Truth is Hidden

"But how can we convince the humans?" Sassperilla queried.
"It will have to be a slow, gradual plan, one that appeals to their simple minds. We must embed ourselves in their culture, and slowly, over time manipulate them into accepting our whims." replied the Old One.

Two hundred years later, one February morning..

The Johnson Family was seated around the breakfast table, Daddy Johnson reading The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jimmy and Jack Johnson (being 17 and 14 respectively) exchanging light playful banter and Mommy Johnson was making gluten-free flap jacks, grass-fed sausage and organic, nitrite free bacon.

"This Global warming thing is a load of hooey..." Daddy said, tossing the paper aside with disgust. "It's obvious to anyone with two firing neurons that they're just pushing the issue to distract from REAL climate change."

Mommy gently set down a fresh round of flap-jacks and sat next to her husband, their home was a small colonial style 4 bedroom in the middle of no-where Pennsylvania, the kitchen decently sized and the family was seated around a large, rectangular table, the room lit by sunlight gently cascading through the windows. "It does seem as if the winter's in Europe have gotten particularly nasty." Mommy added, "Perhaps there is something to sudden glacial rebound after all..."

"I read on the internet that scientists were lying about global warming..." Jimmy piped up, a slight grin on his face.

"Well you have to be skeptical of things you read on the internet, son, but in this case, given everything else that's out there I think what you read was pretty spot on." Daddy replied. "Now, who's ready to go see Punxsutawney Phil?"

Jimmy shouted, "Oooh! Me!", thrilled that he got to skip school that day to go enjoy the annual Groundhog's Day festivities.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep underground...

"Damn those humans! How dare they talk about our grand conspiracy so flippantly! Our plans are now in jeopardy!" The old one cursed. He was walking along in one of the many underground caverns that housed the Consortium. It was an ancient group of humans and groundhogs who colluded to convince the global populace the world was heating up... "We need the AGBot to get on the mind-control box and thoroughly distort the reality of the situation before more people catch on to our machinations!"

Sassperilla followed, along with a coterie of humans and groundhog guards, assistants and note-takers. Today was Groundhog day, the epic announcement of groundhog will imparted to a few, elect humans to be regurgitated in their media. One of the assistant groundhogs scurried off down a side passage, thorough a retinal-scanning security door and into the hangar.

What stood before him was a large, human shaped android. The AGBot, it's ultimate purpose was to be a tool of the groundhog elite whereby they could communicate with the humans as a human, in this case, humans knew the AGbot as Al Gore. The groundhogs had positioned him in many influence positions, and now his ultimate purpose, to push the Global Warming Agenda, was in full swing. The cat-sized rodent climbed up onto the scaffolding and entered AGBots backside where he could neurally link with the robot, controlling all of its actions directly. After powering up, he casually walked back out into the hallway and rejoined the small ensemble.

"Sassperilla, make sure the bot is on TV before the day's end." The old one ordered as the group entered an elevator and began rapid ascent toward the surface.

"Yes, Old One. We've also begun buying stock in Carbon Credits... phase two is in full swing."

"Excellent... I must complete the ritual. Go now and see to our affairs."

On the surface there was a buzz in the air. The excitement was palpable as everyone waited for Punxsutawney Phil's announcement, will spring come early or will there be six more weeks of winter? As the old one climbed into his borrow from the secret underground entrance he removed his ceremonial robes and crown, handing them off to his assistants. He was ready for the lie... as he clamored out of his sanctuary he was sure to cast and look directly at his shadow, indicating winter would be another 6 weeks in length. This, he knew to be a lie, winter would end early, and all the puny humans would be scurrying around in their thick, winter coats unnecessarily.

"Sweating," he thought, with a maniacal grin.

The below article has since been removed, but I think it serves as an excellent description of pathological behavior.

Scots internet rat used dating site to prey on terrified women across the world

Dec 29 2009 By Karen Bale
Grant McNee

FIVE terrorised women from different sides of the world have revealed how they fell victim to a Scots internet sex cheat.

