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braincrave
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Jesse Ventura did his latest conspiracy theory show on 9/11, something that's been a passion of his since the event. I've followed his interviews over the years and know he knows substantially more t...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
In the future, will you look back, shake your head, and regret that you didn't follow your passions? Feel that you went against who you really wanted to be? Don't wait until another New Year's Eve -...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
In group chat, we recently went on a tangent to discuss the effectiveness of charity. (To quote one of our Braincravers, "teach a man to fish and he'll stay drunk on a boat.") Benjamin Franklin obser...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
New to online dating? Trying to find the man or woman of your dreams through the virtual world? As in any relationship, proper communication is crucial. You need to have a good personal ad or dating...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that there are 169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000 (approximately 1.70 x 10^29) ways to play the first ten moves in chess. (I also learned that there are "400 different possible ...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that shows you random web pages based upon categories that you like. It learns very quickly what you like and don't lik...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
They say that history repeats itself. Maybe that's the reason I'm never able to watch Schindler's List without bawling my eyes out. You don't have to be prescient to see the similarities already and...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
My daughter just came back from camp and, as we were discussing all of her wonderful experiences, she mentioned that she bought a "happy book" at the camp store. You list all the things that make you...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that the sky isn't blue and the sun isn't yellow. The sky is actually black and the sun is white. It's only because we have an atmosphere (which is made of gas molecules and dust) tha...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
While hero Bradley Manning rots in solitary confinement, most are now aware that Wikileaks has courageously released 250,000 secret diplomacy documents which provide candid and critical views of US...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Nuclear energy was discovered in the context of war (specifically World War II). In the 1950s, the US Air Force tried to come up with an idea of putting a nuclear reactor on an airplane to keep it ru...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Last night in group chat, we had a bunch of conversations (sometimes very heated) about what the Constitution does and does not allow. As part of it, we got into the US Great Depression, FDR, court ...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Less than one month ago, Linden Labs laid off 30% of their employees. Just yesterday, Mark Kingdon stepped down as CEO, with company founder Philip Rosedale (Philip Linden) named interim CEO. (Also,...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that you should not use olive oil to cook at high heats (i.e., potentially anything over 200 - 250º F / 93 - 121º C, although that is debated), especially extra virgin olive oils. T...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Obama is currently getting criticized because of his recent speech asserting that the US government officially supports a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 borders along with negotiated...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
We experience art as an emotional reaction to our senses. Enjoying art has a personal meaning and relevance; therefore, we evaluate art differently depending upon our own values, perceptions, and kno...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that Communism, "the greatest social engineering experiment we have ever seen," is responsible for approximately over 100 million deaths. The Communists tried to construct a "utopia.....
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
A placebo is a sham or simulated medical intervention by a doctor in which some patients experience actual improvements in their conditions. Although it doesn't work on everyone, these effects in pat...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Are human values detached from science? Many, such as moral relativists, argue that morality has little, if anything, to do with reality. Science attempts to prove what reality is through an objectiv...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
There's a funny wedding tradition where the married couple eats the top layer of their wedding cake one year later. (How great to finally have the extra space in your freezer, right?) For about half...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
H.L. Mencken is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century. Among other interesting facts, he was against World War II and democ...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Politics destroys all things, it's latest casualty being scientific truth. When the global warming science fraud didn't work out, the propoganda artists changed the name to climate change. Here's a s...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned through math that Aristotle was correct on the law of identify (i.e., A = A), and that everything that exists does have a specific nature. Specifically, all numbers do not equal all o...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Advert for 'reliable workers' banned as discrimination by Jobcentre Plus
The boss of a recruitment firm said she was told she could not place an advert for "reliable workers" because it discrimina...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
More and more, schools are adopting zero-tolerance policies. High schools are now filled with armed police, metal detectors, and drug-sniffing dogs. Is that the environment in which children can pro...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
In the movie The Rock, Sean Connery says to Nicholas Cage "Your best? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen." There are those who think that perfection can be...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Historically, friendship was based on shared values. Ayn Rand considered friendship as "the emotional response of one man to the virtues of another, the spiritual payment given in exchange for the pe...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
First, let me make this perfectly clear: I am an anarchist (or, more specifically, an anarcho-capitalist). I do not support any kind of government, including a president. The last election I voted in...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Pause the music you're listening to for 5 minutes and listen to the cutest 911 emergency call you've ever heard. I'm not sure if being a father has anything to do with it, but this brought tears to m...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Richard Palmer is "sorry" for the way he voted in the infamous eminent domain Kelo v. New London case.
