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A Navy SEAL Shows You How To Survive Drowning Using These Tips – 22 Words
Heartwarming Friendship Between Boy And His Dog – Leenks
Smartphone microscope and app for testing your sperm – Boing Boing
Engaged Texas Teacher Has Sex With Student And Sends Him Nudes, Wedding Obviously Called Off – Mandatory
10 of the most prominent product placements in popular movies – Rare
Rolling Stone’s 10 Best Albums of 2016 – Newser
Kylie Jenner has treated her fans to selfies wearing a very revealing bikini – Faves
9 Famous Criminals Who Were Murdered in Prison – Ranker
Instagram Model Anastasia Skyline Is The Master Of Hide Average Face Show Big Boobs Selfie – Hollywood Tuna
18-Yr-Old Girl Commits Suicide In Front Of Family After Being Cyberbullied On Facebook [Video] – Bossip
25 Signs That Will Make You Question Your Faith In Humanity – Radass
This Bombshell Uses the Sex Tape She Made With Von Miller to Masturbate – Maxim
Bella Thorne Was Hot Tubbin’ – G-Celeb
The 25 Sexiest Pictures Of Russian Model Masha Philippova – Regretful Morning
Ariel Winter is gonna tip over – Celeb Slam
Let Joy Corrigan and Ashley Haas Warm You Up – The Blemish
Bulletproof Mind: 6 Secrets of Mental Toughness From the Navy SEALs – Better Human
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By Andrew Alexander
I’ve been in the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous for some time now. And the one thing I hear over and over again is how users prayed for death, while simultaneously being afraid of it. Nobody thinks it’s going to be their last fix, that they are going to overdose; on the other hand, we often welcomed death. A junkie’s life is not all that great and most of us hold on to enough hope to not actually off ourselves (on purpose). But the accidental overdose doesn’t sound like a bad alternative to being dope-sick every goddamn day. And when death does show up for one of your friends, I can pretty much promise that the first thing you’re going to do is go through their pockets looking for the rest of their stash. Then maybe you’ll call an ambulance. Sound dark? It is dark. Death is part of life, but it’s really part of life when you’re using.
Do you like to go out and party? Do you like to drink socially, maybe smoke a little bit of weed now and then? Well, that will never happen again if you start in on the hard stuff. If you’re using, then you’re constantly using and the word “social” is not part of your life. And if you’ve gotten clean, you know damn well that even one drink or smoke will eventually bring you right back to the thing that destroyed your life. I’m a recovering addict and I still love drugs. If I didn’t love drugs, I wouldn’t be in this position. I love drugs more than I love anything — well, fuck, I’m a drug addict. If you give me a taste of escape, even just a beer, my brain will tell me to knock it off with that pussy shit and give me the hard stuff. There is no such thing as “successfully using” for us.
They said it was a clean needle, and you’re either dope sick or high as a kite, so why not believe them? The truth is that if you share needles, you probably have Hep C. A careful addict makes sure to use their own rig (that’s a slang word for syringe) and only their own rig but when you start adding up how many times a day, a week, a month, a year you need to shoot up to maintain a consistent high, you start to realize that there is no way in hell that you’re using a clean needle every single time. With the exception of the mega-rich heroin user, any user has shared a needle at least once. Is it so crazy to put something that was inside someone else’s body inside yours? I think not! — says your brain on heroin.
If you stick a needle into the same vein enough times, it will collapse. I’m no medical professional, but when you lose a vein, something bad is happening to that extremity. Your veins are no stronger than any other body tissue and they certainly are not made to have metal shoved into them on a daily basis. This is the insanity of addiction, as an addict actively using ignores the medical condition and continues to harm themselves seeking out their fix. Keep digging in and you might push it far enough to have the vein completely removed, though fear not, as other veins fatten up to take over for the lost blood flow putting them at risk in a whole new way.
Because they cover the marks on your arms. Duh.
That’s right! It’s pretty awesome how little you poop when you’re on dope. And by awesome, I mean terrifying. At some point you’ll come down from the high for a few minutes and think to yourself “I haven’t taken a shit in a week, I must be full of feces.” Then you get high again and couldn’t care less about it. It’s not like that causes colon cancer or anything…
Never thought you’d steal from someone? Well, you will, because a $500 a day habit doesn’t take care of itself. Think you’re a loyal friend? Not when your itching for a fix. Steal from your mom, your friends, random people on the street. Whatever it takes is whatever it takes.
Eventually when using a substance that requires as much maintenance and continuous management as heroin, you WILL run out of money. There is no limit to how much you can use in one day except for the fact that one day you will use too much and die. Until that point is reached, your habit continues to grow, consuming every penny you have on a daily basis because there is no such thing as “planning for tomorrow”. Once the physical money is gone, it’s time to start selling your assets (I use this term loosely). First it’s your electronics. Then the less valuable things like clothes, furniture, household items, anything you can scrape five bucks out of to put together with something else you can scrape another five bucks out of to get high for a few minutes and not feel sick as a dog. Keep at it long enough and all you have left to sell is your body.
As a kid you might think that only a medical professional should be jamming people with needles. But again, fear not because your brain on heroin will fill you with all sorts of confidence. Did you watch a Youtube video about it? Did you read something on Yahoo that you think taught you how to properly give an injection? Then go for it! What do you have to lose? I mean, you want to get high, right? The fact of the matter is that no matter how much practice you get, you’re still not doing it right. I’ve seen 10-year junkies who think they have nursing degrees fail to sterilize, miss a vein, bruise themselves, etc. Let’s be honest, you’re either doing the procedure high as balls or you’re shaking from withdrawal. This is not the best set up for success.
