Mars (Russian: Марс) is a Soviet science education and science fiction film produced and directed by Pavel Klushantsev.

Like the previous film Luna produced by Klushantsev, the film Mars was created at the intersection of educational science films and science-fiction. It consists of seven pieces, which tell (based on scientific understanding of the 1960s) of the physical conditions on planet Mars, the possibility of life on Mars and what forms it might take, of Martian canals and “seas” of the Red Planet. In addition, the film includes the director’s fantasy hypothetical forms of life on mars, and of the exploration and colonization of Mars in the near future.

All about Syria? No. It’s cover for the new phase of death squads in Iraq. “Stability” as the Masters of the Universe would call it.

What to do about the deepening quagmire of Iraq? The Pentagon’s latest approach is being called “the Salvador option”–and the fact that it is being discussed at all is a measure of just how worried Donald Rumsfeld really is. “What everyone agrees is that we can’t just go on as we are,” one senior military officer told NEWSWEEK. “We have to find a way to take the offensive against the insurgents. Right now, we are playing defense. And we are losing.” Last November’s operation in Fallujah, most analysts agree, succeeded less in breaking “the back” of the insurgency–as Marine Gen. John Sattler optimistically declared at the time–than in spreading it out. Newsweek 2005

To hear the MSM tell it, the latest news (if you want to call it that) out of Iraq (our precious 52nd state) is that “the turrurrurrurrists” are rebelling and threatening to upset the Green Zone.

A call to arms has been put out and the Shite’s who have been blessed with power and access to globalist money, are signing up, shouting religious dogma and hoping on the back of trucks with AK-47′s to go wipe out “the terrorists” while basically, over here, we applaud (or we are supposed to lest we get called “conspiracy theorists” or something.

“Dozens climbed into the back of army trucks, chanting Shiite slogans and hoisting assault rifles, pledging to battle the Sunni group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has launched a lightning advance across the country. By God’s will, we will be victorious.” said one volunteer, Ali Saleh Aziz. “We will not be stopped by the ISIL or any other terrorists.” AP

Oh, there are scaaaaary pictures of guys with rags on their heads holding weapons, videos of guys pretending like they’re cutting off people’s heads, bodies in nifty set-pieces laying around pretending to have been shot.. all sorts of stage managed stunts designed to get the world population on board whatever decision is made to deal with this stuff.

But what is it really all about? Syria? Iran? Or something else entirely?

And to that end you have pretty much the same story coming from both the MSM as well as the controlled opposition sites like Di$info Jone$ and Zero Hedge.

“As The Daily Mail reports, blood-thirsty jihadists are carrying out summary executions on civilians, Iraqi soldiers and police officers – including 17 in one street alone – on their warpath to Baghdad, the UN said today. Zero Hedge via Prison Planet

“The Salafist horde currently making its way to Baghdad from northern Iraq is a secret and specialized army of terrorists funded, armed and supported by Saudi Arabia, the Sunni caliphate of Iraq and the Levant, and NATO.” Prison Planet

Now, let’s be clear: this group that supposedly is tearing up our precious Iraq is run by the CIA and our allies in Saudi Arabia. The ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant ) was created in 2007 as a Wahhabist offshoot of the CIA’s al Qaeda. They are Sunni extremists but not “extremists” in terms of their religious determinations, they are far-far right Sunnis, basically worshiping whomever pays them to inflict destabilizing terror campaigns across the world.

They helped the administration regime change Libya and Egypt after we determined that the Egyptian people voted the wrong way. They’ve been in Syria fighting on the same side as ObamaGod but somehow everyone in the MSM seems to forget those facts today.

Yeah, Prison Planet and folks like “Tony Cartalucci” (whatever they call themselves theses days) are wise to that aspect of this particular destabilization campaign. And by telling you that, they will gain your trust.

However, they’re not telling you what’s really going on.

They say these guys are in Iraq in order to create a pretext to re-invade Iraq and eventually drive into Syria. After all, the ISIL is alternatively called the ISIS ( Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ) and they do claim a territory that bleeds north into Syria and Turkey as their own.

So, here we have a situation where these mercenaries who have been on our payroll in the past are now running through Iraq (with good intel mind you and military tactical training) causing all kinds of mayhem while making sure to post the most offensive and frightening videos they can on YouTube, all the while, the thrust of the story in both the alternative and controlled press is that they are “terrorists” that must be stopped.

Syria the big prize?

I don’t think so.

