It seems like people tend to research psychopathy and other personality disorders after they’ve been burned. I have decided to repost an entry from last year that examines some of the reasons why there is so little psychopathy awareness in the general public. Ideally, this information can reach the general public, so people can spot the symptoms of dangerous personality disorders before they get harmed. Perhaps because they’re so dangerous and destructive—the closest approximation to metaphysical evil that human beings can embody–the general public has a morbid fascination with psychopaths. We see them featured frequently on the news. The media seems to be intrigued by men like citeste si comenteaza …

The federal government borrowed 46 cents of every dollar it has spent so far in fiscal 2013, which began Oct. 1, according to the latest data the Congressional Budget Office released Friday. The government notched a $172 billion deficit in November, and is already nearly $300 billion in the hole through the first two months of fiscal year 2013, underscoring just how deep the government’s budget problems are as lawmakers try to negotiate a year-end deal to avoid a budgetary “fiscal cliff.” Higher spending on mandatory items such as Social Security, Medicare and interest on the debt led the way in boosting spending compared with the previous year, which also highlights the trouble spots citeste si comenteaza …

Susanne Posel
Joining the ranks of private sector corporations assisting in the expansion of Big Brother surveillance in the US, Verizon has patented technology that turns a DVR into a personal spying tool to watch Americans in their own homes. Verizon is calling this endeavor FierceCable that is able to display “acute sensitivity in customers’ living rooms: argument sounds prompt ads for marriage counseling, and sounds of cuddling.” Verizon explains: “If the detection system determines that a couple is arguing, a service provider would be able to send an ad for marriage counseling to a TV or mobile device in the room. If the couple utters words that indicate they are cuddling, they would receive ads citeste si comenteaza …

The recent US subcritical nuclear test can be a camouflage for developing a more sophisticated stockpile of nuclear weapons, a political analyst tells Press TV. In a Saturday interview, author and political scientist Kaveh Afrasiabi noted that the subcritical test, known as Pollux, involves underground high-explosives experiments on plutonium. He argued that although the test does not reach the critical mass and nuclear chain reaction, “You don’t have any international inspectors to verify the fact that there are no low-yield nuclear explosives involved. This could be a cover for computer simulations for advancing new nuclear warheads. We don’t know that because the US program is shrouded in high secrecy.” citeste si comenteaza …

The next generation of military drones, unveiled by a leading US manufacturer, will not just carry a limited supply of rockets – but will likely be fitted with an ultra-light laser, capable of repeatedly destroying objects at the speed of light. “It would give us an unlimited magazine,” a person close to the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) program told Time magazine. Over the past four years, the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA) has given contractor General Atomics over $60 million to develop and then scale HELLADS – a powerful 150 kW ray with a difference. Current lasers of that strength – enough to destroy an incoming rocket or plane – are bulky, citeste si comenteaza …

Susanne Posel
In September, according to a poll taken by mainstream media, a third of Americans are highly concerned about the increasing use of drones by local law enforcement and governmental agencies. As Congress pressures the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow for domestic routes for aerial drones by 2015, there is growing support from corporate entities that claim unmanned aircraft will enable them to secure profits and monitor otherwise difficult locations. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International(AUVSI) are the “leading global organization representing the views of the unmanned systems and robotics community.” citeste si comenteaza …

Amsterdam is to create “Scum villages” where nuisance neighbours and anti-social tenants will be exiled from the city and rehoused in caravans or containers with “minimal services” under constant police supervision. Holland’s capital already has a special hit squad of municipal officials to identify the worst offenders for a compulsory six month course in how to behave. Social housing problem families or tenants who do not show an improvement or refuse to go to the special units face eviction and homelessness. Eberhard van der Laan, Amsterdam’s Labour mayor, has tabled the £810,000 plan to tackle 13,000 complaints of anti-social behaviour every year. He complained that long-term harassment often leads to law abiding tenants, rather than their nuisance neighbours, being driven out. citeste si comenteaza …

As President Obama insists on a speedy end to the war in Afghanistan, his administration has other plans. A facility owned by the private security force once known as Blackwater has been awarded a $22 million contract to house US troops through 2015. The private military company Academi — formerly Blackwater and, more recently, Xe — is the proud winner of a no-bid contract that will keep them profiting off Uncle Sam’s wars for the next few years. Under a deal first reported by Wired.com’s Danger Room, Academi will assist the recently created US Special Operations Joint Task Force–Afghanistan with housing facilities and office space on their massive 10-acre compound in Kabul named Camp Integrity. citeste si comenteaza …