Let me start by saying there is no such thing as a non-lethal weapon. Any weapon that is designed to incapacitate has the potential to kill, which is why they are referred to as less-lethal. What happens when you pepper spray someone who is allergic to pepper, or tase someone with a pacemaker? There s always the potential for death.

I’ve been watching the show Whale Wars. It’s strange, and it kind of upsets me. The propaganda in Whale Wars is rampant. The way Captain Paul Watson manipulates people, and the media is incredible. What really bothers me is the fact that people are buying his crap.

There is an episode where Watson claims the Japanese whalers have shot him. He opens his jacket to reveal his bulletproof vest and pulls out a bullet and says he’s been shot. What the hell? Let me ask you this, have you ever played baseball/softball and been hit with a ball? What about someone throwing a something at you? Not only does it hurt, but it leaves a bruise, and considering that object is only moving between 10-100mph it’s not that fast. Now consider that a bullet is traveling between 900-1700 Feet per second (fps) or 600+mph (FPS x .6818 = MPH).

I’ve been in the US Army for several years. My good friend was shot in his IBA (Kevlar Vest) by an AK47 (a larger bullet 7.62 and travels around 2400fps). He was picked up and thrown backwards almost 20 feet, but Paul Watson doesn’t even stumble. My friend’s chest had an imprint of where the IBA was slammed into his chest, it was bruised for almost a month, he had a hard time breathing for weeks, but it saved his life. Paul Watson, nothing happened. Yeah… it’s a lot of propaganda and people are fooled.

There is a lot of propaganda out there. Some of my favorites have been the “Blood for oil” campaign when the US invaded Iraq in 2003. Which is funny considering that the US gets the majority of its oil from Canada (over 50%). Supporting documents.

Remember these videos?

The Propaganda

The Real Video - This kid is classy.

I’m not going to get into the whole occupy movement, it deserves its own post, but there is propaganda on both sides. Fox News shows stories of police being attacked, where as the Huffington Post talks about tear gas being used on peaceful protesters. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Don’t just believe something because you agree with it, but question everything.