And they spoke of their fears that twisted charmer Grant McNee has used the web to prey on dozens more women worldwide.

Flabby, red-faced McNee is an unlikely Casanova. He's unemployed and lives with his elderly mum in Larbert, Stirlingshire.

But he has used a dating website, plentyoffish.com, to snare lovers in South Africa, Canada and back home in Scotland.

McNee's victims tell chillingly similar stories of how he quickly turns from a loving boyfriend into a snarling, money-grabbing, drunken control freak.

He told two lovers he was an expert in disposing of bodies, and bragged to another that he had been trained to kill in the SAS.

The women say McNee, 43, took over their lives and fleeced them out of thousands of pounds while cheating on them with other conquests he met online.

And some say that after they dumped him, they or their friends received chilling email threats from a stalker known as the Grim Reaper.

Every time he found a new victim, McNee would tell her about his previous lovers.

His five exes used the clues he left to get in touch with one another. And they all want to warn other women to steer clear of the rat.

One of McNee's ex-lovers, South African Ingrid Blignault, 40, wept as she told the Record: "I still get the shakes when I hear his name.

"I call him the psychotic parasite. He should not be allowed to continue to do this to women."

McNee met driving instructor Ingrid in 2003 while living in South Africa and quickly moved in with her in Johannesburg.

But within days, he made her get rid of all her electrical gadgets and buy his for s3600.

And in the weeks that followed, McNee's behaviour became bizarre and frightening.

She said: "He stopped my friends from visiting me. If they did, he would swear at me and call me a lesbian or a -jezebel- in front of my children.

"He would not let the children show me affection or even sit beside me. He would send them to their rooms, slam doors and swear at them."

Ingrid said McNee spent every night drinking. She added: "He would taunt me all night. The minute I fell asleep he would wake me and shout at me.

"I shook at work and couldn't function. He used to call me up to 40 times a day and ask where I was and who I was talking to."

The final straw for Ingrid came after another woman came to her and confessed she had been seeing McNee.

He begged Ingrid's forgiveness but she insisted he go to a psychiatrist. And she was horrified by the expert's findings.

Ingrid said: "The psychiatrist phoned and told me my children and I were in danger.

"I was urged to quickly get a restraining order and physical protection."

The doctor also told Ingrid in a letter: "Mr McNee was suffering from bipolar disturbance. He needs medication.

"If he's not treated, this may result in aggressive behaviour. He should remain under specialised psychiatric care."

Terrified, Ingrid ordered McNee to get out of her house and her life.

She told our reporter: "He moved out next day while I was at work and took my kids' baby photos and all my belongings.

"He then called me every half-hour to abuse me. He said he was going to get his friend in England to come and kill me.

"He also gave my ex-husband death threats because he had told me about the other woman and got her to call me."

Ingrid and her ex-husband Colin called police on McNee in October 2003. He was not charged, and later left South Africa.

Even with McNee gone, Ingrid's ordeal was not over. She began to receive terrifying emails from an address with the username Grim Reaper.

Her tormentor told her: "I will come after you with everything I can. You're an easy target Ingrid and you are also a tramp.

"You're nothing but a -jezebel- and white trash. You're a f*****g bitch and most know it.

"I have friends in South Africa you wouldn't like to meet. The average Dutchman would gladly deal with you in a car park. Don't f*** with the buffalo, you sick bitch."

Before leaving South Africa, McNee had lined up another victim - English expat Henriette O'Bryan. He met her online in July 2003.

McNee proposed to the widowed mumof-one within four days and gave her a s5000 ring he had bought for Ingrid.

Henriette and McNee then moved back to the UK, where they lived in London and Chelmsford, Essex.

"I was taken in by his lies," said secretary Henriette, 41, who finally split from McNee in February 2006.

"I felt sorry for him. He told me his ex was a bunny-boiler. I was in love with him so I booked him flights to get him to the UK."

Within a few months, McNee was showing his true colours.

Henriette said: "When I was working, he phoned me twice an hour. And if I was out with friends, he called every 10 minutes. At first it was nice because he told me he couldn't live without me, but it soon became frightening.

