According to the Baha’i religion, Baha’u’llah was born in 1817, a member of one of the great patrician families of Persia. The family could trace its lineage to the ruling dynasties of Persia’s imperial past, and was endowed with wealth and vast estates. Turning His back on the position at court which these advantages offered Him, Baha’u’llah became known for His generosity and kindliness which made Him deeply loved among His countrymen.

This privileged position did not long survive Baha’u’llah’s announcement of support for the message of the Báb. Engulfed in the waves of violence unleashed upon the Bábis after the Báb’s execution Baha’u’llah suffered not only the loss of all His worldly endowments but was subjected to imprisonment, torture and a series of banishments. The first was to Baghdad, where, in 1863, He announced Himself as the One promised by the Báb. From Baghdad, Baha’u’llah was sent to Constantinople, to Adrianople and finally to Acre, in the Holy Land, where He arrived as a prisoner, in 1868.

From Adrianople and later from Acre, Baha’u’llah addressed a series of letters to the rulers of His day that are among the most remarkable documents in religious history. They proclaimed the coming unification of humanity, and the emergence of a world civilization. The kings, emperors and presidents of the nineteenth century were called upon to reconcile their differences, curtail their armaments, and devote their energies to the establishment of universal peace.

Baha’u’llah passed away at Bahji, just north of Acre, and is buried there. His teachings had already begun to spread beyond the confines of the Middle East, and His Shrine is today the focal point of the world community which these teachings have brought into being.

Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706, may, by his life alone, be the most profound statement of what an American strives to be. He attended grammar school at age eight, but was put to work at ten. He apprenticed as a printer to his brother James, who printed the New England Courant, at age twelve, and published his first article there, anonymously, in 1721. Young Benjamin was an avid reader, inquisitive and skeptical. Through his satirical articles, he poked fun at the people of Boston and soon wore out his welcome, both with his brother and with the city. He ran away to New York and then on to Philadelphia at the age of 16, looking for work as a printer. He managed a commission to Europe for the purpose of buying supplies to establish a new printing house in Philadelphia, but found himself abandoned when he stepped off ship. Through hard work and frugality he bought his fare back to Philadelphia in 1732, and set up shop as a printer. He was appointed clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1736, and as Postmaster the following year. In 1741, he began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac, a very popular and influential magazine. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751, and served as an agent for Pennsylvania (and ultimately for three other colonies) to England, France and several other European powers.

He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, where he played a crucial role in the rebellion against Gr. Britain, including service to Jefferson, in editing the Declaration of Independence. Franklin, who was by this time independently wealthy and retired from publishing, continued to serve an important role in government, both local and national. He was the United States first Postmaster General, Minister to the French Court, Treaty agent and signer to the peace with Gr. Britain, Celebrated Member of the Constitutional convention (See Work, above). Benjamin Franklin: Businessman, Writer, Publisher, Scientist, Diplomat, Legislator and Social activist was one of the earliest and strongest advocates for the abolition of Slavery, and for the protection of the rights of American aboriginal peoples. He died on the 17th of April, 1790. On that day he was still one of the most celebrated characters in America.

Known as the founder of the Socratic method of questioning, Socrates was a famed social and judicial philosopher. Through his dialogues, his masterful arguments, and his logical method of countering his opponents verbally, he earned a reputation through every household, university and government office in Greece. Born to a sculptor and masonry worker in Athens, he followed his father’s chosen career path successfully for several years before devoting himself to the betterment of his own intellectual being. He had interest in the great philosophers of the day, including Plato and Xenophon. After their meeting, Plato continued writing using Socrates’ voice as the narrator of his works, which showed that logic and sound argument could disarm any opponent.

Socrates claimed to hear voices that told him about his own moral behavior, and would warn him if he were to not meet his own high standards of divine truth and justice. He also concluded that Greece’s wisest persons were not as wise as he, because Socrates claimed he saw his own ignorance. One who realizes he is ignorant will become the wisest of all.

Many Athenians in Greece thought that Socrates was polluting the minds of the city’s youth. They accused him of putting ideas into their heads, counter to the goals of the Athenian government. An argument, recorded in Apology, gives a prime example of Socrates’ argumentative process, where he shows that since the government has not thought about the city’s youth, they cannot be imprisoned for their corruption. This style of questioning begins with regular questioning and carries on until logic reaches a definite point and conclusion. His fame, life, philosophy and logic won him much praise, and is still considered the foundation of the philosophies that spread after him.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, at his family home in Atlanta, Georgia. King was an eloquent Baptist minister and leader of the civil-rights movement in America, from the Mid-1950s until his death, by assassination, in 1968. King promoted non-violent means to achieve civil-rights reform and was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

King’s grandfather was a Baptist preacher. His father was pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. King earned his own Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozier Theological Seminary in 1951, and earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University, in 1955.

While at seminary, King became acquainted with Mohandas Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent social protest. On a trip to India in 1959, King met with followers of Gandhi. During these discussions he became more convinced than ever that nonviolent resistance was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.

As a pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, King lead a Black bus boycott. He and ninety others were arrested and indicted under the provisions of a law making it illegal to conspire to obstruct the operation of a business. King and several others were found guilty, but appealed their case. As the bus boycott dragged on, King was gaining a national reputation. The ultimate success of the Montgomery bus boycott made King a national hero.

Dr. King’s 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail inspired a growing national civil rights movement. In Birmingham, the goal was to completely end the system of segregation in every aspect of public life (stores, no separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, etc.) and in job discrimination. Also in 1963, King led a massive march on Washington DC, where he delivered his now famous, “I Have A Dream” speech. King’s tactics of active nonviolence (sit-ins, protest marches) had put civil-rights squarely on the national agenda.

On April 4, 1968, King was shot by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 39 at the time of his death. Dr. King was turning his attention to a nationwide campaign to help the poor at the time of his assassination.

According to his homepage, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July, 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, and northeastern Tibet. At the age of two the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time, was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.

Nelson Mandela was born in a small South African village, to a local chief and his third wife. He was the first person in his family to receive a western education, and was inspired to study law after witnessing the democracy of African tribal governance at an early age. Mandela became a sought after lawyer in Johannesburg, defending black South Africans against the government’s increasingly unfair treatment, and a key figure of the African National Congress, a political party that sought to unite all Africans and regain their rights and freedom. He participated in boycotts, organized protests, mobilized his people and, in turn, was labeled an enemy of the state: accused of treason, banned from political involvement, disbarred and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela’s incarceration brought international attention to the racial injustices of South Africa’s apartheid government, sparking the rally cry “Free Nelson Mandela” worldwide.

Mandela served 27 years in prison, before his release in 1990, at the age of 72. He was elected the first black President of South Africa, in 1994. Although he retired from political life in 1999, Mandela continues to lend his voice towards issues that affect his country and the world at large, such as the AIDS epidemic, poverty and human rights. He was also instrumental in securing South Africa as the host of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Nelson Mandela is one of the world’s greatest, and most admired political leaders. He has been honored with numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, for he is a shining example of the incredible strength of the human spirit to persevere, in the face of adversity, for the pursuit of freedom.

Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, West India. He studied law in London, but in 1893 went to South Africa, where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. As a pioneer of Satyagraha, or resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the major political and spiritual leaders of his time. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today.

In 1914, Gandhi returned to India, where he supported the Home Rule movement, and became leader of the Indian National Congress, advocating a policy of non-violent non-co-operation to achieve independence. His goal was to help poor farmers and laborers protest oppressive taxation and discrimination. He struggled to alleviate poverty, liberate women and put an end to caste discrimination, with the ultimate objective being self-rule for India.

Following his civil disobedience campaign (1919-22), he was jailed for conspiracy (1922-4). In 1930, he led a landmark 320 km/200 mi march to the sea to collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly. On his release from prison (1931), he attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. In 1946, he negotiated with the Cabinet Mission, which recommended the new constitutional structure. After independence (1947), he tried to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal, a policy which led to his assassination in Delhi, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic.

Even after his death, Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence and his belief in simple living: making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet, and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest— has been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world.

In about the sixth century B.C., Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family. When he was a young adult his experiences with the outside world drove him to seek out a greater understanding of life and spiritual fulfillment. Through seeking guidance and meditation, Siddhartha was said to have achieved Enlightenment. From that point, he was known as the Buddha, which means ‘Enlightened One’. For the rest of his life, the Buddha traveled great distances, teaching people about one path to salvation. After the Buddha’s death, his pupils continued to spread his teachings. Buddhism developed at a time when Hinduism, the most widespread religion in India, had become tightly controlled by priests and the upper classes. Buddhism offered hope and access to spiritual understanding and satisfaction to ordinary people. Throughout the world today, people still follow the teachings of the Buddha.