In that case, the US Supreme Court aff...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
It is said that bad habits die hard. How many times have you read in someone's dating profile: "I'm a positive person?" How often have you told someone to "think positive?" Psychology suggests this m...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
You can call a fish a duck, but that doesn't make it so. Does anyone else find it funny that people claiming to be anarchists - which is, by definition, being against government - are rioting in su...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The stupidity in government never takes a break, especially in the public school system. FTA: "It seems to me that it may be time to give all school administrators a course in remedial thinking. Here...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
So many consider money as the primary asset in life. Sometimes we are so caught up in the "rat race" that we forget that money, and each possession we acquire from it, costs us something very valuabl...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
In On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau wrote "How does it become a man to behave toward this American government to-day? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
(Meanwhile, as the Italian cabinet approves a tough austerity plan, and as Nero feasts while Rome burns...)
According to the AP, "France, Italy, Spain and Belgium are banning short-selling on sele...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Ayn Rand claimed that morality is a "code of values to guide man's choices and actions - the choices and actions that determine the purpose and the course of his life. Ethics, as a science, deals wit...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Sometimes you have to wonder if the sole reason that the law requires children go to school is because very few would go if not forced. If schools are intended to give children training as to the wor...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The printing press: what a great invention... It fostered a rapid development in and dissemination of art and science through the production of books. But one wonders if Johannes Gutenberg would be a...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
How we do like to complain about politicians. We vote them into office (well, some don't vote) and expect them to change the world. To reduce war. To make our lives better. To keep their promises. Af...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
A Guantanamo Bay sergeant is blowing the whistle on US government torture and murder and the US Department of Justice is blatantly covering it up. This amazing Harper's article is a chilling account...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Economics is typically considered very dry and of little interest to most. But to paraphrase the adage typically referring to politics, just because you ignore economics doesn't mean that it will ign...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
People continue to be laid-off from their jobs. Automation is increasing. Things made by hand are decreasing. The costs to produce (copy) some items is very close to zero (e.g., music and books)....
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
When I was much younger, I told my father I believed I would live forever. He asked how that would happen and gently reminded me that we all die sooner or later. I explained that I believed we would...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
We know marijuana is "the most widely used illicit substance in the world" (which may be why "arrests are at a near-record high"). We know drug decriminalization works. Yet we still allow the governm...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
BrainCrave.com Book Club starting now. We will attempt to do this in group chat unless there is significant lag. If so, we'll switch to local. Please join us at Within Ten Years
http://www.braincr...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The government lied about the BP oil spill? (Tries to act surprised.) Is this kind of like when Bush claimed "mission accomplished" in Iraq (or Obama's recent second fake end to the Iraq war)? You've...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
One of the problems with democracy is that it leads to corporatism. "Corporatism is a system where businesses are nominally in private hands, but are in fact controlled by the government. In a corpor...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Which do you consider more delusional: flying a plane into a government building in retaliation of government abuse or believing that the government exists to protect your individual rights?
If yo...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
"For government [of conquered people] consists in nothing else but so controlling subjects that they shall neither be able to, nor have cause to, do you harm; which may be done either by making quite...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. - Ayn Rand
DISCUSS!
Original posting by Braincrave Second Life sta...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold water. Although there isn't one, conclusive scientific explanation for the phenomenon, one of the theories for why this occurs is that hot...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
It appears the "natives are getting restless." Liberals were "up in arms" (pun intended) because the organization Oath Keepers is preparing for violent revolt. They blasted Tea Partiers for purported...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Why is circumcision such a common practice in North America? Does it really make a penis healthier and look "prettier?" You have this beautiful baby boy and after coddling him and caring for him, you...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
What does it mean to be human? Transhumanists want to use technology to enhance the human body. What are the ethical considerations for enhancing human biology with technology? Are we less human with...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Christina Hoff Sommers wrote in her book The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men that "it's a bad time to be a boy." Certainly, government curriculums in schools is misg...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Albert Shanker, the president of the United Federation of Teachers for 20 years, and then the president of the American Federation of Teachers for another 23 years once said: "When school children st...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
As proud supporters of Creative Commons, we were encouraged to see so many websites effectively shut down or "go dark" on January 18, 2012 in protest of the tyrannical SOPA/PIPA bills that the US gov...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
1. Thanks, but I don’t want to have sex.
2. Nope, no more booze for me!
3. Sorry, but you’re not really my type.
4. Taco Bell? No thanks, I’m not hungry.
5. Good evening, officer. I...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
On a cold January morning in 2007, a man played six Bach pieces on his violin for 43 minutes as about 1,000 people passed by. He started with one of the most difficult violin pieces in the world to m...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that there is a "paper" in production that can be erased and reused 260 times and currently costs about $2.00/sheet. (And we all know that, just like with any technology, that price w...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The latest weapon of mass destruction: starvation.