Well, maybe weed dealers are. But hard drug dealers could care less how sick you are or how long they make you wait. Because at the end of the day, you’re not leaving that spot on the couch until you get your shit. And they know it. You tend to hear “I’ll be there in an hour” often, only to have them show up six hours later. You’ll be pissed as hell the entire time you’re waiting. You may even want to hit them, but let’s be honest, you don’t have the strength for that and you’re going to kiss their feet when they do show up, even if they short you. ‘Cause now you can get high!
Who wants to be friends with a heroin addict? Only other heroin addicts. And if you have “normal friends” then you better believe you’re going to try to hide your problem from them. So you go to the bathroom to use, you wear long sleeve shirts to cover up track marks, and you constantly say “damn I’m tired” because you’re always nodding off. But do you really think normal people go to the bathroom five times in a night, each time long enough to take a massive shit? Here’s the answer: they don’t. That combined with the fact that you LOOK like a junkie means that your secret is out. You’ve seen other heroin addicts looking awful, why do you think you look so goddamn good?
You don’t. Everyone knows you’re on dope.
Don’t worry, there is help if you want it.
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After seizing the Reichstag in May 1945 and raising their flag on its roof, Soviet soldiers left their marks in other ways, writing their names, feelings, thoughts and hometowns on the walls of the famous building. Written in Cyrillic script, they include such slogans as “Hitler kaputt” and names of individual soldiers. Most of the writings are just “From [Russian City] to Berlin” or just “[Russian City] – Berlin” with a name or “Kilroyski was here”.
After recovering from his injuries, Tojo was moved to Sugamo Prison. While there he received a new set of dentures made by an American dentist. The phrase “Remember Pearl Harbor” had been secretly drilled into the teeth in Morse code.
On the morning of November 14, 1960, federal marshals drove Ruby and her mother five blocks to her new school. While in the car, one of the men explained that when they arrived at the school, two marshals would walk in front of Ruby and two would be behind her.
As soon as Bridges entered the school, white parents pulled their own children out; all the teachers refused to teach while a black child was enrolled. Only one person agreed to teach Ruby and that was Barbara Henry, from Boston, Massachusetts, and for over a year Henry taught her alone, “as if she were teaching a whole class”.
That first day, Bridges and her adult companions spent the entire day in the principal’s office; the chaos of the school prevented their moving to the classroom until the second day. On the second day, however, a white student broke the boycott and entered the school when a 34-year-old Methodist minister, Lloyd Anderson Foreman, walked his 5-year-old daughter Pam through the angry mob, saying, “I simply want the privilege of taking my child to school…”.
A few days later, other white parents began bringing their children, and the protests began to subside. Every morning, as Bridges walked to school, one woman would threaten to poison her; because of this, the U.S. Marshals dispatched by President Eisenhower, who were overseeing her safety, allowed Ruby to eat only the food that she brought from home.
The Bridges family suffered for their decision to send her to William Frantz Elementary: her father lost his job, the grocery store the family shopped at would no longer let them shop there, and her grandparents, who were sharecroppers in Mississippi, were turned off their land. She has noted that many others in the community, both black and white, showed support in a variety of ways. Some white families continued to send their children to Frantz despite the protests, a neighbor provided her father with a new job, and local people babysat, watched the house as protectors, and walked behind the federal marshals’ car on the trips to school.
At the annual party rally held in Nuremberg in 1935, the Nazis announced new laws which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of “German or related blood.” Ancillary ordinances to the laws disenfranchised Jews and deprived them of most political rights.
The Nuremberg Laws, as they became known, did not define a “Jew” as someone with particular religious beliefs. Instead, anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents was defined as a Jew, regardless of whether that individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Many Germans who had not practiced Judaism for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror. Even people with Jewish grandparents who had converted to Christianity were defined as Jews.
Paul Allen describes meeting Bill Gates at the teletype machine:
One day early that fall, I saw a gangly, freckle-faced eighth-grader edging his way into the crowd around the Teletype, all arms and legs and nervous energy. He had a scruffy-preppy look: pullover sweater, tan slacks, enormous saddle shoes. His blond hair went all over the place. You could tell three things about Bill Gates pretty quickly. He was really smart. He was really competitive; he wanted to show you how smart he was. And he was really, really persistent. After that first time, he kept coming back. Many times he and I would be the only ones there.
Bill came from a family that was prominent even by Lakeside standards; his father later served as president of the state bar association. I remember the first time I went to Bill’s big house, a block or so above Lake Washington, feeling a little awed. His parents subscribed to Fortune, and Bill read it religiously. One day he showed me the magazine’s special annual issue and asked me, “What do you think it’s like to run a Fortune 500 company?” I said I had no idea. And Bill said, “Maybe we’ll have our own company someday.” He was 13 years old and already a budding entrepreneur.