Master Kong Qiu, as his name translates from Chinese, lived from 551 to 479 BC, and remains the most important single philosopher in Eastern history. He espoused significant principles of ethics and politics, in a time when the Greeks were espousing the same things. We think of democracy as a Greek invention, a Western idea, but Confucius wrote in his Analects that “the best government is one that rules through ‘rites’ and the people’s natural morality, rather than by using bribery and coercion. This may sound obvious to us today, but he wrote it in the early 500s to late 400s BC. It is the same principle of democracy that the Greeks argued for and developed: the people’s morality is in charge; therefore, rule by the people.

Confucius defended the idea of an Emperor, but also advocated limitations to the emperor’s power. The emperor must be honest, and his subjects must respect him, but he must also deserve that respect. If he makes a mistake, his subjects must offer suggestions to correct him, and he must consider them. Any ruler who acted contrary to these principles was a tyrant, and thus a thief more than a ruler.

Confucius also devised his own independent version of the Golden Rule, which had existed for at least a century in Greece before him. His phrasing was almost identical, but then furthered the idea: “What one does not wish for oneself, one ought not to do to anyone else; what one recognizes as desirable for oneself, one ought to be willing to grant to others.” The first statement is in the negative, and constitutes a passive desire not to harm others. The second statement is much more important, constituting an active desire to help others. The only other philosopher of antiquity to advocate the Golden Rule in the positive form is Jesus Christ.

I have ranked Jesus Christ as number one because His impact is far more reaching than any of the other members of this list – with more adherents in the world, by a mile, than any other religious group. Jesus of Nazareth is the founding figure of Christianity, and Christianity is the religion that shaped Europe and much of the world, as a consequence. As the largest religion in the world, there is no doubt that Christianity is still making an impact to this day. The principal sources of information regarding Jesus’ life and teachings are the four canonical gospels. Most critical scholars in the fields of history and biblical studies believe that ancient texts on Jesus’ life are, at least partially, accurate, agreeing that Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was regarded as a teacher and healer. They also generally accept that He was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on orders of the Roman Prefect of Judaea Pontius Pilate, on the charge of sedition against the Roman Empire. Interestingly, the most peaceful man on this list also said: “Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.” [St Matthew 10:34]

There’s a reason why midgets filled Teletubby costumes or why cartoons always cast a female voice actor to play any boy character. Because a real kid would screw that up, too. Kids don’t belong in the entertainment industry for myriad reasons, many having to do with the instant diminishing of enjoyment that comes with having one on a set, having to be responsible for one. Maybe it’s just a pet peeve, but these terrible child actors speak for themselves (when they really shouldn’t). Here is a list of the top ten reasons why the kids should stay the hell out of the picture:

(Warning: if you love children and every single thing they do, read no further. If you’re a mom that insists on repeatedly dragging your kid to a talent agency because you’re proud of your only true creation, stop. You’re a terrible person.)

Reason: They are legal hell.

Simply put, a working child under the age of 18 must adhere to labor laws, laws which require constant breaks and limited working hours in a day. Such restrictions are not conducive to a film schedule, which often consists of full 12-hour days. Then there’s the concern of subject matter, say involving sex scenes, that must adhere to age-oriented decency law. Jodie Foster, for instance, was about 13 when she played a hooker in Taxi Driver. Of course, hookers have sex, perform certain explicit duties, duties no thirteen-year-old is inherently qualified for (her much older cousin actually filled in during the suggestive scenes). Even still, this child actor must be aware of what’s going on, given the informative nature of a script, and, as such, out goes innocence. Nowadays, such sexual awareness is constantly finding its way to younger and younger ages, to where innocence hardly has much of a chance to take a first breath out the womb. At any rate, a kid can only slow down adult-oriented momentum, to where that kid shouldn’t be present at all.

Reason: They are often cast through industry nepotism.

Jayden Smith, son of the Fresh Prince, is a movie star in his father’s rite. Hell, even Will’s 9-year-old daughter has a paid-for career making terrible pop music (like father, like daughter). Even funnier, SHE looks JUST LIKE HIM. It’s true what they say, the business is ALL about connections, but rarely do those connections make for a direct funnel of talent (quite the opposite in fact). Did we need to have a karate kid remake? About as much as another actor’s kid needed to provide a supplementary income in Summer blockbuster royalties.

Reason: They are always the least interesting/most annoying character in a movie made for adults.

For one, an adult in the film industry just can’t seem to write a part for a child with any sense of believability, discounting John Hughes (if you call a teen a child, and you should). The most terrible example in recent years is the part of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s chubby little sister in (500) Days of Summer. Everything about the movie is swallowable, except for her character’s posture: she continuously talks down to him as she feeds him advice and life wisdom, as if she’s seen everything but a Hello Kitty backpack and the Jonas Brothers 3D Concert. And it’s obvious that kind of condescension and general knowledgeability is ill-fitting for a girl her age, because the little girl who plays her can’t give a credible performance. More despicable yet, is how this girl has a stable film career, continuing on in a vein of ill-fittedness (as ill-fitted as her transition out of prepubescence) from role to role in movies like Kickass and Let Me In. Damn it, cast her out already, or at least in something more fitting, (perhaps a poncho?) as an extra.

Reason: Creeps make online countdowns.

It is inevitable that a female child star appearing on screen (e.g. the Olsens) is going to one day turn eighteen, and leave it to online creeps and pedophiles in training to await the day their fantasies can no longer be deemed illicit (doesn’t make them anymore okay for the middle-aged bachelors who make an unofficial hobby of flipping through high school year books…from recent years.) It doesn’t help that the oft-sheltered and impressionable screen stars are made to believe that with teenage comes public sexuality (as demonstrated by a determined Miley Cyrus, fighting her way to make the Disney Channel a platform for misbehavior, her co-star washed-up musician-dad reaping the benefits all the while).

Reason: They often fade into a seedy oblivion.

If a child star doesn’t get washed-up and vanish swiftly and quietly, after causing an unrepeatable and very short-lived sensation (e.g. Gary Coleman, Anthony Michael Hall, etc.), he usually spirals violently downhill and makes a sort of alternative career out of being a tabloid tragedy (e.g. anyone from the eighties named Corey), pursuing drugs, drunken assault charges, and a lifestyle of debauchery. Followed by the cold epiphany of being old hat, old news, old.

Reason: It’s corrupt.

It’s a common dream for a kid to say he wants to be a movie star when he grows up, but to force him into the lifestyle, with everything that comes with it, before he even gets the chance to grow up, or even enjoy the innocence of childhood, is just messed up. No kid has the wherewithal to badger agencies into finding “work” in Hollywood, as if a kid is looking to work when he needs not pay for anything himself; no, it is parents looking to exploit their children, whom they find adorable as all hell and insist others must too, so they can pay the bills without having to actually do hard work themselves. Yes, they “deserve” to get a criminal cut of that child’s earnings to “reimburse” the expended effort being professionally overbearing. Remember when Maculay Culkin’s parents robbed his future savings blind because he was in no legal position to argue? Yeah, that’s what happens when you trust your parents to do what’s in YOUR best interest.

Reason: They develop egos at an age when the super-ego should be kicking in.

Michael Jackson is a prime example of why a child needs a normal childhood (though in his case his father was the one pushing him into the spotlight). The real world just doesn’t seem to exist in that kind of bubble-oriented environment. As such, real world implications don’t matter, only the implications of fame, success and the nature of a self-satisfied business.

Reason: Tragic decline.

Dakota Fanning. She’s the modern-day equivalent of Maculay Culkin. The latter starred in movies both mature and innocent in subject matter, at an age of innocence (The Good Son and Home Alone, respectively). He was a “movie star” who hadn’t even reached puberty yet, but was some kind of public darling. Likewise, Fanning has appeared in Doctor Seuss movies as well as one involving a dad with a sadistic split personality, and recently as a slutty rock star. It’s the tragic decline of innocence that comes with a preteen actor/actress growing up in the clutches of an exploitative industry, the kind that rewards shock value with an ongoing career, in lieu of a swift dissolution into obscurity (The Brady kids did it the right way, letting Alice sweep their futures in show business under the carpet.). Someone needs to stop selling movies to delusional parents who watch child stars grow up on screen as if they were raising them themselves. Who else tracks a career beginning in the womb?

Reason: They don’t deserve it.

