He found 15 books in a Sierra dumpster. Then he found out they belonged to Thomas Jefferson.

In December 2014, Max Brown was picking through an Incline Village dumpster for a community service project when a collection of 1980s cassettes caught his eye. Fancying himself a collector, he pulled them out and inspected them. 
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How legal cannabis actually made things worse for sick people in Oregon

The medical marijuana market is in a downward spiral as businesses, lured by big money, shift to recreational.
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China's Xinjiang Province: A Surveillance State Unlike Any the World Has Ever Seen

In western China, Beijing is using the most modern means available to control its Uighur minority. Tens of thousands have disappeared into re-education camps. A journey to an eerily quiet region.
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TSA is tracking regular travelers like terrorists in secret surveillance program

Air marshals are conducting a new domestic surveillance program, tracking people as they fly and move through airports. It might be illegal.
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'I traced missile casings in Syria back to their original sellers, so it’s time for the west to reveal who they sell arms to'

I don’t think either Nato or the EU has the slightest interest in chasing the provenance of weapons in the hands of Islamist fighters in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East
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The Black Panthers still in prison: after 46 years, will they ever be set free?

Over two years, Ed Pilkington has interviewed eight African American radicals imprisoned since the 1970s. Will they ever be freed?
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French skier lost in 1954 is identified

Henri Le Masne, who disappeared in a storm while skiing in Italy, is identified with Facebook help.
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This idyllic beach was filled with Aussie backpackers. Now it’s unrecognisable

GANGSTERS shooting up bars. Broken dusty streets. A casino on every corner. Unlimited booze, drugs and prostitution. No, it’s not the Wild West. It’s Sihanoukville, or Snooky, a port city on Cambodia’s coast popular with backpackers in the 1990s thanks to its long empty beaches and chilled-out vibe — a quirky alternative to the tourist haunts in neighbouring Thailand.
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TSA is tracking regular travelers like terrorists in secret surveillance program

Air marshals are conducting a new domestic surveillance program, tracking people as they fly and move through airports. It might be illegal.
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Suspicious Minds

Mingling with wariness and wonder at a conference devoted to “Ancient Aliens.” By Steven Kurutz.
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That Man

Caro Emerald
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Kinds of Cleaning Businesses - Everyday Cleaning Melbourne

Our lives hardly allow us to have the time we need. With many things to do, cleaning a house is hardly on anyone’s list.
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‘Amazing Dragon’ Discovery in China Reshapes History of Dinosaurs’ Evolution

Fossilized remains of Lingwulong shenqi show that big herbivores with long necks reached East Asia and evolved earlier than scientists had thought.
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San Francisco Bay Area cities are cracking down on free food at Facebook and other tech companies

It's no secret that Facebook employees love their free meals. But this fall when the tech giant moves to its new office complex in Mountain View, California, that perk will no longer exist because of a new city rule. And San Francisco may follow.
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How Silicon Valley Became a Den of Spies

The West Coast is a growing target of foreign espionage. And it’s not ready to fight back.
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Lewis Carroll’s Adventures in Russia

"Dodgson had taken a travelling chess set with him, which proved a boon on some of their long train journeys; he also recorded his first impression of Moscow as 'bulging gilded domes, in which you see as in a looking-glass distorted pictures of the city.'” By Mark Davies.
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Poland's democracy is being boiled to death while the world watches

Polish democracy is being subject to the boiling frog strategy via the adoption of unconstitutional legislation without, however, any risk for the ruling party as effective constitutional review has now been neutralised.
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The Forgotten Coup

How America and Britain crushed the government of their 'ally,' Australia. By John Pilger. (Oct. 23, 2014)
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How I Survived Socialism: A Self-Help Guide for Worried Americans

The regime was harsh, the system absurd but rules made up in Moscow were no match for the individualistic Poles. Magda Romanska’s delightful piece shows us how it was done. Elegantly, of course. (Apr. 22, 2012)
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FOLI (there is no movement without rhythm) - original version by Thomas Roebers and Floris Leeuwenberg

Dedicated to the people of Baro.
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Venezuela's Inflation to Reach 1 Million Percent, IMF Forecasts

Venezuela’s inflation will skyrocket to 1 million percent by the end of the year as the government continues to print money to cover a growing budget hole, the International Monetary Fund predicted on Monday.
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Is this Japanese concept the secret to a long, happy, meaningful life?

