Shocking Video: Afghan villagers attack defenseless U.S. drone

I can't say it any better than Lee Camp: Why do we do these things? it's the same reason the NSA is out of control, and corporate spending on politicians. it's because we CAN.  That's a sorry excuse for doing anything at all. In the case of our drone that are "defending our freedom," it's warmongering run amok. Shame on us, and it's hurting us in the long run, despite the momentary excitement that our military must feel when they blow some to bits from their control board back in Las Vegas. All in a day's work, as is the job of trying to justify why that man (or that wedding party) was a danger to America.

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Improving Psychological Research

From the UK Guardian:

A growing number of psychologists – particularly the younger generation – are fed up with results that don’t replicate, journals that value story-telling over truth, and an academic culture in which researchers treat data as their personal property. Psychologists are realising that major scientific advances will require us to stamp out malpractice, face our own weaknesses, and overcome the ego-driven ideals that maintain the status quo.

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Thinking at different levels

"Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them." Albert Einstein This quote appeals me more than the platitude to think outside the box. It challenges us to reframe problems, which sometimes means there's actually no problem at all (or the problem might be much worse than we thought). I often think of this quote in terms of our seemingly intractable national problems. Conservation can substantially alleviate the "need" to spew CO2 into the air, but conservation is not part of the Chevron-driven national dialogue. Good schools and decriminalization of drugs are a LOT cheaper than prisons, but politicians fail to connect the dots to those other levels. Ubiquitous applications of this quote, but we so often get trapped on our own cozy level, cozy because that's what we are used to, and we are so used to it that it seems to be stone foundation rather than something to vigorously question.

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Stop Watching Us Campaign aimed at NSA

StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum. Join the movement at https://rally.stopwatching.us. This video harnesses the voices of celebrities, activists, legal experts, and other prominent figures in speaking out against mass surveillance by the NSA. Please share widely to help us spread the message that we will not stand for the dragnet surveillance of our communications. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit civil liberties law and advocacy center that has been fighting the NSA's unconstitutional spying for years. Learn more at https://eff.org.

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