Why are Americans so easy to manipulate?

SATURDAY, OCT 13, 2012 09:00 AM CDT
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We may be loathe to admit it, but behaviorism and consumerism are cut from the same cloth.

BY BRUCE E. LEVINE, ALTERNET
(Credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki via Shutterstock)

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

What a fascinating thing! Total control of a living organism!  — psychologist B.F. Skinner

The corporatization of society requires a population that accepts control by authorities, and so when psychologists and psychiatrists began providing techniques that could control people, the corporatocracy embraced mental health professionals.

Synthetic Food, Smart Pills and… Kangaroo Butlers?

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“Orwellian” illustration from the 1965 comic strip, “Our New Age”

According to Athelstan Spilhaus, writing the comic strip “Our New Age” was his way of slipping a little subliminal education into the Sunday funnies. Each week the strip took a different topic—such as  ocean currents or heredity or the moons of Mars—and explained in a very straightforward way just what made that area of scientific discovery so interesting. Sometimes, he would dabble in futurism, looking at automated hospitals or the robot teachers of tomorrow—but the December 26, 1965 edition of the strip stands out as its most forward-looking. Spilhaus clearly had some fun writing about these mid-’60s predictions that included everything from citizens voting on specific laws by telephone to the dapper-looking kangaroo servants of the future.

Temples of Stainless Steel in Thailand

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Extreme Close-Ups: 16 Mind-Blowing Macro Nature Photos

By Steph in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems

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Have you ever watched a grasshopper scratch its chin, or examined all of the tiny hairs on the face of a bee? Have you seen the world around you reflected in a drop of dew? Unless you’re a macro photographer – taking extreme close-up images of insects, flowers and other objects – you’ve probably never had the chance. These 16 amazing photographs give us up-close-and-personal views of flowers, creepy-crawlies, geckos and water droplets.

Best Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011

Was originally pulled from www.nnm.ru, post not there anymore...

Dr. Marek Kukula (Marek Kukula), an astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, invites readers to make a space trip by these photographs, which depicted the most vivid "tourist" attractions of our solar system. This collection of photographs was provided in connection with the start of the contest "Best Photographer astronomer-2011» (Astronomy Photographer of the Year), conducted by the Royal Observatory.The competition is only the photos taken by people.