"If we had a fight, he would say he'd been a diver in the Army and knew how to hide bodies in the ocean. I was terrified of him."

McNee began disappearing at weekends and Henriette became suspicious. She looked on his computer and found "eight or nine files for different girls he was seeing".

"I read the emails and just went ice-cold," she recalled. "I broke down and sobbed.

"But when I quizzed him he blamed me, saying I didn't give him enough attention."

Henriette gave McNee another chance and he persuaded her to pay off s16,000 of his debts. He also got her to transfer s7000 of her savings to his account.

McNee then packed Henriette off to South Africa to visit her mum, then promptly dumped her by text. She said: "I cried my eyes out. I'd been taken for a fool. I spent my life savings on him."

Henriette sued McNee last year and he was ordered to repay her s47,000. But he has since declared himself bankrupt and she fears she will never see her money.

McNee's next victim was Canadian Sarah Wilson, a single mum with two kids. He met her on the internet in August 2005, while he was still with Henriette.

Sarah was living in England at the time. But after she wed McNee in 2006, they set up home in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

"He never proposed," said Sarah, 41, who works with people with special needs. "He just said, 'Let's get married' and sent me to buy the ring. It cost me s280.

"He brainwashed me and isolated me from my friends and family, then pushed and pushed for us to move to Canada.

"Then as soon as we were married, he stopped being affectionate and began drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel's every night."

Sarah said McNee constantly told her he had been a sniper and knew how to dispose of bodies. Then she learned her husband was a love cheat.

Sarah said: "He went back to the UK for a holiday and I later found out he'd met a girl on the internet while he was there. He began seeing her as soon as he got back.

"I found out about his cheating when I found messages on his computer, and I dumped him.

"I wanted to kill myself after I was destroyed by that monster.

"He terrorised me. He robbed me, cheated on me and left me a broken woman.

"In hindsight, I realised he only wanted to marry me to get into Canada. And after we split, I found out he was still with Henriette when we got together."

While Sarah tried to rebuild her life, McNee moved on to another victim, Canadian Stephanie Moines, 40. He met her in October 2007, again on his favourite dating site.

McNee moved into Stephanie's home within weeks and was soon sponging off her. He spent her cash on lobster dinners, champagne, strip clubs and porn, and ran up a huge credit card bill.

"He's very charming at first," said government worker Stephanie.

"He writes you love poems and tells you that you're the woman of his dreams. But within days of moving in, he's taken over. " McNee told Stephanie tales about being a former SAS soldier who had been held hostage in the Middle East.

But he was also honest for once, admitting "major addictions" to booze, sex and spending money.

Stephanie stuck with McNee and he rewarded her by betraying her. She found hundreds of calls to other women logged on his computer.

She said: "He was cheating on me with at least four women and begging at least a dozen others to meet him for sex."

Stephanie told McNee it was over and he responded with a vicious hate campaign.

She said: "He began calling me 30 times a day. He told me he was determined to destroy me, both professionally and personally.

"He was never physically violent but he threatened to cut my throat. When we broke up after 10 months, it felt like 10 years.

"This man completely depletes all your resources. He is a parasite.

"But he's his own worst enemy, because he tells each girlfriend about the others which let us get in touch with each other."

McNee moved back to Scotland and found another woman to prey on, hairdresser Heather Cupples, 38. He dated the mum-of-two from West Lothian for nine months, starting in January this year.

Heather said: "He was very pushy and would obsessively phone and text me.

"I'd had enough of him after a few months.

"Then my dad passed away and I moved in with my mum and Grant was furious. He was living with me at the time on a temporary basis.

"He began sending me nasty texts demanding I spent time with him.

"He left me 30 angry and abusive voicemails on the day of my dad's funeral."

Heather learned from McNee's computer in September that he was seeing a string of other women behind her back.

She said: "I spoke to this woman in London to warn her about Grant and it turned out she had been up here staying with him while I was seeing him.

