Are We Living in The Matrix

Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson, two pioneering experts in the field of virtual reality, joined Ian Punnett to reveal when we all might be living in the Matrix. "Virtual reality, for us, is any reality that's not a person's grounded reality," Blascovich said. We go back and forth between virtual and grounded realities all of the time, without the use of technology, through our mind wanderings and dreams, he continued. "There's different types of virtual realities and there's even a lack of separation among them," Bailenson added, citing how the digital environs of the online role-playing game World of Warcraft reportedly seeps into the dream lives of hardcore players.

According to Bailenson, we are at the cusp of a future where virtual reality is commonplace. New 'glasses-free 3D' autostereoscopic displays (as seen in Nintendo's 3DS), suit-less movement tracking (similar to Microsoft's Kinect), and advances in artificial intelligence, will combine to allow people to do things they could not actually do in the physical world, he explained. For instance, a person conducting a digital meeting or teaching a virtual class can program an avatar (graphical representation of a user) to maintain eye contact with every single participant, which focus attention on the speaker, Blascovich noted. Bailenson offered a more insidious example of a person morphing the appearance and sound of an avatar to ingratiate and manipulate different audiences.

The two also commented on how virtual reality may be utilized by the porn industry as well as delved into the concept of digital immortality, where one's avatar continues beyond its user's physical life. Bailenson pointed to a commercial for microwave popcorn that uses a digital recreation of deceased founder Orville Redenbacher, and imagined a day when grandchildren could interact with digital versions of their deceased grandparents. Virtual reality does not allow a person to actually live forever, nor will it ever replace one's consciousness, Blascovich added.

Biography:

Jim Blascovich is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Co-Director of the Research Center for Virtual Environments and Behavior which he co-founded with Jack Loomis, a perceptual scientist at UCSB in 1997. He held academic positions at the University of Nevada, Marquette University and SUNY at Buffalo before coming to UCSB in 1995. He is currently (2010-2011) a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. Jim is a past President of both the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. He is a Member of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, a Charter Fellow of the American Psychological Society, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. His research has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation for more than 20 years and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Army Research Laboratory, and other agencies. He has over 140 publications including 4 books.

Biography:

Jeremy Bailenson is founding director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab and an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Stanford. He earned a B.A. cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1994 and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Northwestern University in 1999. After receiving his doctorate, he spent four years at the Research Center for Virtual Environments and Behavior at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a Post-Doctoral Fellow and then an Assistant Research Professor.

Bailenson's main area of interest is the phenomenon of digital human representation, especially in the context of immersive virtual reality. He explores the manner in which people are able to represent themselves when the physical constraints of body and veridically-rendered behaviors are removed.

From Dorner to Waco to MOVE Bombing ~ Growing Militarization of Domestic Policing

Waco - A New Revelation : The first time that the U.S. govt used armored vehicles, helicopters and military actions against American citizens What can Americans expect - what with BHO, et al, now attempting to abrogate the 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights?

DemocracyNow.org - The fire that killed former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner on Tuesday has drawn comparisons to the deadly 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, and the 1985 police bombing of the MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia. In Waco, federal agents denied for years they had used incendiary tear gas after a fire killed 76 people inside the compound. The MOVE bombing left six adults and five children dead. We speak to former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper and Radley Balko, author of the forthcoming book, "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces."

Fight The New World Order with Global Non Compliance

Don't people see what's going on once they disarm us Americans there will be no great nation left where the people can resist and be effective. It's revelations, there have been signs for many years but now it's very clear what's happening.





Understand your enemy, and understand the weapons they use. Then use those same weapons against them. The money system is the head of the snake. Cut the head off the snake and the rest of it will whither and die. There need be No violence, no guns, no banners, no slogans, no group think, just a united act of global non compliance. Remember that it is much easier to fight for principles than to live up to them and it takes a far braver man to stand up for what is right and spit in the face of authority than it does to blindly follow orders due to fear of the consequences. Understand that we are all one and the key to real change and unity in this world lies with love. It is time for the people of the world to stop and realise that the divisions that supposedly exist amongst us are an illusion. There IS NO division and its time for everyone to understand the truth of this. It is through the constantly promoted illusion of division that the system is able to function but in order for it to do so, it needs public compliance. Stop complying with it and you will shut it down. Its time for us all to collectively stand together and address the root cause of the problems. Everyone. max igan

Russian Air Defense Intercepts Meteor and Blows it to Pieces Before Impact?

