With a drug war against marijuana still raging in more countries than not, the question of how long-term marijuana use effects the human brain is a pivotal question in its legalization. Although alcohol remains legal despite heaps of evidence to the dangers of long-term use, the fight to make marijuana available both with regard to its medical properties (especially in selectively killing cancer cells) and non-medical uses has frequently hinged on the various claims made about marijuana’s effects on the recreational user.
Luckily, the debate can finally move out from the realm of opinion into scientific evidence as researchers from the University of Texas just published their research into the long-term effects of marijuana use on the brain in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).
The researcher helped dispel the dying myth that marijuana use lowers IQ, and actually provides more evidence to marijuana’s potential role in fighting Alzheimer’s. The research revealed that earlier onset of regular marijuana use leads to greater structural and functional connectivity in the brain. The most significant increases in connectivity appear as an individual begins using marijuana, with results showing that the severity of use is directly correlated to greater connectivity.
Although these results will need to be confirmed with a larger sample (this was based on roughly 100 participants), the preliminary results do seem promising. More research will need to be done in order to see if these differences are caused by, or simply associated with, long term marijuana use. They also found reduced gray matter in the OFC (orbitofrontalcortex) in long-term users (which is a brain region associated with addiction). It is unclear whether this region is simply smaller in regular users (explaining their regular use) or if the use actually contributed to structural brain changes. These results will also need to be contrasted with other researcher showing that cannabinoids actually promote brain cell growth (neurogensis) even in adults.
According to numerous witnesses and declassified reports, video evidence, and testimony from prisoners, guards and soldiers, the CIA used music to torture detainees in a number of different ways.
Thanks to the heroic work of and self-sacrifice of whistleblowers and Wikileaks, the world does know about the heinous crimes of the US government and and the U.S. military. When it comes to torture, it seems the U.S. military and U.S. intelligence agencies are in a wild competition of the most inhumane and sometimes most creative torture methods.
The CIA played songs to torture muslim prisoners. In some cases, songs would be played in repetition for hours or days on end, as to drive the prisoner to insanity. Music was also used to prevent detainees from sleeping, which is another way of creating delirium and vulnerability in the detainees.
Some songs were chosen because they were annoying, while others were chosen because they may have been offensive to the prisoner’s culture or religion. Some of the songs are annoying and could understandably be considered torture, specifically the Barney & Friends theme song, and the Meow Mix commercial.
Some of the artists who have had their songs used for torture have been very opposed to US foreign policy, especially Rage Against The Machine. In some cases, bands have even sued the US government for using their music in Guantánamo torture. For example, the Canadian electro-industrial band Skinny Puppy famously sued the US government after learning that their music was being used to torture people at Guantanamo Bay.
Below are some of the songs that have been identified most often as being used by the US military in their torture programs.
This torture technique is nothing new and has also been used during protests and stand-off situations. In some cases, they don’t even use music but instead will just play loud noises on repeat for hours. This is often part of a sleep deprivation strategy, which includes keeping lights on subjects for hours or even days at a time.
When the United States invaded Panama in December 1989, General Noriega took refuge in an embassy on December 24th, which was immediately surrounded by U.S. troops. For about a week, the military blasted rock music, including Van Halen’s song “Panama.” They also played episodes of The Howard Stern Show for extended periods of time.
Musicians are becoming increasingly frustrated with their music being used by politicians and government agencies. Last year, a large group of musicians signed a letter asking politicians to stop using their music for campaign rallies and other government purposes, unless they have direct consent from the artist. Torture is technically banned by the Geneva convention, but many governments get around this international law by simply not classifying their actions as torture. This is much the same way that police agencies use weapons on protesters that are capable of killing people, but still refer to them as “less than lethal” weapons.
NEW YORK, April 25 – Elon Musk clinched a deal to buy Twitter Inc for $44 billion cash on Monday in a transaction that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest person.
It is a seminal moment for the 16-year-old company that emerged as one of the world’s most influential public squares and now faces a string of challenges.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
Discussions over the deal, which last week appeared uncertain, accelerated over the weekend after Musk wooed Twitter shareholders with financing details of his offer.
Under pressure, Twitter started negotiating with Musk to buy the company at the proposed $54.20 per share price.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement.
Shares rose 6% following the news to $51.90. The deal represents a near 40% premium to the closing price the day before Musk disclosed he had bought a more than 9% stake. Even so, the offer is below the $70 range where Twitter was trading last year.
On Monday, Musk told his more than 80 million followers that the company has tremendous potential and he wanted to make it better by adding new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust and defeat spam bots.
Twitter has a huge problem with Spam Bots.
“I think if the company were given enough time to transform, we would have made substantially more than what Musk is currently offering,” said Jonathan Boyar, managing director at Boyar Value Group, which holds a stake in Twitter.
