Waterloo: June 18, 1815 and a Cinderella banking story.

“Just because you have all been beaten by Wellington, you think he’s a good general. I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast.” -N.B. Smoke on

Glowing Monkeys and the Next Logical Step

So monkeys officially glow now and of course the next logical question is where do we go from here? One possibility is to cure diseases and know ourselves more fully and, of course, the other is to complete the work

Border Crossing for the ladies

You’ve heard of Al Gore’s “Current TV” staffers Euna Lee and Laura Ling. They are currently bound up in North Korea where Juche justice has just meted out a sentence of 12 years in a labor camp: Re-education, friday beatings,

Ambrose Everett Burnside: First President of the NRA

Inventor of the Burnside Carbine and the facial accoutrement named today in his honor.

The Spawn: A look inside the North Korean nuclear family

The DPRK by night… a great place to set up a telescope It has recently been reported that North Korea is flaring up… again. This is not the first time that the country has played the wild card and threatened

Unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a physical place

Nevermind the cat, let’s talk about noodles and how they compare to breathing. Vermicelli( شعريه ,面线, lit. little worm) is thinner than spaghetti and made from durum wheat. Cats love vermicelli. The first mention of vermicelli comes from a 15th

More than a feeling: 3 unforgiving moments in the life of Maximilien Robespierre

To understand the madness of a man ruled by terror, consider 3 moments that molded him into legend. 1. Rejection in Youth / 1774- afternoon pep rally at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand A High School in downtown Paris. it’s raining. Everyone

Power and Headgear

___________________________________________ Thank you Kohen Gadol for the idea of formal shaman urban-turban wear Thank you Michael III, the drunkard, for making it imperially cool to wear hats Thank you Leo IX for the Papal Bull, delineating who was entitled to

Our Man in New Guinea

Hero seed for your lawnscape

A lot of firsts for the man in the saddle. The first president to be divorced, the first president to survive an assasination, He ranked as the Greatest American in an “unscientific poll” carried out by Matt Lauer. Matt Lauer

Taken For a Ride

Streetcars used to move America.  Now that the auto industry is choking on their own crap, they want everybody to give them a hand. But what exactly did these guys ever do for the public good? Taken for a Ride

The Great Silverware Love-in Murder Conspiracy

July 1881 : “To General Sherman: I have just shot the President. I shot him several times as I wished him to go as easily as possible. His death was a political necessity. I am a lawyer, theologian, and politician.

Iron, Bacteria, Barbers and George Washington

Based upon the most modern cosmological observations of the universe… we understand about 4% of the story and that’s shrinking. It’s shrinking because the universe appears to be expanding… especially along the edges, faster and faster. As it blebs, more

brother number 2 or maybe 3

It’s 2009. Nearly 35 years since the Khmer Rouge slithered into power and tried to take the world back to YEAR ZERO- a time when all the wrongs of mankind would be made right, and everyone would be a shining

Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου

“And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”    -Revelation 2:23 i

You Have Used Me as a Fish Long Enough – 1995

Adam Curtis is really good at tracking down people that used to work for important people and picking their brains. You may have seen other programs that he’s done… The century of self is an excellent series on the history