Envy gives birth to resentment, sure, but how many talented kids, that might have actually been raised in a militant household that placed emphasis on craft-honing, are over-looked in pivotal casting calls for the cutest one in the bunch? There are some kids that grow up in t.v.-free, Puritanical households, who read books and gain wisdom while most kids are beating their heads into pulp with video games and the stimulation orgy that is Cartoon Network’s idea of child entertainment. For instance, that British kid from the Willy Wonka remake, the one that seems a few decades too mature for his timid frame. Mostly though, it’s just flat out obnoxious for any working artist seeing some little kid get swept into fame and fortune with no teeth being cut in the process (at least none that the tooth fairy won’t compensate).

Reason: They can’t act.

And there’s a reason for it: no kid has accrued the required life experience necessary to breathe life into a dynamic character, especially when characters aren’t (or shouldn’t, anyway) two-dimensional. It might make sense that a child can supply a child’s experiences to the role of a child, but even that requires a grasp on transference, and the actualization that you need to be another person through an excerpt of identity-informing lines. But more than words, a kid needs to know how to recall/supply emotions to appropriate occasions, beyond having some grip squirt tear drops in their eyes during all the “sad” scenes. In the case of a character taking on the self-assuredness and maturity of someone much older, the kid has to be able to supply a sense of origin, the disposition through which those traits can become evident. Otherwise, you just have another terrible kid actor making a joke of a serious scene and destroying the fourth wall out of clumsiness and poor casting. “I just want everything to go back to normal.”

Celts had a large reputation as head hunters, and were famous for putting victim’s heads on their chariots, and in front of their homes. Many Celts fought completely naked (much to the surprise of their enemies) and are famous for their iron long sword: “They cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses. The blood-stained spoils they hand over to their attendants and striking up a paean and singing a song of victory; and they nail up these first fruits upon their houses, just as do those who lay low wild animals in certain kinds of hunting. They embalm in cedar oil the heads of the most distinguished enemies, and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display them with pride to strangers, saying that for this head one of their ancestors, or his father, or the man himself, refused the offer of a large sum of money. They say that some of them boast that they refused the weight of the head in gold[.]“

The Maori were the first settlers of New Zealand – arriving many centuries before Europeans. Their culture dates back to the early modern era. They had been known to practice cannibalism during warfare. In October, 1809, a European convict ship was attacked by a large group of Maori warriors, in revenge for the mistreatment of a chief’s son. The Maori killed most of the 66 people on board, and carried dead and alive victims off the boat and back to shore to be eaten. A few lucky survivors, who were able to find a hiding spot inside the mast of the boat, were horrified as they watched the Maori devour their shipmates through the night and in to the next morning.

The Mongols were considered barbarians and savages. They dominated Europe and Asia and were most famous for riding on horseback, lead by one of the greatest military commanders in history, Genghis Khan. They were highly disciplined and masters with using the bow and arrow on horseback. They used a composite bow that could rip through armor, and were also pretty good with lances and scimitars. They were masters of psychological warfare and intimidation, and built the second largest empire ever, smaller only than the British Empire (But nothing’s scary about tea and crumpets). It all started when Temujin (who was later known as Genghis Khan), vowed in his youth to bring the world to his feet. He almost did. Then he set his sights on China, and the rest is history. From Vietnam to Hungary, the Mongol Empire is the largest contiguous empire in the history of mankind.

The Apaches were like the ninjas of America. They would sneak up behind you and slit your throat, without you even knowing. They used primitive weapons made mostly of wood and bone. They were also the greatest knife fighters the world has ever seen, and were pretty good with the tomahawk and throwing ax. They terrorized the southwest United States, and even the military had trouble beating them. They were great hit and run fighters, and their descendants teach modern day special forces how to fight in hand to hand combat. They usually scalped their victims.

They terrorized Europe with their raids and pillaging (though not all of them, as we have previously read on Listverse). They were ferocious in battle and used weapons that suited their stature. They were big and mean and used their axes, swords and spears expertly in the conquering of cities. Even their religion was about war, and they believed that when you died in battle you fought, once again, in a never ending battle. They were all you would want in a soldier and proved it on the battlefield by destroying all in their paths.

Those caught stealing food in the famine-struck nation, or attempting to cross the borders, are subject to public execution. Kim is continuing his lavish lifestyle and military obsession, in spite of the crumbling economy. In North Korea, he and his father are deified, considered saviors of the whole universe. 250,000 dissidents are confined to “re-education camps”. He has waged a war on South Korea that involved assassinating South Korean leaders and blowing up South Korean planes. He presents a great threat to the world in terms of nuclear warfare, having persuaded the Soviet Union to award him a nuclear reactor, in 1984.

While Rome is possibly the greatest empire, you just can’t ignore some scariness. Criminals, slaves and others were forced to fight each other to the death in gladiatorial games. Some of the most evil men were Roman – Caligula, Nero and others. Christians were first, and horribly, targeted for persecution as a group, by the emperor Nero, in 64 AD. Some were torn apart by dogs, others burnt alive as human torches. At first they were ruled by divine kings, then they became a republic (perhaps their greatest period) before finally becoming an empire. How a group of farmers, who started off fending off wolves to protect their livestock, eventually became the greatest empire in all history is the stuff of legends. Coupled with an excellent military and administrative system, the Roman Empire, or rather ancient Rome, is also one of the longest-lasting. Counting from its founding to the fall of the Byzantine Empire, ancient Rome lasted for a whopping 2,214 years!

The Aztecs began their elaborate theocracy in the 1300s, and brought human sacrifice to a golden era. About 20,000 people were killed yearly to appease gods — especially the sun god, who needed daily “nourishment” of blood. Hearts of sacrifice victims were cut out, and some bodies were eaten ceremoniously. Other victims were drowned, beheaded, burned or dropped from heights. In a rite to the rain god, shrieking children were killed at several sites so that their tears might induce rain. In a rite to the maize goddess, a virgin danced for 24 hours, then was killed and skinned; her skin was worn by a priest in further dancing. One account says that at King Ahuitzotl’s coronation, 80,000 prisoners were butchered to please the gods. It is said that sometimes the victim would be cannibalized.

Although it was a very brief civilization, Nazi Germany was a superpower, and affected the world greatly. At least 4 million people were killed in the Holocaust (with some speculating it was closer to 11 million), and Nazi Germany started the worst war in human history – World War Two. The Nazi Swastika is probably the most hated symbol in the world. Nazi Germany owned about 268,829 square miles of land. Hitler was one of the most influential people ever – and his empire was, by far, one of the most terrifying.

Communism is responsible for millions of deaths – more, even, than Nazi Germany in just the Soviet Union alone. Communists such as Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Nicolae Ceausescu and others have killed millions of people. But The Soviet Union stands out as the worst. Stalin, alone, killed 10-60 million people. The Soviet Union was probably one of the U.S.A’s greatest foes. Living under Stalin put even the most average person into a state of constant fear – this, alone, makes the Soviet Union worse than Nazi Germany, in which the majority of Germans felt a certain level of safety as long as they supported the Nazi concept.

Shameful Event: Bipartisan Politics

Not an event, but an aspect, out of which many bad events have derived. The U. S. has two primary political parties, the Democratic and the Republican. The current threat of the government itself to “shut down” in Washington D. C. has been caused by the two parties refusing to get along with each other. They cannot stand each other’s political ideas, and refuse to yield one inch of ground either way. As a result, nothing is getting accomplished by the American government.

Not that the bipartisanship should be abolished. There should be two sides to every issue, but there should also be something we like to call “compromise” between them. But the Senate and Congress routinely vote straight down party lines without listening to, or caring about, the other side’s argument on an issue.

The major issue at the time of this list’s composition is budget expenditures, which, if not resolved, will “shut down” the government, after which the Senate, Congress and President’s Cabinet will continue to be paid, but the families of active soldiers overseas will not receive any more paychecks.

Republicans believe too much money is being spent. Democrats want even more money spent in order to stimulate the economy. The Republicans consider this digging down in order to climb out of a hole, and around and around we go.

It has gotten so bad, that photographs have surfaced, from inside the House and Senate, showing Democrats playing Solitaire, Freecell and Minesweeper on their laptops while Republicans give speeches. The reason? They angrily refuse to listen and be swayed from their positions. Though there is currently no proof, the Republicans are likely just as guilty of such goofing off.

Shameful Event: The Scopes “Monkey” Trial

A notorious miscarriage of justice and a serious waste of legislation. Legislation is very highly thought of in America, to the point that laws are put on the books for some very strange, unjust and idiotic things. There are quite a few websites dedicated to stupid American laws, and just for fun, this lister, a fan of “How To Train Your Dragon,” here gives his favorite. Direct from Utah: “it is illegal to hunt, kill, take, trap, possess or have sex with dragons.” It’s on the books, or so the website says. This lister doesn’t doubt it.