The key here is looking at how the Iraqis, under our control, are mobilizing the profiting Shites; rounding them up in trucks with police and military escorts and rushing them out to deal with “the terrorists”

This has been done SO MANY TIMES when we install neoliberal regimes in the past. It was done in Indonesia. It was done in Chile. It was done most recently in India. “Boko Haram”? al Qaeda in Yemen? South Sudan? “KONY 2012″? Take your pick. When our “interests” are at stake in our client states, the “turrurrurists” always seem to show up right on time to justify U.S. involvement or a good old fashioned death squad cleansing of the dissidents. Remember those bombs that went off in Egypt just as al Sisi needed justification to start rounding up the opposition before the election?

It’s such a tired little trick, it’s almost a cliche when you think about it and God knows I’ve written about it time and time again.

Hell, the same thing was done in Iraq in 2005 and 2006 under the Bush administration. That program was instigated by the Sunni Awakening; an organized revolution that was taking place in direct opposition to our “national interests” that had been profiting from the Iraq invasion.

They sent in John Negroponte first, making him our ambassador to the country. He brought in an old Salvador Option partner of his named James Steele. These guys have been creating death squads on behalf of big business for quite sometime.

“Yesterday, the Guardian published an article detailing how the US turned to the use of death squads in Iraq to quell the rise of Sunni militias. The article provides convincing evidence that this was an intentional policy and was in fact a central tenet of David Petraeus’ often-praised counterinsurgency, or COIN, strategy. The key person in the Guardian’s reporting is James Steele, who was a veteran in organizing Central American death squads on behalf of the US during the Reagan years.” Empty Wheel

Yes, these guys posing for “scary photos” and “jihad videos” are our assets. But they aren’t the targets of what is to come.

With our forces practically out of the country and neoliberal economics causing disastrous living conditions for the unwashed masses, the opposition to our corrupt puppet regime is growing exponentially.

The threat is that we will lose the control the Bush administration imposed on Iraq with Shock and Awe and death squads and torture and extreme renditions and a whole bunch of lies.

President Barack Obama should authorize air strikes “as quickly as possible” to thwart radical Islamist forces advancing toward Baghdad, said former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte.

Given the momentum shown by the Sunni insurgents, it is “entirely appropriate” for the U.S. to help Iraq’s government as it marshals its own defense forces, he said. Bloomberg

This threat translates to a lack of “stability” to our government’s corporate masters (i.e. the “Masters of the Universe”) and that can’t be allowed to happen on Barack’s watch.

However, President Peace Prize can’t be seen as the next Dick Cheney, going in there with guns blazing and death squads rounding up dissidents and political opposition / union leaders. So…

On Friday, President Barack Obama ruled out sending American troops “back into combat”. However, the administration is weighing whether to launch airstrikes inside Iraq to target terrorists.” Press TV

Enter the boogeyman… our favorite Wahhabist mercenaries.

Now everyone is calling for drone strikes and Special Forces teams, all in the name of “humanitarian intervention” and such.

That’s over here. In the meantime, trucks are being loaded up with Iraqi Brownshirts who are dedicated to preserving the new order of Iraq and willing to make a name for themselves in “the Party” by kicking in doors at 3 am and killing those pesky malcontents who are upsetting the neoliberal apple cart.

This isn’t about Syria. It’s a replay of an old tactic. We’ve seen it before. We will see it again.

Codescope is an interactive kiosk with a touch screen that lets you explore the Codex Leicester, a notebook of Leonardo da Vinci’s that Bill Gates bought in 1994. The Codex and the Codescope are traveling together to various museums in Europe as part of the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death.

Professor Michael Fitzgerald is a psychiatrist based in Ireland who has written some books on an idea that Asperger’s Syndrome – a form of Autism – may be linked to genius and creativity – in this interview with Raj Persaud he discusses some of these ideas. Just after six minutes the interview ends and if you want to hear more go to the interview on Alan Turing which is also posted on this channel.

I get asked a lot of questions about autism and especially what it’s like to be an autistic adult female. To be honest, I’m still kind of getting my head around it, but in today’s video I explore a little of my story so far since receiving a diagnosis at the age of 35. Today’s video is a personal one sharing a little of my story. I hope you find it interesting, I’d love to hear a little about your experiences too – please share them in a comment, or link to any relevant videos/ blog posts etc you’ve shared.

Netflix is facing a growing backlash to its streaming of movie 365 Days after viewers suggested it ‘perpetuates and promotes rape culture’.

