“All governments are lying cocksuckers.”
- Bill Hicks

In another case of criminalizing poverty, Michael Brick reports that Texans will now have to pass drug screenings in order to receive unemployment. Most of the unemployed folks I know are without work because their employers broke rules, not them. Houston has already outlawed dumpster diving, and debtors prisons are already making a big comeback elsewhere in the country, but the idea of suicide being a felony is what stings the most. I wonder how many of these legislators consider themselves “pro-life”.

Jasper Hamill reports on how Apple apparently feels as though they have a right to view the bank statements of their customers. If corporations are people too my friends, then can customers see the bank statements of Apple execs?

A man beaten by Sacramento police after being taken into custody has died. I suspect they learned it via Obama’s willingness to allow the similar fun at Gitmo. Shades of 1980s anti-drug commercials: “You alright, I learned it from watching you!”

Paul Armentano reports of new research into the benefits of cannabis usage, which is guaranteed to be ignored by commercial media. One of the powerhouse finds from the article:

Authors speculated that increasing the body’s production of cannabinoids would likely restore the body’s natural brain chemistry and psychological balance. They affirmed, “[Our] findings substantiate, at least in part, emerging evidence that … plant-derived cannabinoids such as marijuana may possess some benefits in individuals with PTSD by helping relieve haunting nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD.”
 
The researchers concluded: “The data reported herein are the first of which we are aware of to demonstrate the critical role of CB1 (cannabinoid) receptors and endocannabinoids in the etiology of PTSD in humans. As such, they provide a foundation upon which to develop and validate informative biomarkers of PTSD vulnerability, as well as to guide the rational development of the next generation of evidence-based treatments for PTSD.”
 
But don’t expect federal officials to help move this process forward. In 2011 federal administrators blocked investigators at the University of Arizona at Phoenix from conducting an FDA-approved, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the use of cannabis in 50 patients with PTSD.

Danny Schechter writes an interesting account of the history of documentary productions in news media, and how the trade of long-form, investigative journalism is being marginalized and sensationalized in favor of appealing to the increasingly shortened attention spans of viewers. Meanwhile, Clay Shirky confirms that the news industry no longer exists, at least not in any previously known incarnation. From the article:

This is one of the places where self-perception gets very complicated. As I wrote in 2006 and 2007, although there are legal privileges given to journalists, there is no legal definition of “a journalist”. Interestingly, journalists were often defined as people who worked for publishers. Rather than having a written definition of what constitutes a journalist, the entire question was proxied to ‘who owns the means of production, and who are their employees?’ Any given town had a small number of highly visible publishers who could be enumerated, and nobody ever had to go through the legal exercise of defining a journalist. But today, owning the means of production is equal to owning a telephone or a computer. So that definitional question cannot be proxied to publishers anymore, and we still don’t know what constitutes a journalist. I think (Bill) Keller is right about the legal liability of people who divulge secrets from within the institutions that employ them. But what’s so interesting about his position is that he long maintained that Wikileaks is not a media organization but a source. It preserved the “Times” sense that what they were doing was somehow different. But I think Keller has recognized that if the newspapers of the world throw the Wikileaks of the world overboard, they’re next.

A threefold planetary alignment will occur tonight, reports Irene Klotz. And Mark Prigg reports of NASA’s plans to have a lunar settlement in coming years. I think it’s a matter of looking for minerals and resources to profiteer from. And possibly to build a secretive hideaway for the world’s economically powerful elite. I like the concept of the space program as much as the next fanboy, but I cannot accept these prices being approved unless there was to be major profit for somebody in the process, beyond Lockheed-Martin or whatever similar governmental contracts being enriched.

And after eight years, DeviantART is closing its DeviantGEAR store, for logo-friendly items. The community is still growing fastly, so might they be repositioning their efforts into other ventures, or is this a rare example of the Depression striking even a seemingly healthy online social network?

