Image via Carolina K. Smith MD/Shutterstock

On Sunday, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote an article for the London Review of Books alleging that, “The White House’s story (about the U.S. Navy SEAL raid that took place in 2011 and resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden) might have been written by Lewis Carroll.” Were these the words of any other journalist, the claim may have gone unnoticed. But the words of someone whom CNN calls a “giant of investigative journalism,” who was the first to tell the story of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, have credence to many in the world of reporting. Debate has followed suit on the credibility of his claims.

The highlights of Hersh’s claims largely go against what we have come to know about the raid. The story Americans heard have been fleshed out in the news, books like No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Bissonette and interviews with Robert O’Neill, another former U.S. Navy SEAL. Since then, there has been some controversy over precisely who pulled the trigger that fateful night of the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Aside from this, the story seems fairly consistent.

What We’ve Known To Be True

The account we’ve been told indicates that in the dead of night, U.S. Special Forces launched a clandestine operation, shooting five people including Bin Laden and leaving within about 40 minutes. There haven’t been many details released about the raid, but individuals who lived near the compound confirmed the presence of a helicopter and some kind of “huge window-shaking bang.”

Government officials, and deep-digging journalists, revealed that the operation came about after “weeks of detailed surveillance and planning involving the United States’ most sophisticated technology,” according to a report by the BBC. Part of this surveillance was the interception of a crucial phone call from the compound to a Bin Laden courier, whose identity had been gleaned from interrogations in Guantanamo.

BBC journalists conducted interviews with individuals who lived near the compound, indicating that occupants rarely moved in and out of the Bin Laden hiding place. The compound was stealthily observed via drone, and by individuals living in a CIA safe house nearby.

The night of May 2, 2011, the compound was stormed. The 23 US Navy SEALS participating in the operation lost their element of surprise when one of their helicopters took a hard and loud landing. A firefight ensued as they entered Osama’s hideaway. The only controversy through all of this was whether or not Osama used one of his wives as a human shield.

Reports tell us that Pakistan wasn’t notified of the raid until it was about to happen, and not once did they know that Bin Laden was the target. It wasn’t until 2 am, after the fires within the compound burned out, that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff was notified of all that had transpired. A phone call was made to Pakistani authorities at 5 am that morning from Admiral Michael Mullen, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. The only Pakistani we know of who was directly involved in the mission was a doctor named Shakeel Afridi, who helped the U.S. find out where Bin Laden was and what his compound looked like. He has since been imprisoned by Pakistan for his work against the state, and conspiring with the CIA.

Seymour Hersh’s Words

As Hersh tells it, this is not what happened. He refuses to identify his source, but says he knows that the U.S. government and the Pakistani government worked together all along to secure the capture or killing of Bin Laden. He alleges that the Pakistani military was essentially holding Bin Laden captive in the compound for years. The killing of Bin Laden was not a raid—it was a set up. Among many other aspects of the original story, this idea flies in the face of indications by those living near the compound that individuals inside were carefully, fearfully, and cautiously hiding.

According to Hersh, there was never a firefight. Pakistani intelligence (ISI) worked with the SEALs the day of the raid, in a support capacity. This allegation would make Bissonnette quite a creative writer, perhaps someone who should have considered a career in fiction writing rather than the military. It undermines the heroism and bravery exhibited by our nation’s service members that night.

As Hersh would have it, there was also no indication of a doctor helping the U.S.; only a “walk in” to the U.S. embassy. CNN’s Anderson Cooper points out in an interview with reporter Peter Bergen, who has spoken to numerous U.S. officials and visited the compound where Bin Laden lived, that “NBC does say that a Pakistani tipster did in fact walk up to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad to tip off American officials about Bin Laden’s whereabouts.” Bergen relents that this warrants further investigation, and there could be credibility to this idea. But he is quick to point out that this doesn’t mean Hersh’s story is true.

After all, nothing else seems to hold up. Hersh’s argument that a Pakistani army doctor verified the identity of Bin Laden flies in the face of the idea that the U.S. was not 100% certain Bin Laden was in the compound. The 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty, which is based on factual accounts of the raid, illustrates that intelligence was never sure that Bin Laden would be found in his alleged hiding place.

