Wag the Dog: Media Publish Photoshop Forgery to Sell Image of War Torn Syria

While mainstream press have been hailing the virtues of the alliance between al Qaeda, the Syrian Free Army and the West in opposing Assad in Syria, they’ve also been caught once again “faking the war” to play up sympathy for an all out invasion.

Austria’s largest daily paper, Kronen Zeitung, with some 3 million readers daily, published this sympathetic photo, seemingly portraying a man carrying a baby and a woman in burka fleeing from some war-torn corner of Aleppo. However, it was later exposed to be a Photoshop forgery, juxtaposing the people walking on a normal looking corner with that of a blown out city block ravaged by heavy damage.

Click for larger image:

The subjects were apparently taken from the previously-published file photo credited to the European Pressphoto Agency, as the publishing notes next to the image indicate. The revealing side by side comparison was first posted to Reddit.com.

Gizmodo points out:

Just to be clear, the family in the photograph is, in fact, in Syria; the original photo (on the right) came from the European Pressphoto Agency. But merely fleeing a city ravaged by guns and mortars apparently isn’t quite dramatic enough on its own. The editors of the Krone—as it’s commonly called—needed this baby to sing.

A nearly identical example of war propaganda is depicted in the 1997 film Wag the Dog, where green screen technology was used to place an actor in a studio with a kitten in a war torn zone in Bosnia:

To be sure, the entire perception of the conflict in Syria has been (purposely) distorted in the media, including many blatant lies.

Remember the Syrian Danny hoax?

Advocating intervention, “Syrian Danny” was caught faking gun fire on CNN in order to portray heavy fighting that wasn’t really going on in the background while he literally begged for Western-backed forces to enter Syria and overthrow Assad. Paul Joseph Watson described the hoax: While waiting to be connected, Danny says, “Well, let the gunfire sound then,” before subsequently asking someone off camera, “Did you tell him to get the gunfire ready?” An explosion is heard soon after, but Danny doesn’t even flinch. The following video demonstrates this amazing stunt, which correlated with numerous other exaggerated reports issued by propaganda-activist Danny.

Another hoax was revealed after the BBC falsely portrayed an Assad-led massacre of children in Houla, using a photo from dead children in Iraq to play up the scale of the atrocity, which was later found to be the work of the al Qaeda-led Free Syrian Army.

A reported massacre in Homs was likewise a deception:

Obviously, these incredible lies and deceptions are not limited to the Syrian conflict, but have become a mainstay in this age of modern media. From the phony babies in incubators testimony to demonize Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf war, to the lies about WMDs in Iraq the next time around, false flag events to start most 20th Century wars, and so much more: these lies are not crafted to fool fact checkers, critics, historians or true investigative reporters, but to goad the general public into a wave of hysteria ensuring enough support to start a war and profit from the destruction.

Is it any wonder the chemical weapons / WMD story is being rehashed to drum up a crescendo of apparent legitimacy for an otherwise naked coup? They are literally asking the public to cheer for al Qaeda.

Modern warfare is no longer limited to the physical assault. Television and the Internet have made propaganda an indispensable force to wage war by other means– besieging allies and public support to isolate Assad and diffuse his defenses on the media/international community front long enough to complete the kill. Syria, like Libya, has been a classic proxy war, with the hidden hand of the United States and its western allies only partial obscured. That is, in the most general sectors of public knowledge, opinion and discussion about the Syrian conflict is saturated with the deliberately crafted lie demonizing the target and producing mass levels of knee-jerk support for the action. In this case: bad guy = Assad Gaddafi Saddam Bin Laden baby talk about boogie men.

But the truth is plainly laid as well, for anyone willing to face it.

IN YOUR FACE: AL QAEDA IS RUN FROM WASHINGTON D.C.

Take a look at some of the videos analyzed in this story. The Syrian rebels have been on a killing spree. And they’ve been killing as many civilians, including women and children, as they have government forces backing Assad. After all, they are the feared al Qaeda forces, pursuing the radical goals of the jihadists in an even more radical partnership with the West. While the Assad regime is authoritarian and hardly supportable, the entire action is timed around policy based in Washington, D.C. We’ve been lied to about who the good guys are in Syria (nobody in power wears a white hat in those parts).

There is no avoiding the fact that while TSA expands across the public sector to catch imaginary terrorists and harass the public, the nation’s military forces are NOT fighting al Qaeda overseas; we are currently giving them aid, comfort, and new claims to mideast power, as in Libya, and now in Syria.

Source: Infowars

You Think GMO Is Scary? Nano Tech is Here, In Your Store

Nanotechnology is measured in billionths of a meter, encompassing all aspects of life from food to medicine, clothing, to space. Imagine hundreds of microcomputers on the width of a strand of hair programmed for specific tasks....in your body. Sound good?

Engineering at a molecular level may be a future corporations' dream come true, however, nano-particles inside your body have few long-term studies especially when linked to health issues. Despite this new huge income-generating field there is a growing body of toxicological information suggesting that nanotechnology when consumed can cause brain damage (as shown in largemouth bass), and therefore should undergo a full safety assessment.

It is possible for nano-particles to slip through the skin, suggestive of a potential unnatural interaction with the immune system, or when micro particles enter the blood-stream. Some sunscreens on the shelf today, for instance, have nano-particles that might be able to penetrate the skin, move between organs, with unknown health effects. Nano-particles in cosmetics have few regulations done by FDA.