However, he added, “this transaction reinforces our belief that if the public markets do not properly value a company, an acquirer eventually will.”
Musk’s move continues a tradition of billionaires buying control of influential media platforms that include Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of the New York Post in 1976 and the Wall Street Journal in 2007 and Jeff Bezos’ 2013 acquisition of the Washington Post.
The transaction was approved by the board and is now subject to a shareholder vote. No regulatory hurdles are expected, analysts said.
Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, said the company’s board of directors had its back “against the wall” once Musk detailed his financing package and no other bidders or white knights emerged.
In a prepared statement the company said Musk secured $25.5 billion of debt and margin loan financing and is providing a $21 billion equity commitment.
It was not immediately clear what the breakup fee would be or who would run the new company.
Twitter’s outsized importance as a mouthpiece for politicians, political dissidents and activists belies its relatively small size.
Although it is only about a tenth of the size of far larger social media platforms like Meta Platforms Inc’s (FB.O) Facebook, it has been credited with helping spawn the Arab Spring uprising and accused of playing a role in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Donald Trump’s Comeback on Twitter?
After Twitter banned former President Donald Trump over concerns around incitement of violence following last year’s U.S. Capitol attack by his supporters, Musk tweeted: “A lot of people are going to be super unhappy with West Coast high tech as the de facto arbiter of free speech.”
Republicans on Monday cheered the news of a possible Musk buyout of Twitter, betting on Trump’s reinstatement on the service. read more
Trump, whose company is building a rival to Twitter called Truth Social, said he will not return to Twitter, according to a Fox News interview.
The White House declined on Monday to comment on Musk’s deal, but said that President Joe Biden has long been concerned about the power of social media platforms.
“Our concerns are not new,” said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, adding that the platforms need to be held accountable. “The president has long talked about his concerns about the power of social media platforms, including Twitter and others, to spread misinformation.”
Celebrated city author Paul Auster’s baby granddaughter ingested enough heroin and fentanyl to “render an adult unconscious,” a Brooklyn prosecutor said Sunday.
Daniel Auster, 44, told authorities that he woke up in his young family’s Park Slope apartment on the afternoon of Nov. 1 to find his 10-month-old daughter Ruby’s “lips blue and eyes stiff” — and then futilely tried to save her with Narcan, said Assistant District Attorney Tien Tran at Daniel’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Paul Auster wrote “The New York Trilogy,” “The Book of Illusions” and “Moon Palace.”
The troubled dad, who had been using heroin that day, told cops he gave Ruby the Narcan “in case I f–ked up,” the ADA said.
Paramedics were called and found the baby unconscious and unresponsive, and she was pronounced dead at nearby Methodist Hospital, the NYPD said.
Paramedics were called and found the baby unconscious and unresponsive.
City medical examiners found that Ruby died of an overdose of fentanyl and heroin — with enough drugs in her body to “render an adult unconscious,” Tran said.
Police have yet to determine how Ruby ingested the fatal drugs.
Her dad — who was arrested Friday night and charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child in her death — copped to having “glassine packets of heroin” that he kept in the bathroom, Tran said.
City medical examiners found that Ruby died of an overdose of fentanyl and heroin — with enough drugs in her body to “render an adult unconscious.”
Daniel has since admitted to authorities that he took heroin the day Ruby died, despite initially claiming he hadn’t used drugs in two days, Tran said.
Ruby was alert and awake when her mom, Zuzan Smith, went to work and left her with Daniel on Nov. 1, according to Tran. Smith called the home around 1 p.m. and could hear the baby in the background. Daniel phoned 911 less than four hours later, at 4:26 p.m., the prosecutor said.
The autopsy, which ruled Ruby’s death a homicide, revealed no signs of bruising or trauma on the baby.
Tran asked Judge John Hecht to remand Daniel at the arraignment. Daniel’s lawyer, John Godfrey of the Legal Aid Society, asked for “reasonable bail” to be set and told the judge his client has gotten clean.
“He works in landscape construction. He attends Narcotics Anonymous,” Godfrey said. “He maintains a friendly relationship with the child’s mother.
“He did turn himself in,” the lawyer noted.
Daniel Auster was charged with second-degree murder, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child on April 15, 2022.
The judge issued an order for psychiatric treatment for Daniel and set his bail at a $250,000 insurance bond or $100,000 in cash.
“There is extreme recklessness, he is a flight risk due to his drug use,” Hecht said.
Daniel did not speak at the proceeding. None of his family appeared to be in court.
Daniel’s award-winning father, Paul, wrote “The New York Trilogy,” “The Book of Illusions” and “Moon Palace.” Daniel’s mother, Paul Auster’s first wife, is writer Lydia Davis. Daniel’s stepmother is novelist and essayist Siri Hustvedt.
Two of Daniel’s neighbors told The Post on Saturday that after his daughter died, they walked by the apartment building where he lived and saw infant items outside for anyone to take.