The Scopes Trial, however, was a very serious affair and remains so, since at the heart of it was the Tennessee state law against teaching evolution. Creationism was the order of the day, and John Scopes deliberately broke the law in order to put the actual law on trial. The entire nation came down on top of him, for and against, and his primary defense attorney was Clarence Darrow, an avowed atheist. He was up against former 3-time presidential candidate William J. Bryan, an avowed Christian fundamentalist. It shaped up just like a boxing match.

The judge was John Raulston, a very conservative Christian who quoted the Bible often throughout the farce. He supported Bryan’s prosecution more often than Darrow’s defense, and all scientific examinations were disallowed from the proceedings. No fossils, no rocks, no scientist’s testimony. Dinosaurs were alive 4,000 years ago because Bryan said so. God created the Earth on October 22, 4004 BC, at 7:30 in the evening. That’s a paraphrased quote. Darrow immediately called Bryan to the stand as an “expert” on the Bible. Bryan knew what was coming, but was unafraid. Darrow questioned him on the concept of Eve coming from Adam’s rib. If so, “where the hell did Cain’s wife come from? Did they have another creation over in the next county?”

Then he questioned the date of Earth’s creation. “How long was the first day? You can’t measure a day without sunlight, and God didn’t make the sun till the fourth day.” Raulston actually allowed this charade to go on for 2 hours. The whole trial was paid for by tax money. In the end Scopes lost, as everyone expected would happen in Tennessee. Darrow appealed to the state’s Supreme Court, which overturned the verdict on a technicality, rather than address the real issue (which simply cannot be resolved, because neither side wants it resolved): Judge Raulston had ordered Scopes to pay a $100 fine, but he should have left this decision with the jury. So the fine was expunged.

Shameful Event: Medals of Honor at Wounded Knee

On December 29, 1890, near the banks of Wounded Knee Creek, in Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota, a detachment of 500 men of the 7th U. S. Cavalry, led by Col. James Forsyth, surrounded an encampment of 350 Indians. They were under orders to disarm the Indians, and when they attempted to do so, a deaf Indian named Black Coyote did not understand what they were saying and did not want to relinquish his rifle, because it was expensive, and the Cavalry had no right to take it.

In the ensuing scuffle between him and 2 or 3 soldiers, a shot was fired, either by accident, or as a warning for him to calm down. Instead, the entire 7th cavalry opened fire on cue, assuming that the Indians had initiated hostilities. Most of the 120 Indian men were armed, but had intended to surrender. Now they had to defend themselves and their families and fired back.

The soldiers slaughtered at least 150 men, women, and children, most of the latter two unarmed and running for their lives or cowering. The Cavalry was so savage in its assault that crossfire killed some 30 soldiers. 4 Hotchkiss (Gatling) guns were also used on the crowd. The cavalry, on horses, chased down wounded Indians in the snowy plains and shot them down from behind.

As horrible as the act itself remains, it seems even worse to add insult to injury, and the Army awarded twenty men the Medal of Honor. That is the highest American military award for combat bravery. The criteria for receiving have become much more stringent since WWII, but that is not meant to discredit the actions of the soldiers who earned it in the Civil War or later.

It is, however, quite atrocious to award it to soldiers who were not in very serious danger of death. Half the Indian men who had rifles were shot down before they could get a shot off. Estimates, though we will never know for sure, place the cavalrymen killed by Indians at 5. It is believed the other 26 were killed by friendly fire. And the definition of valor, a word inscribed on the medal, does not include running down and killing wounded, fleeing non-combatants.

Shameful Event: The Civil War

It ranks so low because there were a number of mitigating factors in its origin, one of which you will see later in this list. John Q. Adams called this the last battle of the American Revolution, and he died 12 years before the Civil War began. He saw it coming. Everyone knew it was coming.

The tensions of racial superiority/inferiority were only going to rise until the problem was solved. The United States was “dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal,” except, of course, for blacks, Indians and women. White men were perfectly fine. Thomas Jefferson understood that slavery was wrong, but did not free his own until his death.

The South, populated by a lot of wealthy white landowners, refused to give up its “honorable institution” without a fight, and inexorably, the fight happened. Great credit should be given to Henry Clay, Sr., for his Compromise of 1850, which delayed the Civil War by a decade. There were other issues at hand besides slavery, of course, including states’ rights as opposed to federal rights, but the only right the South cared to keep was the right to own, buy, sell and trade slaves.

As a result of everyone’s refusal to compromise, over 600,000 Americans were killed, about 2% of the nation’s population at the time. If the same were to happen today, 6,000,000 Americans would be killed. Only about 416,000 died in WWII.

Shameful Event: Organized Crime

Organization of crime became possible largely because of the progression of firearms technology. From Postbellum until the 1960s or so, criminals possessed the very same weapons as the police. Today, fully automatic firearms are illegal in the United States for civilians to own, operate or possess.

In the Roaring 20s, however, anyone could buy one in a store, and the gangsters did so. The Thompson Submachine Gun was the most sought after, by far, followed closely by the Browning Automatic Rifle (a fully automatic 30-06). The police had them and the criminals had them, and the police’s communication system was woefully inadequate.

No one knew where the criminals were until they robbed a bank and made their getaway. Then the chase was on, and running gunbattles quite frequently erupted in the streets, killing innocent bystanders. Once the police gained technology’s upperhand, the criminals took to surreptition more than force in their enterprises. The FBI was founded just to hunt them down.

It was not until John Gotti was brought down that the back of the New York crime families was broken. But organized crime still goes strong in America, especially in the southwest, where Mexican drug gangs are invading big cities like San Diego and Los Angeles. And they have much the same weaponry again: fully automatic rifles and rocket launchers, heavy demolition, and an intense hatred for American law enforcement.

Shameful Event: Preston Brooks’s Assault on Charles Sumner

On May 22, 1856, Congressman Brooks, Dem. from SC, walked into the floor of the Senate to confront Sumner, Rep. From MA, over a speech Sumner had made three days prior, in which he humiliated Andrew Butler, Dem. From SC and Brooks’s cousin.

Brooks thought twice about his actions and asked fellow SC Dem. Laurence Keitt how he should go about dueling Sumner. Duels were illegal by then, but this rarely stopped anyone from traveling to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls where dueling was no problem. Keitt, a burly man of well over 6 feet, considered that because of his coarse speech, Sumner was beneath Brooks and therefore did not deserve the honor of a duel.

Brooks then made up his mind that he would simply beat Sumner with his walking cane. Everyone had canes back then, many with swords or muskets hidden in them. Brooks’s was just a cane, slightly over 1 inch thick, made of gutta-percha hardwood from SE Asia, with a 10 or 14 karat gold pommel.

The Senate Chamber was fairly deserted at the time, the day’s business having adjourned. Sumner was a big man of 6 feet 4 inches, to Brooks’s 5 feet 6 inches, but Sumner was seated at his desk working on a speech. These desks were, and still are, bolted to the floor, and the chairs did not have wheels at the time. Brooks informed Sumner that his earlier speech was libelous against his cousin, and proceeded to beat him savagely over the head with his cane.

Sumner tried to fight him off and get up, but his desk hindered him long enough for Brooks to incapacitate him. He beat him so horribly that Sumner ripped his desk out of the floor trying to get away. He staggered up the aisle, bleeding profusely from his head, and fell, blinded by his blood. Brooks following, beating him the whole way and then stood over him swinging until the other senators heard something crack. Brooks had broken his cane just below the pommel.

Sumner was unconscious and lying in a pool of blood. No one could come to his aid because Laurence Keitt had accompanied Brooks and brandished a revolver at them. Brooks walked out and resigned his post, after the House failed to vote him out. Almost every single person in the entire southern half of the United States cheered Brooks and mocked, scorned, ridiculed, and spurned Sumner for the rest of his career. Brooks was sent over 1,000 new canes by citizens all over the South.

The North criticized him, especially Anson Burlingame, Rep. From MA, who spoke so vehemently that Brooks challenged him to a duel. He didn’t think Burlingame would accept, but he did and chose Kentucky long rifles as the weapons. He was one of the finest hunters in the North, and Brooks quickly backed down. Brooks died of severe bronchitis the next year. This event has often been cited as one of the primary polarizations of the Antebellum period, over slavery and racial tensions, a spark to ignite the Civil War.

Shameful Event: Racism and Its Crimes

In the same vein of two other entries on this list, but significantly different. Especially Postbellum to about 1970. The famous Civil Rights movement is thought of as particular to the 1960s and Martin Luther King, Jr., but politicians, black and white, had been arguing for equal rights under the law since at least the founding of the country.