Tags: news

“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
- Howard Zinn

Pratap Chatterjee reports on how, contrary to their own terms of agreement with their respective customer bases, both Verizon and Google have willingly shared massive levels of user datum with the Federal government. One interesting point that the article misses is that Verizon is actually one of the two core providers for the much-ridiculed free cell phone program for welfare recipients (the other being Sprint). So it can easily be construed that they have indeed profited from lying to their customers and failing to safeguard the privacy of their customers in receiving the hefty tax-funded government contract.

Carl Gibson writes of the urgency in creating a public banking system, which seems to be working out quite well in North Dakota. This could never take on nationally though, as the Federal Reserve was written into law by corporate bankers themselves (not legislators), and their descendents may not be too eager to relinquish such power. Additionally, even a publicly-owned and operated bank system would still contain some manner of board of directors to oversee business matters, which would still allow for some potential of corruption. Power always corrupts.

Chris Hedges (who seems right far more than wrong) reports of the pressing need to kickstart a very real Abolitionism 2.0 against corporate powers everywhere. He actually words his argument surprisingly well, coming off as not at all a reactionary knee-jerker as you might expect from such a topic. One of his better points in the article:

More than 100 million Americans—one-third of the population—live in poverty or a category called “near poverty.” Yet the stories of the poor and the near poor, the hardships they endure, are rarely told by a media that is owned by a handful of corporations—Viacom, General Electric, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., Clear Channel and Disney. The suffering of the underclass, like the crimes of the power elite, has been rendered invisible.

David Harris-Gershon writes of how the American prison system’s population has increased by almost 800% over the last ten years. Think about that. An excellent (and depressing) point in his article:

America has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. And the private prison industry is a central driving force behind this. Add to this the staggering number of African-Americans locked up, and the private prison industry has essentially created a modern-day slave trade.

Jim Hightower reports of a new law in Houston, Texas which bans dumpster diving, making life even more difficult for those desperate enough to dig around in trash bins for something to eat. And who says the criminal justice system lacks empathy?

Mexican archaeologists have uncovered several thousand cave paintings in Burgos. Although dating tests have yet to be completed, the well-preserved artifacts should prove a small wealth of historical insight. I love hearing about finds like these.

The AP reports of the giant pricetag attached to the NASA plan of lassoing an asteroid. Pricey, yes, but still far more preferable to spending the scratch on things like additional drones. Unless the true purpose for the space adventure is a clandestine mission to uncover a piece of the dead god Azathoth, which would open up nightmares around the world unseen since the Black Plague. Wait, what?

Wikileaks has sneakily released the transcript of the biased Hollywood documentary on the collective before the film’s actual public debut, complete with annotated corrections, as reports Steven Hsieh. Assange may be an egotistical prick in a lot of ways, but the movement he initiated is all at once educational, necessary and fun.

Raffi Cavoukian writes a stirring article here on the sincere need to reform social media. From the article:

Reforming social media without delay is critical. Without reform we doom ourselves to distraction, tweeting on the new Titanic. The right reforms now can give us the best chance of harnessing our Net inclinations to create a culture of true connection: a culture of respect for Earth and all her children. Without that, I fear for our future.

And check this out, Steven Hsieh reports of a new effort to crowd-fund enough to literally purchase the Tribune Company for public profit before any of the usual billionaire suspects closes the deal. If they pulled this off, it would be a major loss for corporate media, and a major win for free press. So on that note, feel free to share the campaign for a positive signal boost.

Keith Thompson, who I just interviewed for Mantality Magazine (and which will be reposted here this weekend) is in the running for Imagine FX’s 2013 awards. Go here for more information on how to vote, although he faces some admittedly tough competition.

And now, yet another compelling episode of Abby Martin’s BREAKING THE SET.

Tags: news

“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.”
- Albert Camus

Google: America’s largest terrorist cell?

Brad Stone reports of Google’s plans to have everybody in the world online by the end of the decade. Except that most people might be insulted by the idea of being shoved into the role of consumer. Meanwhile, Obama just announced that the internet is a breeding ground for terrorism, as reported by Charlie Spiering. I’ve been saying for awhile that the United States government is trying to manufacture causes to strengthen controls over the web. All of this is connected.

