1975 - Mass killing tracker

Are you getting confused trying to follow the mass killing around the US. Well worry no more. There's a handy dandy interactive map to help you out.

30 years worth of mass killing. Mother Jones is following on a link that's HERE. Have fun keeping up with the bullet flinging bastards.

1974 - Olympic determination

This is a story from the 2000 Olympics. I don't remember this. But this story is just as good now as it was then.

To bring the Olympic spirit to developing nations in the late 1990s, the Olympic Committee allowed a small number of “wild card” athletes to join the Games. But because they didn’t have to go through any qualifying rounds to compete, not all of the contenders arrived prepared. One such athlete was a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea named Eric Moussambani. When Moussambani arrived at the 2000 Sydney Games, he’d only been training for the 100-meter freestyle for about eight months. He’d also never been in an Olympic-size pool and had never raced more than 50 meters. Regardless, he was determined to represent his country.


The three wild-card qualifiers were given their own heat, and Moussambani took to the blocks next to swimmers from Niger and Tajikistan. When the official called the swimmers to their marks, both of Moussambani’s competitors were disqualified for false starts. Left to swim the heat by himself, Eric dove in and dog paddled, gasping for air and flailing his arms and legs. Halfway through the race, the situation looked so dire that commentators worried he was drowning.


When Moussambani eventually stalled out 10 meters from the end of the race, the crowd rallied behind him as he inched toward the finish. As he finally pulled himself from the water, the applause thundered. His final time was 1:52.72—more than twice that of swimmers in the previous heat. But Moussambani couldn’t have been happier. Ecstatic to have finished his first 100-meter race, he told reporters, “I’m going to jump and dance all night long in celebration of my personal triumph.”
Moussambani’s pluck and perseverance made him an Olympic celebrity, and his newfound fans dubbed him “Eric the Eel.” He kept training for the 2004 Games and even got his time down to a respectable 57 seconds. Unfortunately, a visa snafu kept him from competing again.

Here's the race...

1973 - Easy puzzle

Amanda wanted another puzzle. Here's a ten penny puzzle. Take ten pennies and make a triangle like this.

See how the triangle is facing up? Well the trick is to make the triangle face down by moving only three pennies. It's easier than it seems. Welcome to Monday. The Solution is in the comments.

1972 - Diet math

I found an article by a mathematician that explains how to lose weight. That's right. Math and dieting. What more could you ask for?!


One in 3 Americans are obese — not merely overweight, a description that applies to 2 in 3 Americans.

I've got an idea. Let's change the weight chart. For a six footer, 300 pounds is overweight.

Overweight and Obesity - Health Risk Factors

Since the 1970s, the national obesity rate had jumped from around 20 percent to over 30 percent.


This will not be a problem with my new chart.

Interestingly, we also found that the fatter you get, the easier it is to gain weight. An extra 10 calories a day puts more weight onto an obese person than on a thinner one. 

There you go. Give us some motivation to start losing weight.

In the 1950s, when I was growing up, people rarely ate out. Today, Americans dine out — with these large restaurant portions and oil-saturated foods — about five times a week.

Sooooo as if there aren't enough people out of work already, huh?

Well if you want to read the WHOLE ARTICLE it does have some good info in it. Just don't plan on being motivated by reading it.

1971 - The squares

Everyone needs a puzzle to start off Saturday right? Well maybe not a puzzle puzzle, but still puzzling.

So can you count how many squares there are of all sizes? I got up to 40. That was with the help of THIS website after I first got to 35.