Category: Manipulation

Hypocrisy, Manipulation, Middle East, Politics, War, ZionismLeave a comment

How Israel Supported Hamas Against the PLO

Fernando Kaskais

by Jeremy R. Hammond Since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has been executing a devastating assault on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, blocking humanitarian aid, internally displacing 75% of Gaza’s population, systematically destroying civilian infrastructure, and otherwise bombing indiscriminately. To date, over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 9,500 women and over 14,500 children.1 More than 10,000 additional Palestinians are missing under the rubble, and over 77,000 have been injured.2 Children have been dying from hunger and malnutrition due to Israel’s use of starvation as a method of warfare.3 In a case brought against Israel by the government of South … Continue reading How Israel Supported Hamas Against the PLO

Corruption, Freak U.S.A, Hypocrisy, Manipulation, PoliticsLeave a comment

A travesty of justice

Fernando Kaskais

Source images courtesy of Feoktistova via adobestock.com.• Putting Clarence Thomas into great novelists’ hands BY DANIEL A. HILL Given the headlines, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the injudicious behavior of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. I know the man unusually well. In 2012, the editors of The Wall Street Journal’s law blog asked me to weigh in on the question of whether the Supremes would uphold or invalidate Obamacare. The law can be shapeshifting in anyone’s hands. What doesn’t change very much though, if at all, is human nature. So . . . as something of an expert in analyzing facial expressions to understand … Continue reading A travesty of justice

Brain, Manipulation, Psychology, ScienceLeave a comment

Prevalence of Female Psychopaths: More Common than Believed

Fernando Kaskais

Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News Summary: Researchers provide novel insights into female psychopathy, challenging the conventional 6:1 male-to-female psychopath ratio with new evidence suggesting a closer 1.2:1 ratio. Author: Jamie Forsyth The research indicates that societal gender biases have obscured the true nature and prevalence of female psychopaths, who often employ manipulation and seduction rather than violence to achieve their goals. This revelation not only calls for a reassessment of psychopathy across genders but also signals significant implications for criminal justice and corporate leadership. Key Facts: Source: Anglia Ruskin University Female psychopaths are up to five times more common than previously … Continue reading Prevalence of Female Psychopaths: More Common than Believed

Freak Religion, History, Manipulation, MetaphysicsLeave a comment

There was no Jesus

Fernando Kaskais

Photo by Larry Towell/Magnum How could a cult leader draw crowds, inspire devotion and die by crucifixion, yet leave no mark in contemporary records? Gavin Evans is a writer whose work has been published in The Guardian, Die Zeit, The Conversation and The New Internationalist, among others. His books include Mapreaders and Multitaskers: Men, Women, Nature, Nurture (2016), The Story of Colour (2017) and Skin Deep: Journeys in the Divisive Science of Race (2019). He lives in London. Most New Testament scholars agree that some 2,000 years ago a peripatetic Jewish preacher from Galilee was executed by the Romans, after a year or more of telling his followers about this world … Continue reading There was no Jesus

Freak U.S.A, Manipulation, Money, TechnologyLeave a comment

The cruelty of crypto

Fernando Kaskais

Selling itself as the new American dream, crypto exposes the vulnerable to fraud and scams, and loads risk on to the poor Rachel O’Dwyer is a writer and lecturer in digital cultures in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She is the author of Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform (2023). The 2021 Crypto.com ad aired during the Super Bowl and was called ‘Fortune Favors the Brave’. ‘History is filled with almosts,’ says the actor Matt Damon, gliding through a museum set like an eager docent, ‘with those who “almost” adventured, who “almost” achieved, … Continue reading The cruelty of crypto

Freak Religion, Islam, Manipulation, Media&Culture, War, ZionismLeave a comment

How the Gaza War Can Be Big News and Invisible at the Same Time

Fernando Kaskais

Illustration by Walker Gawande by Norman Solomon – Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of many books including War Made Easy. Zen wisdom tells us that the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. Yet it’s easy to fall into the illusion that when we see news about the Gaza war, we’re really seeing the war. We are not. What we do routinely see is reporting that’s as different from the actual war as a pointed finger is from the moon. The media words and images … Continue reading How the Gaza War Can Be Big News and Invisible at the Same Time

Curiositys, Hypocrisy, Manipulation, PsychologyLeave a comment

At what point does the Santa myth become a harmful deception?

Fernando Kaskais

DIETER SPEARS VIA GETTY IMAGES Shayla Loveis a staff writer at Psyche. Her science journalism has appeared in Vice, The New York Times and Wired, among others. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Exactly when and how children discover they’ve been duped makes an important difference to the revelatory experience Towards the end of every year, many parents find themselves fielding difficult questions, such as: how does a man fly across the entire world in a single night to deliver presents? How does he fit down a chimney? Does he really eat cookies at every house? Children start to distinguish fantasy from reality around preschool, but … Continue reading At what point does the Santa myth become a harmful deception?

Bizarre, Esoteric, Manipulation, Psychology, TechnologyLeave a comment

Of memes and magick

Fernando Kaskais

Photo Public domain/TikTok/Aeon Bending a mysterious world to your will was the goal of esoteric practices. Now it’s the unashamed aim of the tech titans Tara Isabella Burton is a novelist and historian. Her books include Social Creature (2018), The World Cannot Give (2022) and Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians (2023), and she is currently working on a history of magic and modernity. Deep in the labyrinthine tags of TikTok, a group of teenage occultists promise they have the power to help you change your life. ‘Manifesting’ influencers – as they’ve come to be known – promise their legions of viewers … Continue reading Of memes and magick

Big Food, Health, Hypocrisy, Manipulation, Media&CultureLeave a comment

PR’s white lies and moral ‘war crimes’ for Coca-Cola and big brand polluters

Fernando Kaskais

Honest advertising: what an evidence-based message about the health outcomes of regular Coca-Cola use should say. (Illustration: Leonie Joubert) By Leonie Joubert – is an independent science writer and contributor to Daily Maverick’s Our Burning Planet climate desk. She was named as one of Rhodes University Journalism & Media Studies’ 50 distinguished alumni as it celebrated half a century of journalism training. This story is about pollution, the corporates who get away with murder, and the dark arts of the propagandists who make it so. Step aside, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mavis is the real face of Coca-Cola. Although she’d never have made … Continue reading PR’s white lies and moral ‘war crimes’ for Coca-Cola and big brand polluters