Highest Five

Not be confused with Entophobia, the fear of ancient, walking talking tree people, entomophobia is the fear that insects will crawl into your ears, eyes, nose and mouth to eventually lay eggs on your brain.  Contestants on Fear Factor have bunjee jumped off helicopters, but ask them to lie in a coffin filled with bugs and their courage crumbles.  So why is it that we, the dominating species on the planet, capable of jumping out of airplanes, wrestling alligators, and rushing into burning buildings to rescue babies, are so utterly terrified of creatures hundreds of times smaller than us?  The following are some of the most horrifying, agony-inducing, flesh-melting, downright dangerous insects known to man.  10 damned good reasons to be afraid…very afraid!

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Sixty-five:  This was the age of retirement selected by Otto von Bismark, the “Iron Chancellor” of Germany during the late 1800s.  As his nickname suggests, he did not pick this number to soften the hearts of the German workforce.  He picked it because by sixty-five the average German worker would be dead.  When the United States followed suit in 1935, the average life expectancy for the working American man was only 61.7 years.  Times have changed.

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Or Ways Social Networking is Fucking Shit up for Criminals and Assholes

Stories of internet vigilantism are becoming increasingly common, and with social networking sites enabling information to travel as fast as a speeding bullet and spread as quickly as gonorrhea, it’s easier than ever for people seeking revenge to take the law into their own hands. Though law officials are trying to keep internet justice under control, bad news travels fast and the word is always out before they can put a stop to it. Here are some notable cases of vigilantism, possible because of social networking.

With close to a half-billion users, Facebook has become the go-to website for Internet Vigilanties itching to dispense some good old vigilante justice.

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One of my biggest fears, is to somehow end up in prison.  I have no idea how that could happen, I’m a fairly law abiding citizen, but if it can happen to Martha Stewart, if someone who builds Christmas trees out of pipe cleaners and love gets thrown in the slammer, then what chance do I have?

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There are over 2 million people currently serving time in the U.S. prison system and according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, over a half million will re-enter society each year. However, due to a host of issues, including mental health or substance abuse problems, about 50 percent of these individuals will repeatedly return to the prison system. Sadly, even in the best of circumstances, reintegration is tough for prisoners. Here is an overview of some critical issues that prisoners face when attempting to rejoin society, as well as some strategies states can use to help make the process run more smoothly.

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Nothing unsettles a country’s politics and people like the assassination of their leader. That leader doesn’t always have to be political; often it’s just a strong and influential voice, but that person’s death can send shock waves through a country and sometimes the international community at large. As we near the anniversary of the assassination of JFK, here’s a short list of the most politically disastrous assassinations in history.

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One beautiful summer morning I was upsetting every lazy bone in my body by jogging.  “WTF is this?” they all seemed to cry out as I hit the nature trails in Whistler, British Columbia.  Aside from year round skiers, snowboarders, and mountain bikers, Whistler shares its forests and mountains with another wild creature:  bears.  So on this particular morning when I heard a woman’s scream coming from behind me, which was followed by a large brown furry animal rustling in the bushes I was running past, my body was instantly flooded with those wonderful fight or flight chemicals, while my shorts were filled with a variety of other chemicals.

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The power of a nuclear bomb is something that has been feared since their creation. No rational mind could desire a nuclear war. Some believe that North Korea’s nuclear program is a major threat to the west; but is nuclear war really a possibility or is North Korea just another nuclear capable country?

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When you see claws and poison stingers on a scorpion, or rows of razor sharp teeth on a great white shark, you can sometimes wonder how we humans made it this far. The answer has been hunting strategy, and of course, weaponry. Even more important than just weaponry, humans have developed ranged weaponry, giving us the advantage of attack from a safe distance.

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We’re all familiar with the ‘War on Drugs’ but what about drugs in war? Drug use in wartime is a topic rarely covered by mainstream media but each war has a distinct underlying drug culture attached to it. What’s interesting is that no army in recent history has ever successfully been able to curb drug use among their ranks. Of course not all military forces discourage the use of drugs. From the Napoleonic wars to Iraq and Afghanistan, drug use in the military doesn’t appear to be going away.

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