“All men are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, etc.,” does not include a proviso against black people or Asian people, or any other “race.” But the reality around the country could not be ignored unless out of hatred or impudence, and this is precisely what the majority did until the Civil War compelled a change of government. And though the government changed, and blacks were given the rights to vote and hold office, racial thought would take much longer to right itself.

From Postbellum until the 1970s, blacks were treated monstrously by a lot of white mobs in the South. The Ku Klux Klan was formed “in order to protect white rights,” as its members claimed, but was really just an outlet for their rage, as they banded together and beat, tortured and lynched black people for what was perceived as the slightest infraction of the law. Never mind that this was, itself, breaking the law. And those in power did not seem to care about stopping these crimes. Including any specific example might be too lurid, but consider one of the most notorious instances, that of Willy Brown:

He was accused of raping a white woman, who identified him as the rapist. He was held in protective custody in the Omaha Courthouse from September 28 to 29, 1919, until the entire city had degenerated into a full-scale riot. A mob of over 4,000 white men, women and children besieged Brown, the mayor and his police in the courthouse, looted gun stores for over 1,000 firearms and began shooting the courthouse windows out.

They set the building on fire and demanded Brown be given up. The mayor went out and allowed them to hang him if they would leave. They promptly did so, then went back at the courthouse. The sheriff and his deputies drove through them, breaking people’s legs and arms, cut the mayor down, and drove him to a hospital. He survived.

The courthouse garrison finally relinquished Brown, who was hanged within 5 minutes from a power line. The mob shot at him for another 5 minutes, then cut him down, tied him to a car’s wheel and dragged him through the city, then doused him in lantern oil and set him on fire. They photographed him. Then dragged him through the streets again. The rape victim later retracted her statement and told some friends she just wanted to see a black man die.

Shameful Event: The Salem Witch Trials

In winter of 1691-92, in Salem Village, Massachusetts, outside Salem proper, four girls, Ann Putnam Jr. (12), Abigail Williams (11), Elizabeth Parris (9), and Mary Walcott (17), apparently began to suffer seizures, screaming fits, bursts of gibberish, general fear and violence against others.

It is now theorized by most that Parris and Williams, the two who started the craze, were simply looking to get attention for themselves. But once they were suspected of “indwelling by the Devil,” a crime which might have gotten them executed, they immediately blamed various people throughout Salem Village, and even neighboring towns of possessing them with their spirits, witchcraft and communion with Satan.

The entire area was paranoid about Satan in the first place, and was thus a powderkeg waiting to go off. Putnam and Walcott are believed to have started doing the same thing just for the fun of joining in, but Putnam’s parents saw her “possession” as a convenient means to get rid of some local enemies they’d made. Walcott is thought to have been involved for the sheer pleasure of causing others’ deaths.

It would take too long to give all the particulars here, but in the end, 19 people were hanged in public for witchcraft, and one man, Giles Corey, at about 80 years old, was crushed to death beneath heavy stones for refusing to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. The local magistrates even indicted and imprisoned a 4 your year old girl named Dorothy Good and aggressively interrogated her as to whether she was a witch.

She, of course, had no idea what in the world they were talking about and only wept for her mother, who disowned her to save herself. They finally told her to confess to witchcraft and she would be given back to her mother, which, of course, she did. She was released on 50 pounds bail and went insane from the ordeal.

The hysteria did not stop until the Governor George Phipps, who knew people were being killed, was informed that his wife had been accused of witchcraft. He immediately ordered the entire farce to cease.

Only five years later, every party involved in accusing or prosecuting innocent people repented, claimed to be ashamed, and begged everyone’s forgiveness. Except for John Hathorne, one of the judges. He condemned, or joined in condemning, most of those executed, rejoiced at their executions, and felt absolutely no remorse for the rest of his life, not even when several women suffered miscarriages in prison due to starvation and the atrocious squalor.

He called these dead infants, “righteous punishment from the Almighty. The children were not human, but born of the Devil, and now burn in the everlasting flames.” Abigail Williams disappeared, some say to New York, where she may have become a prostitute.

Shameful Event: Slavery

Tied in with more than one of this list’s entries, slavery is the heart of quite a few problems of America’s past. It’s over, but the resentment felt by blacks toward whites still exists. This country was founded by a bunch of white men with European ancestry, who touted the principle of universal equality. But at the same time, they imported slaves from Africa in order to tend their own property, rather than doing so themselves.

Quickly, slaves became a status symbol, just like any other property. The more you owned, the wealthier you were. Families of black people were broken up at slave auctions and never saw each other again. They were treated precisely the same as cattle. Whites defended this from Antebellum until the 1970s by quoting Genesis 9:27: “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” Canaan was the son of Ham, and this is the famous curse of Ham passage. His name is “Ham” in Hebrew, pronounced “hom,” and means “hot” or “burned,” which seems to be a reference to a darker color of skin.

The uneducated whites of the general public from Antebellum to the 1970s always assumed that Ham referred to a black person because black people like to eat pork. That’s not a lie or an exaggeration. The verse was therefore extrapolated to mean that black people should be servants of…who else but the opposite of black? White people.

This was how slavery was defended as a divinely approved institution for centuries. Of course slavery was instituted in America by white people out of a desire for power over other humans, and a lethargy concerning farming. The true shame of it is inherent throughout: its origins are idiotic and cruel; its longevity is beyond belief and outside logic.

Shameful Event: The Usurpation of Land from American Indians

It was one of Hitler’s inspirations for the Holocaust. How to get it done properly. You don’t start with force immediately. First you pretend to strike deals with the race you want out of your way. Then you double-cross them when the time is right, but don’t make the double-cross obvious. Keep them confused as to why you would renege, and guessing as to whether you really have. Until it’s too late for them to stop you.

In order to “appease your own people,” as it were, and not have a rebellion, you inform them over and over, years after years, that the race whose land and property you’re taking is primitive and violent, and that you’re not really causing them any harm. The Holocaust isn’t the only time this has happened.

And although the United States certainly didn’t engage in wholesale slaughter of the Indians, of the degree of the Holocaust, the U. S. government did, for centuries, uphold the principle of expanding the nation’s borders until reaching an ocean, whether or not this expansion came at anyone else’s expense.

The most infamous instance of this is President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, Seminole and Chickasaw tribes were forced off their lands in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida, and required to move to what is now Oklahoma. Neither the President nor any other white person seemed able to understand why they did not want to leave. Some did of their own accord, but most were finally forced to pick up and move, and were forced to do so on foot. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the Cherokee Nation was not subject to Georgia’s state law, only national law.

But nevertheless, the Indian Removal Act passed in Congress by a single vote. Abraham Lincoln opposed it, as did David Crockett, who argued that America had no more right to take the Indians’ land than the British had to take America’s land.

With the Act in place, the states in questions were allotted 7,000 armed militia to force the Indians out. 13,000 Cherokee were herded in concentration camps in the freezing cold, where 2,000 to 8,000 of them died from cholera, famine and exposure. This went on from 1831 to 1847.

All told, 19,500 Creek, 4,300 Chickasaw, 12,500 Choctaw, 2,833 Seminole and 20,000 Cherokee were forced to walk to Oklahoma, a distance of no less than 200 miles for the Chickasaw and Choctaw, and up to 1,000 for the Seminole. Thousands died en route. The practice was euphemized by white politicians at the time as “manifest destiny.” Hitler called it “lebensraum,” “living room.” No President has ever apologized for the Indian Removal Act. It is now called the Trail of Tears, and it is one of many times America forced Indians off their land.

Well, maybe not. Imagine all the opportunities that would be open up to you if you decided from Day One to just chuck that whole idea. Here are 10 darn good reasons to duck the rat race.

Straight off, if you plan to embrace poverty, you might as well embrace not having a job, too. If there’s one good thing about being rich, it’s probably the absence of having to do anything even remotely resembling manual labor and, having embraced poverty as your personal economic philosophy, you won’t have to do manual labor, either. Why? Because, once you’ve embraced not having a job, other responsibilities like mowing the yard, washing the car, house cleaning, counting the change in your pocket and taking a shower, all these things will begin to fall like dominos. You’ll be amazed at how much free time you’ll have.

This is a no-brainer. You won’t have a single worry about losing money or possessions, if you have no money or possessions. If you’re flat broke and you find a penny someone dropped, woo-hoo, it’s your lucky day! But if you’re a millionaire banker, you probably won’t even stoop to pick up a mere penny. Just think of all the lucky days you’ll have, when that banker might go years before he has even one day he considers lucky. Now look at a picture of the Queen. Does she look truly happy? Of course not, she’s worried about her portfolio; maybe BP is down a point or two. It’s the same with Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Rupert Murdoch, et al. They might crack a smile on occasion, but you never see them cutting loose with a really big guffaw. These people are constantly worried about their wealth because they know there’s only one way for their fortunes to go. At the opposite end of the spectrum, however, I’ve heard time and again how, during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, people who were mired in poverty were happy just to be able to eat. Embrace poverty now and you too can be made happy just as easily. I read somewhere, possibly the Top 20 Wise Quotes of Confucius, that “Money can’t buy happiness”. As any idiot knows, another way to say that is ”You WILL be happy without money”. Embrace poverty now. (Note: Even if Confucius didn’t say it, it’s the kind of wise thing he would say, even if he was too fat to have properly embraced poverty.)

