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There was a time—not that long ago—when completely absurd urban legends could be whispered in a middle school hallway and, within weeks, become a universally accepted fact. They were repeated with the same certainty as the Pledge of Allegiance. They required no proof, no citations, no real thought—just a strong enough delivery and the unwavering confidence of the person telling them.
[Read more…] about How Urban Legends Spread Like Gospel in the Pre-Internet Era
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If you went to an American elementary school in the late ’80s or early ’90s, you probably remember Weepuls. Or at least, you remember something suspiciously close to Weepuls: tiny, fluffy, googly-eyed creatures with adhesive feet and an aura of manufactured whimsy. They were the kind of thing a six-year-old would cherish like a sacred talisman for approximately 48 hours before inevitably losing it in the bottom of a backpack or having it violently stripped from existence by an overzealous vacuum cleaner. But before that—before they succumbed to entropy—Weepuls mattered.
[Read more…] about Weepuls: The Dumbest Yet Most Important Prize of Your Childhood
He left for work one morning, just as he always did. Dressed in a crisp shirt and tie, he kissed his wife goodbye, grabbed his briefcase, and drove off in the direction of his office. But that evening, he didn’t return.
At first, his wife assumed he was working late, perhaps pulling another all-nighter. By the second night, worry set in. She called his company, only to be told the unthinkable: her husband had been laid off a month earlier.
For weeks, he had maintained the facade of employment, leaving home each morning, spending his days in his car, and returning late to give the impression of overtime or after-work drinks. But with no salary forthcoming, the lie became unsustainable. Rather than confess his failure, he vanished, leaving behind a family who would likely never understand why.
Germany’s decision to invade the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, was the most pivotal moment of World War II. The launch of Operation Barbarossa did not arise from a singular cause but was instead the product of a confluence of strategic, ideological, military, and economic factors. While much has been written about Hitler’s ideological imperative to destroy Bolshevism and secure Lebensraum, one of the less emphasized but equally crucial motivations was Germany’s dire need for oil—a resource that was essential for sustaining the Wehrmacht’s war machine.
[Read more…] about Why Did Hitler Declared War on the Soviet Union?
to enlarge and make prettier, especially a house
Machiavelli. You hear the name and immediately think of sinister political manipulation, backstabbing, and a level of calculated ruthlessness that would make a Bond villain blush. He’s the guy whose name literally became an adjective for political scheming—Machiavellian—which is impressive, considering most people only know him through secondhand references, usually from someone trying to sound smart at a dinner party.
[Read more…] about Who Is Machiavelli and What Is His Philosophy About?
How did you get diagnosed and when did the tics start?
Diagnosed August last year. I’m 23, tics started when I was 19 probably, I lived with my parents when things were getting out of hand, and yes I got in trouble. My mother didn’t seem to believe it could possibly be TS, despite doing research, until I got diagnosed. She screamed at me plenty, and even cried cause she hates the word cunt so much. Honestly, I think she was doing her best, but its just tough to adjust too, for a parent of an adult.
[Read more…] about Confessions of a Man With Tourette Syndrome
Few historical counterfactuals are as sobering as the prospect of a full-scale U.S. invasion of the Japanese home islands in 1945. By the summer of that year, Japan’s strategic position was untenable. The Imperial Navy had been shattered, American bombers roamed its skies with impunity, and a naval blockade was strangling its economy. Yet, the war’s inevitable outcome should not be mistaken for an inevitable collapse. Had the Allies executed Operation Downfall—the two-stage invasion of Kyushu and Honshu—the result would have been a bloodbath unprecedented even by the standards of the Pacific War.
1. I have a global information processing disorder. If our brains were computers running at 60 frames per second normally, mine runs around 45 on a good day – not quite enough to really be noticeable, as it might in some people with Down’s Syndrome for the sake of example, but enough to lower my IQ and cause problems in my everyday life.
[Read more…] about 9 People With Below Average Intelligence Describe What Life Is Like For Them
If you’re the kind of person who spends an inordinate amount of time contemplating the backstories of minor movie characters—if you are, in essence, the sort of person who reads unauthorized biographies of fictional men—then you already know who Dr. Cornelius Evazan is. Or at least you think you do.
[Read more…] about The Insane Backstory of Dr. Cornelius Evazan
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There’s a moment in Apocalypse Now that feels like it exists outside the film, as if Francis Ford Coppola spliced in a scene from some lost European art-house movie just to see if anyone would notice. It’s the French plantation sequence, an atmospheric, elliptical detour that was originally cut from the theatrical release and only restored decades later. And the reason it was cut is fairly obvious—it slows everything down. But that’s also exactly why it’s fascinating.
[Read more…] about The French Plantation Sequence: Apocalypse Now’s Beautifully Strange Detour
