MetaFilter posts tagged with paranoia

New World Order

Artw — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:10:59 -0800

Lady Gaga: Illuminati mind control puppet

Buyer Beware

GatorDavid — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:50:35 -0800

Thinking about becoming a parent? You might find the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's list of recalled items fun! It looks like there's just under a zillion things out there that might harm your new tot. And that doesn't include ... y'know ... toys.

Hidey Hole

Joe Beese — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:59:45 -0800

It's scary out there. It can make you just want to hide.

Thomas Pynchon is 71 years old.

Joe Beese — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:43:42 -0800

"To make off with hubby's fortune, yea, I think I heard of that happenin' once or twice around L.A. And… you want me to do what exactly?" He found the paper bag he'd brought his supper home in and got busy pretending to scribble notes on it, because straight-chick uniform, makeup supposed to look like no makeup or whatever, here came that old well-known hard-on Shasta was always good for sooner or later. Does it ever end, he wondered. Of course it does. It did. Thomas Pynchon's next novel, the 416-page Inherent Vice, is described by Penguin Press as "part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon — private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog." While we wait for its August 4 publication, we can read an essay on the dystopian musical he co-wrote at Cornell or watch a clip of that movie they made of Gravity's Rainbow. related posts here and here

What if things just keep getting worse?

Joe Beese — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:21:31 -0800

"Civilization is Just a Thin Veneer. In the absence of law and order, men quickly revert to savagery. As was illustrated by the rioting and looting that accompanied disasters in the past three decades, the transition from tranquility to absolute barbarism can occur overnight. People expect tomorrow to be just like today, and they act accordingly. But then comes a unpredictable disaster that catches the vast majority unprepared. The average American family has four days worth of food on hand. When that food is gone, we'll soon see the thin veneer stripped away." It's getting ugly. Very ugly. What if things just keep getting worse? James Wesley, Rawles will be prepared. Just how many guns will you need? If you are on a budget, you might get by with a good quality bolt action rifle chambered in .308 or .30-06, a 12-gauge pump shotgun with a spare riotgun barrel, a .22 LR rifle, and a .45 automatic pistol. However, in order to have the versatility required for the many shooting tasks at most farms and ranches you will likely need at least twice this many guns. Lots more advice here. (previously)

Violence, the RPG

empath — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:39:35 -0800

Violence, the RPG. In 1999, Greg Costikyan, designer of Toon, Paranoia, and the Star Wars RPG, released this satirical and profane take on violence in games anonymously. It's now available as a free download.

Here’s what I want to do. I want to go into a Quake® deathmatch. And I want to strip down to a loincloth, sit down on the floor with a begging bowl, and call after the lunatics with the plasma guns as they flee past me, saying, “It is all samsara, it is all illusion, my friend” — for truly it is, pixels on a screen. “Reject the fleeting temptations here, what profiteth you another kill? There is another path.” And I want him to turn, think twice—and then I will smile benevolently as he tosses a rocket my way, blows me to my reincarnation as my peaceful self—and he runs on, and kills and kills again, quad damage, armor, another clip, heal and heal and blammo to the floor—until finally he turns, lays down his gun, and sits by me, asking me to teach. And then one by one, the players shall gather by me, sitting, assuming the lotus position, touching the ground in the earth-witness gesture, letting their thoughts still, contemplating that strange Quake sky as it streams overhead, peaceful, in unity, transforming this one, small, cyberrealm of unending war and mayhem into harmony."

Do you really know who people are?

tellurian — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:39:32 -0800

Criminal Searches - Making you feel safer or increasing your fear? No results for Theodore Kaczynski.

Main Core

homunculus — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:25:17 -0800

The Last Roundup. "Is the government compiling a secret list of citizens to detain under martial law?" [Via]

Revolt of the Lab Rats? Or Voyeur Caught Watching?

mmahaffie — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:28:51 -0800

When your research subjects notice you watching.... The fine folks over at Little Green Footballs discovered "a pile of results and code" from an observation of their on-line discourse on a server at Carnegie Mellon. That led to a heated thread of sometimes paranoid speculation that eventually calmed down (somewhat) when the researcher's academic advisors posted a good-natured mea-culpa (wea-culpa?) and explanation.

Officer, arrest that man: he's odd and he's got a camera.

itsjustanalias — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:03:21 -0800

London's Metropolitan police have a press campaign to help us ~~inform on each other~~ identify terrorists. How do you spot your terrorist? Well he could be the one with the camera^pdf. Or he could be the one with two mobile phones^pdf. Or the one with a chemistry set and a house^pdf. Flickr folk have their alternative takes on the poster campaign. Photographer's rights in the blue previously. And the met have already gone to bat against ~~the terrorists~~ an innocent photographer

Ramak Fazel: 49 State Capitols

homunculus — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:25:27 -0800

Odyssey of State Capitols and State Suspicion. "The story behind an exhibition: postcards, designs, photography, travels, history, stamps and law enforcement." [Via BB.]

Paranoia vs Preparation

nomisxid — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:16:27 -0800

Traditionally, media doesn't print names/photos of people only accused, but not yet convicted, but not always. Lots of towns have a police blotter section where arrests are listed. Here in Seattle, the FBI recently asked the public for help in identifying two men seen acting suspicious on the ferry system. The Seattle PI has decided not to publish the photos. Other local media have. The commentary on if the PI made the right choice follows predictable paths...

Zeitgeist - Hegel would NOT be proud.

