May 16, 2015
"And we still lost the Cold War. Go figure."
Mitt Romney
Strong Like Bull (slideshow)
One hundred years ago on the Eastern Front, doom in a forgotten battle
"She was outclassed in everything except bravery" In April 1915 the Russian empire was on the verge of entering Hungary, having taken the great fortress of Przemyśl. But in May a German-led surprise offensive cracked Russian lines, shattering entire armies and causing a 300-mile retreat in what was probably "the greatest victory of World War I by the Central Powers". Nearly one million prisoners were taken. Moscow lost the ruins of Przemyśl and all of Poland. For the next two years Russia will struggle but ultimately lose, tsardom falling to revolutions and the rise of the Soviet state. [more inside]
My garbage human wants to sleep in
On this holiday weekend, you should practice important cat-related things (flash game).
“I turn right, toward Tokyo.”
In Flight [New York Times] [Interactive] En route from London to Tokyo, a pilot’s-eye view of life in the sky.
Bid on YOUR waste profile!
Get ready to have your insides disrupted by SmartPipe, the Venmo of pipes! (adult swim, 11:01)
Rainy 4th World Ambient and Blaring Iridescent Pop
Two unique, evocative Japanese mixtapes to assure you that spring is really here at last: Spencer Doran's Fairlights, Mallets and Bamboo and Ventla's Astrocast 45. [more inside]
Will the real Bitcoin creator please stand up?
Is a reclusive American man named Nick Szabo the real Satoshi Nakamoto? Nathaniel Popper of the NYT tracks him down and asks him.
‘I’ve bought a lot of pot, and now I’m selling some back’
"Four wives, seven children, 350 albums and his own line in marijuana: Willie Nelson has never done anything by halves. Lifelong fan Zoë Heller boards the tour bus." (Recently)
Ask Not For Whom The Blue Bell Tolls
The Rocky Road Ahead
For the first time in its 108-year history, Blue Bell—and, in turn, Brenham—is in crisis. A super-nasty bacteria known as Listeria monocytogenes was found in a few Blue Bell products. Five hospital patients in Kansas had been infected with the listeria bacteria, three of whom died.[more inside]
"The 'D' stands for 'dentification'"
Norm MacDonald performed his last standup routine on The Late Show with David Letterman last night. It was astounding. (slyt)
The IPs are coming from inside the house
The hilariously absurd technobabble of CSI Cyber, incoherent techno-paranoid diaper and last best hope of the CSI franchise.
They Built It. No One Came.
In Pennsylvania, two men with 63 acres and a communal vision of utopia learn the hard way that not everyone follows the leader. [more inside]
Jury Sentences Boston Marathon Bomber to Death
The jury deliberating the fate of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev announced Friday that he will be sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 2013 attack.
The decision in the penalty phase of his trial came after just over 14 hours of deliberations. He was convicted last month of all 30 federal charges against him, 17 of which carried the possibility of the death penalty. [more inside]
Helen Zaltzman milks the udders of language
The Allusionist is a language podcast with a etymological focus by podcaster and linguist Helen Zaltzman. The episodes are about fifteen minutes long and the ones so far have focused on political terms, spaces between words, crosswords, fake dictionary entries, museum display text, latin, curse words [explicit], the term viral, bras, but perhaps it's best to start with the first episode, where Zaltzman interviews her brother Andy on the subject of puns. The Extra Allusionism blog is also worth reading.
We received our education / In the cities of the nation, me and Paul
Paul who? Why, Paul English, that's who. You've never heard of Paul English? You'd get to know him real fast and real well if you'd ever tried to do Willie and/or any member of that traveling Family wrong. [more inside]
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