Why would government officials lie about their own uncertainty? There’s simply no reason to cover this up. When probed by Cooper about administration officials’ motivations for lying, Hersh evades the question, simply saying “political reasons.”

So what’s true, according to Hersh? Just that Bin Laden was killed.

Why Hersh’s Account Is Disturbing… In More Ways Than One

Hersh contradicts evidence given by residents of Abbottabad, journalists like Bergen who have seen the bullet-riddled compound, and U.S. government officials. But he also contradicts the words of individuals whom we can probably agree are American heroes. The Navy SEALs who risked their lives that day, as Hersh would have it, did nothing risky at all. Apparently, they simply walked into a secured environment and shot Bin Laden. Why this kind of operation would warrant Navy Seals, and why they would kill him without question if there was no firefight, is hard to determine.

Why do images of the compound that have been provided, as well as accounts by journalists, point to a firefight? Why would Saudi Arabia pay for Bin Laden to live in a compound in Abbottabad for years, which Bergen claims was part of a Saudi and Pakistani conspiracy? Bin Laden attempted to overthrow the Saudi royal family, and ultimately had his citizenship revoked, after all. The questions continue, and frankly, it seems irresponsible for Hersh to come out with this kind of story without any named sources that can 100% vouch for him.

If there’s any truth to Hersh’s story, this would of course be a tremendous scandal for the Obama administration. Fortunately, not many people seem to believe Hersh. Still, there’s still room for concern. Intelligence officials have told NBC News that “the Pakistani government knew where Bin Laden was hiding all along.” This kind of information needs to be further probed.

Nevertheless, contesting the story of the raid, calling it a fabrication, so far seems to be a stretch. More importantly, it does a disservice to every military member, government employee, and even the Pakistani doctor serving 30 years in prison for helping the US. Everyone who devoted time and was willing to sacrifice their lives for this raid deserves better than allegations without solid evidence.

The post Respected Journalist Seymour Hersh Thinks He’s Called Obama’s Bluff On Bin Laden Raid appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Flickr/ r12a

At just over 29,000 feet, Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain and a majestic goal for mountaineers. It’s also covered in human waste.

According to the Associated Press, more than 700 climbers and guides spend two months on Everest each climbing season, leaving “large amounts of feces and urine” along with lots of trash. At Everest’s base camp, there are toilet tents with drums to store the waste, says the AP; filled drums are carried to a lower area where the waste is disposed of. However, the four camps at higher elevations lack these facilities.

“Climbers usually dig holes in the snow for their toilet use and leave the human waste there,” Ang Tshering, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told the AP, saying that the waste has been “piling up” for years around the four camps.

Even the base camp isn’t as sparkling as one would hope. Fecal coliform bacteria are menacing the nearby Khumbu Glacier watershed, according to Grinnell College, which reports that up to 26,500 pounds of human waste are produced on Everest every climbing season, “most of it bagged and carried by native Sherpas to earthen pits near Gorak Shep, a frozen lake bed and village at 16,942 feet.”

Tshering warns that human pollution — especially of the fecal variety — has reached critical levels, according to the Washington Post, and says that it threatens to spread disease on Everest.

In a Washington Post article from 2012, Outside Magazine editor Grayson Schaffer describes Everest as a “fecal time bomb,” writing that the mess of waste was slowly sliding back toward base camp.

Although Nepal hasn’t yet come up with a plan to eliminate waste, officials stationed at the base camp will “strictly monitor” garbage on the mountain beginning this climbing season, Puspa Raj Katuwal, the head of the government’s Mountaineering Department, told the AP. Last year, new regulations were put in place requiring each climber to bring 18 pounds of trash (the amount Nepal’s government estimates each person discards along the route to the top) down to the base camp. Climbing teams that fail to do so will lose a $4,000 deposit.

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The “10 hours of walking” trend has become a popular way to reveal the scumbaggery of much of the human race; from a woman getting harassed on the streets of New York to a woman walking around in a hijab, it’s clear that people love to shout hostile, aggressive things at other people just because they can.