 UPDATE: 1000 INJURED - A Russian health official says nearly 1,000 people have sought help for injuries caused by a meteor that exploded in the sky, blasting out countless windows. Chelyabinsk health chief Marina Moskvicheva, said Friday that 985 people in her city had asked for medical assistance. The Interfax news agency quoted her as saying 43 were hospitalized. The Russian Academy of Sciences said the meteor -- estimated to be about 10 tons -- entered the Earth's atmosphere going at least 33,000 mph. It shattered about 18-32 miles above the ground, releasing several kilotons of energy above the Ural Mountains.A number of lurid claims are being made in connection with today's meteor shower over Russia, including obscure reports that the meteor was shot down by Russian air defenses, as well as a claim by controversial Russian political leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky that the meteor was in fact a secret US weapon aimed at Russia.

The Next and Last Pope ~ A Look at the St. Malachy Prophecy

St Malachy was the Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and a vision of the identity of the last 112 Popes. He was canonized by Pope Clement III as a Roman Catholic "saint", on July 6, 1199, the first Irish saint to be canonized. Malachy wrote about his vision, and that he was inscribing, the pontiffs from pope Celestine the second "...to the end of the world." In all, Malachy described, 111 popes. As we now know today, the 111th Pope, is Pope Benedict XVI, (the glory of the olives) and according to Malachy, he will be the last "official" Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Last Pope - A Look at the St. Malachy Prophecy Petrus Romanus: 900 Year Old Prophecy Says Next Pope Will Oversee End of Days In 1139 A.D. the Catholic Saint Malachy was said to have experienced visions during a trip to Rome. He subsequently put these visions to paper and penned a document containing 112 short phrases purporting to describe all future popes that would head the Catholic Church. Though not a part of official Catholic dogma or church teachings, this Prophecy of the Popes is well known by Vatican officials and church scholars because it has been remarkably accurate about naming the last 111 heads of one of the world’s oldest and most widespread religions. According to researchers, theologians and evangelical scholars, the phrases Malachy scribed in his writings offer up the “nature, name, destiny or coat of arms” of every pope in succession and culminate with the naming of the 112th pope. This morning, Pope Benedict XVI announced he would be retiring. Jokingly referred to as “God’s Rottweiler” in some circles, the German born 111th Pontiff as described in Malachy’s prophecy is called the Gloria Olivae, or ”glory of the olive,” which some supporters of the prophecy suggest is a reference to the Benedictine Order of monks from whom Benedict got his namesake. The monks are also known as the Olivetans, and are represented by an olive branch, leaving many to believe that Saint Malachy was, once again, right. Now, according to prophecy, the 112th Pope will step up to head the Church, and he will be named Petrus Romanus, or Peter the Roman. Whether you’re Catholic, Christian or not a religious person at all, the fact that a 900 year old prophecy is coming to a close is intriguing. And one way or the other, whether its predictions turn out to be true or not, the prophecy concludes with the next Pope. Eerily, the prophecy describes the Catholic Church’s last Pontiff as overseeing a new era, and one that will be met with great difficulty and destruction: “In extreme persecution the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman...” “Who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible or fearsome judge will judge his people. The End.” -- Prophecy of the Popes – Attributed to St. Malachy circa 1139 A.D. Within the Book of Revelation, also known as The Apocalypse of John, are references to the destruction of the City of Seven Hills (Rome) and to the many trials that will be faced by mankind ahead of the final judgement – the rapture, the rise of the anti-christ, seven years of tribulations, and the end of days. Suffice it to say, if the prophecy is accurate, then the world will soon be engulfed in a battle between good and evil.