Kubrick was more right than he knew. Wired has a disturbing article about the Russian doomsday machine intended to retaliate against a first strike from the US. Officially called Perimeter, it was unofficially called “Mertvaya Ruka”, the Dead Hand. Once activated, the system could launch a retaliatory strike against the US nearly automatically. It could be set off by a single [...]
Categories: History
In his capacity as the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels produced some of the most horrifyingly anti-Semitic films ever made. To the modern viewer, they seem almost like parodies of racism. The films portray Jews as scheming parasites feeding on the hard work of the Aryan people through trickery and fraud. It seems like it would take a [...]
Categories: History
The New Yorker offers a saddening look inside the rubber room. Rubber rooms are special relocation centers for teachers in New York City who have been deemed a danger to students in one way or another. Due to stringent union regulations, it takes months or years to fire the teachers. In the meantime, they are paid their full salary while the [...]
Categories: Politics
The New Yorker has a tragic story of a factually innocent man executed in Texas in February 2004. Charged with the murder of his three children by arson, he maintained his innocence until his execution. Fire scientist Craig Beyler said that the methods used in the initial investigation were “characteristic of mystics or psychics.”