background footage from the following flickr users:
rocketjim54
revolooshin
diongillard
indi.ca
R@punnsel
AZAdam
a2gemma
said@done
Pσrcelαΐηgΐrl
Gato Azul
andrec
depade1337
Daquella manara
ckaroli
sana_nixi
basak
heygirl
sunshinecity
Aidian Jones
shelbychicago

transcript follows

THE DAILY MAIL REPORTED THAT HERION PRODUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN HAS REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH. THIS DESPITE 5000 BRITISH TROOPS IN THE HELMAND PROVINCE, WHERE UK SOLDIERS ARE SUPPOSEDLY BATTLING THE TALIBAN. HELMAND PROVINCE IS THE BIGGEST SINGLE HERION CROP-PRODUCING AREA IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. MANY EXPERTS HAVE SPECULATED THAT HERION PRODUCTION IS THE TALIBAN'S MAJOR SOURCE OF FUNDING, AND IT'S *A LOT* OF FUNDING. IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT THE WAY TO DISEMPOWERTHE TALIBAN WOULD BE TO ELIMINATE OPIUM PRODUCTION. RIGHT? I SUSPECT THE BRITISH SOLDIERS IN HELMAND PROVINCE ARE WAY CHILLED OUT, DADDY-O! THAT WAS STUPID. SORRY. ###
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GLEN SMITH WROTE A VERY INTERESTING ESSAY LAST WEEK ON HUFFINGTON POST.COM. SMITH HAS A PLAUSABLE EXPLANATION FOR THE DEMOCRAT'S, AND SANE REPUBLICANS FOR THAT MATTER, FAILURE TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ. SMITH ARGUES THAT PRESIDENT BUSH IS EFFECTIVLY HOOLDING AMERICAN TROOPS HOSTAGE AND THREATENING THEM WITH DEATH. IN OTHER WORDS, BUSH'S ACTIONS COULD BE TRANSLATED AS "ORDER ME OUT OF IRAQ, AND I WILL ABANDON TH TROOPS IN THE FIELD. THE BLOOD OF YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS, NOT MINE. SO WHAT'S THE SOLUTION? WHAT MAKES THIS SITUATION ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT IS THAT EVERYONE ON CAPITAL HILL KNOWS ABOUT THIS TRUTH BUT NOBODY WILL TALK ABOUT I. SMITH SUGGESTS THAT AS A FIRST STEP CONGRESS MUST QUOTE REASSERT ITS CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND RESTORE THE BALANCEOF POWER WITH A WHITE HOUSE SO DRUNK ON POWER THAT IS HAS BROUGHT OUR VERY DEMOCRACY TO THE BRINK. UNQUOTE. THE WAY TO ASSERT THIS POWER WOULD BE FOR CONGRESS TO PASS A RESOLUTION RIGHT AWAY WHICH WOULD FORBID MILLITARY ENGAGEMENT WITH *IRAN* WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL FROM CONGRESS. PUBLICLY, CONGRESS MUST SPEAK OUT ABOUT THIS SCARY TRUTH OF BUSH'S BLOODY BLACKMAIL. AMERICA NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THAT PRESIDENT BUSH WOULD SACRAFICE THE LIVES OF EVEN MORE OF HIS OWN TROOPS TO SATISFY IS ADDICTION TO POWER THAT HE CAN'T TAKE WITH HIM. AS MICHAEL HARVEY ONCE ASKED ME, "HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A UHAUL HITCHED TO THE BACK OF A HEARSE?"
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THERE IS A RELATIVELY NEW BRANCH OF PSYCHOLOGY CALLED POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY. THE NEW REPUBLIC PUBLISHED A VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE ON THE SUBJECT CALLED DEATH GRIP LAST MONTH. THE ARTICLE BRINGS UP A FASCINATING HYPOTHESIS THAT WAS FIRST STUDIED IN THE 1980'S. THE HYPOTHESIS IS ESSENTIALLY, THAT RECOGNITION OF ONES OWN MORTALITY EVOKES WHAT SCIENTISTS CALLED A *WORLD-VIEW DEFENSE*. A WORLD-VIEW DEFENSE IS A RANGE OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS COMBINED WITH A PREFERENCE FOR LAW AND ORDER. THE WORLD-VIEW DEFENSE IS TRIGGERED, ACCORDING TO THE HYPOTHESIS, BY THOUGHTS OF DEATH.

MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE WORLD-VIEW DEFENSE MEANS THAT *THE MERE THOUGHT* OF ONES OWN MORTALITY CAN TRIGGER; A DISDAIN FOR OTHER RACES, RELIGIONS, AND NATIONS. THESE THOUGHTS OF DEATH ALSO COULD TRIGGER THE PREFERENCE FOR CHARISMATIC LEADERS OVER PRAGMATIC ONES.

THIS MAY SOUND FAR FETCHED, BUT THERE IS MUCH RESEARCH TO BACK IT UP. PSYCHOLOGISTS SHELDON SOLOMON,, JEFF GREENBERG, AND TOM PYSZCYNSKI PERFORMED EXPERIMENTS IN 1989. ONE EXPEREMENT INVOLVED 22 TUSCON MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGES. THE JUDGES WERE TOLD THAT THE RESEARCH WAS TO TEST THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BAIL DECISIONS AND PERSONALITY TRAITS. IN REALITY, HOWEVER, THIS WAS NOT THE POINT OF THE STUDY. ALL JUDGES WERE GIVEN A PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE BUT HALF OF THE JUDGES WERE ASKED A FEW EXTRA QUESTIONS RELATED TO DEATH. THE POINT WAS TO TRIGGER AN EXISTENTIAL FEAR IN THE MIND OF THESE JUDGES IN ORDER TO SEE IF THEY WOULD ISSUE HARSHER JUDGMENTS THAN THE OTHER GROUP.

FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED: *BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE EMOTIONS THAT THE THOUGHT OF YOUR OWN DEATH AROUSES IN YOU*. ANOTHER QUESTIONS ASKED THE JUDGES TO DESCRIBE WHAT THEY THING WILL HAPPEN WHEN THEY DIE. ALL JUDGES WERE ASKED TO SET BAIL IN A HYPOTHETICAL CASE OF A PROSTITUTE WHOM THE PROSECUTOR CLAIMED WAS A FLIGHT RISK. THE DEATH-MINDED JUDGES SET AN AVERAGE BAIL OF $455 WHITLE THE GROUP THAT DID NOT ANSWER THE DEATH QUESTIONS SET BAIL AT AN AVERAGE OF ONLY $50. SO, THERE WAS QUITE A DIFFERENCE.

THE EXPERIMENTS CONITUNED AND OTHER PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVE BULIT ON THESE EXPERMENTS WITH SIMILAR RESULTS EVER SINCE. I AM NOT GOING TO GO INTO DETAIL NOW, AS THIS SHOW IS SUPPOSED TO BE BRIEF. I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE IN THE NEW REPUBLIC AT TNR.COM.

THE RESEARCH PRESENTED IN THE ARTICLE SEEMS ANSWER ONE OF THE BIG QUESTIIONS OF LAST CENTURY: WHY DID THE HOLOCAUST HAPPEN? THE WORLD-VIEW DEFENSE COULD ANSWER THIS QUESTION AND ALSO EXPLAIN WHY A NATION OF ALMOST 300 MILLION PEOPLE COULD ELECT A COMPLETE MORON AND MISERABLE FAILURE TO RUN THE COUNTRY.

LASTLY, IT IS WORTH MENTIONING THAT THE JOHN JUDIS CONCLUDES IN HIS ARTCLE THAT UNLESS THERE IS ANOTHER ASSAULT ON AMERICAN SOIL BEFORE THE 2008 ELECTION, THE WORLD-VIEW DEFENCE MAY NO LONGER BE CLOUDING AMERICANS' JUDGMENT. THIS WOULD BE BAD NEWS, ACCORDING TO JUDIS, FOR POLITICTIONS WHO CONTINUE TO EXPLOIT 9/11 AND THE FEAR OF DEATH THAT LIES WITHIN US ALL.