“Researchers now believe the Maya had a population of 10 million, ‘much higher’ than previous estimates. The discoveries include urban centers with sidewalks, homes, terraces, ceremonial centers, irrigation canals and fortifications.”
“Psychedelic drugs have been associated with anti-authoritarian counter-cultures since the 1960s, but a new study suggests using psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, actually makes people less likely to embrace authoritarian views, PsyPost reports.”
Read more: https://www.alternet.org/drugs/magic-mushrooms-fight-authoritarianism-psilocybin-psychedelics
“Local, state, and federal agencies have a long history of targeting, harassing, and entrapping fans of untraditional music. Because so many innocuous activities have become criminalized in recent decades, it has never been easier for the feds to tar any group they please.”
Read more: https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/guilt-musical-association/
“It wasn’t politicians who introduced change and progress—it was actually musicians. Innovative musicians preceding the civil rights movement set the tone for how we now connect with individuals who look different from us. After all, the only thing that matters to music lovers is how the music makes you feel.”
“Phil Parhamovich lived a months-long nightmare trying to get his lawfully earned life savings of $91,800 back after law enforcement seized it during a routine traffic stop that resulted in no charges or even accusations.”
Read more: http://ij.org/ll/february-2018-volume-27-issue-1/victory-ij-helps-musician-stop-highway-robbery/
“In 2014, he released the album Animal Ambition and became the first artist to accept Bitcoin as payment. The rapper received more than 700 Bitcoins under the deal, but then forgot about the cryptocurrency, according to celebrity news site TMZ.”
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42820246
“Retired Army lieutenant colonel Thomas Lesnieski, who was involved with the production of the film, says that in order to ‘make sure that the way the military is portrayed is done right,’ changes were made to the script of Pitch Perfect 3 after the film enlisted ‘DoD support’.”
“Should the CIA be allowed to carry on its criminal activities just to protect Seymour Hersh’s sources? Should the truth about germ warfare be buried for ever behind a shield of deniability?”
“The people of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro all speak the same language, the Serbo-Croatian language, yet their respective governments claim that they speak Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. In reality, the differences between how people speak in the former Yugoslavia are as little as the differences between English in Britain and the United States. Nonetheless, their respective governments sought to courageously protect their people from not speaking a language named after their national identity.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/governments-try-to-control-language-to-hilarious-results/
“She is one of 100 French women who wrote an open letter, warning about a new ‘puritanism’ sparked by recent sexual harassment scandals. It deplores a wave of ‘denunciations’, following rape allegations made against US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. A group of French feminists condemned the letter, accusing the signatories of trivialising sexual violence.”
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42630108