Jewish journalist Zvika Klein of the Israeli news outlet NRG recently explored this phenomenon when he put on a yarmulke and walked through the streets of Paris for 10 hours.

After a Jan. 9 attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris — in which four Jewish people were shot — Klein decided to use a hidden camera to film himself walking through different neighborhoods, including predominately Muslim ones.

“Given the tensions in Paris, which is still reeling from a wave of terrorist attacks (including the murder of Charlie Hebdo magazine journalists), I was assigned a bodyguard,” wrote Klein on NRG’s website.

Throughout the course of his 10-hour walk, Klein was spat at, called a “homo” and insulted in many colorful ways, some of which implied violence.

“Areas known as tourist attractions were relatively calm, but the further from them we walked, the more anxious I became over the hateful stares, the belligerent remarks and the hostile body language,” he wrote.

In one “mostly Muslim” neighborhood, Klein walked into an enclosed marketplace, where one merchant yelled, “Look at him! He should be ashamed of himself. What is he doing walking in here wearing a kippa [yarmulke]?”

“What do you care? He can do whatever he wants,” another, “seemingly unfazed” merchant answered, according to Klein.

Some areas were more hostile than others, however. According to Klein, in one public housing neighborhood he came across a mother and her little boy, who asked, “What is he doing here, Mommy? Doesn’t he know he will be killed?”

With tensions in Paris boiling over after the Charlie Hebdo attacks and other incidents, Klein’s video is a sobering reminder that anti-Semitism is still alive and well even today.

The post Jewish Journalist Walked Around Paris For 10 Hours With A Hidden Camera To Show You How Real Anti-Semitism Is (Video) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Shutterstock

A new study published in The Lancet has revealed that one of every five suicides worldwide is associated with unemployment. There have also been nearly 5,000 excess suicides since the economic crisis of 2008.

It’s probably safe to say that not too many people were thrilled with the 2008 recession; it’s led to high rates of unemployment, underemployment and suicide, and its effects are still being felt seven years later. But the study’s authors wondered whether the Great Recession could be specifically pinpointed as the major factor in unemployment-related suicides. Therefore, the study, funded by the University of Zurich, analyzed data on deaths from 63 different countries over the period from 2000 to 2011 in an attempt to see if the 2008 recession had had any effect on the suicide rate.

“Unemployment directly affects individuals’ health and, unsurprisingly, studies have proposed an association between unemployment and suicide,” wrote the authors of the study. “However, a statistical model examining the relationship between unemployment and suicide by considering specific time trends among age-sex-country subgroups over wider world regions is still lacking. We aimed to enhance knowledge of the specific effect of unemployment on suicide by analyzing global public data classified according to world regions.”

The team used data provided by the World Health Organization to examine approximately 233,000 suicides per year and found that 45,000 (20 percent) of them were linked to unemployment. But is this in any way related to the 2008 recession? It appears that it may be: In 2007, 41,148 suicides were associated with unemployment, but in 2009, that number rose to 46,131. That’s an increase of 4,983 suicides in the year after the global economic crisis occurred.

The study’s authors emphasize the importance of suicide prevention at all times, writing, “Prevention strategies focused on the unemployed and on employment and its conditions are necessary not only in difficult times but also in times of stable economy.”

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Image via Shutterstock

3,415 people decided that they were sick of America in 2014 and renounced their citizenship or long-term residency in the U.S., according to a recently released list from the Department of the Treasury. The number of new expatriates is up 14 percent since 2013, is more than triple the number of 2012 and is a whopping 15 times more than 2008’s numbers, when only 231 people renounced their citizenship, says CNN.

Most of this is due to taxes, say experts. The U.S. (unlike most countries) taxes its citizens on all income earned, no matter where it’s earned or where those citizens live; the paperwork is complicated and often expensive, and in many cases, it’s easier just to renounce citizenship.

“Many Americans abroad are finding that retaining their ties is not worth the cost and hassle of complying with the U.S. tax laws,” Andrew Mitchel, a lawyer in Centerbrook, Conn., told the Wall Street Journal.