“Everything — all the baby clothes, books, toys — it was just heartbreaking,” said one of the residents who didn’t want her name used.
Daniel pleaded guilty more than two decades ago to stealing $3,000 from drug dealer Andre “Angel” Melendez. Melendez was infamously killed by his roommate, New York party promoter “Club Kid Killer” Michael Alig, in 1996.
Daniel’s father and mother divorced in 1978.
That same year, Paul married Hustvedt, whose books include “The Blindfold,” “The Enchantment of Lily Dahl” and her best-known work, 2003’s “What I Loved.”
The elder Auster and Hustvedt have both written fiction that seems to be inspired by Daniel’s troubles, the Guardian reported in 2006. Hustvedt’s “What I Loved” features a relationship between an artist, his drug-addict son and the son’s stepmother.
Auster also reportedly wrote a character based on Daniel into his 2004 novel, “Oracle Night,” in which the narrator has a drug-addicted son who terrorizes his stepmom, the Guardian said.
Daniel’s father and a sister, both of whom live in Brooklyn, declined comment when reached by The Post on Saturday.
His name is King Leopold II of Belgium and the living incarnation of evil killed over 10 million innocent people in what is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To fulfill his dream to establish Belgium as an imperial power, Leopold led the first European efforts to develop the Congo River basin, founded his own private colony – the Congo Free State – in 1885 with the pretext to improve the lives of the native inhabitants, only to annex it as the Belgian Congo in 1908.
Under the reign of terror instituted by Leopold, as many as 10 million Africans lost their lives to one man’s greed, exploitation and brutality that Africa and the world must not forget. Presenting himself as a philanthropist eager to open the heart of Africa to Christian missionaries, Western capitalists, and Western civilization, Leopold embarked on an ultimately successful effort to make a vast fortune from his new possession by committing widespread atrocities against his colonial subjects.
He “bought” the Congo and enslaved its people, turning the entire country into his own personal slave plantation. He disguised his business transactions as “philanthropic” and “scientific” efforts under the banner of the International African Society. He used their enslaved labor to extract Congolese resources and services. His reign was enforced through work camps, body mutilations, executions, torture, and his private army. — Films For Action
The photo above shows a man named Nsala Wala with his daughter’s hand and foot. Alice Harris, working as a missionary in the Congo, took the photo in May 1904, after he had come into her mission at Baringa with a small package containing the severed body parts.
Leopold never set foot in “his” Congo — for all the 23 years — but his “rubber terror” and barbarity knew no bounds. Since the Congo economy was largely operated by forced labour, the effects were devastating. 10 million Congolese were either murdered or worked to death by Leopold’s private army. Women were starved and systematically raped, worker’s hands were cut off and hundreds and thousands of indigenous people endured kidnapping, looting and village burnings. Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost, writes:
“Some were beaten or whipped to death for failing to meet the rigid production quotas for ivory and rubber harvests, imposed by Leopold’s agents. Some were worked to death, forced to labor in slave like conditions as porters, rubber gatherers or miners for little or no pay. Some died of the diseases introduced to (and spread throughout) the Congo by Europeans. And still others died from the increasingly frequent famines that swept the Congo basin as Leopold’s army rampaged through the countryside, appropriating food and crops for its own use while destroying villages and fields.
“Hostage-taking and the grisly severing of hands (from corpses or from living human beings) were part of the government’s deliberate policy — a means of terrorizing others into submission. As the “rubber terror” spread through the Congolese rain forest, entire villages were wiped out: Hundreds of dead bodies were dumped in rivers and lakes, while baskets of severed hands were routinely presented to white officers as evidence of how many people had been killed.”
The Curious Case of World Ignorance
Ever wondered why the world and the media don’t remember Leopold and why his name doesn’t produce fear, hatred, and sorrow? Leopold ensured that his crimes would never make it into the history books. Shortly after the turnover of the colony, Hochschild writes, the furnaces near Leopold’s palace burned for eight days, turning most of the Congo state records to ash and smoke.
Is there a hidden agenda to not talk about genocides in Africa perpetrated by European capitalist monarchs? There’s a Wikipedia page called “Genocides in History” but the Congolese Genocide isn’t included in the list despite the fact that attempting to eliminate a portion of the population is enough to qualify as genocide under the UN convention. Wonder why?
He’s part of a long history of colonialism, imperialism, slavery and genocide in Africa that would clash with the social construction of the white supremacist narrative in our schools. It doesn’t fit neatly into a capitalist curriculum. Stories which support the white supremacist narrative about the subhumanness of people in Africa are allowed to be entered into the records of history. The white guy who turned the Congo into his own personal part-plantation, part-concentration camp, part-Christian ministry and killed 10 to 15 million Congolese people in the process doesn’t make the cut. — Liam O’Ceallaigh
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