Where I was curious to study everything in sight, Bill would focus on one task at a time with total discipline. You could see it when he programmed—he’d sit with a marker clenched in his mouth, tapping his feet and rocking, impervious to distraction. He had a unique way of typing, sort of a six-finger, sideways scrabble. There’s a famous photograph of Bill and me in the computer room not long after we first met. I’m seated on a hard-back chair at the teleprinter in my dapper green corduroy jacket and turtleneck. Bill is standing to my side in a plaid shirt, his head cocked attentively, eyes trained on the printer as I type. He looks even younger than he actually was. I look like an older brother, which was something Bill didn’t have
The Russian word used in the original title, “физкультурники“, is now usually translated as “gym teachers”, but at the moment of the parades meant “sportsmen/bodybuilders or athletes”. This is a legacy of Stalin era propaganda parades to promote physical fitness, mainly to make the people ready for heavy labor, possible wars and improve health of the nation.
The building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 divided families and neighborhoods in what had been the capital of Germany. The Wall represented a uniquely squalid, violent, and ultimately futile, episode in the post-war world. Life was changed overnight in Berlin. Streets, subway lines, bus lines, tramlines, canals and rivers were divided. Family members, friends, lovers, schoolmates, work colleagues and others were abruptly separated. In some cases, children who had been visiting their grandparents on the other side of the border were suddenly cut off from their parents.
The flamethrower, which brought terror to French and British soldiers was used by the German army in the early phases of the First World War in 1914 and 1915 (and which was quickly adopted by both). The Flammenwerfers (flamethrowers) tended to be used in groups of six during battle, each machine worked by two men. They were used mostly to clear forward defenders during the start of a German attack, preceding their infantry colleagues. They were undeniably useful when used at short-range, but were of limited wider effectiveness, especially once the British and French had overcome their initial alarm at their use. The operators of Flammenwerfer equipment also lived a most dangerous existence.
Quite aside from the worries of handling the device – it was entirely feasible that the cylinder carrying the fuel might unexpectedly explode – they were marked men; the British and French poured rifle-fire into the area of attack where Flammenwerfers were used, and their operators could expect no mercy should they be taken prisoner. Their life expectancy was therefore short.
In the late summer of 1942, the Marine Corps decided to experiment with the use of dogs in war, which may have been a new departure for the Corps, but not a new idea in warfare. Since ancient times, dogs have served fighting men in various ways. The Romans, for instance, used heavy mastiffs with armored collars to attack the legs of their enemies, thus forcing them to lower their shields. On Guam, First Lieutenant William R. Putney commanded the 1st Dog Platoon and was the veterinarian for all war dogs on Guam. First Lieutenant William T. Taylor commanded the 2d Platoon. Both landed on the Asan-Adelup beach on Guam, while the 1st Platoon under Gunnery Sergeant L. C. Christmore landed with the 1st Provisional Brigade at Agat.
Man and dog searched out the enemy, awaited his coming, and caught him by surprise around the Marine perimeter or while on patrol. In addition, they found snipers, routed stragglers, searched out caves and pillboxes, ran messages, and protected the Marines’ foxholes as they would private homes. The dogs ate, slept, walked, and otherwise lived with their masters. The presence of dogs on the line could promise the Marines there a night’s sleep, for they alerted their handlers when the enemy came near. Overall, some 350 war dogs served in the Guam operation.
Early on in the Guam operations, some dogs were wounded or killed by machine gun and rifle fire, and incoming mortars were as devastating to the dogs as they were to the Marines. When the dogs were wounded, the Marines made a point of getting them to the rear, to the veterinarian, as quickly as possible. In the liberation of Guam, 20 dogs were wounded and 25 killed.
From the end of the campaign to the end of the war in the Pacific, Guam served as a staging area for war dogs, of which 465 served in combat operations. Of the Marine Corps war dogs, 85 percent were Doberman Pinschers, and the rest mainly German Shepherds. At the end of the Pacific War, the Marine Corps had 510 war dogs.
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50. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – Considered by many critics to be the original non-fiction novel, this 1966 book details the brutal 1959 murders a farmer, wife and two children in rural Kansas. Capote deftly takes the reader into the minds of the two parolees who committed the crimes and describes the effects of their actions on the local community.
49. The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Casteneda – First published as a work of anthropology, this mind-altering journey documents Casteneda’s apprenticeship with the Yaqui Indian Sorcerer Don Juan. It is almost impossible to not feel totally transformed about the true meanings of reality after reading this sometimes shocking story.
48. Animal Farm by George Orwell – This is a novella with a very large message. Although it was first published in 1945, Orwell’s allegorical tale about a group of pigs that take control of a farm and attempt to shape a new society still creates haunting comparisons to present day political struggles throughout the world.
47. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka – This 1915 novella is consistently cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction. Kafka deftly takes the reader inside the mind and life of a traveling salesman who awakens one day to find that he has been transformed into a horrible creature.
46. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – It’s hard to pass up reading a book that has sold over 200 million copies since its 1859 release. A gripping tale that is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution defined by the often brutal historical events that caused the pheasant’s revolt against the aristocracy.
45. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer – This was Mailer’s first published novel that has been in consistent demand since its 1948 release. A well-crafted story blending military action with deft character development.
44. Deliverance by James Dickey – After reading this novel, many people will probably never want to go canoeing in the Georgia wilderness. A disturbing look into brutality, survival and the psychological aftermaths of lives that have been traumatically altered forever.
43. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy – There are few living writers today who can match the mastery of the English language and prose that Conroy presents in this 1986 novel revolving around the traumatic events of a South Carolina family. There are numerous passages in this book that people will want to reread just to experience the sheer joy of words well-written.
42. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – The futurist themes in this novel are still relevant today even though the book was published in 1932. Huxley sought to deliver a frightening vision of the future and did so with stunning clarity.
41. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – This landmark science masterpiece is surprisingly readable given its exotic realms that range from the big bang theory to what happens when the universe ends. As should happen with all great science essays, the reader is forever altered after reading about how creation works and what the concept of time really means.
40. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – This sweeping 1892 French novel contains both factual and historic events while following the lives of several characters over a seventeen-year period in the early nineteenth century. The main focus is on the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his path to rebuilding his reputation in a time of both excessive wealth and crushing poverty.
39. Lord of the Flies by William Golding – This story about a group of British boys who attempt to govern themselves on a deserted island is absolutely chilling. Its controversial themes earned it a position on the American Library Association’s list of the most frequently challenged books during 1990-1999.
38. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein – Although this is a collection of children’s poems with simple illustrations, even adults can enjoy its fanciful tales of innocent wonder about the world.
37. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller – A truly landmark novel in that it led to obscenity trials testing laws about pornography after its American release in 1961. Combining autobiographical facts with fiction, this story centers on Miller’s life as a struggling writer.
36. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner – A wide-ranging novel that is narrated by 15 different characters through 59 chapters. Faulkner’s technique has consistently ranked this work among the best writings of the 20th century.
35. Storming Heaven by Jay Stephens – A mind-altering account of American social history from the Forties through the Sixties. Whatever you think you know about this culturally transforming time period is probably wrong until you read this book.
34. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – For any avid reader, this 1953 novel about a future America where reading is outlawed and books are burned will send chills through the spine. Bradbury’s predictions that future information would be distributed through factoids devoid of context has proven to be strangely real in this age of the Internet.
33. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – Widely considered to be the prime example of realist fiction. This sweeping story of Czarist Russia is nothing less than breathtaking.
32. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – This 1865 novel is still considered to be the prime example of the nonsense and fantasy genres. A fun read that continues to be loved by all generations.
31. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Intended at first as a simple story of a boy’s adventures in the Mississippi Valley-a sequel to Tom Sawyer-the book grew and matured under Twain’s hand into a work of immeasurable richness and complexity.
30. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald – This novel was the last completed work by Fitzgerald and considered by many to be his bleakest. A moving story about a young psychoanalyst and his wife that was written during a time when Fitzgerald’s own wife was undergoing treatment for schizophrenia.
29. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – Widely considered to be the best work by this very prolific author. Huck’s adventures through a Southern antebellum countryside bring to life a society that Twain mocks for both its entrenched attitudes and overt racism.
28. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger – Attesting to its literary importance, this 1951 novel still sells approximately 250,000 copies per year and has realized more than 65 million copies sold worldwide. Unquestionably the definitive story of modern teenage angst and rebellion.
27. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Winner of the Pulitzer Prize after its release in 1960, this novel about life and racism in a Southern town was an instant hit. The protagonist of the story, Atticus Finch, has become one of the best known characters in modern literature.
26. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell – What more is there to say about a novel that is so deeply entrenched in the American lexicon. It is worth the read if for no other reason than to experience a Southern culture that disappeared after the Civil War.
25. Native Son by Richard Wright – This story about an African-American living in Chicago during the 1930s challenges every perception about poverty, racism and societal conditions. A very thought-provoking read.
24. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – This Spanish novel was translated into English in 1988 and quickly received critical praise for its engrossing exploration of a love-sickness so deep that it could be considered an illness. Garcia Marquez does a masterful job of forcing the reader to question much of his characterizations by introducing unexpected elements that continually turn the plot inside out.
23. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams – A novel that is an adaptation of a BBC radio show of the same name. This comedy science fiction story takes the reader on a ride that is both fun and surreal.
22. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. – Recognized as Vonnegut’s most influential work, this satirical novel is structured around his experiences during World War II. The major themes about fate and free will are masterfully woven into a story that leaves the protagonist “unstuck in time”.
21. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison – Winner of the 1953 National Book Award, this was the only novel published by Ellison during his lifetime. The story addresses many of the social issues facing African-Americans in the early twentieth century.
20. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – Covering the period of 1815-1838, this story traces the life of a man wrongly imprisoned who eventually escapes, acquires great wealth and then seeks revenge against the men who falsely accused him. The historical setting is a prime element of the overall storyline.
19. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf – Woolf was lifted to the top of modernist novelists with this 1927 novel. Although the prose can be hard to follow, the story is masterfully crafted in a method where the plot is secondary to the philosophical introspection of the main characters.
18. On the Road by Jack Kerouac – A largely autobiographical novel that has been consistently hailed as the seminal writing of the “beat” generation. A free-wheeling road trip across 1950s America.
17. Inferno by Dante – The first part of Dante’s epic poem, the Divine Comedy, that describes a journey through a medieval representation of Hell. A thought provoking read through a Hell that is depicted as nine circles of suffering on earth.
16. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien – Originally published as a children’s book in 1937, this fantastical tale has come to be embraced by people of all ages. A story containing all of the aspects of a great action adventure.
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller – A 1961 satirical novel that is frequently recognized as one of the greatest literary works of modern time. The time line of the plot is extremely unique in that events occur out of order and are described from different points of view.
14. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – A 1903 novella that explores the dark side of Belgian colonization in Africa. Best known for its wild settings and Conrad’s portrayal of human cruelty.
13. Dracula by Bram Stoker – It is amazing that this 1897 novel has proven to be the fore-bearer of the current worldwide vampire craze in books and movies. More than just a tale about Count Dracula, this work touches on broad cultural themes that range from the role of women in Victorian culture to colonialism.
12. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – This 1962 novella is more than a bit strange in both language and surreal scenes, but that is the whole point. Burgess masterfully turns reality inside out.
11. Moby Dick by Herman Melville – An epic tale of a battle between man and a white sperm whale that is still considered to be a true treasure of world literature. Melville’s themes about good versus evil and the outcomes of obsessive revenge ring true even when compared to many modern day events.
10. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – Name any branch of science and Bryson brilliantly explains it in plain terms in this dazzling work. The subject matter focuses on not only what we know about the universe, but also how we know it.
9. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck – Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. It is hard not to be moved by this story of a poor family forced to move from their Oklahoma land during the Great Depression.
8. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – A creepy, yet sophisticated story of the main character’s sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl. Highly noted for both Nabokov’s stylistic prose and his delicate handling of a controversial subject matter.
7. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski – Although this story was written in the late 1800s, it still defines the ongoing question concerning whether a crime is permissible when committed in pursuit of a higher social purpose. This novel brings to the surface many philosophical dilemmas.
6. The Trial by Franz Kafka – Known for his unique writing style where one sentence can span an entire page, Kafka has proven to be a literary giant against whom other writers are often compared. This story about a man who is arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority is considered by many to be the prime example of Kafka’s genius.
5. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway – This semi-autobiographical novel revolves around events during the First World War. Although much of the plot is bleak, Hemingway was immediately elevated to the top ranks of modern American writers after its 1929 release.
4. Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington – This 1901 autobiography provides thought changing insights into what it was like to be a man raised as a child slave who later strives to make a mark on American history. A true lesson about black history after the Civil War.
3. Ulysses by James Joyce – A heavy read that people seem to either love or hate due to Joyce’s experimental prose. Yet this novel is consistently in the top ranks of “must reads” because of the masterful way Joyce crafts a 650 story where all of the events take place within a single day.
2. 1984 by George Orwell – A 1949 novel that is sure to receive greater attention in our present age of terrorism. Orwell’s themes about a society defined by perpetual wars, heavy government surveillance, thought control and an oppressive dictatorship have proven to become a harsh reality in many countries throughout the world since 9/11.
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Widely regarded to be the prime example of the Great American Novel. Fitzgerald’s soaring tale about American society during the spring to autumn of 1922 exemplifies the meaning of storytelling at its best.
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Impossibly Bad Drivers (Gallery) – Leenks
Watch Bombshell Bikini Model Rachel Cook Dive into a Cream Pie – Maxim
These 30 GIFs PERFECTLY Explain Life’s Little Mysteries – 22 Words
Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste – Rare
Female Killers Who Served Their Victims for Dinner – Ranker
12 Celebrities With Ridiculous And Bizarre Dressing Room Demands – Mandatory
This might be the most disgusting thing you’ve ever seen—guaranteed to make your skin to crawl – Faves
5 YouTube Stars Who Make Millions – Newser
Emotional Intelligence: The Social Skills You Weren’t Taught in School – Life Hacker
A Dose of a Hallucinogen From a ‘Magic Mushroom,’ and Then Lasting Peace – NY Times
I Was Shocked When I Discovered the Meaning of Fruit Stickers. I Thought It Was an Irrelevant Detail – Brigth Side
Anne Hathaway Busty on the set of ‘Ocean’s Eight’ – G-Celeb
She Sure Looks Hot In Those Glasses (34 Photos) – Radass
Short dress + High Heels = A Winning Combination – Ehowa
10 Hottest Laura Lux Instagram Pics – Classy Bro
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Drug development is the most high risk/high reward industry possible. It costs roughly 2 billion USD to take a drug from conception to market. The vast majority of drugs never make it to market. Each of those failures costs some fraction of 2 billion USD. Many of those failures are weeded out only at the end when all of that investment has already been made. For those failures, the company makes back 0 of it’s investment. It’s not like a phone that doesn’t sell as spectacularly well as hoped. It’s no product at all. You can’t even learn much from those failures. It’s years of people lives (sometimes 10 or more) and huge amounts of money that just evaporate. It’s crushing.
This is why the drugs that work have to be expensive. They have to pay the company back and more for all the failures. Interestingly, most companies making drugs aren’t huge. Most are quite small:
Here’s an anecdote that represents a typical trajectory of a drug in development. It’s an entirely true story but the numbers are best approximations:
Small company starts with idea, raises 10 million from venture capital, hires 5 people. 99 of 100 of those investments go nowhere, so the investors want a HUGE stake to make it worthwhile. At least 51%. You’d be reckless to ask for less. But hey, you now have a company doing innovative science where before you had nothing. So anywho, they lease lab space and equipment and develop the idea and it shows promise. Round 2 of financing comes in, another 50 million at the cost of another 30% stake, they hire 30 more people, lease a larger space and buy more necessary equipment. It’s getting to be an expensive company to run and it so far has nothing to sell. It starts to ‘burn’ money at a rate that means the doors can only stay open for maybe another year. The idea continues to show promise. It works in cells, it works in mice, it works in primates, it’s time for clinic. Round 3 of funding comes in with 100 million, and that costs 15% of the remaining stake. Company hires 20 more people, this time mostly bureaucrats to set up a proposal for an ‘Investigational New Drug’ application. This is what you need to convince the FDA to allow you to start clinical trials on humans. Right now, the original owners retain only 4% of the original stake.
