century of the self

this is only the first part of the first episode. century of the self is a documentary by adam curtis. it chronicles how freudian psychological principles were used by governments and corporations in efforts to control the masses.

if you really don't think this is true, you've already given up. if you haven't watched this, i strongly suggest you do. and then go read. take it from the knowledge gods....knowledge is power.


oh...

episode one - "happiness machines"
episode two - "the engineering of consent"
episode three - "there is a policeman inside all of our heads: he must be destroyed"
episode four - "eight people sipping wine in kettering"

i believe that each of the episodes is split into 6 parts.

teen "sexting" leads to charges of child pornography

MSNBC.COM - 1/16/09 - Greensburg, PA

In an unusual legal case arising from the increasingly popular practice known as “sexting,” six Pennsylvania high school students are facing child pornography charges after three teenage girls allegedly took nude or semi-nude photos of themselves and shared them with male classmates via their cell phones.

The female students at Greensburg Salem High School in Greensburg, Pa., all 14- or 15-years-old, face charges of manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography while the boys, who are 16 and 17, face charges of possession, according to WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, which published the story on its Web site on Tuesday.

Police told the station that the photos were discovered in October, after school officials seized a cell phone from a male student who was using it in violation of school rules and found a nude photo of a classmate on it. Police were called in and their investigation led them to other phones containing more photos, it said.

Police Capt. George Seranko was quoted as saying that the first photograph was “a self portrait taken of a juvenile female taking pictures of her body, nude."

The school district issued a statement Tuesday saying that the investigation turned up “no evidence of inappropriate activity on school grounds … other than the violation of the electronic devices policy.” The statement also said that school officials didn’t learn of the charges against the students until Monday.

In the WPXI story, which included contributions from the Associated Press, Saranko indicated that authorities decided to file the child pornography charges to send a strong message to other minors who might consider sending such photos to friends.

"It's very dangerous," he said. "Once it's on a cell phone, that cell phone can be put on the Internet where everyone in the world can get access to that juvenile picture. You don't realize what you are doing until it's already done." (Seranko could not be reached for comment on Thursday, and a woman who answered the phone at the Greensburg Police Department said, “Our department is not doing any more interviews on the case.”)

But Patrick Artur, a Philadelphia defense attorney who by his reckoning has handled at least 80 child pornography cases, said the prosecution of minors for photos they took themselves runs counter to the purpose of both state and federal child pornography laws: Preventing the sexual abuse of children by “dirty old men in raincoats.”

“It’s clearly overkill,” he said. “… The letter of the law seems to have been violated, but this is not the type of defendant that the legislature envisioned” in passing the statute.

Artur said that because there is no mandatory minimum sentence under Pennsylvania’s child pornography law, unlike the federal statute, the students would not necessarily be incarcerated if they are found guilty. But he noted that convictions would have "serious, serious implications," including forcing them having to register as sexual offenders for at least 10 years.

While Artur said the prosecution of a juvenile for allegedly creating and distributing child porn was new to him, a quick review of federal and state statistics showed there have been a handful of similar cases, and several convictions.

While few minors have found themselves in court for e-mailing or posting sexy photos of themselves, there is little doubt that ubiquitous cell phones and easy access to computers have tempted many to push the erotic envelope.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reported last month that a survey of 1,280 teens and young adults found that 20 percent of the teens said they had sent or posted nude or semi nude photos or videos of themselves. That number was slightly higher for teenage girls — 22 percent — vs. boys — 18 percent.

the story failed to mention that the teacher who found the picture that started this whole thing first texted the picture to himself and all his boys.

this is scary for a few reasons. why aren't the parents of these kids teaching them how to be responsible? why are "school officials" going through the contents of a student's phone in the first place?

most terrifying...where are these kids going to go to school after they are registered as sex offenders?

BART shooter pleads not guilty

AP - 1/15/09 - Oakland

The white former transit police officer, who is charged with murder in the shooting of an unarmed black man on New Year's Day in Oakland, pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

Johannes Mehserle entered the plea in an Alameda County courtroom packed with supporters and family members of both the officer and the victim, 22-year-old Oscar Grant.

this is the officer that was involved in another post here (link) at knowledge gods. apparently, this guy has entered a plea of not guilty. the interesting thing about this is that by all reports, the man he shot was subdued and FACE DOWN.

i'm not sure how many of you readers have been involved in murders before, so i'm going to break it down a little bit for you. if you want any chance of beating the murder one (meaning you planned and acted in a manner to carry out your intent to kill) charge, you should take pains to NOT EXECUTE your victim. this means, have a struggle, get beat up a little bit, THEN KILL THEM.

this cop has huge balls because he is leaving his fate up to the wheels of justice. hopefully they get crushed by each and every fucking cog.

oh...you all may be interested in one of the cell-phone videos of the shooting (sorry i couldn't get it embedded here):

be patient. the video is in the news story.

Court Hearing for Parents of Young 'Adolf Hitler' Postponed

AP - 01/16/09 - FLEMINGTON, N.J. — A family court hearing for the parents of three New Jersey children with Nazi-inspired names has been postponed.


Heath and Deborah Campbell were scheduled to appear in court in Hunterdon County on Thursday.


The children, ranging in age from 3 to under 1, were removed from their home Friday by state child welfare officials.


