individual users.


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Brainwashed Parents Are Making Their Kids Drink Homemade Bleach to ‘Cure’ Autism

Homemade Bleach

(ANTIMEDIA)  — Desperate parents are turning to a potentially life-threatening remedy to cure their children of autism, a recent investigation has found.


report published last week by Britain’s The Sunday People revealed that at least six police forces across the U.K. have questioned families over allegations that children as young as two are being forced to drink what is essentially homemade bleach.


This “cure” has been branded Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) and is a mixture of sodium chlorite and an acid such as fruit juice. These ingredients combine to create chlorine dioxide, a solution used industrially for things like water treatment.


MMS is being promoted by the Genesis II Church, a self-described non-religious organization focused on health and healing. The church was founded by former Scientologist Jim Humble and has nearly 30 chapters worldwide.


The remedy — which is unlicensed, has no proven medical benefits, and has been denounced by the governments of the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. — is nonetheless available for purchase online.


Proponents of MMS, which can also be taken in the form of an enema, claim that autism — as well just about every other affliction, including cancer — is caused by parasites in the body that can be killed by the treatment.


The Sunday People investigators, who infiltrated a closed Facebook group dedicated to peddling MMS to the parents of autistic children, found that many have turned to the so-called remedy out of desperation.


Emma Dalmayne, an anti-MMS campaigner who aided the investigative team, says it’s shocking to see the lengths parents will go to in the name of healing their children.


“Women are posting about how their children are vomiting and [in] pain but take it as a sign the parasites are being purged,” she said“They call it the herxheimer reaction.”


Dalmayne says children may sometimes appear well following the treatment but that this is merely the child wanting to please the parent:


“The children stop a lot of the behaviours associated with autism, rocking or screaming, and these parents think they have been cured. But they are simply too scared to do it anymore.”


One mother, for instance, noted in the Facebook group that her two-year-old “cried really hard” when first given MMS enemas but that now things are getting “better and better” for the child.


“Some mean people said it’s bleach and harmful for kids,” wrote the woman, according to The Sunday People“But it’s helped so many!”


Dr. Jeff Foster, who runs a private practice in West Midlands, England, staunchly disagrees.


“Autism is a neuro-developmental condition which is not ­amenable to any form of tablet treatment,” he told The Sunday People“It’s developed in the womb or in the early stages of life. You just can’t reverse it and anyone claiming that does not understand the condition.”


Noting that “chlorine dioxide causes abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea,” Foster says continued ingestion of MMS can be fatal:


“If you drink it on a long-term basis it causes inflammation of your gut ­lining, stomach, oesophagus and intestines. At some stage something pops and then you can bleed to death.”


Foster goes on to say that however desperate these parents may be, putting faith in remedies like MMS is a “roulette game” in which it’s “only a matter of time” before “someone will die.”


Anti-MMS campaigners say the treatment, when forcefully given to kids, amounts to child abuse. Currently, police forces in the U.K. are probing cases in East Yorkshire, Cheshire, Luton, Dover, North London, and Northern Ireland.


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

5 Things That Happen to Your Body When You Stop Having Sex

Stop Having Sex

(TMU) — This activity is potentially the most vital part of life. There are some who embrace it fully, letting go of inhibitions and enjoying every passionate moment they can find. Others fear it, feeling awkward and self conscious making their experiences less pleasurable. There are even some religions that require their followers to take a vow of celibacy. Supposedly giving up the need for sexual activity. Yet, has anyone ever stopped to wonder if our body actually does need sex? What goes on inside of us without this natural primal act?


Though you may not be aware of it, these are some things that happen to you when you stop having sexual activity:


1. Your Dreams Are Affected…

Dreams are a function of the brain, as is pleasure or pain. Our brains consist of an interesting web of chemicals, simultaneously working to ensure our health and happiness. In this article from World of Chemicals they explain the precise chemistry of our dreams. Some dream analysts report that people who are experiencing a lag in their sex life will have vivid sexual dreams.



2) You Are More Self Conscious…

Feelings of happiness, or acceptance also come from chemical reactions in the brain. When you experience sexual activity you release chemicals that make you feel amazing. By not allowing your body to receive this natural release you become chemically imbalanced. Leaving you feeling depressed and less confident than you normally would. This isn’t the case for everyone but for people who have experienced the contrast, it might ring true.



3) Your Stress Intensifies…

Sexual release is one of natures natural stress relievers. It’s a primal feature. Without this necessary release, your negative feelings may fester and cause stress to manifest. Whether you experience headaches, lack of sleep, difficulty eating or the vivid dreaming, these are all stress signals our bodies use to alert us to a need for change. Listening to your body is the key to living a long happy life.



4) Your Immune System Weakens…

Your immune system is built to fight off germs. Having a weak immune system can lead to all sorts of health problems. The most common being the common cold and flu viruses, and sex actually strengthens our immune systems by boosting the Immunoglobulin chemical, increasing your ability to fight off and avoid sickness altogether! This study shows how the immune system reacts to sexual activity.



5) Your Mental Performance May Increase

Depending on who you are, this may or may not be true for you. Some people feel that abstinence can increase the amount of energy you have to allocate toward mental functions. Studies have found, however, that sexual activity boosts neuron growth in the brain’s hippocampus. The same can’t be said for abstinence even if it does help increase productivity.


Republished with permission / The Mind Unleashed / Report a typo


This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.

Cure for Fascism: Psychedelic Mushrooms May Lower Authoritarian Tendencies, Study Suggests

Psychedelic Mushrooms

(ANTIMEDIA) — A small, experimental study from researchers at Imperial College-London suggests that in addition to helping treat depression, psychedelic mushrooms may actually reduce politically authoritarian leanings.


Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, Head of Psychedelic Research at the Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology, Division of Brain Sciences, led a small investigation into the effects of mushrooms on seven individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The results, titled “Increased nature relatedness and decreased authoritarian political views after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression,” were published last week in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.


Citing previous research showing psychedelic use can alter personality traits, attitudes, and beliefs, Carhart-Harris and Ph.D. student Taylor Lyons set out to examine changes in attitudes toward nature and politics. According to their summary, they “compared the effects of psilocybin on nature relatedness and libertarian–authoritarian political perspective in patients with TRD versus healthy control subjects.” Patients who received psilocybin treatment each had two doses a week apart.


The participants’ views were all evaluated “at baseline and then again at the 1 week and 7-12-months follow-ups” using a Libertarian-Authoritarian political survey, as well as a nature-relatedness survey.


The study authors found that with regard to nature-relatedness, their “results suggest that psilocybin therapy increases the subjective sense of connectedness to nature 1 week after treatment, and that these effects are sustained for at least 7–12 months.


Before I enjoyed nature, now I feel part of it. Before I was looking at it as a thing, like TV or a painting… [But now I see] there’s no separation or distinction, you are it,” said one participant.


They also found that one week after treatment, dosed subjects with TRD “had depressive symptoms were significantly reduced to levels more comparable with controls.


Further, “Patients showed a significant decrease in authoritarian political perspective 1 week after psilocybin treatment,” the authors summarized, noting that “results suggest that psilocybin therapy may persistently decrease authoritarian attitudes post-treatment with psilocybin.” They cautioned against drawing any definitive conclusions and advised that “further research is required to test the robustness of this relationship.”


Carhart and Lyons advocated more investigation for reasons including the small sample size of their study, the potential of other factors besides psilocybin to influence the results, and gender disparities between the TRD and control groups (there were more men in the TRD group and more women in the control group).


Nevertheless, they pointed to the historical relationship between psychedelic use and breaking away from authoritarian beliefs, also citing the relevance of their most recent study:


Psychedelic drug use in the 1960s and 1970s was strongly associated with anti-establishment and egalitarian counter-culture movements (Nichols, 2016), yet very little controlled research has investigated the link between psychedelic use and political perspectives. Here we show for the first time, in a controlled study, lasting changes in political values after exposure to a psychedelic drug. This is in line with early research showing that recreational LSD users score higher on attitudes of ‘personal liberty’ and ‘foreign policy liberalism’ than control subjects.”


Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Family Sues After Cops Killed Their Dog, Forced the Dad to Cut Off Its Head On Video

dog

A family has filed a lawsuit after Georgia cops came onto their property, killed their beloved dog and forced the father to cut off its head.


The post Family Sues After Cops Killed Their Dog, Forced the Dad to Cut Off Its Head On Video appeared first on The Free Thought Project.

Wal-Mart has announced thousands of layoffs since publicizing bonuses and benefits expansion

Since Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced it would hand out bonuses and expand benefits to more than 1 million associates thanks to new tax reform measures, the retail giant has also laid out plans for store closures and thousands of layoffs at both the store and corporate level.

Engineers 3-D Print Shape-Shifting Smart Gel

Rutgers engineers have invented a “4D printing” method for a smart gel that could lead to the development of “living” structures in human organs and tissues, soft robots and targeted drug delivery.

ICE Finally Gets The Nationwide License Plate Database It"s Spent Years Asking For

ICE is finally getting that nationwide license plate reader database it"s been lusting after for several years. The DHS announced plans for a nationwide database in 2014, but decided to rein that idea in after a bit of backlash. The post-Snowden political climate made many domestic mass surveillance plans untenable, if not completely unpalatable.

Train carrying lawmakers to GOP retreat hits truck on tracks

A train carrying members of Congress to a Republican retreat in West Virginia slammed into a dump truck on Wednesday, throwing lawmakers from their seats and leaving at least one person dead, officials said.


Minor injuries were reported by those on board. The White House confirmed in a statement that there was one “fatality” and one serious injury; lawmakers said this involved those in the truck, which may have been stuck on the tracks when it was hit.


“It was a very high-speed collision,” Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., who was on board, told Fox News. “There was no braking that was felt. We hit an immediate impact and went from 70 to zero very quickly.”



There were mixed reports over whether the train actually derailed, but sources said the front engine ended up with wheels off the tracks. Lawmakers on the train quickly flooded social media with images of the wrecked truck, as well as damage to the crumpled front of the train.



The extent of injuries on board was unclear but largely described as minor. Amtrak said there were no reported injuries to passengers or crew members, though lawmakers gave a conflicting account.


Rep. Jason Lewis, R-Minn., told Fox News he had a “little bit of a whiplash” and “maybe a tiny bit of a concussion.”


Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, while saying some members needed medical attention, told Fox News the fatality involved an individual in the truck. Denham confirmed this, and said others in the truck were airlifted out.




Amtrak released a brief statement saying the train “came into contact” with the vehicle. “Local law enforcement is investigating the incident and crews are inspecting the equipment for damage,” Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said in a statement.


House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was on the train but is fine, Fox News is told. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Wis., was not on the train.


The accident took place in Crozet, Va., near Charlottesville. Members were on a special chartered Amtrak train to the Greenbrier resort, where Vice President Pence was set to speak Wednesday night, with a planned appearance from President Trump on Thursday.




The White House said Trump is “aware” of the accident, which comes one day after his State of the Union address. The retreat is where the party traditionally gathers to discuss its agenda and goals for the coming year.


The train will now return to Charlottesville, and members will take a bus to West Virginia.


While injuries on the train were described as minor, Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., a medical doctor, tweeted that he was helping the injured immediately after the crash.



Read more plus videos at FOX NEWS


 


 


The post Train carrying lawmakers to GOP retreat hits truck on tracks appeared first on Oath Keepers.