So, time for clinical trials. Phase 1 begins with 30 healthy adults. This is just to show that the drug is safe. It costs 10 million USD. The company has zero profits so far and has been paying 60 people for years, so it has to pay for this cost by leveraging 3% of the final stake. Eventually, the ‘burn’ rate means that it has to fire 90% of their scientists as they can’t afford salaries anymore. That’s OK though, because this startup has succeeded. You see, Phase 1 clinical trial pass (the drug is safe) and it’s onto phase 2 (which asks ‘is it effective?). This costs 40 million USD more but no more money is left. What to do? Only one option. The investors who now control 99% of the company decide to sell everything to a company like Novartis/Merck/GSK, etc. The company sells for 500 million USD on the expected promise of the new drug. Original founders walk away with 5 million USD due to having a 1% stake. Everyone else is out on their ass looking for a new startup. This is considered a HUGE success in the startup world. It’s what everyone hoped for.
Now, Merck or whoever takes over development of drug X. Drug passes Phase 2 but fails in Phase 3 Trials.
And that’s how you lose 1 billion USD over 10 years with 100s of cumulative years of human work down the drain.
THIS is why developing drugs is expensive and THIS is why the drugs that work are expensive.
To anyone saying that Universities should make drugs instead of industry: There are very, very few universities that could afford this. Harvard maybe. Most universities would spend their entire endowment on a 9 to 1 shot. Universities like bonds for a reason. You don’t play roulette with your endowment. This is a job for people willing to risk billions. And this, my friends is why drug development is so centralized in the US. Fucking cowboy investors are the best route forward here.
And for those who think this is cynical, please recall that for the actual people who founded this company and for the scientists doing the research, they are most often driven by a desire to cure horrific diseases and change the world. The money aspect is a necessary evil that good people need to navigate. Consider that a typical PhD scientist makes about 1/4 as much as a physician and spends a similar amount of time in education (13 years for me from BS to end of postdoc). The people actually researching new drugs are doing it because they are passionate about human health. Not because they are ‘shills’.
It was a combination of factors.
One thing that’s very overplayed is the Maginot Line; the line of fortifications that France built along its border with Germany. In the popular imagination people often say that the French sat behind the Maginot Line and the Germans went around it through Belgium, but that’s just completely false. The French in fact built the Maginot Line to force the Germans to go through Belgium. The French sent their best forces and tanks to Belgium when the Germans attacked.
But what happened is that the Germans took a big gamble that paid off. Belgium can be roughly divided into two parts:
So the French assumed that the Germans would attack through the northern plains. It was the sensible thing to do—the French knew that the Germans were very good at tank warfare, and it made sense for the Germans to attack on good tank terrain. Also, a German army officer carrying the original German attack plans—through northern Belgium—had to do an emergency landing in Belgium, and the Belgians managed to get a hold of these plans and send them over to the French.
The Germans in the end decided to send their main attack through the Ardennes; to fool the French, however, they started by attacking northern Belgium to make it look like it was their main attack. The French didn’t figure out the trick, so they sent their best forces to meet the fake German attack; in the meantime the best of the German forces went through the Ardennes mostly unopposed and ended up attacking the worst of the French forces, the ones defending the sector that the French assumed was the safest.
That part of the explanation is called strategic surprise; the Germans managed to fool the French about their plans, and the French Army’s best forces just ended up in the wrong place. A powerful army is no good if it’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But what most people don’t understand is that if the French had figured out the Ardennes trick in time, the Germans would have looked like total morons. The Germans’ Ardennes move, for example, caused the worst traffic jam that the world had ever seen up to that point. Most German officers hated the plan. Hitler did like it; Halder (the military boss at the time, who’d been plotting against Hitler) thought privately that the attack on France was stupid, and that he’d rather pursue a plan that meant either quick success or quick defeat, instead of the northern plan which would mean a long war that he thought the Germans would lose at enormous cost.
Strategic surprise isn’t the whole story, however. People often say that the French were trying to fight World War I again. (Our misguided friend Amarkov in another reply here says so, for example, along with the Maginot Line error.) That’s not quite true, but it’s at least aiming at a general problem. Both sides knew that the war was going to be different than WWI: tanks and airplanes. But for the most part the officers in neither side knew exactly how it would be different. However, the German Army’s training was better suited for these new situations. German training emphasized improvisation and initiative, while French training emphasized following orders.
So the Battle of France was a bunch of unexpected situations for both sides; the thing is that the Germans were able to improvise, while the French basically became paralyzed and unable to counterattack effectively once their grand plan to stop the Germans in northern Belgium was shown to be less than relevant. (Paralysis actually also happened to the Germans briefly; at one point one general managed to convince Hitler that the army was advancing too fast, and Hitler ordered them to stop for a day or so. Without this pause, the British might have never escaped from the battle.)
The French also had the problem that they had to coordinate with the British and the Belgians. Bad communication prevented some counterattack plans that might have saved France.
Another one: the French had more powerful tanks, but the Germans knew how to use their tanks better. One big aspect of this is that nearly all German tanks had radios, but the French didn’t.
Yet another one: the Germans had better close air support. German army officers could much more easily radio in requests for bombers to come and strike targets of their choice. The French held a lot of their air force in reserve for the fight, while the Germans went all out with theirs.
Existentialism is a belief that everyone should seriously consider as a way of living. Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, elegantly summarized existentialism in 3 words:
Existence precedes essence.
It’s a mouthful, but read on and it will become clear.
