Month: July 2018

Law Enforcement Exploiting Informants

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Most informants for law enforcement are people who have been caught doing something illegal (e.g. dealing illicit drugs) and want to avoid a criminal record and/or time spent in prison. These people cooperate with law enforcement and typically get themselves deeply indebted. Informants reside in places they normally wouldn’t spend time in and consume illicit drugs which they normally wouldn’t ingest to make connections and meet their quota for the amount of arrests and raids law enforcement requires of them. Informants are typically vulnerable people who are taken advantage of because they know they have little or no option otherwise. This exploitation by law enforcement is strikingly similar to how a criminal takes advantage of a sex worker. Neither law enforcement nor the criminal care about the person being exploited, they only want what they need and if this need is not met, they hang these exploited persons out to dry. It is not unusual for police to press the initial charges that the person working with them was trying to evade to begin with when their demands are not met which is similar in tactic to how a criminal at best beats and at worst kills the sex worker working for them

The Advent of the Steam Engine

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In 1711, Thomas Newcomen invented the first machine which utilized steam power to operate a water pump. By the 1800’s, steam engines were powering mills, factories, breweries, trains and many other different machines for various industrial purposes. In 1804, the first steam engine train was introduced to Britain

How Funding for the Completion of the Statue of Liberty Was Raised

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The Statue of Liberty was assembled and shipped from France as a gift to the United States of America. Construction started in July 1884 but parts did not arrive to the U.S. until June of 1885. The Statue of Liberty arrived in pieces and had to be constructed on Bedloe’s Island, United States of America which was renamed “Liberty Island” in 1956. Joseph Pulitzer, who owned the New York Times during this period announced that anybody who donated a penny or more to the project would have their name printed in the next issue of the New York Times. Thousands of people started donating to see their name listed in Pulitzer’s paper. The donations went towards the building of the base which the statue stands upon. The base was built by U.S. workers unlike the rest of the statue which was constructed by the French. One of the main engineers of the project was Gustave Eiffel, the same person who designed and built the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The 7 spikes on the statue’s crown represent the 7 seas and the 7 continents

The Scientific Field of Space Archeology

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The term “space archeologist” is used to describe “archeologists who use National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellites to discover artifacts hidden below the surface level of the Earth”. Measuring a chemical signature seen only with satellite imagery in a process referred to as “chemical spectrography”, this new and innovative method of archaeological surveying measures off gassing from the ground (which is invisible to the naked eye) by harnessing light from the infrared light spectrum. Subtle differences in chlorophyll indicate changes in vegetation health as plants growing on top of ancient relics are less healthy than their counterparts near by. This allows space archeologists to create maps of what’s below the Earth (e.g. pyramids and amphitheaters)

Hyperinflation in Germany Post World War I

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The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay reparations for causing World War I which was finally paid in full in 2010. Affected countries demanded gold, manufactured goods, and other means of back payment which collapsed the German economy. To fix this economic downturn the German government borrowed money and printed enormous amounts of currency which inevitably caused and lead to hyperinflation. In 1919, ℳ4.00 papiermarks would buy a loaf of bread, but by 1923, a loaf of bread cost ℳ650,000,000 (650 million) papiermarks. The value of money deteriorated so greatly that restrooms of establishments had to post signage asking patrons to use toilet paper instead of currency as the currency was clogging the toilets and plumbing system. The economic collapse of the German state allowed Adolf Hitler to rise to power and the depression experienced by Germany effectively guaranteed the occurrence of World War II

The Danger of Edwardian Quicklime Kilns

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During the early 20th century during the Edwardian period, poverty was quite rampant in England and those who were homeless would often seek out quicklime kilns burning throughout the countryside in an attempt to stay warm during the night. Quicklime was produced to create mortar for buildings and is designed to neutralize the acidity of the bedrock within farming soil. Quicklime is created by mixing limestone with coal to produce and sustain a constant temperature of 900 degrees Celsius. Quicklime kilns produce carbon monoxide as a by-product among other caustic chemical vapors because of the burning limestone and those who slept beside the kilns would often be rendered unconscious while sleeping because of the carbon monoxide produced, sometimes causing them to shift or roll, and fall into the kiln which was typically few meters both in diameter and depth. These unfortunate victims would be cooked alive, only to be found days later when those producing the quicklime returned to check on their work

Saudi Arabian Wealth and Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz al Saud

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Saudi Arabia generates $1,000,000,000 ($1 billion) per day in profit by selling oil to the United States of America. There is no social security in Saudi Arabia so it is customary for tribal and/or community leaders to give away money to those in need. The wealthiest person in Saudi Arabia is the grandson of Muhammad ibn Saud who was the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saud’s grandson Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud often gives away hundreds of thousands of dollars within a single evening, a few times per month. Saud’s net worth is an estimated $21,700,000,000 ($21.7 billion). Saud owns shares of hundreds of well known U.S. companies and has given away tens of thousands of vehicles and billions of dollars to those in need

The Process of Dying on Death Row In the United States of America

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In the United States of America, an incarcerated person cannot be executed before they are deemed fit to do so by medical personnel. An inmate can be deemed unfit for any number of reasons (e.g. being identified as insane, bleeding from a gunshot wound, unconscious due to head trauma etc.). Inmates are allowed to shower before the execution and they are permitted to wear clothing of their own choosing, doing away with prison attire if they so desire. Inmates are allowed to ask for additional food and drink during their last meal if they consume what was provided to them and reasonable requests for anything else are usually granted. It takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes to complete an execution from the time the inmate is brought from their holding cell to the execution chamber to the time they take their last breath. Strapping the inmate down takes approximately 2 minutes and the intravenous medication used for the execution takes approximately 15 minutes to take full effect. The lethal combination of medications are given in two steps, the first taking approximately 5 minutes before the secondary lethal dose is provided which also takes approximately 5 minutes after which time the inmate continues to live until the medication takes their life which takes approximately another 5 minutes

The Athleticism and Intellect of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is perhaps the most educated athlete who ever lived, inspired by his father who was an avid reader. Abdul-Jabbar is also a voracious reader who has written 12 books and has worked as a columnist for Time magazine. Abdul-Jabber spent 20 seasons in the NBA, was an NBA All Star for 19 of those seasons, a 6 time NBA champion, and a 6 time NBA Most Valuable Player. Abdul-Jabbar invented and perfected the “sky hook” which was a high arching shot, a shot which he accredits to his time spent learning the sport of archery in which one must shoot above the target in anticipation of the projectile being pulled down to Earth the second it is launched, therefore acting against that downward pull by counteracting with a shot resulting in an arc

How Stealth Aircraft Technology Works

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Stealth aircraft are shaped and angled as such so that any signal bounced off of them bounces in a direction different than that of how it came in making Radio Detection and Ranging or Radio Direction And Ranging (RADAR) unable to ping and receive a signal back which makes stealth aircraft essentially invisible as they cannot be seen with the naked eye due to the incredible speed and height at which they travel, nor can it be tracked with technology