Documentary: The U.S. vs John Lennon (2006)

The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a 2006 documentary film about English musician John Lennon’s transformation from a member of The Beatles to a rallying anti-war activist striving for world peace during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The film also details the attempts by the United States government under President Richard Nixon to silence him. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. It was released in New York City and Los Angeles, California on 15 September 2006, and had a nationwide release on 29 September. A soundtrack composed of John Lennon tracks was released by Capitol Records and EMI on 26 September 2006.

The film explores the political activism that Lennon became strongly involved in with the Beatles and after the band ended. John Lennon is established as being a potential political threat to the American government, and therefore much of the film covers the theme of ‘silencing’ him and other popular figures that became involved in anti-war activism. Throughout the film the audience can see both sides of the situation: the audience sees the protests and events Lennon and Yoko Ono organised, such as the famous “Give Peace A Chance” rally and concepts such as bagism and bed peace.

We also see the increasing fear experienced by the US government and CIA. This build-up of paranoia and fear for control led to the eventual deportation notice sent to John

Speech: How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries

Adam Savage (the host of "MythBusters" on the Discovery Channel) walks through two spectacular examples of profound scientific discoveries that came from simple, creative methods anyone could have followed -- Eratosthenes' calculation of the Earth's circumference around 200 BC and Hippolyte Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in 1849.

Research: Kony 2012, Viewed Critically

The recent new media campaign KONY 2012 has gone extremely viral, raising awareness about Kony's horrible actions in Uganda and East Africa but also raising a lot of questions about hidden agendas behind the campaign (supporting military intervention?), about the credibility of the creators (Invisible Children) as a controversial activist organisation, their work and the effects of their most recent viral short documentary.

This post is dedicated to the Kony campaign criticism. I think there is no doubt that Joseph Kony is causing great suffering but that won't justify a campaign with false aims which might be serving hidden agendas. I believe it is something one needs to look more into, before supporting it.

/od

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Article 1 - VISIBLE CHILDREN, Kony viewed critically 
A LOT of information and discussion around the Invisible Children organisation on this blog dedicated to this matter only. The author has been asked (but denied) interviews by Al Jazeera English, FOX, NBC’s Today show and BBC World Service.
NOTE: This blog has been blocked by facebook. Source

Article 2 - The TRUTH behind the KONY 2012 movement
Key facts discussed here: The documentary was filmed in 2003, Uganda Oil Reserves Rival Saudi Arabia's, Says U.S. Expert, CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp) weighs Uganda refinery, Obama sends 100 troops to combat LRA in Uganda

Article 3 - Kony 2012 Campaign: Too simple, Too dumb
KONY2012's viral campaign shows the effectiveness of new media -- and the problem with over-simplifying a message

Article 4 - The trouble with "crowd sourced intervention"

The happy story of the Kony viral video obscures the realities of the Pentagon in Africa

Article 5 - Joseph Kony 2012: growing outrage in Uganda over film

There is growing outrage in Uganda over the viral internet film viewed by more than 32 million people in four days that suggests Africa’s longest-running conflict is still raging in the country’s north.

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A quote from a thread in reddit.com (which can be found here) concerning the organisations financials:

I'd like to bring your attention to the non-profit that is organizing this marketing blitz, Invisible Children.
I went through their financials in the original thread on the front page, and I'd like to share with you my concerns...
Of the $8.9 million they spent in 2011, this is the breakdown:

• $1.7 million in US employee salaries

• $357,000 in Film costs

• $850,000 in Production costs

• $685,000 in Computer equipement

• $244,000 in "professional services" (DC lobbyists)

• $1.07 million in travel expenses

• $400,000 in office rent in San Diego

• $16,000 in Entertainment etc...

Only 2.8 million (31%) made it to their charity program (which is further whittled down by local Ugandan bureaucracy) - what do the children actually get?
Source on page 6 of their own financial reportTheir rating on Charity Navigator is because they haven't had their financial books independently audited. ...which is not a surprising given the use of cash noted above.

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Some Videos Following:

Article: Does Cannabis Boost Creativity?

Original Article written by David Jay Brown for Santa Cruz Patch - Monday 12, January 2012

New scientific studies suggest that getting high on marijuana can genuinely make you more creative.

For many years, numerous highly-acclaimed artists, scientists, writers, musicians, and creative people of all sorts have claimed that marijuana holds enormous potential to enhance creativity and inspire the imagination.

Now, new scientific studies are beginning to confirm these claims, and researchers are starting to understand the psychological mechanisms behind how cannabis can improve the creative process.

There’s a common myth, perpetuated by the mainstream media, that people often mistakenly think that they’re brilliant and creative while under the influence of cannabis, only to find that their creations are worthless, or that their insights are meaningless nonsense, upon returning to normal everyday consciousness.

Let’s dispel this pervasive myth about cannabis right now, by taking the many anecdotal reports to heart, and looking at what the scientific studies have to say.

From Charles Baudelaire to George Carlin, Shakespeare to Carl Sagan, Louis Armstrong to Paul McCartney, Norman Mailer to Jack Nicholson, the list of accomplished creative people who have claimed a positive influence from their use of cannabis is truly impressive.

I’ve personally spoken with many accomplished people who made claims about how essential cannabis was for their creative process. For example, when I interviewed the late

Video: What Does it Cost to Change the World?

Speech: Susan Cain - The power of introverts

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

Our world prizes extroverts -- but Susan Cain makes a case for the quiet and contemplative.

Quote: Disciplined Militancy

"The struggle of those who obey against those who command, when the mode of commanding entails destroying the human dignity of those underneath is the most legitimate, most motivated, most genuine action that exists."