The family drew attention last month when a supermarket bakery refused to put the name of the oldest — Adolf Hitler Campbell — on a birthday cake.


A spokeswoman for the state Division of Youth and Family Services says the state would not remove children from a home simply because of their names.


No date was released for a new hearing. Family court proceedings are not open to the public.

Ok, I'm totally not condoning naming your son "Adolf Hitler Campbell", but the Spokeswoman in the second to last paragraph says "the state will not remove children from a home simply because of their names." and the third paragraph says "The children were removed from their home Friday by state child welfare officials." So it seems as though the state already did what the spokeswoman promised wouldn't happen. My Question: WHERE IS THE PROBABLE CAUSE to bring these parents to a court hearing in the first place? Seems to me like a blatant violation of first amendment rights.

BART cop involved in the shooting of a passenger allegedly beat up another passenger

San Francisco Chronicle - 1/14/09 - San Francisco

Six weeks before fatally shooting BART passenger Oscar Grant, Officer Johannes Mehserle was involved in another nighttime confrontation that sent a 41-year-old passenger to the hospital.

The incident ended with Mehserle and three other officers grabbing Oakland resident Kenneth Carrethers, binding his arms and legs and taking him to a Pleasanton hospital. There, he was treated for face and chest bruises before being booked into county jail for resisting arrest.

"I got beat up," Carrethers said today in his attorney's office in San Francisco, where he told the story of his Nov. 15, 2008, confrontation at BART's Coliseum Station.

"He had a really cocky, you-can't-touch me attitude," Carrethers said. "He figured he was better than everybody else and that they better do what he wanted them to do."

Carrethers said he was on his way home from work and leaving the station with another passenger when, according to Carrethers and Mehserle's BART police report, Mehserle and other officers overheard him making disparaging remarks about police officers.

Carrethers and the report differ on what happened next.

According to Carrethers, he tried to walk away from the officers but was grabbed from behind by Mehserle, who wrestled him to the ground and beat him.

According to Mehserle's report, Carrethers approached the officers, "yelled in a threatening manner" and "pushed off of me...and took a bladed fighting stance." At that point, the report said, "I grabbed hold of Carrethers right arm (and) swept Carrethers' feet out from beneath him ...he began to violently resist by kicking at me."

The other passenger with Carrethers, whom he did not know, left the scene and was unavailable for comment. No witnesses have come forward to back up his story, he said.

Carrethers, who said he works as a building engineer in a San Francisco hotel, is free on $2,500 bail while awaiting trial. He said he has served time in prison for theft and burglary.

He said he declined an offer to plead guilty to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace because one of the conditions was that he stop riding BART.

"I need to ride BART to get back and forth to work," he said. "I don't have any problem with BART."

BART spokesman Linton Johnson noted that Carrethers has not filed a formal complaint of police abuse against BART and he questioned Carrethers' timing and his motivation for coming forward.

"Would he have done so if Mehserle's name had never surfaced?" Johnson said. "I don't know."

cops involved in the killing of a perpetrator with a history of excessive violence? sounds like a recipe for safety to me.

peter bergen, osama bin laden....suck it.

(CNN) 1/14/09 -- Osama bin Laden's release of an audio message denouncing Israel's military offensive in Gaza signals the al Qaeda leader's priorities, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen says.

story


now, there is an interview (along with video. that i couldn't get to work.) that, for purposes of brevity, i have not posted. please, go read it if you'd like.

i have only three things to mention:

1. of course "bin laden" is anxious about the conflict in gaza!!! he probably lives in a neighboring country and understands what it means for him and his country! interesting how this wiley and elusive cweature is outwitting the combined forces of not only militaristic might, but the full sway of economic power. not only that, he is good enough to only realease audio recordings, whereas he preferred video just a few years ago!

2. you should probably just check out the picture of peter bergen. he looks like a fucking super-hero. seriously.

3. somehow the release of the audio indicates that bin laden is still relevant to the world today. i'm sorry, but if bin laden really is the one that i should be worried about then at least do something that relieves the rest of my stress. fix the economy. at least stop taking a quarter of my income and wasting it. stop prosecuting drug offenders and start prosecuting politicians and those in positions of power that abuse their seats. do something to at least make the rest of my world and life a little better, rather than fucking it up.

firefighters turn to arson.......to pay the bills?

AP- 1/13/09 - EHRENBERG, Ariz — Four firefighters and two others have been arrested on suspicion of starting between 15 and 20 fires in western Arizona to make money.

La Paz County sheriff's Lt. Glenn Gilbert says the fires were set between last January and last week. They occurred in abandoned trailer homes, open land and in expensive haystacks owned by farmers.

No one was hurt in the fires but the most costly destroyed a $200,000 haystack.

The investigation began months ago when a sheriff's officer thought one fire was suspicious and only recently pointed to the firefighters and two acquaintances.

Gilbert says the firefighters admitted to starting the blazes to make money. They get $10 an hour per fire. Haystack fires can last days.

well, it looks like you can't trust firefighters either. maybe the fact that a haystack is worth 200,000$ should cause us a bit more concern, though.

i suppose the question is whether or not those involved were really victims and necessity drove them to these lengths or if they are just stupid greedy pricks?