Jack Kirby, the Pioneer Space Probes, and Hostile Aliens

Here's an excerpt from a 6-20-16 Daily Grail post entitled "Comics Legend Jack Kirby Worried that Our Attempts to Contact Aliens Might Attract a 'Tiger'":

"In 1972 and 1973, NASA launched the Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes. Placed aboard each were gold-anodized aluminium plaques - now referred to as the 'Pioneer plaques' - which featured a pictorial message to any extraterrestrial species that might intercept the probes. The plaque imagery depicted a human male and female, as well as a series of lines emanating from a point, intended to act as a guide to our Sun's location in the cosmos (the lines represented the Earth's distance and position from pulsars, allowing aliens to triangulate our position). For even more detail, an illustration showing our position within our Solar System was also included.

"The idea for the plaques was championed by 1970s science celebrity and educator Carl Sagan, and it was he, along with SETI pioneer (no pun intended) Frank Drake, who designed the content of the pictogram.

"But not everyone was happy about this decision being made without public consultation. Comics legend Jack Kirby - who just six years previous had created the comic-book character of Galactus, an alien that devoured planets - denounced Sagan's move. Kirby's thoughts were outlined in a response to the Los Angeles Times, which in 1972 had approached a number of artists, including Kirby, asking for their own ideas on what should have been included on the plaque...."

To read the post in its entirety, click HERE.

As a special bonus, you'll find below a clip from Ken Viola's 1987 documentary, The Masters of Comic Book Art, in which Kirby briefly discusses the metaphysical and philosophical themes found in his work....

Jon Rappoport on Hillary Clinton Email Scandal

Investigative journalist Jon Rappoport offers some fascinating insights into the Hillary Clinton email scandal (as well as the Dallas shooting) in his 7-8-16 post entitled "3 Boggling Facts in Hillary Email Coverup/Dallas Shooting," which you can read in its entirety right HERE.

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Dave Emory on the History of Cointelpro

In light of recent events, perhaps it would be illuminating to hop into our time machine and revisit an evening thirty years in the past when political researcher Dave Emory hosted the following six-part episode of his information-packed radio show entitled Radio Free America (now called For the Record), which was broadcast over the airwaves of KFJC in Los Altos Hills, California on the night of August 28, 1986:

Part One:  "Agents Provocateur, Cointelpro, and the Smashing of 'Left Wing' Movements":

Part Two:  "More Agents Provocateur, Watergate, and the Plan to Disrupt the 1972 Elections":

Part Three:  "The SLA:  Agents Provocateur and State Sponsored Terrorists in Action":

Part Four:  "SLA Part 2:  Riots and Revolution Coming Straight Out of Correction Facilities":

Part Five:  "SLA Part 3:  Revolution and Terrorism Made in the USA":  

Part Six:  "Operation Garden Plot to Rule America": 

To learn more about Dave Emory's radio broadcasts, visit his website, Spitfirelist.com.

Philip K. Dick & Gnosticism

From Miguel Conner's 6-27-16 blog post "Philip K. Dick's Own Definition of Gnosticism":

"It’s no secret knowledge that one of this site’s inspirations in all its heresy is Philip K. Dick. More than a decade ago, while plowing through my first copy of the Nag Hammadi library, I was affected but puzzled by the contraband message of the ancient Gnostics.

"Then I read Valis. Then I saw through a glass darkly no more when it came to the Gnostic beliefs.

"Sure, it’s also no secret knowledge that Dick employed (and weaponized) Gnostic themes in many of his works beyond Valis—that he was aware of Gnosticism long before the first edition of the Nag Hammadi library was published in 1978. In fact, Dick provided his own “listicle” on the what defines Gnosticism...."

To read Conner's entire post, click HERE.

Russia Is Harassing U.S. Diplomats

From Josh Rogin's 6-27-16 Washington Post article entitled "Russia is Harassing Diplomats All Over Europe":

"Russian intelligence and security services have been waging a campaign of harassment and intimidation against U.S. diplomats, embassy staff and their families in Moscow and several other European capitals that has rattled ambassadors and prompted Secretary of State John F. Kerry to ask Vladimir Putin to put a stop to it.

"At a recent meeting of U.S. ambassadors from Russia and Europe in Washington, U.S. ambassadors to several European countries complained that Russian intelligence officials were constantly perpetrating acts of harassment against their diplomatic staff that ranged from the weird to the downright scary. Some of the intimidation has been routine: following diplomats or their family members, showing up at their social events uninvited or paying reporters to write negative stories about them.

"But many of the recent acts of intimidation by Russian security services have crossed the line into apparent criminality. In a series of secret memos sent back to Washington, described to me by several current and former U.S. officials who have written or read them, diplomats reported that Russian intruders had broken into their homes late at night, only to rearrange the furniture or turn on all the lights and televisions, and then leave. One diplomat reported that an intruder had defecated on his living room carpet. 

"In Moscow, where the harassment is most pervasive, diplomats reported slashed tires and regular harassment by traffic police. Former ambassador Michael McFaul was hounded by government-paid protesters, and intelligence personnel followed his children to school. The harassment is not new; in the first term of the Obama administration, Russian intelligence personnel broke into the house of the U.S. defense attache in Moscow and killed his dog, according to multiple former officials who read the intelligence reports."

To read Rogin's entire report, click HERE.

How to Spot a Communist

From Open Culture's 7-2-16 post "How to Spot a Communist Using Literary Criticism:  A 1955 Manual from the U.S. Military":

In 1955, the United States was entering the final stages of McCarthyism or the Second Red Scare. During this low point in American history, the US government looked high and low for Communist spies [...].  In 1955, the U.S. First Army Headquarters prepared a manual called How to Spot a Communist. Later published in popular American magazines, the propaganda piece warned readers, “there is no fool-proof system in spotting a Communist.” “U.S. Communists come from all walks of life, profess all faiths, and exercise all trades and professions. In addition, the Communist Party, USA, has made concerted efforts to go underground for the purpose of infiltration.” And yet the pamphlet adds, letting readers breathe a sigh of relief, “there are, fortunately, indications that may give him away. These indications are often subtle but always present, for the Communist, by reason of his 'faith' must act and talk along certain lines.” In short, you’ll know a Communist not by how he walks, but how he talks. Asking citizens to become literary critics for the sake of national security, the publication told readers to watch out for the following....

To read the entire post, click HERE.

Earth's Frozen Life Forms Are Waking Up

From Maddie Stone's 2-23-15 Gizmodo article entitled "After Thousands of Years, Earth's Frozen Life Forms Are Waking Up":

"What's happening in Siberia's thawing permafrost and Greenland's melting glaciers sounds borderline supernatural. Ancient viruses, bacteria, plants, and even animals have been cryogenically frozen there for millennia—and now, they are waking up.

"Cryofreezing is best known for its appearances in science fiction, but self-styled 'resurrection ecologists' are now showing the world just how real it is. In 2012, scientists germinated flowers from a handful of 32,000 year old seeds excavated from the Siberian tundra. Last year, researchers hatched 700-year old eggs from the bottom of a Minnesota lake, while another team resuscitated an Antarctic moss that had been frozen since the time of King Arthur. Bacteria, however, are the uncontested masters of cryogenics—one bug, at least, was alive and kicking after 8 million years of suspended animation."

To read Stone's entire article, click HERE.