Why do Americans hate beheadings but love drone killings?

The answer lies in human psychology. And probably like the old observation about history, people who refuse to understand human psychology are doomed to be victims of psychological manipulation. How is it that even members of peace groups have now come to support US bombing? One lady framed the issue like this: “I request that we discuss and examine why the videotaped beheading of a human being is understood to be more egregious than the explosion (almost totally invisible to the public) of a human being by a missile or bomb fired from a drone.”

There are at least four main reasons that explain why Americans care far more about the beheadings (thus far) of two Americans and one U.K citizen, than they care–here’s the polling–about the thousands of foreign victims of US drone bombing. Here’s how people are likely being manipulated into believing that more US bombing is the answer to such terroristic killings even when almost all military experts have admitted that it won’t work and “there’s no military solution”:

1) “Us versus them” mentality, the group bonding also known as tribalism, nationalism, group elitism, etc. seems partially learned behavior but also hard wired into humans (like other animals) to enable group survival. The worst, most excessive forms of group bonding are also known as racism. Yet it’s an innate part of human psychological makeup to identify most closely with those whom we are close to and with whom we share group affinity, so Americans are always going to care more about Americans/Westerners as opposed to more distant foreigners;

2) The gruesome beheadings were deliberately and dramatically videotaped to ensure that US media brought the scenes into all US living rooms whereas the drone bombings of citizens of foreign countries are almost never filmed nor covered at all by US media. Thus to the majority of Americans, drone killings seem sterile, sanitized and surgical even though drone pilots who see the results up close know differently and some are even committing suicide.

3) It’s apparent that even a large segment of the “peace” community does not understand that US wars and US-orchestrated regime changes indirectly created Islamic State (and other Al Qaeda type terrorist groups) and that US drone (and other aerial) bombing is giving rise to MORE terrorism, rather than working to reduce it. These two articles “How the West Created the Islamic State” and “How ISIS Is Using Us to Get What It Wants” describe the dynamic. As in all wars, the leaders of both sides are opportunistically using each other to empower each other. Robert Greenwald’s video (below) puts it most succinctly: “How Perpetual War Fuels Terrorism.” (But the opposite is also true: terrorism fuels war). This is well known by Western intelligence analysts and foreign policy experts, and it’s garden variety war manipulation for everyone except the duped US public. (Borowitz isn’t really joking when he reports: “Americans Who Have Not Read a Single Article About Syria Strongly Support Bombing It.”) It’s depressing otherwise to learn how many uninformed people there are that still think “bombing the village to save it” somehow can work. Such “war on terror” propaganda is actually effective on the liberal-minded who are more vulnerable to having their emotional buttons–fear, hate, greed, false pride and blind loyalty–pressed than it is on more pragmatic, cool-headed realists. It’s being reported that a number of US journalists who should know better have even fallen for hyped terror threats used to justify the launching of bombing upon Syria.

4) A fourth reason why most Americans now go happily along with perpetual war in a kind of blissful stupor, cheering on their favorite war hawk politician comes from the lessons learned so well from the Vietnam War. Getting rid of the military draft and putting the trillions of dollars of mounting war costs on the ever-expanding and perfectly elastic national debt card was a stroke of genius on the part of the military industrial complex to wipe away any remaining “Vietnam Syndrome.” The new “poverty draft” that we’re left with constitutes another layer of “us versus them” type manipulation geared to getting the liberal, intellectual middle class on board as they perceive little or no costs and only benefits to perpetual war. Even when not directly profiting by working for military or national security contractors, many Americans have come to believe war creates jobs and ensures they are supplied with cheap gas and other resources.

Anyway, I may be flat wrong but there has to be some explanation and I would welcome others’ opinions. Without the witty humor of a Borowitz or Jon Stewart, people may also resent being told how they are constantly duped into this perpetual war that makes them less and less safe. But hopefully, more people will wise up to this psychological manipulation.

James Franco's Saturday Night Shows Why SNL Is a Weekly TV Miracle

James Franco's Saturday Night Shows Why SNL Is a Weekly TV Miracle

Last night, Saturday Night Live kicked off its 40th season (did you watch it!). It’s a major milestone to be sure, but how exactly is it made? Countless books have been written on the subject but established actor and fledgling documentarian James Franco tries to capture the tortuous late nights and constant rehearsals required to make America laugh.

Read more…



How would you change Huawei's Ascend Mate?

Can a 6.1-inch smartphone ever be accepted in the mainstream? That was what Jonathan Fingas asked while reviewing Huawei’s Ascend Mate, and found the answer to be a resounding “no.” The handset offered a lot of things that did impress him, including…

SoftBank Looking To Acquire DreamWorks Animation [Rumor]

212799 Dreamworks logoAt one point in time, Sprint’s parent company SoftBank had considered acquiring T-Mobile, but it seems that the breakup fee was something that either company could agree upon which ultimately led to the deal falling through. However it seems that SoftBank is still set on acquiring companies if a recent report from The Wall Street Journal is to be believed, SoftBank is said to be eyeing animation studio DreamWorks Animation.