Billed as the next 50 Shades of Grey, Polish film 365 DNI, also known as 365 days, tells the story of Laura Biel (Anna-Maria Sieklucka) who is kidnapped and imprisoned on a holiday to Sicily by mafia boss Massimo Torricelli (Michele Morrone).

On Thursday singer Duffy wrote a letter to Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, appealing to the service to use their influence ‘more responsibly’. And viewers online appear to agree with many suggesting it ‘glorifies kidnapping and sex trafficking’.

Grammy-winning singer Duffy, 35, who recently disclosed her own experience of being raped, drugged, and kidnapped, explains to Hastings why she feels that the glamorisation of kidnapping in 365 Days is dangerous.

She says the movie treats ‘the serious crime of kidnapping and sex trafficking’ as ‘erotic entertainment.’

Journalist Megan McGibney agreed, saying it was ‘disturbing that this movie was ever made in the first place’ and writing: ‘It’s getting bad reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes for those same reasons.’

The streaming service has not yet commented on the criticisms.

Another viewer said: ‘365 Days on Netflix is glorifying kidnapping, sexual/physical assault, and Stockholm syndrome. There is nothing romantic or sexy about this movie at all. Rape isn’t f***ing sexy. Bull**** movies like this perpetuate rape culture.’

One commented: ‘“365 days” promotes rape and stockholm syndrome and y’all be like’, followed by the loveheart emoji.

Another said: ‘365 Days is literally glorifying predatory behaviour, kidnapping, rape culture and domestic abuse. How the f*** do some of y’all think this is sexy.’

Fans had said it was the ‘hottest thing ever’ and ‘made Fifty Shades of Grey look PG,’ but critics have accused the creators of ‘romanticizing’ a dangerous relationship between a captor and victim.

One person wrote on Twitter: ‘Where is the petition to get Netflix to boycott 365 days and stop selling this trash that is clearly mysoginistic [sic] to young teenage girls and boys? Clearly the only reason it is popular is cos it’s an attractive lead doing all the raping and other non-consensual behavior.

‘I cannot f***ing believe Netflix is selling this content as if it is absolutely normal.

‘@netflix Please, it is my absolute humble request, take 365 days down before this content influences other men to believe that women like this s***.’

Another wrote: ‘i watched 365 days bc my coworker suggested it. literally 5 minutes into it, i felt really f***ing uncomfortable. this movie is literally the worst i’ve ever seen. it glorifies rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, stalking, sex trafficking, pedophilia……’

After landing on Netflix last month the film became the subject of widespread social media discussion thanks to its controversial depiction of sex between a kidnapper and his victim.

The storyline of the movie is based on the first book of a trilogy by Polish author Blanka Lipińska in which character Laura does not expect that on a trip to Sicily trying to save her relationship, Massimo will kidnap her and give her 365 days to fall in love with him.

Duffy has noted that fans of the movie have recently been seen ‘pleading’ to leading actor Morrone to kidnap them.

She penned: ‘I encourage the millions who have enjoyed the movie to reflect on the reality of kidnapping and trafficking, of force and sexual exploitation, and of an experience that is the polar opposite of the glossy fantasy depicted.’

Clinical psychologist Dr. Goali Saedi Bocci said: ‘There is clearly quite a bit of misunderstanding about sexual consent and assault and such films only continue to muddy the waters.

‘We have to be extra cautious of the media we consume because, like it or not, these things get into our subconscious.’

But fan Susana Rodriguez, 33, of Houston, told The New York Times: ‘Yes, it does romanticize Stockholm syndrome, but it’s just a movie.

‘Other movies have killers and people getting killed, but they’re not protesting those movies. It’s 2020. We need to separate fiction from reality.’

365 Days has already made headlines with its incredible graphic sex scenes between the two lead characters, with one seeing Laura tied up in a room so she can watch Massimo have a steamy encounter with a sex worker.

In one of the movie’s most memorable scenes the pair finally have sex in a boat as Laura begins to fall under Massimo’s spell.

But their dysfunctional relationship doesn’t always run smoothly, as Massimo lashes out at Laura by dragging her into the bedroom after she sees one of his exes at a function.

One person wrote: ‘Please remember that there is a huge difference between fantasy and reality. If you are a guy, please don’t get any ideas.

‘No girl wants to be kidnapped and made to fall in love.’

Meanwhile, another viewer, tweeted: ‘It romanticizes harassment (which is so messy by the way), there’s Stockholm syndrome (which is a mental condition from which a victim falls in love with her abductor and should not be normalized).’