Finding your everyday reason for living, or ikigai, could lead to a longer and better life.
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Tranquility, Death Valley National Park

Taken with Canon 6D. 17-40 f/4, settings: 1/60s, f/9, ISO100
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Resignation syndrome: Sweden's mystery illness

For nearly two decades Sweden has been battling a mysterious illness, which affects only the children of asylum-seekers.
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China made solar panels cheap. Now it’s doing the same for electric buses.

Thanks, China.
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My deep dive into one of the largest dark web hacking forums

I spent three weeks studying FreeHacks, one of the dark web’s biggest platform for hackers. From passports to credit cards, nothing is safe.
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Trump is going after California’s clean car mandate

The Trump administration is planning a proposal that would seize control away from California regulators and prevent them from enforcing the state’s own emissions standards.
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China: outcry over sale of 250,000 faulty vaccines prompts investigation

Chinese social media posts expressed anger with hashtag #Changsheng vaccine case# being viewed 470 million times by Monday
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The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier, American Hostage

What happened to U.S. college student Otto Warmbier—who was sent home brain-damaged from North Korea—is more shocking than anyone knew.
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Germany sees sharp rise in 'fake science' journal publications

Thousands of German scientists — many using public funds — have published their results in quasi-scientific journals without being peer reviewed, according to a report
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My Great-Grandfather, the Nigerian Slave-Trader

African intellectuals tend to blame the West for the slave trade, but I knew that white traders couldn’t have loaded their ships without help from Africans like my great-grandfather.
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Who Owns the Moon? A Space Lawyer Answers

Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon signify the establishment of an American colony?
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Peacock Spider 20 (Maratus tortus)

Wonderful video with native bird calls.
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The Russia Investigations: How Many More Maria Butinas Are There?

In a week even Hollywood couldn't have scripted, the feds launch their case against a Russian accused of infiltrating U.S. politics. And the deputy attorney general speaks out on foreign interference.
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Let’s See Who’s Bluffing in the Criminal Case Against the Russians

Putin twice invoked an obscure 1999 treaty with the U.S. that could obligate his cooperation in such investigations. By Scott Ritter.
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Trevor [Noah] Celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 100th Birthday

The Daily Show
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Mystery black sarcophagus opened in Egypt

Archaeologists unseal a huge black granite sarcophagus found in the ancient city of Alexandria.
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Opinion: The entire Republican Party is becoming a Russian asset

It's not just Trump.
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Aerial Images Capture Swathes of Amazon Rainforest Destroyed by Gold Mining

Ernesto Benavides hangs out of choppers to document the devastation of Peru's rainforest.
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The secret story of how America lost the drug war with the Taliban

A high-stakes plan to indict Afghan drug lords and insurgency leaders on criminal conspiracy charges ran afoul of the Obama team. Five years later, it remains buried under Trump. By Josh Meyer.
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Wilde about Paris: the sex, drink and liberation of Oscar Wilde's “lost” years

Only in his supposedly lost years was Wilde free to express his genius in his life. By Alex Dean.
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Photographing the Ruins of Rural America

It is sad for our country that this is happening. It's even sadder that it has barely been talked about. By Vincent David Johnson.
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90 percent of Flint water samples at or below 6 ppb of lead

"Two years of LCR data show that Flint's water is testing the same as or better than similar cities across the state," the DEQ announcement Wednesday says. "Third-party independent experts have also confirmed that Flint's water currently tests below actionable levels for lead and copper.
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Virgenes de la Puerta

The work of collaborative artists Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo & Andrew Mroczek, rooted in LGBT themes including gay and transgender rights and equality in Latin America and worldwide. Currently focused on the LGBTQ communities of Peru, their work features photography, sculpture, film and mixed-media installation.
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Balding Out

I am leaving China. By Steven Balding.
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In 1982, a Family Disappeared From Their Valley Home—What Happened to the Salomons?

A writer and former neighbor is still trying to put the pieces together
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Fukushima’s nuclear signature found in California wine

The Japanese nuclear disaster bathed north America in a radioactive cloud. Now pharmacologists have found the telltale signature in California wine made at the time.
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Fort Wagner and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Learn more about the Battle of Fort Wagner and the role that the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry played in that important attack in 1863.
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Australians tried to do the right thing by recycling but then we discovered we’d been played for mugs

Keep America Beautiful managed to shift the entire debate about America’s garbage problem. ... the ‘litterbug’ became the real villain, and KAB supported fines and jail time for people who carelessly tossed out their trash, despite the fact that, clearly, ‘littering’ is a relatively tiny part of the garbage problem in this country.”
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An Alaska National Park as Big as Connecticut. Annual Visitors? 23,000.

You can get to gorgeous Lake Clark National Park and Preserve only by boat or plane. That’s kept the hordes away.
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