Consider a pen. A pen is created to enable us to write. The inventor first had an idea of a tool with a handle and a pointy end that can be used to transfer ink onto paper. Once the purpose was clear, the tool was produced.
This doesn’t only apply to pens, but to all other objects: You conceive the idea/purpose first before you manifest it in real world. Essence before existence.
Now consider yourself:
You were brought into this world first, before you can even think, read, walk, talk, or do anything substantial. But as you grow older, you learn to do all of those things. And eventually, you become self-sufficient and you decide your life and your values yourself.
Unlike a pen, your existence comes first before your essence.
Existentialism is powerful because it puts your life in your own hand. If you become successful, it’s all you. If you fail, it’s all you. Scary, but liberating.
But some people think like they are pens, that their lives have already been decided for them. By doing so, they take the agency away from themselves and absolve themselves of any responsibilities. Anything good and bad that happens to them are out of their control. “It’s fate,” or so they say.
Existentialists don’t believe in fate or destiny or any idea that tries to convince you that your whole life has been decided and scripted before you came into this world. Because if you do believe in destiny, then even the act of rolling a die already has a predetermined result. It’s out of your hand.
Existentialists also don’t subscribe to stereotypes or any other societal expectations and labels that have been arbitrarily attributed to themselves. They are free and responsible for themselves, and define themselves through their actions.
Lawrence Kurniawan
There is no such thing as a ‘typical day’ in prison. Things differ drastically from prison-to-prison, person-to-person, and from day-to-day. There’s a popular saying amongst inmates about a prison’s program: ”The only thing consistent about prison is change.” That change often happens without notice and at the drop of a dime.
For instance, it can be a beautiful day outside, guys may be working out, playing sports, cards, or just enjoying the fresh air; and in the blink of an eye we’re in the middle of a full scale riot. Paying attention is a MUST HAVE trait in prison; it can literally mean/make the difference between life and death.
Although San Quentin State Prison is known for its notorious past, currently it happens to be the most stable and consistent of all the prisons, at least in my opinion. Here is a typical day for me:
5:30-6:30 AM: Breakfast, a.k.a. ‘chow time’, and the start of most guys’ day. The breakfast isn’t good, so I skip it and sleep in during that hour, which is much needed as you will see.
6:30-7:15 AM: Start day with a morning prayer and devotional reading.
7:15-8:00 AM: Breakfast in my cell and prepare for work. My breakfast usually consists of a bowl of oatmeal or a Danish and a cup of coffee, all of which are sold from the prison’s commissary, a.k.a. inmate canteen.
8:00 AM-2:00 PM: Work. I work in the prison’s general maintenance shop as a metal-fabricator/welder. I make 32 cents an hour. Yep, you read it right, a whopping 32 cents per hour.
2:00-3:00 PM: Shower grab a bite to eat and prepare for either a self-help group or college class.
3:00-5:00 PM: Self-help group or college class.
5:00-6:00 PM: Dinner. It tends to be better than the breakfast so I go.
6:00-8:00 PM: Another self-help group or college class.
8:00-9:00 PM: Socialize with friends or use the prison phone to talk to my loved ones.
9:00 PM: All inmates are locked in their cells or dorm until breakfast. There is no lights out policy.
9:00-11:00 PM: Watch T.V., listen to music or write a letter, and fix something to eat.
11 PM-12:30 AM: Homework, including play-writing for chapel.
12:30-6:30 AM: Sleep
There is a perception in society that inmates spend all day doing nothing. As you can see that is not always true. I am no exception to the rule. There are more guys spending their time doing something productive than those who are not, especially in a prison like San Quentin that offers programs.
How one spends his time—be it in prison or out—is what makes the difference between success and failure. I choose to stay busy and focused because I have chosen to be a future success story.
– James JC Cavitt, Inmate San Quentin
Look at it as the credibility of a news item as well as the credibility of the news source.
If the news source is generally well respected, credibility of any news item goes up. One indicator of general respectedness is whether it was around before the web, another indicator is whether there is a print edition (these are NOT exclusive, just indicators).
If the news source is using language seeking to analyze and inform, rather than inflame or anger, credibility goes up (compare HuffPo and Breitbart to the Economist and WaPo, even to the National Review). If you get really angry reading the article, or think someone on the other side might, credibility goes down.
If the news source is TV or cable, look elsewhere for confirmation.
If the news item is being reported by multiple sources which have some amount of respectability, credibility goes up.
If the news item is not a breaking news item but something that has been discussed across a broad swath of media for a period of time, credibility goes up.
If the news item’s sources are well-documented and relatively credible themselves, credibility goes up.
If the news item is about events or ideas rather than people’s individual behavior, then credibility goes up.
– CarelessChemicals
When you work “above the line” on a movie (writer, director, actor, producer, etc.) watching it flop at the box office is devastating. I had such an experience during the opening weekend of Conan the Barbarian 3D.
A movie’s opening day is analogous to a political election night. Although I’ve never worked in politics, I remember having similar feelings of disappointment and disillusionment when my candidate lost a presidential bid, so I imagine that working as a speechwriter or a fundraiser for the losing campaign would feel about the same as working on an unsuccessful film.
One joins a movie production, the same way one might join a campaign, years before the actual release/election, and in the beginning one is filled with hope, enthusiasm and belief. I joined the Conan team, having loved the character in comic books and the stories of Robert E. Howard, filled with the same kind of raw energy and drive that one needs in politics.
