Cockroaches are one of the most hated creatures on the planet, and disgust and horrify us despite being a vital part of the overall ecological cycle. Regardless, most people would not want their houses infested with them, and like to spend as little time around them or their filth as possible. Unfortunately, since they are…
Author: Gregory Myers
For those who aren’t aware of the term, a proxy war is when two nations don’t really want to directly fight each other or declare war due to the financial cost and diplomatic hassle, so they duke it out in some other country, usually allowing the side they support with advisors and weapons to do…
Today, companies try harder than ever to keep you loyal to their brand, and don’t want you thinking about how they do business. With flashy social media accounts, and brand personalities meant to make you feel like they are part of the family, the distraction game of today’s marketing experts is on point. Of course,…
Those who have watched anime have seen a lot of weapons inspired by those used in the feudal days of Japan, and anyone who has taken a Japanese martial arts class has gotten to play around with at least a few of the more basic ones, such as the bo-staff, or nunchucks. However, the feudal…
There are a lot of great things about the modern world, including instant communication, a wealth of amazing entertainment options, access (depending on your part of the world) to some of the best healthcare in history, and the ability to travel all over the world at incredible speeds that our ancestors would have found mind-boggling.…
Ever since man looked up at the stars, he has been fascinated by the big round white hunk of rock that hangs in the sky above us. The Moon has featured in religious beliefs and in the lore of countless cultures and societies. Due to human curiosity, we set out to understand the Moon further,…
War destroys lives and property, it destroys trust between nations, it creates an air of fear and paranoia, and is generally a very bad thing. Even wars that were arguably necessary still marked years of even the “good guys” sinking to many levels of brutality before the entire thing was over. As many think of…
Most people perceive it as unthinkable that a country like America could end up a dictatorship. After all, America has an incredible amount of checks and balances, and is well designed to weather the storm of dictators and tyrants. However, even the most well designed and manufactured things can be broken, and many people have…
As they say, history is written by the victors, and the United States of America has been the victor quite a lot. For this reason, they have gotten to write most of their own history, and it tends to be quite positive and rosy, and full of little vignettes that make particular groups pet theories…
Currently, Vladimir Putin (with his regime) is one of the biggest real life bogeymen in the entire world. However, while people in the West are often told that Russia is not a good example of a well run country, and that Putin is a dangerous leader, they often aren’t told the details of exactly why…
Today we live in the age of instant information and instant gratification, and many people feel they cannot live without the internet. However, for the longest time humanity did just fine without it in their lives, and we could do so again. In fact, the truth is that at this point, the internet is probably…
After 9/11, many people in the Western World started paying more attention to the Middle East. But unfortunately, most of that attention has tended to be negative. Over the years, stereotypes and misconceptions have built up about the Middle East, and many people now have a very confused and rather narrow view of a very…
Many people love watching shows or movies set in some sort of post-apocalyptic universe, and consider the lifestyle to be very glamorous. However, the truth is that reality in a post-apocalyptic universe would certainly not be the fun and games free-for-all that so many people imagine it to be. The most fun parts of life…
If you’ve ever been on the internet, you have probably seen someone pass around a list of “wacky laws” from various states in the USA. These are usually laws that are still on the books from decades or even centuries ago, were never constitutional, wouldn’t be held up by any local judge worthy of their…
Engineers are one of the most important behind-the-scenes groups of people, and most of us just take them and their work for granted. The truth is that there can only be so many designers, and the vast majority of engineers do the unglamorous, but no less important work, of building, testing, and improving things for…
People often misunderstand scientific theories — partly because science can be complicated, but also because many people are confused about what a scientific theory actually is. A theory, in science terms, is not just an extremely good educated guess, nor is it expected to ever reach a higher burden of proof. It is, in fact,…
In 1975, the communist revolutionary group Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, had taken over Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. Soon they had control of the entire country and declared its new name as “Democratic Kampuchea.” They wanted to create an idealized communist agrarian society, and started making radical changes. While their reign…
Logical fallacies are something we all learned about in high school at least a little bit, and we have all heard teenagers throw them around (often wrongly) in internet arguments in a vain attempt to “win” something — they of course haven’t yet learned the crucial lesson that no one ever wins an argument on…
Many people like to think of big corporations as their friends, and the corporations certainly don’t try too hard to convince people otherwise. In fact, recent efforts on social media by large companies have taken advantage of this by using a personal touch, and often turning their company into a loveable character, run by a…
Throughout history there have been a lot of amazing leaders. Some of them led from the front, even charging into battle, and others simply made incredible decisions that saved countless lives and led to a prosperous kingdom. Some did both. However, there have also been leaders who are known more for their blunders, and even…
When learning about history you often assume you are learning about the most important people in any given situation. But often, you learn either of those who took the credit, or even more commonly, those that history happened to credit more because their role, or just their personality, was more glamorous. Those easily identifiable figures…
Everyone who has ever watched a movie has an idea in their head of the stereotypical angry mob with torches and pitchforks, and most of us have a lot of preconceived notions about how crowds will behave. People tend to think, in general, that crowds are relatively easy to manipulate, and that oftentimes people will…
Many people have their ideas of Japan during World War II based mostly off movies about the war and an HBO miniseries or two, as well as a lot of folk legend passed down over the years. However, some of this has given us a slightly confused picture of how things actually were. A lot…
Sweden is a well known country today, but they are not particularly well known for their military prowess. Most people today known Sweden for Ikea, pop music, and for being a very successful and rich, but relatively small country. However, many people outside of Sweden and the nearby countries do not realize that just a…