June 3, 2013
Hyperloop is a hypothetical mode of high-speed transportation proposed by inventor and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Musk has envisioned the system as a ‘fifth mode’ of transportation, an alternative to boats, planes, automobiles and trains. The system would, in theory, be able to travel from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes (at more than 685 mph).
In 2013, Musk said that the hyperloop would be like a ‘cross between a Concorde and a railgun and an air hockey table,’ but no further details have been released. Musk is quoted as saying, ‘I think we could actually make it self-powering if you put solar panels on it, you generate more power than you would consume in the system. There’s a way to store the power so it would run 24/7 without using batteries. Yes, this is possible, absolutely.’
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June 3, 2013
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labor-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in 1953. The central Soviet strongmen at the time were Lavrentiy Beria, head of the Ministry of the Interior; Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU); and Georgi Malenkov, Premier of the Soviet Union.
Contemporary historians regard the process of de-Stalinization as a significant turning point in the history of modern Russia. References to Stalin were embedded in the lyrics of the National Anthem of the Soviet Union, after which the Stalin-centric and World War II-era references were excised where an instrumental version was used.
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June 3, 2013
Kintsugi (‘golden joinery’) or Kintsukuroi (golden repair) is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold. Kintsugi may have originated when shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China for repairs in the late 15th century.
When it was returned repaired with ugly metal staples, it may have prompted Japanese craftsmen to look for a more aesthetic means of repair. Collectors became so enamored of the new art that some were accused of deliberately smashing valuable pottery so it could be repaired with the gold seams of kintsugi. Kintsugi became closely associated with the ceramic utensils used for Japanese tea ceremony.
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June 3, 2013
Stetson Kennedy (1916 – 2011) was an American author and human rights activist. One of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the 20th century, he is remembered for having infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, exposing its secrets to authorities and the outside world.
His actions led to the 1947 revocation by the state of Georgia of the Klan’s national corporate charter. Kennedy wrote or co-wrote ten books.
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June 3, 2013
In 1946, human rights activist Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the KKK. Concerned that the organization had links to police forces, Kennedy decided to use his findings to strike at the Klan in a different way. He contacted the producers of the ‘Superman’ radio show and proposed a story where the superhero battles the Klan. Looking for new villains, the producers eagerly agreed.
To that end, he provided information—including secret codewords and details of Klan rituals—to the writers. The result was a series of episodes, ‘Clan of the Fiery Cross,’ in which Superman took on the Klan. Kennedy intended to strip away the Klan’s mystique. The trivialization of the Klan’s rituals and codewords was perceived to have had a negative impact on Klan recruiting and membership. Reportedly, Klan leaders denounced the show and called for a boycott of Kellogg’s products. However, the story arc earned spectacular ratings, and the food company stood by its support of the show.
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June 3, 2013
In the UFO conspiracy theory, disclosure is the revelation of suppressed evidence of extraterrestrial life by the United States government or other world governments. In 1993, ufologist Steven M. Greer founded the ‘Disclosure Project’ to promote the concept of disclosure.
In 2001, Greer held a press conference at the National Press Club in D.C that featured ’20 retired Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration and intelligence officers’ who demanded that Congress begin hearings on ‘secret U.S. involvement with UFOs and extraterrestrials’ and was described by an attending BBC reporter as ‘the strangest ever news conference hosted by Washington’s August National Press Club.’ Such arguments were met with by derision by skeptics and spokespeople for the U. S. Air Force who maintain that there is no convincing evidence for the speculation that UFOs are alien spacecraft.
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June 3, 2013
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is in the southern portion of Nevada, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. At its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield. The base’s primary purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. Though the name ‘Area 51’ is used in official CIA documentation, other names used for the facility include ‘Dreamland,’ ‘Paradise Ranch,’ ‘Home Base,’ ‘Watertown Strip,’ ‘Groom Lake,’ and most recently ‘Homey Airport.’
The area is part of the Nellis Military Operations Area, and the restricted airspace around the field is referred to as R- 4808N, known by the military pilots in the area as ‘The Box’ or ‘the Container.’ The intense secrecy surrounding the base, the very existence of which the US government did not even acknowledge until 2003, has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore.
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