For those unfamiliar with DreamWorks, they are the animation studio behind popular animated movies such as How To Train Your Dragon and Shrek. The reason behind SoftBank’s interest is because the company’s CEO Masayoshi Son wants exclusive content that would make signing up with Sprint a more attractive option, thus allowing it to compete against the bigger carriers like AT&T and Verizon.

It would be interesting to see what becomes of this, and who knows, perhaps down the line we might start seeing Sprint phones coming preloaded with some of DreamWorks’ animations, or they could purchase them at discount rates. DreamWorks has stated in the past that they want to expand its presence in Asia, so the acquisition by a Japanese company could certainly help with that.

Naturally neither side has offered to comment on the rumor, so do take it with a grain of salt for now, but what do you guys think? Is the acquisition of DreamWorks by SoftBank a good idea for both companies?

SoftBank Looking To Acquire DreamWorks Animation [Rumor]

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Instagram Blocked In Mainland China Following Protests In Hong Kong

instagram hong kong 640x383For those who are familiar with China’s censorship, you guys probably know that pretty much a lot of services and social network websites that we take for granted in the US are blocked in China. Services like Google have been blocked (Android phones there don’t have access to Google Play, instead they rely on Baidu), and social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have been blocked as well.

Interestingly enough it seems that China’s government has largely left Instagram alone, despite it belonging to Facebook. Well it looks like that has finally changed. According to reports, it seems that the Chinese government has recently added Instagram to its block list. It seems that this was brought on during the recent protests in Hong Kong, in which Hong Kong’s residents were using Instagram to post photos of the protests (as seen in the image above).

If you haven’t been following the news, Hong Kong residents are not happy with a new proposal that would allow officials in Beijing to approve political candidates before election day, which some believe would make a mockery of the elections. Considering that Hong Kong was under the British rule for many years before returning to China, it is not surprising that many aren’t fans of the way the Chinese government operates.

Hong Kong protestors have used the #OccupyCentral hashtag to tag their photos of the protest. However it seems that while Instagram has been blocked in China, Hong Kong itself has been the exception as many Hong Kong residents are continuing to post photos on the photo sharing service.

Instagram Blocked In Mainland China Following Protests In Hong Kong

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Pantech Puts Itself Up For Sale, Valued At Around $366 Million

Pantech Vega IronPantech is a company that some of you guys might be familiar with. While the company is more popular in its home country of Korea, they have released several handsets that have managed to garner a fair bit of attention, such as the Pantech Vega Iron 2 which came with some pretty impressive hardware.

However it seems that devices like the Vega Iron 2 isn’t enough to keep the company afloat and compete with its other Korean brethrens, like Samsung and LG, because it seems that Pantech has decided to put itself up for sale. The Korean company is inviting bids to acquire the company and has asked those interested to submit their bids by the 7th of October.

While it is unclear as to how much Pantech thinks they are worth, early estimates have pegged the company to be worth around $366 million, so perhaps we could be looking at a figure around that level. It is also unclear as to which company could be interested in purchasing Pantech.

It could be a rival company hoping to snap up a competitor, or it could be a financial institution who thinks that Pantech still has value and could turn things around. It has been suggested that foreign companies such as Lenovo, Huawei, Micromax, and Xiaomi could be eyeing the company as well as it would provide them an easy entry into the Korean market.

Pantech Puts Itself Up For Sale, Valued At Around $366 Million

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iPhone 6 Bendgate Controversy “Overblown”, According To Consumer Reports

There has been a lot of controversy regarding the new iPhones due to numerous reports of the phones bending. This is an issue that a handful of iPhone 5 users had experienced in the past so it is definitely not new per se. However some are arguing that the issue has been overblown and while Apple has offered the media a look at their testing facility, we’re sure some are still a little doubtful.

Well the folks at Consumer Reports have decided to put the new iPhones to test themselves and have included other phones as a form of comparison. The test that they used involved using an Instron compression testing machine which basically pushes down on the middle of the phone with varying degrees of force.

The phones used in the test include the iPhone 5s, new iPhones, the LG G3, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and the HTC One M8. According to their finding, it seems that the HTC One M8 and iPhone 6 were the weakest of the bunch and deformed at 70 pounds of force. This was followed by the iPhone 6 Plus which deformed at 90 pounds, followed by the LG G3 at 130 pounds, and the Galaxy Note 3 which was the sturdiest at 150 pounds.