Obama also announced the intent to end the war on terror, which going by his track record means that there will soon be a dramatic increase in drone strikes around the globe. I think the heckler at the president’s speech was a plant, allowed to say such shocking things as a way of painting the president as being open-minded. Total bullshit. Presidents are liars by nature, but I believe Obama has provided ample evidence that he outclasses his many predecessors in that regard. If he vows one thing, expect him to do the exact polar opposite.

In under-looked news, thanks to the wheeling and dealing of greedy corporate powers thousands of coal miners have their pensions discontinued, as reported by Laura Flanders. And stop the presses- the corporations have the full support of the courts. Cockroaches have proven to evolve immunity to poisons within just five years. It would be nice if unions could evolve as well, at least enough to know that no deal can be made with corporate employers that will not ultimately serve only said corporation.

Pope Francis has announced that atheists can be good. Considering no atheist group has ever started a war, this should come as a complete surprise. Honestly Francis, your church could learn a lot from atheism. Like how not to instigate wars. And how not to disrupt lives in general with your rampant prejudice and hateful bias.

In really neat news however, a large circular structure, likely more than a few years old, has been found at the bottom of the sea of Galilee. Maybe it’s the alien spacecraft whose crash-landing unleashed microbes which jump-started life on Earth.

Friend of the LP and wonderful human Michael Netzer has announced that he is to be the subject of a new documentary film from Israeli director Elad Rath and the European Union-sponsored Greenhouse development program for film-makers. This should prove to be exciting, as Netzer leads an interesting life.

And Michael Neno, another Friend of the LP, has announced his first ebook, CREATING OLD SCHOOL COMICS. The one-time Xeric grant winner and prolific self-publisher is a great resource for great ideas, and I recommend the book for all parties interested.But now, more from Abby Martin’s BREAKING THE SET.

Tags: news

“To be happy we must not be too concerned with others.”
- Albert Camus

Gerald Friedman reports on how austerity is not working, and how there’s plenty of current studies which confirm that austerity has never worked under any circumstances anywhere. Which should be stating the obvious. We cut government spending (except for drones, etc), so how is the void to be filled? We know that the larger the corporation the more prone it is to avoiding taxes anyway, whether legally or illegally. And profits are soaring astronomically and exponentially, which clearly implies that less and less money from corporations, or “job creators” is making its way back into the economy. Curious how social programs are always cut before corporate subsidies, even when those same corporate powers are busy moving their jobs onto foreign soils as yet another means to avoid taxation. Try to stop the daily soul-crunching grind and protest the insanity though, and you get tazed by “public servants”, reports Rania Khalek and Craig O’Connor. How dare tax-paying citizens try to assert their constitutional rights.

Thanks to a hopefully sober judge, citizens in California now might be able to press charges against companies who fail to live up to their taglines. While the judge should be praised, I have no doubts such a decision will not withstand whatever loopholes corporate attorneys muster up down the line.

On a better point, I love anonymous. As Kristen Gwynne reports, certain of the hacker collective have wisely chosen to stand up and oppose the actions of officials from the Sebastian River High School in Florida in illegally devastating the life of a teenage girl. Hate crimes are never condonable under any circumstances, and we at the LP fully endorse anonymous on these grounds. Read the anonymous message RIGHT HERE NOW.

Nathan Lumm has been a skilled digital comic colorist for many years, first rising to modest attention for his efforts at the pre-DC Wildstorm Productions. He actually left comic books for some time, but now not only has he made a return, he is engaging in an interesting video series on youtube. As he refreshes himself in the processes of his trade, he is sharing all of his lessons learned with anyone interested, for free viewing.

Friend of the LP and cool fellow Dave Elliott has a rather sharp summation of what to expect from the soon to relaunch new A1 anthology series at his DeviantART. Creator-owned and creator-friendly, I have been looking forward to this for years.

And now the latest, including a must-watch interview, from the good Abby Martin’s BREAKING THE SET.

Tags: news