FEDERAL PRISON POPULATION, BY OFFENSE, 2010
Source: Guerino, P. M., Harrison, P., & Sabol, W. (2011). Prisoners in 2010. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Operators of NASA’s Opportunity rover waited for Mars’ late-afternoon sun to dip low on the planet’s western horizon, causing the rover’s shadow to project eastward into the fully illuminated crater. The result is a surprisingly emotive photograph that is half landscape, half self-portrait; a reminder that on a planet millions of miles away, on an expedition that has extended literally thousands of days beyond its original 90-day mission, is an intrepid little rover that still roams the Red Planet’s surface in search of discoveries.
Food
Black is Bound
For Black males in their thirties, 1 in every 10 is in prison or jail on any given day.
Two-thirds of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color.
Sasha Obama sneaking up on Obama behind a couch in the Oval Office
A grief stricken American infantryman whose friend has been killed in action is comforted by another soldier. In the background a corpsman methodically fills out casualty tags.
Haktong-ni area, Korea
August 28, 1950
Sfc. Al Chang. (Army)
— Assyrian clay tablet, 2800 BCE
“Knowing what I did of the bunker story, I found it hard to imagine that anyone (other than the usual neo-Nazi fringe) could possibly find Hitler a sympathetic figure during his bizarre last days. And to presume that it might be somehow dangerous to see him as a human being – well, what does that thought imply about the self-confidence of a stable, liberal democracy? Hitler was, after all, a human being, even if an especially obnoxious, detestable specimen. We well know that he could be kind and considerate to his secretaries, and with the next breath show cold ruthlessness, dispassionate brutality, in determining the deaths of millions. Of all the screen depictions of the Führer, even by famous actors, such as Alec Guinness or Anthony Hopkins, this is the only one which to me is compelling. Part of this is the voice. Ganz has Hitler’s voice to near perfection. It is chillingly authentic.”
~ Sir Ian Kershaw, Adolf Hitler Biographer
The Germanic Flood That Never Came
In 1499, the German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Stöffler predicted that a vast flood would engulf the world on February 20, 1524. (His calculations foretold 20 planetary conjunctions during this year—16 of which would take place in a “watery sign,” a.k.a. Pisces.)
In Europe, more than 100 different pamphlets were published endorsing Stöffler’s doomsday prophecy. Business boomed for boat-builders, not least for German nobleman Count von Iggleheim, who constructed a three-story ark on the Rhine.
Although 1524 was a drought year in Europe, a light rain did fall on the designated day. Crowds of people—hoping to gain a seat on Iggleheim’s ark—began to riot. Hundreds were killed and the count was stoned to death.
Stöffler later recalculated the actual date to be 1528, but by then his reputation as a soothsayer had been ruined. That’s kind of a shame because, according to a story told in 1558 by German historian Hieronymus Wolf, Stöffler once predicted that his life would be endangered by a “falling body.” He chose to spend that day indoors, where, during a discussion with friends, Stöffler reached to grab a book from a shelf, which came loose and smashed him on the head, seriously injuring him.
Got involved with fairly evil Martin Amis type shit
Thought we’d grow up to be pirates
Instead we grew up to be graphic designers
Now what are we to do with all these ridiculous tattoos?"
— freshkills “the bigger man”
Exactly
Term Limits
Why term limits are not imposed on representatives and senators at either the state or federal level, I will never understand (on the practical level, I completely understand it on the level of self-interest).
Being a politician is not a career.
It’s a service that one should undertake for a time before going back to work in a real job.