Blog

The human brain doubled in power, very suddenly, 200,000 years ago. Why?

There seems to have been a profound difference in cognitive abilities between early Homo sapiens and our immediate predecessor, Homo erectus. Sure, erectus stood upright — a big, um, step forward — but with the emergence of Homo sapiens, we see traces of art, pictography, and tool usage, and we believe humankind made its first forays into language.

In the early 1990s, psychedelic advocate and ethnobotanist Terence McKenna published his book Food of the Gods in which he surmised that homo sapiens’ cognitive leap forward was due to their discovery of magic mushrooms. The scientific community never took McKenna’s theory very seriously, considering it mostly trippy speculation — these days, his ideas have largely been relegated to the spacier corners of Reddit. Now, however, the idea has acquired a new advocate, psilocybin mycologist Paul Stamets, who’s suggesting McKenna was right all along.

In McKenna’s Stoned Ape hypothesis,” he posited that as humans began to migrate to new areas, at some point they came upon psychedelic mushrooms growing in cow droppings, as is their wont, and then ate them. After ingesting them, and more specifically the psilocybin they contained, their brains kicked into overdrive, acquiring new information-processing capabilities, and a mind-blowing expansion of our imaginations in the bargain. Many modern users of psychedelics claim the world never looks the same again after such an experience. As McKenna put it, “Homo sapiens ate our way to a higher consciousness,” and, “It was at this time that religious ritual, calendar making, and natural magic came into their own.”

Keep reading

Liberals 3X More Likely Than Conservatives To Report People On Social Media

Liberals are three times more likely than conservatives to report people on social media to Big Tech companies for possible terms and regulations violations, a new poll suggests.

According to the Cato 2021 Speech and Social Media National Survey, of the 2,000 people polled, liberals, even moderate ones, were far more likely to encourage Big Tech-led censorship of their peers on apps such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

“This behavior is highly tied to political ideology,” the poll notes.

While 65 percent of strong liberals, 44 percent of moderate liberals, and 32 percent of moderates testified that they reported another user for “sharing offensive content or false information,” only 21 percent of moderate conservatives and 24 percent of strong conservatives said they did the same.

In addition to reporting people to Big Tech companies, 80 percent of strong liberals and 68 percent of moderate liberals said they have blocked or unfriended someone for their posts “about politics or science.” Only 48 percent of moderates, 44 percent of moderate conservatives, and 46 percent of strong conservatives reported doing the same.

The survey also found that “altogether, conservatives are more likely than liberals to have personal or near personal experience of being penalized by social media companies for the content they’ve posted to their accounts.”

The poll reinforces an alarming trend indicating a shrinking level of tolerance and a desire for censorship among the left. In a recent poll of 850 private and public college, university, and trade school students spread across the United States, Generation Lab and Axios found “Young Dems more likely to despise the other party.”

Keep reading

Power Outage? Too Bad. California Just Banned the Sale of Gas-Powered Generators, Lawnmowers, & Leaf Blowers

In an effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted this month to ban the sale of new off-road engines such as those found in leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other equipment by 2024. The ruling also bans portable generators by requiring new models to meet more stringent standards in 2024 and meet zero-emission standards starting in 2028.

The decision by the board follows an executive order issued by California Governor and covid tyrant, Gavin Newsom (D) to bar the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment to curb emissions.

“Today’s action by the Board addresses these small but highly polluting engines. It is a significant step towards improving air quality in the state, and will definitely help us meet stringent federal air quality standards,” CARB chair Liane Randolph said in a statement. “It will also essentially eliminate exposure to harmful fumes for equipment operators and anyone nearby.”

The new standards for generator sales for 2024 will reportedly require generator manufacturers to improve their efficiency by somewhere between 40% and 90%, eventually being zero emissions by 2028. The improvements by 2024 are likely unrealistic meaning it will be extraordinarily hard to find a generator in the state by 2024.

The state has set aside $30 million to help landscapers and mowing companies make the transition. But $30 million is a drop in the bucket given the fact that there are hundreds of mom and pop shops currently selling small engines across the state and thousands of landscape and mowing companies.

It is important to point out that folks who currently own a gas powered generator will still be able to use them, however, those who want to get one in a future emergency will soon be out of luck.

Keep reading

Los Angeles school hosts LGBTQ clubs for kids as young as 4 years old to teach transgender mutilation, ‘two-spirit’ sexuality

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of Human Relations, Equity, and Diversity hosted a 10-week online club for LGBTQ elementary school students, according to a Wednesday report from the Federalist.

The group — dubbed the “Rainbow Club” — promoted “two-spirit” sexuality and taught the intricate details of gender reassignment surgery.

The group hosted online meetings over a period of 10 weeks.

What are the details?

According to the report, the virtual club was geared toward “LGBTQ+ elementary school students, their friends, and their grown-ups.”