"I was gobsmacked. He was planning to move in with her in a matter of weeks."

Heather took her revenge on McNee by arranging to meet him in a pub and handing him dozens of emails he had sent to one of his other lovers, all wrapped in a pink ribbon. He stormed out.

In recent weeks, Heather's ex-husband Jimmy, who is still friendly with her, has begun receiving sinister emails from the "Grim Reaper".

One message said: "Why would you want to be with someone who cannot keep her knickers on? She is truly a horrible creature."

When the Record approached McNee to ask him to explain his treatment of women, he sneered: "You can't prove anything. Write what you like."

HAVE you fallen victim to McNee? Email us at reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk or call us on 0141 309 3251.

Check it out! Give it a like and post it to your favorite social network. As of 3:48pm est the view-counter froze @1,416, so obviously the info is pissing someone off.

The term psychopath may be common enough that we all have some idea of its definition. Instantly Hannibal Lector (portrayed by the immortal and supremely excellent Anthony Hopkins) springs to mind. However, while Dr Lector certainly qualifies, fact tends to deviate, if only slightly from fiction, and the term psychopath has a clinical definition which is certainly worthy of study.

Today, a psychopath is someone who is rated on the gold-standard of psychopathy tests, the Psychopathy Check-list, Revised or PCL-R. This was a test conjured by Dr Robert Hare who is the preeminent researcher in the field and author of several books and research papers on the subject. It's a checklist of twenty items, and for each item the subject gets a score of zero, one or two, if the item does not apply, applies somewhat or is heavily descriptive of the subject's behavior. Someone administering the test has to be trained and qualified just to administer it because it's not terribly easy to label someone a psychopath without having the background understanding of each item and what levels of depravity are required to receive a one or two for each item.

The traits are as follows:
Factor 1: Personality "Aggressive narcissism"

Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Lack of remorse or guilt
Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric)
Callousness; lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Factor 2: Case history "Socially deviant lifestyle".

Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Poor behavioral control
Lack of realistic long-term goals
Impulsivity
Irresponsibility
Juvenile delinquency
Early behavior problems
Revocation of conditional release

Traits not correlated with either factor

Promiscuous sexual behavior
Many short-term marital relationships
Criminal versatility

I'd like to break each one down to give the reader an idea of what it means, the goal to make this as understandable as possible to the broadest possible audience.

Glib/superficial charm - Basically it means the individual is charming, they're great at conversations, convincing, but their appeal only goes skin deep. Once you understand that they're after something, you can realize that their charm is just a tool they use, one of many.

A grandiose sense of self worth - Here we get an idea that the individual values himself... a lot. They've done this, that and they have plans to do this other thing. If you ask about accomplishments you'll get a list days long. To say they have delusions of grandeur is an understatement.

Pathological Lying is pretty self-explanatory, while they may be charming and have a resume that impresses, none of what they say or claim about them self is true, often times it is just the opposite.

Cunning/manipulative - The individual is really good at getting people to do what he wants. He may have gotten a prison guard to sneak him favors, or convinced some naive kid to kill someone for him. He may have sold a bunch of toxic assets to a hedge fund and convinced them they were gold. This one really varies depending on the milieu the individual finds himself in.

Lack of remorse or guilt - self explanatory, the individual has no capacity for remorse or feelings of guilt (even though they are VERY capable of creating the impression of such if they think it will get them ahead).

Shallow affect - This basically means they have a very narrow range of real emotions, if any. All of their feelings revolve around themselves.

Callousness; lack of empathy - this is the big shocker when people realize the person they're dealing with isn't quite right. They have absolutely no concern for other people, whether its a lover, family or someone they just met. Humans naturally care for those with whom they are close, for psychopaths this is biologically impossible. Again, they are masters at maintaining an illusion of care if the person is able to get them something they desire.

Failure to accept responsibility - self-explanatory, none of their actions are ever their fault. If a psychopath murdered someone it was because the victim was 'asking for it' in their twisted little minds.

