Every day for the past year, the government of Bahrain has shut off the internet in Duraz between 7PM and 1AM, making this the longest internet shutdown in the history of the region, and one of the longest internet shutdowns in world history. Read the rest
At National Geographic, you can read Rowe Findley's 1981 account of surviving the Mount St. Helens eruption — and his deeply moving profiles of many of the people who did not. Includes this seminal quote from 83-year-old Harry R. Truman, who Findley describes as raising "the adjectival use of profanity to a new high": "It's a part of me, and I'm part of that ______ mountain," said Truman. "If I got out of here, I wouldn't live a _____ day, not a ______ day." Read the rest
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Wernher von Braun, an amazing scientist whose complicated legacy includes both engines of war and one of humankind's greatest achievements.
Is von Braun the guy who got us to the Moon? Or is he the guy whose V2 rockets wreaked havoc on behalf of the Nazis, and who designed ballistic missiles for the United States? Frankly, he's both. Sometimes, we can respect a person's genius without respecting all of their choices.
With that in mind, please enjoy this satiric sort-of-tribute to von Braun, performed sometime in the 1960s by singer-songwriter/satirist/mathematician Tom Lehrer.