This item alone would allow you to ratchet down your level of stress. Imagine yourself as the typical rich, gourmand, globe-trotting web site administrator. Rather than worrying about getting the heat just right under your soufflé of hummingbird tongue, you need only concern yourself with rustling up a piece of fatback to go with the collard greens. After embracing poverty, you might eat hummingbird tongue on occasion, but it would most likely go along with the rest of the hummingbird, including the odd feather or two, perhaps in a delicate tartar, whose elegance rests in its simplicity.

The poverty enabled will never be the types to jump out of their 96th floor offices just because the latest economic indicators are troubling. Heck, a full-blown depression could pass you by with hardly a notice, while a mere recession will be looked on as a time of plenty. Here’s why: by embracing poverty, you basically bring yourself down to the level of a severe economic depression; this will be “normal” for you. Then, any improvement at all to the economy will raise your standard of living exponentially while others are still wringing their hands and wondering when things are going to get better. And, when the economy is fully recovered, maybe even booming, you’ll be perfectly situated to take full advantage of a prosperous and generous workforce.

Rich people will give you freebies. It’s true. As a case in point, I was reading on another list the other day (10 Cases of Appropriate Technology), that someone has come up with an idea to give laptop computers to children in the developing world. These kids aren’t demonstrating in New York or London, shouting “We Want Computers, We Want Computers” – someone is actually hunting them down and saying “Here, kid, take this”. That is a sweet deal. Another example: Habitat for Humanity can build houses in as little as 3 ½ hours, from start to finish. Imagine yourself sitting on your favorite tree stump, picking your teeth with a hummingbird beak, maybe spitting out an occasional feather, reflecting on how happy you are. Suddenly, HFH trucks appear from out of nowhere, and 3 ½ hours and lots of hubbub later, you’re gazing at your new house. It can happen. And not just in the States, either. HFH also did this in New Zealand, but it took them about a quarter hour longer, probably due to the language barrier (e.g., “Work? Oi don’t know ‘bout that, mate”). At any rate, I’m not sure if HFH includes a coat of paint or if they expect you to do it, but, dang, anybody can live in an unpainted house, especially a free unpainted house.

If you embrace poverty, this will be one of the easier things to do – you won’t have any risk at all of an immoderate intake of anything. That is the kind of thing that gets your name in the history books. Look at Gandhi: he was poor as a church mouse, just as ascetic as they come, and now he’s revered as someone who reached the pinnacle of “enlightenment” through self-restraint. But he wasn’t restrained, he was just an adept in Poverty. Be like Gandhi and you’ll get your name in the history books, too. However, imitate Gandhi too closely and you might get your name in a registered sex offender database. See? Poverty, not restraint.

Given sufficient poverty, your health will bloom as a natural consequence. Since you can no longer afford cigarettes, booze or illegal drugs, gone will be the nagging smoker’s hack, hangovers and potential health issues caused by dirty needles. As a bonus, your excessive body fat will just melt away, since you’ll probably be eating somewhat less. And you won’t have to consciously do a thing for all these benefits – no dieting, no nicotine patches or gum, and, unless you have a dealer who also chooses to embrace poverty, no tapering off from your favorite addictive drug. Your friends will be amazed at your “will power”, and medical bills will be a thing of the past.

As a poverty “stricken” individual, you’ll find it easy to discard all your old dreams of “success” and – let’s face it – unattainable aspirations. Your new desires will become much more modest, realistic and immediate. While your old bucket list might have had things like “Go to a film premier”, or “Fly a plane”, or “Stay in the best suite”, your new bucket list will be filled with items that you can tic off on a daily basis: find food (possibly by “Doing a runner”), shelter for the night, a new bucket, etc. Your sense of accomplishment will do wonders for your self-esteem.

Most crime today is caused by envy, and since the truly impoverished have no possessions, they are seldom envied. Really, what could be stolen from you, besides your bucket? Your sense of accomplishment? You’ll be able to stroll along the darkest alleyways without the slightest fear of being mugged. Granted, you may inadvertently become the victim of crime fighters, but the flip side of that is that you’ll get free room and board. And maybe free medical care.

Somebody (Confucius?) said something like, “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven”. Now, whether you believe in Heaven or not, it just makes sense to cover all your bases, especially if you can do it without too much to yourself. As the exact opposite of a rich man, you stand a much greater chance of being able to waltz into Heaven with your eyes closed. If you have adequately impoverished yourself, very few temptations will come your way, and those that do come your way can be dismissed with a haughty “I can’t afford that” or “Too rich for my blood, lady”. You’ll be living the lifestyle of a monk, a very deprived monk, but you won’t be stuck in a dusty old abbey somewhere. Saints have been named for less, and you’ll be able to do it as a matter of course.

Notable omissions: no taxes, unburdened by fair weather friends, won’t be drafted into the military or have to serve on juries because you have no mailbox, won’t have to deal with lawyers

NOTE: Many of the comments which are complaining about factual errors on this list are repeating myths already exposed on the previous list Top 10 Myths about the Middle Ages. Please read that list before commenting negatively.

The tax rates in medieval England varied a lot, depending on the King and what was happening in society. The taxes seldom went above 15% but were more often closer to the 10% mark. For most people today this is nearly one third or half of the tax currently being paid. The taxes went to support the military and the King, and even in times of war the taxes were never excessive. Taxes were usually paid based on the quantity of land you owned, so people like serfs were often exempt from national taxes and paid, instead, tithes in the form (usually) of wheat to their land owners.

We all know the Middle Ages had a more obvious separation of classes. However, regardless of which class you were in, you would have lived a better lifestyle. By “better” I mean healthier and easier. If you were an aristocrat you wouldn’t have worked a day in your life. You would eat delicious food all the time, and would have plenty of activities to keep you occupied. On the other hand, if you were a serf, you would work your fields during the summer months and laze about during the winter months enjoying your harvests (after the taxes you pay to your land owner). The only real requirement as a serf was that you pay your tithes (usually in wheat) and do a few other odd jobs, but, aside from that, you could do anything you wanted with your land, and the land owner had to guarantee you protection from criminals and provide for you in times of famine. Some serfs became incredibly wealthy through the wise use of their land.

The middle ages knew roughly 5 serial killers. Most of you will be able to name three of them: Elizabeth Bathory, Gilled de Rais and Sawney Bean (who may not have existed at all). Now try to name as many serial killers from the modern ages that you know. A lot more I bet. There were definitely a lot of murders in the Middle Ages, but the chances of the average person being a victim of murder were low. Murderers were tried and executed, and those who committed petty crimes were usually publicly shamed or fined. The stories we hear of people’s hands being cut off for stealing were usually from Eastern countries, or were during the very early years of the Middle ages, when Europe was establishing itself into the formation we generally know it today.

Unlike most of our countries today, there were no lobbyists, and governments (mostly ruled over by Kings) were not prone to switching policies every other year. In our current system we can expect to see fairly drastic changes to the laws under which we live every few years – in the Middle ages you had the same law (with a few exceptions) for most of your life. Life under a benevolent King was good for law abiding citizens, and you knew that unless the King was old, sick, or off fighting a war, tomorrow would be the same as today. This stability is something most of us have never known, so it can be hard to appreciate how much better it was than the present systems which have given rise to all manner of bizarre ideas such as the fart tax.

Since the end of the gold standard, money has become more a concept than a reality. In the Middle Ages, money was money. If you had gold, you had gold. Today’s monetary systems are largely controlled by the International Monetary Fund, and the ability of a nation to print money on demand has caused the recent devaluation of many currencies. The old adage says money doesn’t grow on trees – but, unfortunately, modern governments don’t know it. Food prices were relatively constant (with the exception of times of famine and during the price revolution), and people didn’t need to spend half their income paying off debts for things they didn’t need. In fact, society took a great turn for the worse in the so-called renaissance, which started a smear campaign against the Medieval feudal system in order to gain support for the new capital-based system. An economy based on production was replaced by an economy based on how much gold the King released to the public. Here is a quote from Life Inc: How Corporatism Conquered the World, and How We Can Take It Back.

