In a society in which its people care more about what David Letterman said to Sara Palin in a childlike outburst, the internet has become a more reliable source of news and dissemination of knowledge than the mainstream U.S. media, which runs itself more like a business than a dispenser of truth.

Ratings matter. Truth–well, matters–when it enables TV stations to sell commercials.

In face of such a news-business model, the Internet and Facebook have become more legitimate in their dissemination of the news than CNN and FOX News combined.

While the U.S. media barely covers what is happening in Iran in 10 second clips and sound-bytes, the people in Iran risk their lives to capture video footage and spread it on the internet via Facebook, asking that their friends “share” the clips with others.

America considers Iran one of its greatest threats today. Even if not for the Iranian people who despise their government, shouldn’t U.S. news outlets at least cover current elections in Iran and its subsequent mass protests because it is in the best interest of America and it’s own citizens to do so?

In a society that cares more about American Idol and Reality TV Shows, it’s not surprising that the U.S. media does not feel it is important enough to cover the above protests in Iran.

One has to be shiveringly reminded of prophetic novels like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and A Brave New World. Except this time it’s not “Big Brother” who is censoring our news … but we, the people.

The impulse for individual human beings to band together to form a larger “support” group is rooted deep in our DNA–and in many respects, secret societies are, at their core, esoteric support groups. Such groups can be as simple as “clicks” in schools to memberships in local churches or, for the rarefied few, memberships in clandestine groups, such as the Masons or the Rosicrucians.

Sometimes such social formations can veer into self-destructive and violent dysfunction, as in the mass forced suicide of Jonestown 1978 when over 900 cult members and their children were forced to down cyanide cocktails. Of course, not all stories are tragedies.

“The value of of secret societies such as the Mason’s or Yale’s Skull and Bones, for instance,” writes Amy D. Bernstein in A Short History of Secret Societies in U.S. News & World Report, “is that they create closed, supportive environments which down-play competition in favor of an intense group-focused mentality”.

U.S. News and World Report adds, “Those of our progenitors who could affiliate and be mutually dependent were more likely to survive than those were alienated.  Affiliating with a larger group is not just a coincidental phenomenon–it is basically inherent in our biology” (Marc Galanter, professor of psychology and practitioner at New York University Medical Center).

Secret societies give us the luxury of forming political alliances in our personal and professional lives; however, groups like the Masons, the Illuminati and others also help germinate a deep-seated fear into the hearts of mainstream society because of their intense secrecy and utter “otherness”. Many attribute Satan worship at the heart of higher levels of such groups and others assign to them the apex of key political conspiracy theories, such as the Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy assassinations.

Famous Masons include our First American President, George Washington, and other famous historical icons as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin,  Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, and in our lifetime, Gerald Ford.  Barack Obama? No, he is not purported to be a Freemason, nor were the Bushs (although W was a member of the Skull and Bones Society).

There is no doubt that secret societies have played a role in our history–but exactly what kind of role and how much of one remains speculative. What is certain is that humans are social creatures with genuine needs. They thrive in intimate communities and require, from time to time, groups of like-minded peers to give them a hand; when mainstream society or the normative system of support around an individual–whether family, church, or friends–is unstable or uncontrollable, microcosms of society emerge as alternatives to fulfill the desires that macrocosms of our culture cannot.

Mainstream society functions to address the needs of the masses; by definition, they serve “the people”–all the people. Smaller groups, churches, fraternities, sub-cultures, and in more unique circumstances, secret societies, address the powerlessness of individuals by setting into motion the promise of power within an ordered hierarchy.

One, perhaps ought to have a healthy respect for such communities, a sort of fear in the Biblical respect. They are the ecclesiastical schism which separates their members from mainstream social and political culture.

The danger, of course, lies in the very mechanism that protects such groups and binds their members so intricately close: genuine enablement through cohesive, community–albeit in the form of pure, and by nature, corruptible, estoric power.

Can you legally shoot a home intruder?

Surprisingly information is scarce and not very clear-cut, but there is a general consensus among experts regarding when you can legally “blow someone away” for invading your home–at least in most States.

The legal difficulty herein lies in the fact that the States, not the Federal government, legislates such laws, thereby propagating variance from one State to another.

Colorado’s “Make My Day” Law (appropriately named after Clint Eastwood’s 1983 film, Sudden Impact), allows the lethal use of force against home intruders, as do most States.

Castle Law

Most states appropriately understand the right to defend your home against intruders and have adopted the Castle Law or Defense of Habitation Law, a legal doctrine linked to the Second Amendment and The District of Columbia vs. Heller–the first U.S. Supreme Court decision that directly address a private citizen’s rights to bear arms (the debate had been whether the Second Amendment applied to individual citizens or state-run militias).

The Castle Law basically supports the idea that your home is your “castle” and that you have every right to defend it against harm (including people in your home as well as personal property).

Duty to Retreat Provision

Some states may require a “duty to flee” provision, before engaging in battle with an intruder. This is largely an unpopular law with the general population that  requires that one first attempt to flee prior to the use of lethal force; in other words, it is on the burden of the defense to prove that the use of force was only used as a last resort.

Prima Facie

Prima Facie (sometimes misspelled prima facia), is the Latin expression meaning, “on its first appearance”. The phrase literally translates as “first face”.

It can be reasonably argued in most States that if an intruder breaks into your home, the very act of forced entry is, prima facie, evidence of ill intent.

“If you reasonably think you are in danger,” states Marie Failinger, professor of criminal law at Hamline University, Minnesota, “people have to fear that the person breaking in is going to harm them seriously or kill them”.

Botched Home Invasion Defense

The sticky legal issue? Accidental intrusion. Your neighbor with Alzheimer’s enters the wrong home (it’s happened) on a night when you forgot to lock your front door. In any State, be prepared to show forced entry and ill-intent, or be prepared to make your case before a jury instead.

Further, if you catch a burglar or invader as he or she is trying to leave your house or running away, the law is unclear as to how much force–if any–you can legally use.

Use Common Sense and Stay Focused

Adrenaline will always course through your body in such situations–I don’t care if you think you’re Jack Bauer.

Be wise–identify (before shooting) whether the person is a threat or just a a drunken neighbor who mistook your cookie cutter house for theirs. And please don’t point your weapon at the police officer who is responding to your wife’s 911 call while you were retrieving your Mossberg 500 pump-action shotgun.