VPNS AND PROXIES WON'T SAVE YOU

With all the hullabaloo about the NSA's spying on every single U.S. citizen, the amount of internet users turning to encryption, proxy and VPN services, and other privacy tools has increased. But don't think those tools will keep you safe.

First of all, there's no guarantee your VPN won't turn over information to the government if they're served with paperwork that includes some serious threats. No matter what their policy is on keeping logs or monitoring traffic, keep in mind that you have no idea what the government can access and when. Say you had purchased some goods on the Silk Road and the seller, who used Tor Mail, didn't delete any of his order information, which included your shipping address. If the government were to seize those email servers, they would have evidence linking you to cyber crimes.

Nothing is safe. Images via Wikimedia Commons.

Secondly, if you are using a VPN or proxy, use common sense. Just because your real IP is blocked doesn't mean your actions can't be linked to you. Say you torrent some popular AMC shows and then decide to check your webmail. If you log into your webmail account through your proxy, that proxy will automatically be linked to your account and you, as will all the "private" downloading you did. The fact that your browsing is "anonymous" doesn't mean your identity will be protected.

As a final warning, be aware that just because you've taken every step possible to protect your identity and information, don't assume that your computer is safe. Maybe the NSA is logging every keystroke, recording audio and video from webcams and mics, or capturing your screen. Maybe they have a backdoor built into your OS.

In today's world, the only way to securely conduct any online activity is to find a public computer away from security cameras, wear a disguise and latex gloves, run the Tor Browser off an encrypted flash drive that you later destroy with thermite, all while using a fake identity and bitcoins purchased with VISA giftcards that were purchased with cash.

OH NO! THE MEDIA'S SELLING US TERROR

Do a quick Google search of "Rolling Stone cover" and you'll find quite a few articles and opinion pieces on the Rolling Stones' decision to put Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of their pop culture magazine. Many people are upset about it, saying Rolling Stone is glorifying terrorism/terrorists, or that they're trying to cash in on controversy, or that they're simply insensitive to the victims. But should we really be mad at Rolling Stone?

The controversial cover.

When I heard of the controversy, I immediately thought of some famous covers from Time magazine. They've plastered images of some of the world's most notorious killers. Seinfeld even did a sketch about a killer who made the cover of Time.


Granted, most people don't think of Rolling Stone as the hard news source that Time (laughably) is, but they've done some pretty good reporting. Check out the "Generation Kill" series, "Fast Food Nation", or their report on CIA operatives in the media. They've published some dirt on big conspiracies, some of which the government doesn't seem to like.

Before everyone gets all up in arms that Rolling Stone put the Boston Bomber suspect on their cover, realize that the media has been selling us an obsession with murder and death for years. For more information on that, check out Nancy Grace. This is nothing new, and the real perpetrator is us. We buy into it. We demand violence and tragedy, so the media supplies it. Whether that's a human trait, or if we've been conditioned to seek that controversy because of the media's portrayal of it is another question.

All the negativity, violence, and sadness shown on the news has a negative impact on us. It makes us anxious and depressed. It has deep psychological effects on us. So, tune out. Turn it off. Quit getting wrapped up in death and destruction and ignore the garbage they're shoving down your throat. Unplug from the Matrix and get out while you still can.

DRUGS ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS THING ON EARTH AND THEY'LL KILL YOU

Head over to the DEA website and you'll see why drugs are illegal in their mission statement:

"The mission of the [DEA] is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets."

Or, maybe they don't touch on why drugs are illegal . . . Anyway, the big thing is they're dangerous. Kids get hooked on them, turn stupid, start murdering and raping, leech off society, and then overdose and die. As you can see in the chart below, the War on Drugs has had a significant impact on the number of overdose deaths in the U.S.

Rate per 100,000 of unintentional drug overdose deaths in the U.S., via CDC.

That's right, there are about six times more overdose deaths since the War started. What's interesting is that this data mirrors that of the prison population's growth since the War began (for more info on the U.S. prison system, which holds a quarter of all Earth's prisoners, check out some of these stats).

But let's get to the dangers of drugs, kids. Illicit drug use is dangerous. It's deadly. Using illegal drugs like cannabis, LSD, psilocybin, PCP, ecstacy, meth, crack, and heroin is the quickest way to end up dead. They have "no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse." These drugs are dangerous enough to warrant a $1 trillion (and counting) War. Dangerous enough to require mandatory minimum sentencing for users (so they can get the help and support they need to overcome their addiction in a safe, drug-free environment).

Let's take a look at some of the data showing how dangerous illegal drugs are:

Visit DrugWarFacts.org for more great info like this.

Hmmm, it's tucked in there right under diabetes. And here's a newsflash: that number isn't just the flat-out illegal stuff like DMT and crack. It includes prescription drug overdoses, too. Those pills the doctor gives us have started an epidemic. One hundred people die in the U.S. from prescription drug overdoses every day. Read more on the CDC website.

From those drug deaths, 9,429 were caused by "unspecified" drugs and since the rest were prescription medications, taken legally or illegally, we're assuming the illegal drug deaths are in there. For this article, and just for fun, we'll assume all 9,429 of those were illegal drug deaths.

Breaking all this data down further, the Harvard School of Public Health looked at the lifestyle factors responsible for the deaths described above. For some reason they didn't feel it was necessary to investigate illegal drug use (they probably couldn't find enough specific data). Here's their list, with illegal drug deaths thrown in there:

1. Smoking: 467,000
2. High blood pressure: 395,000
3. Overweight-obesity: 216,000
4. Inadequate physical activity and inactivity: 191,000
5. High blood sugar: 190,000
6. High LDL cholesterol: 113,000
7. High dietary salt: 102,000
8. Low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000
9. High dietary trans fatty acids: 82,000
10. Alcohol use: 64,000
11. Low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000
12. Low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000
13. Illegal drugs: 9,429

Not eating enough fruits and vegetables is more dangerous than doing illegal drugs! 

OMG! GET THAT WATERMELON AWAY FROM ME!

Harvard's breakdown is very similar to a popular CDC article titled "Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000" (that they have for some reason neglected to provide ever again), which listed the top three causes of death as smoking, poor diet and inactivity, and alcohol consumption, respectively. And just for some more reference, here's another article showing the top nine causes of death in the U.S. (hint: illegal drugs aren't on there).

In conclusion, no one should ever do illegal drugs, ever, because the government decided they're illegal and dangerous and they'll corrupt your mind. For more fun reading, check out the DEA's informative PDF Drugs of Abuse.

For our next installment, we'll be looking at another danger of illegal drugs: addiction, and how the government lists it as a mental health issue on all their websites, but decides to use the law enforcement system to treat it with prison sentences. Addiction is a disease, after all, and everyone knows the saying: "A 15-year sentence keeps the doctor away."