According to Consumer Reports, they conclude by saying, “While not the strongest phones on the market, fears of a serious structural design flaw in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus seem overblown.”

iPhone 6 Bendgate Controversy “Overblown”, According To Consumer Reports

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2015 Mustang gets Saleen and Roush tuner treatment

saleen-302-2015-mustangFord’s take on the 2015 Mustang is no slouch, either in the looks or the performance departments as we found when we took the new Pony Car for a spin, but that hasn’t stopped some of the more notorious tuners from weighing in with their own interpretations. Roush and Saleen both have a long history of taking regular Mustangs and … Continue reading

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Citizens United Was The Current Supreme Court's Worst Ruling

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her extreme regret over several of the current Court’s rulings in a wide-ranging interview published in The New Republic Sunday evening, including their rejecting the commerce clause of President Barack Obama’s health care law, and issuing a huge blow to the Voting Rights Act in their Shelby County v. Holder decision.

But the first Supreme Court ruling Ginsburg would send to the guillotine would be the Court’s decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, giving corporations and unions the green light to give and spend unlimited sums of money on independent political activity. “If there was one decision I would overrule,” Ginsburg told The New Republic, it would be Citizens United.

“I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be,” she said.

Ginsburg said that the Court, in CItizens United as well as in the case of Shelby County, “should have respected the legislative judgment.”

“Legislators know much more about elections than the Court does. … I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed.”

According to Ginsburg, things may have played out differently had Justice Sandra Day O’Connor not retired so soon. She told The New Republic that O’Connor would have sided with the minority on Citizens United, Shelby County, as well as the Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling.

“I think she must be concerned about some of the court’s rulings, those that veer away from opinions she wrote,” Ginsburg said.

Read the full interview here.

Bridging the Chasm

For half a century beginning with Franklin Roosevelt, there was a direct connection between the problems that afflicted American society and the remedies on offer from our democratic system.

High unemployment? The New Deal, the World War II mobilization, and the postwar boom took care of that.

Stagnant wages? With unions, growing productivity, minimum wage laws, and other regulation of labor standards — American real wages tripled.

Education? The G.I. bill, massive investment in public universities, community colleges, and later in public elementary and secondary education produced a better educated and more productive population. And until the 1980s, public higher education was basically free.

The exclusion of blacks from the American dream? A mass movement and a revolution in civil rights law made a big down-payment on redeeming the promise of Lincoln.

Women as second-class citizens? We’re a long way from full gender equality, but the civil rights laws dating to the 1960s, including Title 9, and the women’s movement cracked a lot of glass ceilings. Today, new graduates entering the elite professions are close to 50-50, and the pattern of the girls excelling in grade school only to fall behind the boys because of limited opportunities and sex-based tracking is a thing of the past.

I could go on, but you get the point. In the last century, democratic politics addressed real problems. The solutions were far from complete, but there was real progress.

Now take a look at today’s social and economic problems. There is a chasm between the ills and what the political system is even willing to debate. What’s being offered are pathetic tokens — or the claim that we should just leave everything to the genius of the free market (that brought us the financial collapse and the climate calamity.)

Wages have been stagnant for a generation. Corporations are on a tear, turning stable payroll employment into casual labor. Unions are being pummeled. Republicans in Congress have blocked even a modest increase in the federal minimum wage, and a few bold cities like Seattle with its new $15 minimum wage are outliers.

We face a catastrophe of global climate change, as well as several trillion dollars in deferred investment in decaying public infrastructure. A serious effort at a green transition combined with modernization of public systems would cost something like five percent of GDP per year — maybe $750 billion. No mainstream politician is even talking about this for fear of being ridiculed. (We spent six times that relative to GDP in the mobilization to win World War II.)

Too many politicians of both parties would rather talk about deficit reduction. Jesus wept!

Young adults face diminishing horizons, sandbagged with student debt and vanishing steady jobs. You have to go to the edges of mainstream politics to find leaders willing to propose a return to debt-free higher education.

Mothers, as well as fathers, have been in the paid workforce for two generations now. But the systems of the society and the workplace still operate is if it were 1954 instead of 2014. A few brave politicians like New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio are willing to take real risks to get one year of public pre-k.

The broader agenda of high-quality, universal child care, paid family leave, early childhood education for kids younger than 4, is stalled.

You wonder why people give up on politics? You wonder why people are turning away from the Democrats’ proposition that affirmative government can buffer people from the vicissitudes of the marketplace? You wonder why millennials are attracted to the libertarian proposition that we’re all on our own anyway?

It’s because our political system has disconnected from the society’s ills. Every remedy that would actually make a major difference, like the serious remedies of the 20th century, is at the far fringes of public debate.

If we are to fix what’s broken in this society, if we are to restore the promise of democracy — we need to bridge this chasm between the ills and what the political system has on offer.

How will that happen? The usual way — uncommon leadership connected to energized mass movements. Leaders and movements need to embrace solutions that seem impossibly radical, just as equal rights for women and for African Americans once did.

But the chasm between real problems and solutions on offer has never been wider.

Robert Kuttner’s new book is Debtors’ Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility. He is co-editor of The American Prospect and a senior Fellow at Demos, and teaches at Brandeis University’s Heller School.

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