Any film production, like a long grueling campaign over months and years, is filled with crisis, compromise, exhaustion, conflict, elation, and blind faith that if one just works harder, the results will turn out all right in the end. During that process whatever anger, frustration, or disagreement you have with the candidate/film you keep to yourself. Privately you may oppose various decisions, strategies, or compromises; you may learn things about the candidate that cloud your resolve and shake your confidence, but you soldier on, committed to the end. You rationalize it along the way by imagining that the struggle will be worth it when the candidate wins.
A few months before release, “tracking numbers” play the role in movies that polls play in politics. It’s easy to get caught up in this excitement, like a college volunteer handing out fliers for Howard Dean. (Months before Conan was released many close to the production believed it would open like last year’sThe Expendables.) As the release date approaches and the the tracking numbers start to fall, you start adjusting expectations, but always with a kind of desperate optimism. “I don’t believe the polls,” say the smiling candidates.
You hope that advertising and word of mouth will improve the numbers, and even as the numbers get tighter and the omens get darker, you keep telling yourself that things will turn around, that your guy will surprise the experts and pollsters. You stay optimistic. You begin selectively ignoring bad news and highlighting the good. You make the best of it. You believe.
In the days before the release, you get all sorts of enthusiastic congratulations from friends and family. Everyone seems to believe it will go well, and everyone has something positive to say, so you allow yourself to get swept up in it.
You tell yourself to just enjoy the process. That whether you succeed or fail, win or lose, it will be fine. You pretend to be Zen. You adopt detachment, and ironic humor, while secretly praying for a miracle.
The Friday night of the release is like the Tuesday night of an election. “Exit polls” are taken of people leaving the theater, and estimated box office numbers start leaking out in the afternoon, like early ballot returns. You are glued to your computer, clicking wildly over websites, chatting nonstop with peers, and calling anyone and everyone to find out what they’ve heard. Have any numbers come back yet? That’s when your stomach starts to drop.
By about 9 PM it’s clear when your “candidate” has lost by a startlingly wide margin, more than you or even the most pessimistic political observers could have predicted. With a movie its much the same: trade magazines like Variety and Hollywood Reporter call the weekend winners and losers based on projections. That’s when the reality of the loss sinks in, and you don’t sleep the rest of the night.
For the next couple of days, you walk in a daze, and your friends and family offer kind words, but mostly avoid the subject. Since you had planned (ardently believed, despite it all) that success would propel you to new appointments and opportunities, you find yourself at a loss about what to do next. It can all seem very grim.
You make light of it, of course. You joke and shrug. But the blow to your ego and reputation can’t be brushed off. Reviewers, even when they were positive, mocked Conan The Barbarian for its lack of story, lack of characterization, and lack of wit. This doesn’t speak well of the screenwriting – and any filmmaker who tells you s/he “doesn’t read reviews” just doesn’t want to admit how much they sting.
But one thought this morning has lightened my mood:
My father is a retired trumpet player. I remember, when I was a boy, watching him spend months preparing for an audition with a famous philharmonic. Trumpet positions in major orchestras only become available once every few years. Hundreds of world class players will fly in to try out for these positions from all over the world. I remember my dad coming home from this competition, one that he desperately wanted to win, one that he desperatelyneeded to win because work was so hard to come by. Out of hundreds of candidates and days of auditions and callbacks, my father came in….second.
It was devastating for him. He looked completely numb. To come that close and lose tore out his heart. But the next morning, at 6:00 AM, the same way he had done every morning since the age of 12, he did his mouthpiece drills. He did his warm ups. He practiced his usual routines, the same ones he tells his students they need to play every single day. He didn’t take the morning off. He just went on. He was and is a trumpet player and that’s what trumpet players do, come success or failure.
Less than a year later, he went on to win a position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he played for three decades. Good thing he kept practicing.
So with my father’s example in mind, here I sit, coffee steaming in its mug and dog asleep at my feet, starting my work for the day, revising yet another script, working out yet another pitch, thinking of the future (the next project, the next election) because I’m a screenwriter, and that’s just what screenwriters do.
On to the next campaign…
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50+ Of The Best Images Of The Year Announced By National Geographic – Bored Panda
Ashley Graham Wants to See Plus-Size Models on the Victoria’s Secret Runway – Maxim
Tesla Just Powered a 600-Person Island With Energy – Leenks
Apple has made over $600 million off US taxpayers since 2012 by avoiding taxes — here’s how – Rare
Former boxing champ KO’d a young punk for mouthing off – Faves
The Creepiest Things Little Kids Have Ever Said – Ranker
Google Says It Will Run Entirely on Renewable Energy in 2017 – Newser
10 Historical Facts That Will Make You Think Twice About Romanticizing The Past – Mandatory
Donald Trump Is Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year – Bossip
Barbara Palvin…Dayuuuum! – Hollywood Tuna
This Tiny Dog Rides On Top of Her Giant St. Bernard Big Brother Everywhere They Go – 22 Words
Maisie Williams & Sophie Turner(?) Were in Thongs – G-Celeb
Smile, It’s Hump Day! – Radass
34 Insta-Hot Pics of Monica Alvarez – Regretful Morning
Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Actors According To Forbes – The Blemish
God bless the genius who invented yoga pants (32 Photos) – Bad Sentinel
Sixteen Awesome Swords of the ’80s – Gunaxin
24 things to consider before taking Adderall – Business Insider
Wouldn’t you love to come home from a long day at work to this – Ehowa
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