Guided by its trainer, a crab crosses the finish line at the annual Buccoo Goat and Crab Race Festival on the island of Tobago.
what the fuck!
Happy 22nd Birthday to the Hubble!!
On April 24th, the Hubble Space Telescope marks its 22nd year in orbit. That means its mission has lasted longer than many of your lives, and it’s still churning out amazing work (no pressure though). Sources say that the Hubble promises that it’s not get all crazy like it did last year on its birthday.
To celebrate, the Hubble folks have released this beautiful image of 30 Dor, a star factory in the Large Magellenic Cloud full of high-energy glowing gas. A fine piece of #starporn to decorate your dashboard with.
But why stop there? We can do better than this picture.
How about a super-huge 4,000 x 3,200 pixel version? Is that big enough for ya?
No? Then how about an amazing zoomable version so you can dig deep down into the onion-like layers, a virtual rabbit hole of awesomeness?
Still not enough? If you really must go bigger, I have to warn you … this is a pretty hefty link, and it probably won’t open in your browser. Better to right-click and save. Here is an image that laughs in the face of any adjective I try to place before it. Behold a 267-Mb 20,323 x 16,259 pixel smorgasbord of starry goodness, over 300 million pixels of HOLY CRAP.
BONUS: How these amazing images are created and edited by master star pornagraphers.
Happy bday!
We sent a reporter to Uganda for this week’s Newsweek and asked he trail along with a crew of Ugandan soldiers hunting for Joseph Kony. Here’s his story. And here’s how it starts:
Maj. Richard Kidega threaded his way through a thicket of sweet black trees and thorny underbrush when suddenly he drew to a halt. A young Ugandan soldier in front had raised a clenched fist: the sign to stop. With their AK-47s raised, Kidega and his men silently scanned the jungle for any signs of the enemy, such as fresh tracks or trampled brush. Hanging vines clogged the path. Dry leaves masked deep holes. The gully was an attractive place for an ambush. “It’s places just like this where the LRA likes to hide,” Kidega whispered, as the hunt for Joseph Kony, rebel leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, slowly moved ahead.
This inhospitable swath of jungle in the Central African Republic is ground zero in the search for Kony’s LRA. On any given day, Ugandan soldiers, aided by U.S. special forces, comb through the forests, looking for one of the most elusive war criminals in history, a man who has kidnapped thousands of children, turning boys into hardened killers and girls into sex slaves. It is estimated that the LRA has killed upwards of 70,000 civilians, kidnapped some 40,000 children, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in four countries.
The movement, which has now descended into butchery, rape, and even cannibalism, began in 1986 as a popular insurrection against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Initially many in northern Uganda supported the rebellion against Museveni, whose army ruthlessly persecuted the Acholi people in the north. Eventually, however, the warlord’s insurgency lost steam, and Kony turned on his own people, accusing them of sinning against God. As punishment, Kony and his commanders have cut off the lips, noses, and ears of victims; he has forced abducted children to murder their own families to ensure loyalty; and he has killed those who disobeyed orders.
The hunt for Kony, known as Operation Lightning Thunder, now takes place across four countries and involves several thousand troops, at least 100 of them American. The warlord got international attention after a 30-minute video on him produced by the American NGO Invisible Children became a viral YouTube phenomenon last month, drawing more than 87.5 million views. It sparked outrage—and renewed pledges to bring Kony to justice. Later this month, the African Union will bring another 5,000 troops from the armies of South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Congo to help the Ugandans in their hunt, now in its 25th year.
Kony better get his ass turned in or America going to find his ass and kill the foo!
LIVE poetry event featuring Poet Laureate Philip Levine, 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner Tracy K. Smith, and two fantastic poets from the Tumblr community: Saeed Jones and Karolina Manko.
This Monday, April 23, 7 pm, at Housing Works Bookstore in NYC. Open bar. Amazing poetry. Poet Laureate. Pulitzer Prize Winner. Poets from the Tumblr community. Put it on your calendar and come out to celebrate poetry with us!
DO IT.