“Land was no longer a thing the peasants could grow stuff on, land became an investment, land became an asset class for the wealthy. Once it became an asset class they started Partitioning and Enclosure, which meant people weren’t allowed to grow stuff on it, so subsistence farming was no longer a viable lifestyle. If you can’t do subsistence farming you must find a job, so then you go into the city and volunteer to do unskilled labor in a proto-factory for some guy who wants the least-skilled, cheapest labor possible. You move your whole family to where the work is, into the squalor, where conditions are overcrowded and impoverished — the perfect breeding ground for plague and death!”

Oh – and for a point of reference, the average wage in the mid 1400s was about 6 pennies a day – that equates to 130 modern pounds a day – compared to the current average in the UK of around 96 pounds per day.

People in the Middle Ages did (on average) prosper. And, contrary to popular belief, they also lived long! In general, a person in the Middle Ages who reached the age of 21 would live to just one or two years below the current average human life expectancy rate (mid-late sixties). Where the idea of dying at thirty came from, I do not know, but this myth has given rise to untold others, such as the “fact” the people had to marry in their early teen years (or worse – pre-teen years) because they would be dead before long. Infant mortality rates were higher than today, but, generally, people in the Middle Ages didn’t have on-demand access to the medical knowledge we have now. And, despite the death rates, most families had more children than today’s planned family structures, which could potentially result in a human population decline, as is already happening in some nations. Such nations include Italy and Russia (contrary to the bizarre and wrong notion that the Earth is overpopulated). Out of interest, here is a small list of countries currently in population decline: Russia, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. And here are nations about to go into decline: Greece, Spain, Cuba, Uruguay, Denmark, Finland, Austria and Lesotho.

While a lot of people like modern art, many don’t. But most who do like it also appreciate the beauty of traditional art. In the Middle Ages virtually everyone in the West had access to at least one or two items of beauty. Whether it be a statue, or an image in a Church or beautiful tapestries made by family members – life was not a dull gray existence. Tapestry making was a popular pastime in the Middle Ages, and the survival of many of those works of art teaches us a lot about history (the Bayeux tapestry being the most well known example). And, even if you didn’t have access to tapestries or paintings, you could see some of the most incredible works of art in the vestments worn by priests at Mass every day, which were often woven with the addition of gold thread.

I am pretty sure that no one will disagree with this entry. Who wouldn’t want to live the life of a knight? You get to run around slaying the enemy in battles, dressed in armor and riding huge warhorses – and when you get some time off you get to save damsels in distress; and if we are to believe the story books, there are plenty of those to go around! Knights only had to give 40 days a year to their lord – after that they would spend their days in tournaments (initially very dangerous battles, but later more like games and competitions). A young man would start his knight training early and would become a full fledged knight between the ages of 16 and 20.

No genetically modified food, no chemicals, no intensive farming, no need for the “organic” label. These are just four of the many reasons that medieval food was better than what we have today. But, perhaps most importantly, none of the food had had its flavor bred out of it in order to make it look appealing to supermarket shopping masses. And, contrary to popular belief, people in the middle ages ate very well. Here is what BBC says: “The average medieval peasant, however, would have eaten nearly two loaves of bread each day, and 8oz of meat or fish, the size of an average steak. This would have been accompanied by liberal quantities of vegetables, including beans, turnips and parsnips, and washed down by three pints of ale.” That equates to around 3,500 to 4,000 calories per day (the average man eats 2,700 these days).

The Middle Ages didn’t really have unemployment troubles like we do these days. If you were a serf, you worked the land. If you were in the unnamed middle class, you ran a shop or worked for a Lord. If you were upper class, you had hunting and fun stuff to do. In most cities huge Cathedrals were being built so most men could work in some capacity on those. If you really couldn’t work, it was usually because you were sick or had disabilities. People who couldn’t work were taken care of by charitable nuns and monks – or by their own families if they had sufficient funds to do so.

Please note: this list is NOT an endorsement of the Nazi regime which is, clearly, one of the most evil in history – second only to Stalinist Russia. This list hopefully shows that even amidst great evil, the good of man is still able to shine through. This list is an homage to those men and women living in Nazi Germany who were able to make change for good whilst living under a severely corrupt and wrong regime.

Nazi Germany was the first country to ban vivisection in the world, enacting a total ban in April 1933. The measure to ban vivisection was a huge concern and was put forth to the Reichstag as early as 1927. High ranking Nazis such as Hermann Goring, Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler were very concerned about animal conservation, particularly pertaining as to how animals were butchered. Most current laws in Germany, and indeed the world, are derived from the laws put forth by the Nazi Party. This is, obviously, incredibly ironic as while on the one hand they defended the lives of brute animals, whilst on the other hand cruelly slaughtered Catholics, homosexuals, gypsies, and jews.

Hermann Goring, who was established as the Prime Minister of Prussia, had this to say:

“An absolute and permanent ban on vivisection is not only a necessary law to protect animals and to show sympathy with their pain, but it is also a law for humanity itself…. I have therefore announced the immediate prohibition of vivisection and have made the practice a punishable offense in Prussia.

Until such time as punishment is pronounced the culprit shall be lodged in a concentration camp.”

The above picture is a cartoon showing animals saved from vivisection saluting Hermann Goring. The sign in the window says “Vivisection Forbidden”.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, their concerns not only laid with the people, but with the animals native to Germany. In 1934, a national hunting law was passed to regulate how many animals could be killed per year, and to establish proper ‘hunting seasons’. These hunting laws have now been applied in most western countries.

This law was known as Das Reichsjagdgesetz, the Reich Hunting Law. The Reichstag also footed the bill for education on animal conservation at Primary, Secondary and College levels. Additionally, in 1935, another law was passed, the Reichsnaturschutzgesetz (Reich Nature Protection Act). This law placed several native species on a protection list including the wolf and Eurasian lynx. Additions were added later as to afforestation and the humane slaughter of living fish.

Without this law it is likely some species would have completely disappeared from Germany’s forests.

It is rumored that Adolf Hitler was so opposed to smoking in his later life that he couldn’t stand someone lighting up in the same room, and often felt obligated to object to it as a waste of money. Thus, he began one of the most expensive and effective tobacco movements throughout history. While during the 1930s and 1940s, other anti-tobacco movements failed fantastically in other countries, it was taken seriously in Nazi Germany.

The Nazis banned smoking in restaurants and public transportation systems, citing public health, and severely regulated the advertising of smoking and cigarettes. There was also a high tobacco tax, and the supplies of cigarettes to the Wehrmacht were rationed. Several health organizations in Nazi Germany even began claiming that smoking heightened the risks of miscarriages by pregnant women, now a commonly known fact.

The statistics of annual cigarette consumption per capita as of 1940 had Germany at only 749, while Americans smoked over 3,000.

The picture above says “He does not devour it, it [the cigarette] devours him!”

Nazi Germany had one of the largest public welfare programs in history, based on the philosophy that all Germans should share a standard of living.

One of the most famous of these was the Winter Relief program, where high ranking Nazis and common citizens both took to the streets to collect charity for the unfortunate. This was not only an extremely intelligent propaganda move, but also a ritual to generate general good public feeling toward those in need. Posters urged people to donate rather than give directly to beggars. Joseph Goebbels, himself a high ranking Nazi in control of Radio, Television and Propaganda, often participated in these events.

But how was the cost of this met? Largely from the stealing of belongings from those people considered enemies of the regime. The Nazi government stole immense amounts of money from their population and used it to fund a social welfare scheme that favored select members of society. Modern schemes modeled on this system are funded by taxes that steal from everyone.

Pictured above is a canister used for the Winter Relief Fund effort.

Literally meaning “People’s Car”, this vehicle was presented as a car that every German citizen could afford to buy. It was based on the advice of Hitler to the designer, saying that it should resemble a beetle. The car was a huge success (it was made available to citizens of the Third Reich through a savings scheme at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle), but toward the end of the war resources were low and public availability declined. The Volkswagen emerged more as a military vehicle toward the end of the Third Reich.

However this has not stopped it from being one of the most popular vehicles in the world, known for reliability, stylish design (though some might question that!) and ease of use.

While not originally conceived by the Nazis, Hitler was an enthusiastic supporter of the idea and pushed for the largest network of roads to be built across Germany. Established as the first freeway system in the world, the autobahn was a revolutionary feat of engineering that forever changed the way humans travel. Thousands of countries have emulated the system Hitler put in place, including America and Britain. It is single handedly the largest network of roadways in the world, with roads stretching all across the country, even to other countries such as Austria.

The construction of this roadway wasn’t only revolutionary in itself, it provided over 100,000 workers with jobs necessary for the economic recovery efforts. It was a goal of the Nazi party to try and bring the country into a sense of unity through the roadway system, and for the most part it was successful. Aircraft was tested on the long, smooth, straight sections of road and Grand Prix racing teams are known to practice on them.