The above traits fit together, and the overall impression is that the psychopath is not only without conscience, but without empathy, without responsibility, and without the core pro-social behaviors that make us human. Does this sound like anyone you've known?

Part two will continue to describe the condition in terms of laying out the other factors in as simple terms as possible. Please feel free to post comments with your questions.

Psychopathy isn't really a disease, you could call it a condition but that's still somehow implying there is something wrong with the person. The simple fact of the matter is that psychopaths aren't broken. They're just different; they have an in-born tendency to dominate, manipulate and psychically control people they interact with. This is the natural state of the psychopath and while normal humans can become like this due to trauma, most of them are born this way (Hare).

Charming, great conversationalists, charismatic leaders, extremely good with the opposite sex - psychopaths often present a visage of success and normalcy. They can be doctors, lawyers, senators, priests, bankers, CEOs - and thrive (Babiak). They are also conscienceless, devoid of any concept of guilt or remorse, biologically incapable of empathy as well as the normal range of human emotions (Hare). In its place they possess a thriving hunger which can be temporarily sated, for what I can best describe as human suffering.

Their sexual preferences generally differ from ours and when you read the tales of their exploits (Brown, Salter, Stout) you get an understanding that they derive pleasure from only the most perverse acts that one human can inflict upon another. Specifically I'm referring to torture, rape, physical and psychological abuse and while it's sterilized here in the context of a written note remember that they cannot restrain themselves and will commit these acts not only on women they date, coworkers and subordinates, but children as well.

Some of them find a position where they work with kids just so they have easy access to prey (Salter). The over abundance of scandal within the Catholic Church is no coincidence, and over time the continued protection offered by the institution to its pedophilic clergy demonstrates its core corruption. There is an interesting account of Ira Einhorn which demonstrates just how depraved these individuals are and what they are capable of. But keep in mind that while all psychopaths commit these acts, very few of them are caught and punished.

Unfortunately, it goes much deeper and I'm just illuminating the entrance of this particular Rabbit Hole. As I continue with this series my goal will be to demonstrate and share with you a very simple truth: Psychopaths rule our world. I consider this to be one of the 'hidden truths' of our collective reality, and until we acknowledge it we can do nothing to change it.

Notes:

1.) Brown, Sandra. How to Spot a Dangerous Man Before You Get Involved. Hunter House. 2005.
2.) Salter, Anna. Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists and Other Sex Offenders. Basic Books. 2004.
3.) Stout, Martha. The Sociopath Next Door. Three Rivers Press. 2006.
4.) Hare, Robert. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us. Guilford Press. 1999.
5.) Hare, Robert & Babiak, Paul. Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths goto Work. Harper. 2007.

Caught Spiderman last night on Broadway, it was interesting. Not really that good, but not terrible either. It had an interesting plot, incredible visuals, awesome music and some really nifty special effects for a musical. The problems had more to do with awkward scenes and a staccato flow that really leaves you feeling a bit bizarre and a little confused.

The plot is pretty straight forward, its an origin story that attempts to couple a lot of spiderman mythos into a nearly 3 hour performance. I think that was also part of the problem, its scope was a little too dynamic and in compressing what easily made up hundreds of comics into one bit you lose the feel that each specific piece brings to the whole.

Visually the show was amazing: high flying acrobatics, amazing light and laser shows not to mention the incredible amount of CGI that was being displayed on cutting edge screens that formed the set's backdrop. You can't help but be mesmerized by the display. It was really beautiful.

The music was good, I really liked a lot of the songs and the choreography was pretty awesome too - however there was some odd-gaga-inspired feel to a lot of the back up dancers costumes. They seemed a bit too much, and when you have dancers with four fake legs plodding across the stage it just seems silly. I laughed a lot but then felt a little awkward because I felt like I was laughing at the show instead of laughing at comedy on purpose.

Reeve Carney gave a top-notch performance, as did the other actors. The talent really put forth a lot of time an effort and it shows. The solos they all did were moving and intense and I really enjoyed their songs and performances.