According to the WSJ, the complications began in 2009 when Swiss bank UBS admitted that it had encouraged U.S. taxpayers to hide money in Swiss bank accounts. This led to a five-year campaign against taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts, requiring those who have hidden money to pay interest, taxes and penalties. However, this also led to more hassles for those who live abroad. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which is designed to catch tax cheats, according to CNN, requires individuals to report certain foreign assets and for banks to disclose all foreign accounts held by Americans. This is in addition to another provision that “mandates Americans to disclose foreign bank holdings worth more than $10,000.”

If a bank mistakenly neglects to report accounts held by Americans living outside the U.S., they face steep penalties, says CNN. This makes American clients less appealing to foreign banks and American citizenship less appealing to Americans living abroad.

A recent survey conducted by Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, a researcher at the U.K.’s University of Kent, of 1,546 U.S. citizens and former citizens living abroad found that 31 percent of participants have actively considered renouncing their U.S. citizenship and 3 percent are in the process of doing so. Many who were considering giving up citizenship cited “increasingly onerous and intrusive financial reporting requirements” as their reasons for doing so.

The post Record Number Of Americans Renounced U.S. Citizenship In 2014 appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Flickr/ Singing With Light

In a momentous decision for American citizens who enjoy flipping the bird to cops, a federal court has ruled that a police officer can’t pull someone over for showing them their middle finger.

The ruling, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2^nd Circuit in 2013, states that the “ancient gesture of insult is not the basis for a reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or impending criminal activity… Surely no passenger planning some wrongful conduct toward another occupant of an automobile would call attention to himself by giving the finger to a police officer.”

According to Counter Current News, this landmark ruling occurred after one John Swartz was arrested in May 2006 for flipping off a police officer using a radar device at an intersection. Swartz — who was not driving the car — was reportedly charged with disorderly conduct for his deployment of the middle finger; the officers who arrested him claimed they had probable cause, saying they thought Swartz was trying to get their attention.

Swartz and his wife, Judy Mayton-Swartz, later decided to file suit against the two officers who arrested him.

In July 2011, says Counter Current, a federal judge in the Northern District of New York ruled in favor of the arresting officers. However, the Court of Appeals ruled against that decision, saying that Swartz was perfectly within his rights to flip off a cop.

An officer “may not lawfully order someone to stop unless the officer reasonably suspects the person of being engaged in illegal activity,” says the ruling, adding that “Perhaps there is a police officer somewhere who would interpret an automobile passenger’s giving him the finger as a signal of distress, creating a suspicion that something occurring in the automobile warranted investigation. And perhaps that interpretation is what prompted [the officer] to act, as he claims. But the nearly universal recognition that this gesture is an insult deprives such an interpretation of reasonableness.”

Ultimately, the ruling concludes that even if there were some motorist somewhere who for some reason decided that giving a police officer the finger was a good way to ask for help, “it is far more consistent with all citizens’ protection against improper police apprehension to leave that highly unlikely signal without a response than to lend judicial approval to the stopping of every vehicle from which a passenger makes that gesture.” In other words, your Constitutional right to give someone the finger is protected.

The post Court Says It’s OK To Give Cops The Finger appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

screenshot via YouTube

Investigators in Evansville, Ind., recently discovered cell phone videos featuring a 12-month-old boy putting what appears to be a handgun in his mouth.

The videos were found after 19-year-old robbery suspect Michael Barnes was arrested for trying to sell a handgun to an undercover police officer, according to the Associated Press. After searching Barnes’s phone after his arrest, they found the videos, reports the Guardian.

In the videos, the toddler is allowed to handle and point the gun; he also puts it in his mouth at one point, and the couple is heard encouraging the boy to say, “Pow.”

Barnes and his girlfriend Toni Wilson, the child’s 22-year-old mother, now face charges of child neglect, recklessness with a deadly weapon and allowing a child to possess a firearm. Barnes also faces charges of resisting arrest with a weapon, carrying a handgun without a permit and carrying a handgun without a permit within 500 feet of a school, says the Guardian.

Police determined that both adults were present during the filming — Barnes himself recorded the video.