The outlet reported that the District Office of Human Relations, Equity, and Diversity created a variety of “short, student-facing Push & Play lessons for educators to utilize in their advisory classes.”

“Several of these presentations pushed leftwing gender theory, including one that even informed students of the ‘two-spirit’ Native American sexuality, which has allegedly ‘survived centuries of colonial violence and prejudice,'” the outlet added.

One such production featured a host who complained about European colonizers’ effects on Native Americans after they “imposed homophobia, rigid binary gender roles, and misogyny” — which the host suggested were a byproduct of the Christian faith.

Keep reading

High Schools Steering Students To Alleged Porn Producer For ‘Scholarship’

Multiple high schools are encouraging their students to apply for a “scholarship” by sending their name, phone number, and physical and email addresses to a doctor who surrendered his medical license after being repeatedly accused of meeting young aspiring medical professionals online and tricking them into filming porn that he sold or posted to shame them.

In May and June, two university students separately sued Philip T. Sobash, an Arkansas doctor, saying he is “a serial sexual predator who convinces unwitting young women into sending nude images to him and then posts the images with his victims’ names and other personal identifying information onto notorious websites, inciting others to anonymously harass and attack his victims. He sells the images for personal gain. But, more than that, he enjoys harming his victims.”

On August 5, the Arkansas medical board forwarded information about Sobash to the FBI, “encouraged the physician to utilize a chaperone at all times when seeing patients,” and ordered him to come before the board in October, according to medical board meeting minutes. On October 7, the board “unanimously voted to accept the surrender of Dr. Sobash’s Arkansas medical licenses in lieu of continuing with the investigative process,” according to board records.

Lawsuits say Sobash sometimes sent small amounts of money, such as $2,000, to his victims through Venmo around the time they sent photos.

Now, Sobash has set up a scholarship fund that encourages high school and college students to personally contact him in the hopes that they will be the winner of his “scholarship”: a payment of $1,000 awarded to one student.

Keep reading

Secret Epstein settlement with Prince Andrew accuser to be made public

A secret Jeffrey Epstein settlement that Prince Andrew believes should protect him against a sex-assault lawsuit is going to be made public, two judges ruled this week.

Late pedophile Epstein signed the deal in 2009 with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the longtime accuser who is now suing Andrew, 61, for allegedly having sex with her three times when she was 17.

The UK royal’s legal team has insisted the civil settlement — which has remained under seal — also shields him and others “from any and all liability” that stem from Giuffre’s accusations.

On Tuesday, Manhattan federal Judges Loretta Preska and Lewis Kaplan signed a joint order outlining plans to make public the document that Andrew’s team submitted in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Mr. Epstein, as is well known, is deceased. The Document is well known to Ms. Giuffre,” the judges wrote, noting it has also “been available to all parties in this case for some time.”

Keep reading

US National Archives Releases Additional 1,491 Documents on John F. Kennedy Assassination

The US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said on Wednesday it released an additional 1,491 declassified records related to the assassination of former US President John F. Kennedy.

The US government over the next year will continue to review 14,000 previously withheld records to determine if any additional records should be made available to the public, however, certain records will be withheld if there is a strong reason to do so, according to the release.

Keep reading

Attract Government Attention and Get Your Name Run Through a ‘Terrorist’ Database

In 2021, it’s unfortunately not surprising to learn about routine federal surveillance of people who attract official attention. We live, after all, at a moment when freedom looks haggard and unloved even in liberal democracies and a record number of journalists are behind bars. That the practice of running people’s names through multiple government databases appears to be routine doesn’t bode well for the United States, let alone the world beyond.

“Documents obtained by Yahoo News, including an inspector general report that spans more than 500 pages” expose snooping by Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Counter Network Division, Jana Winter wrote in a December 11 report. “The division, which still operates today, had few rules and routinely used the country’s most sensitive databases to obtain the travel records and financial and personal information of journalists, government officials, congressional members and their staff, NGO workers and others.”

CBP agent Jeffrey Rambo was initially implicated for inquiries about Ali Watkins, a reporter at The New York Times. That included “pulling email addresses, phone numbers and photos from passport applications and checking that information through numerous sensitive government databases, including the terrorism watchlist.” But it quickly becomes apparent that he’s been hung out to dry for doing what he was told by means that are considered normal within the federal government.

“According to records included in the inspector general report, such vetting was standard practice at the division,” Winter adds.

Given the range of tools available to the feds, it’s not a shock that their use has become rote. What’s the point of having vast (if unreliable) databases on people’s activities if you’re not going to use them? To the databases, add geotagging data and information scraped from social media by contractors. Running background checks as a matter of course may be creepy, but it’s difficult to imagine it not becoming standard practice when that information is available at agents’ fingertips.

Keep reading