- Simone Weil


The author has written numerous books and articles. This quote is from a collection of essays entitled Oppression and Liberty that was published in the early 1940s. Highly recommended, especially for readers who have the will and time to actually contemplate upon what they have just read.

Speech: Luis von Ahn - Massive-scale online collaboration

After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free.

Article: Western intervention in Syria will do more harm than good

Original Article written by Kevin Ovenden for The Guardian - Friday 17, January 2012

Syrian army defectors join anti-regime protesters in Homs province, January 2012. Photograph: AP

After decades of selling arms to dictators in the Middle East, the west's talk of humanitarian intervention rings hollow

Calls for aggressive intervention in Syria are growing as the country slides further into sectarian civil war. The shrillest are from the Republican right, joined this week by Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman. The same people are campaigning for confrontation with Iran, threatening a major war. Elliot Abrams, a neoconservative architect of the Iraq disaster, spells out the connection: Syria, he says, provides a "proxy opportunity" to heat up the cold war with Tehran.

Regime change and ensuring that the Arab spring yields only the wizened fruit of governments as accommodating as Saudi Arabia cannot be sold on their own terms. Instead they are wrapped in the rhetoric of humanitarian intervention, tapping the sentiments of those genuinely moved by the suffering in Syria.

We've been here before. The war in Libya was purportedly to save lives. In fact, the killing intensified on all sides, including from Nato bombs. Estimates of the number dead reach 30,000. The outcome is not democracy and human rights. Amnesty International is the latest NGO to report the torturing to death of prisoners under the new regime and rival militias. The town of Tawergha, home to 30,000 largely black Africans, has been virtually wiped off the map. But the cameras have moved on, just as they did more than a decade ago following Nato's bombardment of Serbia and Kosovo. That, too, was supposed to save

Article: Silencing the Critics

Original Article written by Paul Craig Roberts for PaulCraigRoberts.org - Monday 20, February 2012

In 2010 the FBI invaded the homes of peace activists in several states and seized personal possessions in what the FBI — the lead orchestrator of fake “terrorist plots” — called an investigation of “activities concerning the material support of terrorism.”
Subpoenas were issued to compel antiwar protestors to testify before grand juries as prosecutors set about building their case that opposing Washington’s wars of aggression constitutes giving aid and comfort to terrorists. The purpose of the raids and grand jury subpoenas was to chill the anti-war movement into inaction.

Last week in one fell swoop the last two remaining critics of Washington/Tel Aviv imperialism were removed from the mainstream media. Judge Napolitano’s popular program, Freedom Watch, was cancelled by Fox TV, and Pat Buchanan was fired by MSNBC. Both pundits had wide followings and were appreciated for speaking frankly.

Many suspect that the Israel Lobby used its clout with TV advertisers to silence critics of the Israeli government’s efforts to lead Washington to war with Iran. Regardless, the point before us is that the voice of the mainstream media is now uniform. Americans hear one voice, one message, and the message is propaganda.

Dissent is tolerated only on such issues as to whether employer-paid health benefits should pay for contraceptive devices. Constitutional rights have been replaced with rights

Speech: How Online Communities are changing the world

Kaustubh Katdare is the founder of CrazyEngineers.com

Crazy Engineers is one of the world's biggest and most popular websites for engineers and students around the world with a passion to innovate and build.

A Leading Blogger from Nagpur, He was selected for "Once in a Lifetime 2.0″ Project. At TEDxNagpur - He speaks on How Online Communities are changing the world !

Video: Everything is a Remix

Our system of law doesn't acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren't so tidy. They're layered, they’re interwoven, they're tangled. And when the system conflicts with the reality... the system starts to fail.

Article: The world war on democracy

Original Article written by John Pilger for Johnpilger.com - Thursday 19, January 2012

Lisette Talate died the other day. I remember a wiry, fiercely intelligent woman who masked her grief with a determination that was a presence. She was the embodiment of people's resistance to the war on democracy. I first glimpsed her in a 1950s Colonial Office film about the Chagos islanders, a tiny creole nation living midway between Africa and Asia in the Indian Ocean. The camera panned across thriving villages, a church, a school, a hospital, set in a phenomenon of natural beauty and peace. Lisette remembers the producer saying to her and her teenage friends, "Keep smiling girls!"

Sitting in her kitchen in Mauritius many years later, she said, "I didn't have to be told to smile. I was a happy child, because my roots were deep in the islands, my paradise. My great-grandmother was born there; I made six children there. That's why they couldn't legally throw us out of our own homes; they had to terrify us into leaving or force us out. At first, they tried to starve us. The food ships stopped arriving [then] they spread rumours we would be bombed, then they turned on our dogs."

In the early 1960s, the Labour government of Harold Wilson secretly agreed to a demand from Washington that the Chagos archipelago, a British colony, be "swept" and "sanitised" of its 2,500 inhabitants so that a military base could be built on the principal island, Diego Garcia. "They knew we were inseparable from our pets," said Lizette, "When the American soldiers arrived to build the base, they backed their big trucks against the brick shed where we prepared the coconuts; hundreds of our dogs had been rounded up and imprisoned there. Then they gassed them through tubes from the trucks' exhausts. You could hear them crying."

Lisette and her family and hundreds of islanders were forced on to a rusting steamer bound for Mauritius, a distance of 2,500 miles. They were made to sleep in the hold on a cargo of fertiliser: bird shit. The weather was rough; everyone was ill; two women miscarried. Dumped on the docks at Port Louis, Lizette's youngest children, Jollice, an

Video: Mr. Freeman - Don't hate each other

Mr. Freeman explains how we tend to hate each other and shows our uniqueness in a different way.
(Make sure subtitles are on - or click cc)