The mother reportedly told police that the weapon was only a pellet gun. However, according to the Associated Press, officers say it was a .40-caliber handgun. Its magazine had been removed, but it was “not clear” if ammunition was still in the chamber.

Barnes and Wilson have both been arrested, and Wilson’s child and his two one-month-old half-siblings have been put in emergency care, according to the Guardian.

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Image via Twitter/TheEllenShow

Twitter recently released its year in review for 2014 — otherwise known as #YearOnTwitter2014. A lot has happened this year, and a lot of people have tweeted about it. What events were the most tweeted about, you ask? What events fascinated, saddened, horrified and elated the denizens of Twitter during the year 2014? Wonder no more, because here is a chronological list of some of the most prominent events of the year and the tweets that represent them.

1. January: Lorde wins a Grammy and continues to take over the music world

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/427648489472790528

2. Pharrell wears a weird hat

Y’all tryna start a roast beef?@Arbys: Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs”

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) January 27, 2014

3. February: RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

"Sometimes I absolutely hate this job." — The Grim Reaper, when Philip Seymour Hoffman's name showed up on his list.

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 2, 2014

4. February: The Seahawks win the Superbowl

Wilson: "Our plan is to win another one next year." http://t.co/e80LgUdDN6 #SuperBowlChamps #Celebrate48 #WhatsNext pic.twitter.com/NuZBo8Z0L4

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 6, 2014

5. February: The Sochi Winter Olympics happens, and Russia passes an anti-gay propaganda law

Saying goodbye with Spring Mimosas #closingceremony pic.twitter.com/f0Pvdh4XY1

— Olympics (@Olympics) February 23, 2014

6. March: Ellen DeGeneres tweets the most popular Tweet of the year

If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) March 3, 2014

7. March: The Ebola virus breaks out in West Africa

https://twitter.com/afifsay/status/448246453669212160

8. May: 273 Nigerian schoolgirls are kidnapped

We are with you. MT @MalalaFund: #Malala stands in solidarity w/ Nigerians & ppl calling 4 action. #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/Dlv79wUH0J

— Girl Up (@GirlUp) May 7, 2014

9. May: Maya Angelou passes away

Michelle and I join millions in remembering Maya Angelou, a storyteller whose voice convinced us we all have something to offer. -bo

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) May 28, 2014

10. June: The King of Spain abdicates the throne

S.M. el Rey Juan Carlos I abdica la Corona de España. http://t.co/s9vbalBzSO pic.twitter.com/YesVxDObIp

— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) June 2, 2014

11. June: Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 goes missing

The hunt for #MH370: What we know so far… http://t.co/u8J61KcEFO – as the area shifts again http://t.co/S5QaPQkoY7 pic.twitter.com/ac8mq2Cugw

— Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) June 9, 2014

12. June: World Cup fever

Brazil Prepares for the World Cup – 40 photos ahead of Thursday's opening match – http://t.co/aVWf4wt2Md #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/6ADUkJDVtX

— The Atlantic Photo (@TheAtlPhoto) June 10, 2014

13. July: LeBron James returns to Cleveland

BREAKING: LeBron James is signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. (via @SInow) pic.twitter.com/x9mFMPbz3t

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 11, 2014

14. July: Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine

#MH17 No sign of survivors at #Ukraine crash site (Photo: AFP) http://t.co/ajzptbCUSy pic.twitter.com/g4bLwkvNz1

— Times of India (@timesofindia) July 17, 2014

15. August: Eric Garner’s death is ruled a homicide by chokehold

UPDATE: Medical examiner says chokehold killed Eric Garner, rules death a homicide http://t.co/J17dGwiS6y pic.twitter.com/zb1C08KDlb

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) August 1, 2014

16. August: Michael Brown is killed in Ferguson, Mo.

What the hell is going on in Ferguson?! pic.twitter.com/S5Yjnns6bU

— Tammie Holland (@TammieHolland) August 9, 2014

17. August: Ferguson residents protest

Protestors venting frustration as police clear downtown Ferguson. #MikeBrown pic.twitter.com/uZPy2zzVII

— Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) August 11, 2014

18. August: Police in Ferguson are heavily armed

Overkill in #Ferguson. Officer won't answer my question about why this is needed. pic.twitter.com/iSPsP1Rxa1

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 13, 2014

19. August: The death of Robin Williams shocks the world

We mourn the loss of our friend Robin Williams, who always made us laugh and smile. pic.twitter.com/UOY8LTjVRA

— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) August 11, 2014

20. August: Some protests in Ferguson become violent

Most-shared #Ferguson news images, as published on @mashable http://t.co/EG1uF1y5dO
LINK: http://t.co/LSOpxeYLCt pic.twitter.com/bMjf7TjtLP

— Data (@XData) August 15, 2014

21. August: The Ice Bucket Challenge takes over the Internet

THE ENTIRE @patriots team takes the #IceBucketChallenge. Yes. Including Tom Brady. WATCH: http://t.co/UVmZmIWnEy pic.twitter.com/dswcEnFQhe

— NFL (@nfl) August 12, 2014

22. August: Ebola spreads rapidly

This #Ebola outbreak is fast-moving w/ unprecedented dimensions. WHO roadmap aims to be flexible enough to accommodate rapid changes & needs

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 28, 2014

23. August: Scotland informally votes for unity

Scotland has voted for unity. Let's move forward together to achieve change for Scotland within the UK. #indyref pic.twitter.com/nVpp9FX631

— Better Together (@UK_Together) September 19, 2014

24. September: Kate Middleton (aka the Duchess of Cambridge) is pregnant again

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their second child

— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) September 8, 2014

25. September: Emma Watson makes a speech about gender equality at the U.N.

Wonderful men out there. I'm launching a campaign – #heforshe. Support the women in ur lives and sign up here now! http://t.co/EXa64CncgP

— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) September 21, 2014

26. September: The Mars orbiter explores and is adorable

What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit? pic.twitter.com/HDRWjOcPus

— ISRO's Mars Orbiter (@MarsOrbiter) September 24, 2014

27. September: Hong Kong police use tear gas against Umbrella Revolution protestors

Hong Kong police use tear gas to disperse protesters – see footage of clashes http://t.co/RMKPOoNEiC pic.twitter.com/5eXw1NHvr2

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 28, 2014

28. October: Malala Yousafza wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Congrats #MalalaYousafza on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Her passion & determination inspires ppl around the world pic.twitter.com/N6ityKusnh

— World Learning (@WorldLearning) October 10, 2014

29. October: The Queen of England sends her first tweet

#TheQueenTweets pic.twitter.com/jz69LOlGcD

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) October 24, 2014

30. October: Workers move into the new World Trade Center

https://twitter.com/EverythingNYC/status/527138297043492864

31. November: Ebola doctors and nurses take the spotlight

Powerful photo series shows how Ebola workers get dressed, and puts a face to the bravery http://t.co/5rRWcv9hnz pic.twitter.com/gvxAAqpt9B

— WIRED (@WIRED) November 4, 2014

32. November: Republicans sweep the midterm elections

#Obama threatens vetoes, executive orders after #GOP sweep http://t.co/GeCkycfCfd @MailOnline #Election2014 returned the Fox 2the hen house

— kareem Lumumba (@KareemLumumba) November 5, 2014

33. November: More states plan to increase their minimum wage

More states are planning to increase their #minimumwages in coming years: http://t.co/D1PEi17Qzi @WSJ #Election2014 pic.twitter.com/mb92VFZpPk

— Rokas Beresniovas (@beresniovas) November 5, 2014

34. November: The 25^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall occurs

Großartiges Bürgerfest zum #Mauerfall mit über 300.000 Besuchern. Großer Dank an alle, die dazu beigetragen haben. pic.twitter.com/cF6nMOGdkD

— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecherStS) November 9, 2014

35. November: The Cake Boss is arrested

Cake Boss allegedly told police: "You can't arrest me. I'm the Cake Boss" http://t.co/RzhKpgHkNI pic.twitter.com/QxoPIicnEc

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) November 13, 2014

36. November: A probe lands on a comet

The view is absolutely breathtaking ESA_Rosetta! Unlike anything I've ever seen #CometLanding pic.twitter.com/flsSdxz0bo

— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 13, 2014

37. November: People love the International Space Station

Hoping for a good #Thanksgiving for @AstroTerry @AstroSamantha and #ButchWilmore – may you get many #aurora tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/7USYnmBH2o

— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) November 26, 2014

38. November: The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is lit

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit! #rockcenterxmas http://t.co/HQJt7def

— Rockefeller Tree (@Christmas30Rock) December 1, 2011

39. December: Citizens protest against Eric Garner’s death

Protests against the death of Eric Garner took place inside and outside of the Barclays Center http://t.co/KM4yUh51db pic.twitter.com/WIlpN0jbTJ

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) December 9, 2014

40. December: NYC City Council members protest Eric Garner’s death

NYC Council members took to the streets and the council chamber to protest Eric Garner's Death http://t.co/pNGJdujU6x pic.twitter.com/Jxb217B2KA

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) December 9, 2014

The post 40 Of The Most Notable Tweets Of 2014 appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Instagram/ zoewheeler

What do you do when your partner cheats on you? Instagram user zoewheeler knows what to do: tell him that he is a cheating piece of shit. With capital letters and red paint.

There’s no better revenge than revenge that is taken while someone sleeps, unaware that you’re onto them. The first step to healing begins when they wake up and you get to see the expression on their face. Vengeance: It’s a good thing.

The post Woman Gets Revenge By Painting ‘Cheating Piece Of Sh*t’ On Boyfriend’s Wall (Photo) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

The Lowline

Imagine a new green space amid the busy hustle and bustle of Manhattan: Trees grow in pools of sunlight while musicians perform, kids play and participate in educational programs and solar lights provide illumination. It’s also 20 feet underground.

The proposed Lowline park will, when completed, be the opposite of the West Side’s High Line — rather than being built on an elevated freight rail line, the Lowline’s home will be an abandoned trolley terminal on the East Side.

The Lowline

The Williamsburg Trolley Terminal, according to Lowline.org, was opened in 1908 and used until 1948, when trolley service was discontinued. The 1.5-acre site still contains lots of juicy historical remnants like cobblestones, vaulted ceilings, steel columns and old trolley tracks.

The Lowline

The creators of the Lowline want to turn this unused space into an underground park that will host cultural programming, retail stores and commuters, in addition to being a vibrant green space.

The Lowline aims to build a new kind of public space — one that highlights the historic elements of a former trolley terminal while introducing cutting-edge solar technology and design, enabling plants and trees to grow underground,” says the organization on its website.

The Lowline

The new park’s solar technology was designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio to bring sunlight underground. After passing through a solar collection dish made of glass, the light is gathered at a focal point and funneled underground through a special tube filled with fiber-optic cables; it’s then reflected by a dome on the park’s ceiling, allowing plants to grow. No electricity would be needed to light the Lowline when it’s sunny outside. According to the project’s Kickstarter page (it was funded back in April 2012 for a total of $155,186, which was used to create a mini Lowline to demonstrate the park to investors), the cables filter out the UV rays that cause sunburn, so visitors will get all the benefits of sunlight without the harmful side effects.

The Lowline

Dan Barasch, who specializes in promoting “socially innovative applications of technology,” according to Delaware Online, and Ramsey, a former NASA engineer, got the idea for the park when they heard about the abandoned site; they’d already been experimenting with new solar technology, so the two ideas seemed like a natural fit.

We’re simply taking over a space no one was using in a densely populated neighborhood that lacks sufficient public space,” Barasch told Delaware Online.

Current plans aim for the park to be built over the next five years. Using hundreds of volunteers and millions of dollars in mostly government funds, the fiber-optic cables must be installed and positioned so plants can grow — quite a feat, considering the cables have to reach through the streets of New York City.

Introducing the Lowline Lab from The Lowline on Vimeo.

Many have criticized the plans for the Lowline, questioning its plausibility, creepiness, heating and cooling system (or lack thereof) and potential dankness. However, Barasch tells the New York Press that the park will be “a cultivated underground garden which will certainly change people’s perspective on what’s possible.”

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