Baldons — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:16:39 -0800

Zeitgeist, the movie [Google Video link embedded] - An interesthing, if bizarre, mix of buffed-up comparative mythology, 9/11 conspiracy theories and New world order rambling about banks, loans, debts and war. Is paranoia the spirit of our times?

Die for love, for art, for... what?

Scram — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 09:37:56 -0800

Game developer/ perfume critic Theresa Duncan has died, and longtime companion Jeremy Blake is missing. The art world is buzzing about the seeming suicide-by-water of video installation artist Jeremy Blake. The perfume blogs are fizzing with sadness over the death of Theresa Duncan, whose suicide preceded Blake's. The cops are not releasing the notes left by the late, pretty people, but a clue might be found in the paranoiac screed Duncan posted on her blog in May, in which Blake's ex-girlfriend, the CIA, FBI, Church of Scientology, Jeff Gannon, bloated plutocrats and many other bugbears of the psy-ops crowd were put on Duncan's mental merry-go-round and given a real strong spin.

Exposing the architects of power that’s changing our world

adamvasco — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 11:52:52 -0800

Right Web , founded in 2003, is a program of the International Relations Center (IRC) that tracks the work of those, in and outside of government, who have been instrumental in shaping or supporting U.S. policies in the global war on terror, also has the archives of Group watch (1985-1991), which profiled more than 125 private, quasi-governmental, and religious organizations that were closely associated with the implementation of U.S. foreign policy, especially in Central America. Profiles of Right wing individuals, organisations, corporate, and government.

Paranoiac Party Time!

Iridic — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:11:12 -0800

Slate's ongoing "Survivalist" series lays out the steps that you can take to prepare for the disasters threatening to snuff out civilization in general (and, apparently, New York City in particular). Find out how to survive nuclear terrorism, an earthquake, a skyscraper collapse, an electronic apocalypse, and global warming.

Stop The Madness!

EatTheWeak — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 12:13:37 -0800

The technology seemed so harmless at first. But as in any war, there was escalation. The pursuit of pointless perfection in shaving comfort now offers our beards only insanity. And now the multiblade wars have spilled over into electrics! Will these shaving firms not be satisfied until they've peeled the skin from our chins? Tell you the truth, I'd rather grow a beard.

Domestic Pentagon Spying?

loquacious — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 19:42:09 -0800

Is the Pentagon spying on non-violent American protesters?

The road to Pyinmana

soiled cowboy — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 13:28:16 -0800

Burma's military overseers, possibly in fear of a US invasion or internal strife, are moving the country's capital. At 6:37 a.m. on November 6th, (a time selected by one of the country’s leading astrologists), Myanmar's government began relocating its ministries to a 100 square-km complex in Pyinmana, a remote forest-bound location about 390 km north of Rangoon. Some analysts said the move is being driven by fears of a US invasion, while many in Myanmar believe it is due to worries about a possible internal uprising. (This despite a commitment to a "discipline-flourishing democracy".) The country's neighbors were put-off because they hadn't been informed of the move. Fortunately, the government is sure the relocation won't affect the country's tourism industry.

Congressional Staffer Attacked

pandaharma — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 23:51:47 -0800

Newsfilter: Emilia DiSanto, chief investigator for Chuck Grassley was attacked at her home. Was the attack connected to the Finance Committee's investigations into Medicare Fraud, drug secrets and insider trading, or the Abramoff scandal? (via)

takeafuckingjokewillya?

slogger — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 22:13:57 -0800

Did God create hurricane Katrina? Well, probably not. But perhaps, it was George Bush continuing his plan for world domination by using HAARP and scalar technology to control the weather by applying the suppressed theories of Nikola Tesla! See, once Bush has induced economic armageddon it will quickly induce the peak oil crisis thus leading to permanent martial law whereby he'll be able to suspend the constitution. Once all these pesky government controls have been removed, then Bush will finally be able to achieve the neocon dream of a New American Century.

On the edge of Aquarius, I'm living on the edge

Rev. Syung Myung Me — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 17:38:08 -0800

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession. In the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s, LA's Z Channel was a pay-TV cable channel that would play loads of esoteric films. It'd been credited with starting the trend of "director's cuts", bringing passed-over directors and films to the public's attention, and in some cases, was directly responsible for Oscar Nominations -- and was basically the work of one man, Jerry Harvey. Unfortunately, Z Channel folded shortly after Jerry Harvey killed his wife and then himself. X a n Cassavetes' film tells the story of Jerry Harvey and Z Channel through interviews with filmmakers and those involved, including an archival interview with Harvey himself.

Survivors of the spiritual hurricane unite

BlackLeotardFront — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:50:14 -0800

Inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic. Memorize the keywords with which the lizards of the stage world will attempt to distort your reality. Can you accept your own vampirism? Are you familiar with the most common reality fishing techniques and horse movements? This is the painstaking record of a man for whom delusions have completely overtaken reality. Spend some time with it - the detail is mind-numbing and the reality he has created is utterly insane... and occasionally convincing. Mirror in case Geocities croaks.

I spy with my little eye encrypted darknets on the horizon

sourbrew — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 02:40:14 -0800

we have talked about darknets before. The motivation exists. Some solutions exist, speculation is prevalent. What would it take for you to become faceless.

caller id spoof service

crunchland — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 22:17:07 -0800

Covert Call allows you to alter the caller id that is sent to the phone you are calling. It can operate just like a calling card, all for the price of a normal long distance call. Caller-ID spoofing for 5¢ a minute, for all your prankster/paranoid/social engineering needs.