6 Secret Monopolies You Didn't Know Run the World

The American revolutionaries gave their lives for a future in which each man would have the freedom to make his own choices. That dream has come true in the form of supermarket aisles that contain 50 different cereals with the word "oat" in their name, five marshmallow based cereals with a monster theme and 12 different varieties of Cheerios alone. God Bless America. What would you say if I told you that dream was a lie? I don't know what you would say, but we're about to find out. Luxottica Makes All Your Sunglasses Remember back when you watched The Matrix for the first time and ran down to the store to buy sunglasses and a trench coat? Which was famous for its sunglasses. The thing is, all of those are made by one manufacturer -- Luxottica. Well, at least you get to pick between stores, right? That has got to be really heavy. This is of course why they can charge you $200 for a piece of plastic with two hinges -- because most of the "competition" isn't actually competing with them. Corn!

14 Wild Ideas Many Worlds , Medicine Useless , A.I. via Common Sense , Cryonics , Uploads , I'm in Sim , Fast Growth , Growth Stops , Colonize Galaxy , No Aliens , Aliens Came & Left , Private Law , Futarchy , No One Honest . by Robin Hanson , Oct. 18, 2001 A wild idea is one that many people think is obviously quite unlikely. I'd say at least a third of these wild ideas are likely true. (Parenthetic links are to more of my writings .) Many times each day, your mind permanently splits into different versions that live in different worlds.

List of ongoing military conflicts Locations of ongoing conflicts worldwide, June 2015 Major wars, 10,000+ deaths in current or past year Wars, 1,000–9,999 deaths in current or past year Minor conflicts, 100-999 deaths in current or past year Skirmishes and clashes, fewer than 100 deaths in current or past year The following is a list of ongoing armed conflicts that are taking place around the world and continue to result in violence. List guidelines[edit] This list of ongoing armed conflicts is for the sole purpose of identifying present-day conflicts and the death toll associated with each conflict. Armed conflicts consist in the use of armed force between two or more organized armed groups, governmental or non-governmental alike.[1] Interstate, intrastate and non-state armed conflicts are listed. 10,000 or more deaths in current or past year[edit] Conflicts in the following list have caused at least 10,000 direct violent deaths in current or past calendar year. 1,000–9,999 deaths in current or past year[edit] See also[edit]

Astroturfing Marketing tactic of creating "grassroots" organizations Definition[edit] Artificial grass produced by AstroTurf, which inspired the name "astroturfing" for creating a false impression of grassroots support In political science, it is defined as the process of seeking electoral victory or legislative relief for grievances by helping political actors find and mobilize a sympathetic public, and is designed to create the image of public consensus where there is none.[1][2] Astroturfing is the use of fake grassroots efforts that primarily focus on influencing public opinion and typically are funded by corporations and governmental entities to form opinions.[3] On the internet, astroturfers use software to mask their identity. Policies and enforcement[edit] In Australia, astroturfing is regulated by Section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, which broadly prohibits "misleading and deceptive conduct". Debate[edit] Effectiveness[edit] Justification[edit] Impact on society[edit] Techniques[edit] [edit]