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November 20, 2007
Before 1969, the
city of Zap was best known as the punch line of a joke about three towns in North Dakota that sounded like Rice Krispies—
Zap,
Gackle, and
Mott. But when student body president
Charles "Chuck" Stroup at
North Dakota State University needed an alternative to Fort Lauderdale while stuck in North Dakota for spring break, he enlisted the help of some
student journalists at the
Spectrum newspaper to promote the
"Zip to Zap," an event that became the
only "official" riot in the history of North Dakota. The tiny coal mining town originally looked forward to the impromptu "Zip" festival, which had so much advance buzz that the
Wham-O toy company created a toy called
Zip Zap in honor of the imminent event. Unfortunately, after throngs of students descended on Zap, the only two bars in town quickly ran out of beer, and the
North Dakota National Guard was called into extinguish the bonfire, beer brawls, and riot that ensued. For more info about about how the "Zip to Zap" fit in context with the 1960s zeitgeist, look
here,
here, and
here.
posted by jonp72 at 7:38 PM PST - 10 comments
HR 1955 : The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by
providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.
While the United States must continue its
vigilant efforts to combat international terrorism, it must also strengthen efforts to combat the threat posed by homegrown terrorists based and
operating within the United States.
posted by Huplescat at 4:34 PM PST - 45 comments
Sofa Portraits. Colin Pantall takes photographs, primarily of his daughter watching television.
Lush imagery, sidelong comment, surprising intimacy.
posted by klangklangston at 4:30 PM PST - 51 comments
Offal Good is a blog dedicated to helping you get more dining experience out of your animal. Most people stop at the skeletal muscle cuts, but there's a world of tripey goodness, not to mention snouts, feet, etc. Videos, recipes, photogalleries & more.
posted by jonson at 4:24 PM PST - 24 comments
Why He Went Nuclear. Before he was the infamous father of the "Islamic bomb," A.Q. Khan was just another midlevel scientist working at a research job in Amsterdam. Here, the story of how he betrayed his employer and set out to create a worldwide bazaar in lethal weapons.
posted by chunking express at 12:25 PM PST - 19 comments
Sex and the College Girl, by Norah Johnson A view from an educated woman in the 1950s: "Two criticisms rise above the rest: people in college are promiscuous, for one thing, and, for another, they are getting married and having children too early. These are interesting observations because they contradict each other."
posted by shivohum at 12:21 PM PST - 24 comments
Lingro. Enter a website in the box to make all words on the page clickable. Available for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Polish.
posted by Lezzles at 1:28 AM PST - 15 comments
In
research that may one day help restore mobility to the paralyzed and amputees, Dr. Charles Higgins of the University of Arizona has created a
"robo-moth": a 6-inch tall wheeled robot guided by an electrode inserted into a single neuron responsible for vision stability during flight in the
hawk moth (aka the Tobacco hornworm).
[more inside]
posted by mayfly wake at 12:13 AM PST - 7 comments