Thomas Faunce, of the Australian National University, who holds an Australian Research Council fellowship that looks at public nanotechnology health issues, said study's findings are significant and strengthens the case for mandatory labeling, and that stringent safety data should be required from manufacturers.'' Research is showing that nano-particles have the capacity to damage living cells and the precautionary principle should be applied,'' he said.

In 2005, The Helmut Kaiser Consultancy Group, global leaders in pro-nanotechnology, stated that about 300 nano-food products were available on the market worldwide estimating that market alone was worth 5.4 billion dollars in the USA. That was then.

By 2015, (just a few years away) they predict that nanotechnology will be used in 40% of the food industries. According to these consultants, by 2040, nano-produced food, with correct nutritional composition, maintaining the same taste and texture of organically produced food, will be commonplace, the norm.

It is clear that nanotechnology is already in the in some food and cosmetics, (including anti aging products and sunscreens). 'Smart' packaging and tracking, is ubiquitous. Invisible, (to the naked eye and some microscopes), edible nano-wrappers, complete with bar codes can track not only early spoilage, but improve the taste of food, or, whatever is called food. Manufacturers are excited because the availability of food would no longer be affected by limited resources, bad crop weather, water problems, etc. A modern way to feed the world.

Where is the public debate, on the labeling of nano particles in your foods, or cosmetics, or the risks? Probably no where...Political leaders are still arguing on requiring GMO (genetically modified) labeling, it seems.

When lab rats are starved, and given a choice to eat organic potatoes or GMO, they go right to the organic. When only given the GMO potato they will eat it, or starve to death ... (studies have shown severe damage subsequently). What do rats know?

So the next time you reach for something that say's 'smart'...think about what that means. Learn what you can about the source of what you put in, or on your body. Smart mini micro computers to control your skin and body fluids?

Source: Activist Post

Engineers create ultra-sensitive artificial skin

Engineers from South Korea and the United States working together have developed a new type of artificial skin that is less complex, cheaper to make and more sensitive than other electronic sensors designed to mimic human skin. In their paper published in Nature Materials, the team says the idea for their strain gauging material came from the way tiny hairs on some beetles’ bodies interlock with equally tiny hairs on their wings, allowing them to sense very small external stimuli.

To replicate the beetle sensing abilities, the team attached a multitude of polymer fibers, each just 1 micrometer long and 100 nanometers around, to a solid base, forming what looked like a tiny bed of nails. They then created another just like it and placed in on top of the first, causing the “hairs” of each to intermingle, sort of like pushing two hairbrushes together. Since each fiber was coated with a very thin layer of metal, the team was able to measure electrical current sent though them. The amount of current varied at each hair junction depending on how much of the hair touched another, and that varied depending on external stimulation. With this arrangement, the team was able to measure torque (twisting motion), direct overhead pressure and sheer, which is what happens when the material is subjected to sideways movement, such as a gentle caress.

In testing their artificial skin, the team found that they were able to trace the path of a tiny bug as it made its way across its surface, to detect the motion of a water droplet and even the subtle beating of a human heart when it was placed against the skin.

The researchers say that their method replaces the complex circuits that others have used to allow robots to “feel” their environment with something that is much simpler to create and use. Their design is also somewhat proven in that the sensor reception electronics is not unlike that used in some screen displays that rely on tactile input via user’s fingers.

In addition to allowing robots to gain a better understanding of their environment, it’s possible the new technology might one day be used to help human beings who have lost feeling in their skin or better, as way to restore sensation to those with artificial limbs.

More information: A flexible and highly sensitive strain-gauge sensor using reversible interlocking of nanofibres, Nature Materials (2012) doi:10.1038/nmat3380

Abstract
Flexible skin-attachable strain-gauge sensors are an essential component in the development of artificial systems that can mimic the complex characteristics of the human skin. In general, such sensors contain a number of circuits or complex layered matrix arrays. Here, we present a simple architecture for a flexible and highly sensitive strain sensor that enables the detection of pressure, shear and torsion. The device is based on two interlocked arrays of high-aspect-ratio Pt-coated polymeric nanofibres that are supported on thin polydimethylsiloxane layers. When different sensing stimuli are applied, the degree of interconnection and the electrical resistance of the sensor changes in a reversible, directional manner with specific, discernible strain-gauge factors. The sensor response is highly repeatable and reproducible up to 10,000 cycles with excellent on/off switching behaviour. We show that the sensor can be used to monitor signals ranging from human heartbeats to the impact of a bouncing water droplet on a superhydrophobic surface.

Source: Phys.org

Approved: The First Swallowable Electronic Devices

Smart Pills Proteus Biomedical

No matter how fast pharmaceutical companies can churn out drugs to prevent or cure illnesses, health insurance doesn't cover the cost of hiring a person to follow you around and remind you to take your meds. So the FDA has approved a pill that can do it on its own by monitoring your insides and relaying the information back to a healthcare provider.

The pills, made by Proteus Digital Health, have sand-particle-sized silicon chips with small amounts of magnesium and copper on them. After they're swallowed, they generate voltage as they make contact with digestive juices. That signals a patch on the person's skin, which then relays a message to a mobile phone given to a healthcare provider. It's only been approved for use with placebos right now, but the company is hoping to get it approved for use with other drugs (which would be where it would get the most use).

Even if there's a slight whiff of dystopia about a pill that tracks your actions, it does help with a major problem. Patients aren't the best at taking their pills, especially those suffering from chronic illnesses, so it's one step of many toward a future where they don't have to.

Source: Popsci