The situation is dire. It's the worst drought in Africa in 60 years. The UN is airlifting food to Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It's estimated th...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
When it comes to protecting civil liberties, it just keeps getting worse. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now testing what it calls Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST). It i...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that the accepted wisdom of drinking eight glasses of water a day, including the accompanying reminder that beverages containing caffeine and alcohol do not count, is not supported by...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The US government and NATO forces are a bunch of murderers. Like Dick Cheney, who goes on national television to rub in our faces that he authorized and sanctioned torture of innocent people knowing...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned Albert Einstein supported a one-world government and was a Socialist.
Einstein's passionate commitment to the cause of global peace led him to support the creation of a single, u...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Before the 1950s, the future confronting the human race was bleak. With the global population increasing and becoming more dependent on energy-dense technologies to sustain its food supplies and risi...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Through John Galt in Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand said: "The source of man's rights is not divine law or congressional law, but the law of identity. A is A - and Man is Man. Rights are conditions of exis...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Albert Einstein once said "The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill." Do we expect simple problems? I...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
James Fenimore Cooper once said: "All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never ha...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Ayn Rand warned us. She did it in her books such as Atlas Shrugged (and, to a certain extent, >The Fountainhead). She did it on TV such as in this famous interview between her and Mike Wallace on...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The purported anti-war left used to scream about the wars when Bush ruled. When Obama became ruler, they went silent (for the most part). After all, it's only unjustified violence and murder when the...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Is it ironic that this is published in a UK newspaper? Not so long ago, police used to be called "peace officers." Keeping the peace and initiating violence are contradictions. Wasn't police abuse in...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
In order to avoid offending, is it proper to limit your criticism of someone's beliefs? Which is more respectful: critically examining someone's belief system or ignoring the topic to keep the relati...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Our Second Life intellectual discussion group is about bringing people together who like to think. We have wonderful discussions in group chat but, in an effort to constantly improve our discussions...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
If we are to believe UNICEF, there are about 158 million children aged 5-14 engaged in child labor, "working in hazardous situations or conditions." Most people give this a scary name like "child ex...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
We are social beings. As a result, depending on how much you value the opinions of others, what someone says about you can matter. Often, you've likely heard people negatively labeled as fringe cons...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Hitler once said "Our strategy is to destroy the enemy from within, to conquer him through himself." US politicians, laws, and regulations are destroying people who live in America like a cancer. Her...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Monty Python famously sang "life's a piece of shit when you look at it." There's also the adage that, if everyone threw all their problems on the table, most would reach back down and pick up their...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Attention US government. You're not very bright. By having a high corporate tax rate, you are pushing jobs, profits, patents, executives, research, and operations of US companies overseas. (And, as a...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Newton's Third Law suggests that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Is it morally proper for people to develop into militias to defend themselves and act in defiance of terrori...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Some claim that the reason music piracy is so prevalent is because the cost of music is so high (especially when the actual CD production costs are so low - a cursory look suggests it's less than $0....
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
"America's leading leftist intellectual" and MIT professor Noam Chomsky once remarked that "The U.S. is a leading terrorist state, as are its clients." He has said "that there is no War on Terror." H...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
For those of you who refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils, take comfort in knowing that you're in the majority. Politicians are always claiming their wins indicate that "the people have spoken....
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Every act of communication - or non-communication - is a choice of influence. The essayist is confronted with a peculiar difficulty: he will have time to consider how he wants to influence others - w...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
As many mourn the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs, they use words such as visionary, brilliant, innovative, leader, entrepreneur, capitalist, and philanthropic to describe him. Many aren't aware th...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that, unlike people or other corporations, Federal reserve bank stockholders don't have to pay federal, state,or local taxes on their annual, fixed dividends of 6% on capital stock (w...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Selfishness is often defined as an evil that deals with one caring for oneself more than for others. Many evils in the world are blamed on selfishness. Hunger, poverty and illness are supposedly all...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Welcome to TIL (Today I Learned) Tuesdays, where we will discuss specific facts about something. Looking to learn about something new every day? Reddit.com has a wonderful and very active TIL communi...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
How many of you learned about the Hitler Youth (aka HJ), the paramilitary group of the Nazis? Is the government building one for Obama? In Hitler's time, the stormtroopers were referred to as "brown...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
There's a funny sign that reads: "Confused Socialist Party. Smash capitalism! Then blog about it on your $2500 Macbook." All of the major economies in the world are known as mixed economies. You migh...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
If this doesn't make you sick, you're not human. FTA: Internal CIA documents reveal a meticulous protocol that was far more brutal than Dick Cheney's "dunk in the water"
Waterboarding for dummies:...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Written in 350 BCE. 'nuff said.
FTA: "Democracy, for example, arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim t...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
If you have children in school, or if you are a teacher, you MUST watch this video. Pass it on to anyone who has children. It is THAT important. Why are so many children not learning in America's sch...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in