Overall it'd definitely worth seeing, especially if you're a fan of musicals. If you're not, and a huge Spidie-fan, you may want to skip it since it's much more a musical then it is a tribute to Spiderman. It's also really gay, and I don't mean that as a derogatory statement, but any gay man will be able to spot the homocentricity in the writing.

Madd props to my boy Joey for getting tickets. Good puppy.

As far as thematic movies portraying manipulation of humanity by higher life forms go, nothing has come as close to the truth as The Adjustment Bureau since The Matrix. Set in New York City, the story follows a congressman from New York who has eyes on the Senate. Played by Matt Damon, David Noris is a head strong, intelligent and soulful individual who falls in love with a woman, Elise, which goes against 'The Plan'. From there the story shows us how a group of beings manipulate and adjust the courses of our lives so that they fit into the designs of 'The Chairman'. Possessing powers beyond that of mere mortals, they are able to do a number of interesting things in order to gently - sometimes violently - push us into paths which are ordained for us. I don't want to give away much more of the story, needless to say a conflict arises between members of the bureau and Noris as he struggles to follow his heart.

The acting in this case was superb, the story itself possesses only a handful of characters and all their performances are top-notch. The writing is really fascinating, and keeps the story flowing at a moderate pace. Incredible elements like free will, destiny, and love really dominant the film. The scifi element really blended seamlessly with the love story giving the film truly broad appeal. The visuals are stunning, and at times, the movie itself feels like an ad for New York City.

Overall the film really tickled me, not only does the love story appeal to our hearts, but it also hits home for anyone who's wondered about bizarre coincidences in their life. To those rare few that have seen the man behind the curtain, the film really clicks. For those that haven't quite gone there yet, it forces you to ponder implausible truths about us and our world. It also begs the question, what would you do for Love?

Highly recommended, and I'm not one to recommend love stories.

Black Swan, starring Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman, is the tale of a ballerina who dedicates her life to her craft. From starving herself, to practicing constantly, Nina (Natalie Portman) was basically raised to fulfill her mothers dream of being a star.

We see some very interesting pathology and parental narcissism as the mother-daughter dynamic unfolds. We also get an interesting look behind the scenes of modern ballet; Girls who starve themselves to have the 'perfect' body and teachers who's instruction crosses the line into sexual harassment as well as the cutthroat, mean-girl attitude these girls can have toward one another, it's not a pretty picture.

The film itself is painful to watch and definitely gave me some anxiety throughout, however the film is told from Nina's perspective, and as such we get to experience, directly and viscerally, the pain and emotions that she endures. The fact that we feel as she feels is a testament to the exceptional direction provided by Darren Aronofsky and Natalie Portman's incredible acting. Quite possibly the most powerful role I've seen her in, she gives us a very real sense of who Nina is, how she feels, and what's going through her head during the movie.

Similarly, Portman undergoes a transform in V for Vendetta - another amazing film - and gives another incredible performance. Her role as Nina in Black Swan however is above and beyond that performance. I would have given her a 10 outta 10 for V for Vendetta, and this time she goes beyond that by leaps and bounds.

The story itself is pretty intense and we get a strong sense of duality between the Light and Dark sides of our personality and the battle to find balance between the two. There's also a lofty sense of the perpetual and yet futile struggle for perfection, as well as maintaining control over ourselves versus letting go. Through Nina and her story we are given a mirror into our own lives, if one is willing to look critically at oneself that is. We are also given a warning about obsession and even the importance of a proper diet is tangible, albeit not directly mentioned.

The music itself as well as the choreography were both amazing and highlighted the mood and feel of each scene. The soundtrack acted just as it was intended to, to give background and highlight. What little CGI was used was perfect, visually impressive and again highlighting the intensity of Nina's experiences.

Overall an amazing film, definitely worth watching, and definitely not one to share with the kiddies. It's an independent film, so it might be hard to see in the theaters, but if you get an opportunity don't pass it up!

I'll say it up front, I have mixed feelings about Skyline. Though, the reason is probably what makes the movie worth seeing. The setup: Aliens drop big blue glowy orbs that draw poor humans in and then it somehow projects them way up into the sky into big collection vessels. That's right, we're a crop, and its harvesting time. We follow the story of two old friends and their lovers as they try to survive in this alien-abduction-apocalypse. Most of the time they're hiding out in an apartment building.

Aliens are everywhere, unfortunately they skimped on the types and there were probably about three or four that we got decent close ups of. The ships were impressive, the visual affects awesome, soundtrack was pretty good too. However there were some points that were lacking, notably the plot. There was a lot of room to have more clever, more interesting scenes and twists. They kinda kept it pretty baseline. It was almost a little too normal, and that's one of the things that I loved and hated about the movie.

I'm going to SPOIL it so don't read on if you don't want the heads up on some major plot points.

They had something cool going on with Jared, how he got exposed to the light, and seemed to grow a resistance to it. That part was cool, also cool was how it was changing him, the super strength part, I thought we were going Resident Evil superpowers by accident - which would have been seriously cool. I totally would have had an different ending too, using this as the major plot-twist that gave the humans the leg up to win.

As it stood I didn't really like the gimpy human resistance - another big problem. An armada of alien vessels invade and we send a handful of marines in choppers and a school of predator drones? I mean... come on. Lets get realistic. Do the writers have any idea how much money we spend on weapons? Hell, if there's one thing I'm sure of is that the military has LOADS of secret tech that would NEVER come out UNLESS aliens invaded and we were fighting for our survival. Get into it. Even without going there, they could have had a LOT more human/alien fighting going on. It was like we just rolled over. Again - another point that I hated and loved...

The whole harvesting brains to fuel their tech - BRILLIANT. Someone learned from The Matrix, and it shows. I also liked the Jared as Neo/savior theme they had going on. Basically the aliens use human brains as computers/batteries for their technology. They show in pretty good detail how their machines can vivisect out the brain perfectly and insert it into itself for a recharge.

This brings me to the end of the film, which I believe happened 1 scene and two minutes too late. The whole scene in the ship is totally unnecessary. They were going for a dark, aliens win, humans lose, game over vibe - and they crafted it perfectly. With the film ending with them getting sucked into the ship that feeling of loss would have been sealed, and everyone would have walked out of that theater afraid of an alien invasion. They would have made a scary sci-fi movie. But unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Instead we're treated to 2 minutes where we watch the male lead get his brain ripped out and stuffed into an alien monkey suit. He then comes to lift, takes control of the monkey suit, and uses it to save his preggers girlfriend. THEN it ends. ....i mean, wtf.

So there were things I liked, namely the visuals and the action, thus the lack of disappointment. Could it have been better? Yes, easily. I loved the dark overtones, the trapped feeling, it all felt very real and it definitely conveyed that sense of humans as property; as things to be grown, farmed and harvested by big bad aliens in the sky. It was scary, it was entertaining, and definitely not a movie for little kids.

I read this one a few weeks ago, and I must say it was very good. The author paints a very structured critique of modern civilization and keeps it interesting by concocting a fictional story to go along with it.

Basically we follow a Laurentian priest who is tasked with tracking this 'guru' of sorts who's giving talks throughout central Europe. His order is primary tasked with discovering the antichrist and the flavor of this guys talks and his notably disinterest in money is what earns him the label as a potential. From there we see a philosophy unfold in a series of lectures that are given by this guy, his name, by the way, is B. That's not his real name, just the label that he acquires in his lecture series.

His basic idea is that we forgot how to live as real humans, he attributes this to 'the great forgetting' which happened sometime around 10,000BC when mankind stopped being hunter-gather and became more agricultural. He actually calls our culture one of 'totalitaran agriculture' because we enslave the earth and force it to produce food. He blames this for a steep rise in population, and goes on to attribute many of our cultural problems - crime, poverty, unemployment, war - on over population.

The philosophy it self rings true, there are some parts that are lacking - IE any discussion of psychopathy and its ponerological influence on the rest of the world is totally left out. However, it does make some interesting points regardless and given all the subterfuge and plot twists it makes for interesting light reading.