The man who invented rockets as we know them today, Wernher Von Braun, was a member of the Nazi party and commissioned Schutzstaffel Officer. He aided both Germany and the United States in the use of rockets during and after WW2, and eventually became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

Although he pioneered many areas, including the installation of liquid-fueled rockets in aircraft and orbit to ground missiles, he is best known for his achievements in NASA.

His best achievement there was undoubtedly the development of the Saturn V booster rocket, that helped man to finally touch the moon, in July 1969. Von Braun officially opened the gate to space travel through his innovative inventions…as well as creating one of the most destructive methods of war known to mankind.

The Nazis were very interested in both film and music as propaganda techniques and essential cultural pillars. The first known magnetic tape recording was of a speech made by Hitler, and Joseph Goebbels pushed for more complicated methods of filming.

For example, the propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Will’, the sequel to the former propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Faith’, is regarded as one of the most important pieces of cinematographic history. The director, Leini Riefenstahl (pictured above) used an astounding thirty film cameras and over one hundred technicians to produce the two hour film. Since Triumph of the Will had an unlimited budget, the latest technologies were used. Cranes and track-rail filming were used, techniques still used today to make a smooth ‘traveling’ effect.

Ultimately, the propaganda films are dead, but the techniques developed at the time are seen regularly in the latest great Hollywood blockbusters.

The Nazi style of uniform was as bold as their style of government. Thick-soled leather boots, slouch hats, cowhide coats, and peak hats were some of the staples in Nazi fashion, as well as muted color tones often in gray, tan and black. The SS Panzer military organization struck fear into the hearts of their adversaries, with black forage caps and leather coats which were later adopted by American rockers. Doc Martens closely resemble the jump boots that many Schutzstaffel officers wore. Look around at any rock, industrial or otherwise ‘edgy’ group and you see small traces of Nazi fashion sense. The American novelist Kurt Vonnegut once described the style as ‘mildly theatrical’.

Additionally, the founder of Adidas, Adolf Dassler (whose nickname was Adi), was a Nazi. He produced shoes for the Wehrmacht during the war, as well was providing American and Nazi athletes with his footwear during the Berlin Olympics. This created national acclaim when Jesse Owens won the sprinting event at the Berlin Olympics wearing Adolf Dassler’s shoes. Adidas is now a multinational company, supplying athletes all over the world with a supply of footwear and sports accessories.

His brother, Rudolf Dassler, was the more ardent Nazi of the two brothers and went on to found another proficient sports company…Puma. Oh – and Hugo Boss was a Nazi who, from 1934, was an official supplier of uniforms to the SA, SS, Hitler Youth, NSKK and other Party organizations (as evidenced in the advertisement above).

The death of ethics from medicine in Nazi Germany was a sinful, reckless, and dangerous decision, leading to untold atrocities; it has created one of the most extensive ethical controversies in history. Through the Nazi use of torture they discovered information that is discretely used by doctors and medical scientists today. For example, the Nazis extensively studied and monitored hypothermia, at Dachau concentration camp, by subjecting victims to severe torture. The Nazis immersed victims in vats of freezing water or left them out in the winter cold, all the while monitoring changes in body temperature, heart rate, muscle responses and urine. These tests were initially performed on volunteer soldiers, but the Nazis were not satisfied that they had all the information they could get and began to test on concentration camp victims. They attempted to formulate methods to bring the bodies back to a safe temperature, including the “Rapid Active Rewarming” technique that seemed to be the most effective method of revival – and is used today in the west. This research could potentially fill a gap in other researchers studying hypothermia.

A fascinating and extensive article on the ethics involved can be found here.

Fortunately, the country in which you are living today is almost certainly capitalist, and in this article we will investigate the numerous benefits that democratic capitalism provides: an equal, happy, healthy society where you can have almost anything you want, for a price.

With capitalism, more choice is provided than ever before. You can eat low fat food, organic food, free-range food… and you know exactly what you’re getting due to the statistics on the packet. There are plenty of diets easily accessible and gyms with top of the range equipment, unparalleled in other countries. There is greater awareness than ever of the importance of fitness due to government campaigns. All of these contribute to an extremely fit society, and, in desperation, one can always resort to liposuction or some other sort of surgery. Which is why everyone is thin and healthy – on the front of magazines, at least.

It might seem at first glance that everyone is selfishly working for their own money, but dig a little deeper and it becomes apparent that every job has a benefit for someone else. Factory workers produce the products that we can’t live without; hairdressers perform a service that benefits us body and sould; and the police work to protect us and make sure we live in a lawful society. Even unpopular and ‘overpaid’ professions such as city bankers and sportsmen have a positive effect on society, whether it be helping us manage our money, entertainment or something else. The bottom line is that no matter the job; highly or poorly paid, glamorous or dirty, competitive or ‘easy’; everyone can have the satisfaction that they, as much as the well-known public figures, are doing their bit for society.

No matter where you start in life, everyone has an opportunity to make it big. The basic principle is that the harder you work, the greater your reward. Arguably no-one epitomizes this better than Li Ka-shing, who fled China in 1940 and entered Hong Kong with next to nothing. His father having died, Li left school at the age of 14 and labored 16 hours every day in a plastics trading company, where his sheer hard work and attention to detail allowed him to found Cheung Kong Industries in the 1950s, after which he never looked back. Li’s net worth today is $26.5 billion.

One of the most common arguments that capitalists use is that capitalism works perfectly with human nature or, more specifically, greed. And it does. Greed is rewarded duly with large amounts of money and the entire economy is fuelled by people working hard to furnish their own needs. In addition, greed causes competition, which is an essential part of advancing the human race. The power of competition is shown during wars, where huge technological achievements are made. For example, the Jeep was invented by the Allies during WWII. Though greed and competition often damage society, one cannot deny that these traits have moved forwards mankind at a rapid pace.

But what about the other aspects of human nature: altruism, patience and kindness? These have their place, too, in the capitalist world. Left-wing politicians like to claim that an extensive, expensive welfare system is the only way to provide a safety net for the poor, but in actual fact there are tens of thousands of registered charities providing not-for-profit activities, from The National Alliance to End Homelessness to Save the Rainforest. Centrally planned altruism is completely unnecessary and, in fact, limits what people would otherwise give on their own initiative.

Most of you reading this list will have grown up in a world-class education system and taken it for granted that you can choose whatever career you want. At school you selected your favorite subjects and could study them as far as you wanted, followed by applying to a job you chose from the widest variety ever seen in history. This is capitalism at its finest: freedom to live your life the way you want.

However, some argue that advertising infringes on one’s freedom. Don’t like advertising? Don’t switch on the TV or the radio and don’t walk around large towns or cities and you will never meet any. That is the beauty of freedom.

One of the greatest things about capitalism is that it works perfectly with democracy: everyone gets 1 vote, and thus equal power politically, whatever their race, political views or gender. In Britain, recent legislation has even allowed some prisoners to vote. Once you reach a certain age, you have as much power to choose the new government as everybody else above that age – whether that be your father, your boss or Bill Gates. Right?

Capitalism allows the economy to grow exponentially. It is a basic fact of economics that the more money a firm makes, the more it can invest in production, and the more it invests in production, the more money it makes. So long as no unfortunate events befall the firm, this growth can, obviously, continue indefinitely. Many see a problem arising with this: there are only a finite, or ‘scarce’ amount of resources on Earth, so this huge growth of production will one day run to a halt.

However, as argued by Julian Simon, the rarer a resource, the greater its monetary value, which leads to innovation. For example as oil begins to run out we are seeing significant increase in prices, which has increased the reward and made it economically viable to search for new oil fields. Sites which were previously too expensive to profitably drill have now become available; and we are also developing new methods of harnessing alternative energy such as wind, solar and nuclear power. The oil scarcity isn’t particularly our problem, anyway, since by the time it is depleted, our generation will be long gone.

Perhaps the strongest argument working in favor of democratic capitalism is that there is no alternative politico-economic system which has proved itself to work in our modern age. Almost every attempted implementation of communism has failed (for example, look at China – they abandoned total communism long ago and are slowly creeping towards capitalism) and any central government risks large amounts of corruption. What’s more is that if, for example, America became socialist and imposed many strong measures on corporations to regulate their behavior, the largest companies (Trans-National Corporations) would most likely move their industry elsewhere, and potential entrepreneurs would be scared to invest in capital, irreparably damaging America’s economy. So as you can see, changing the economic system isn’t even an option.

If you look at this happiness map published by scholars from the University of Leicester, you can clearly see that the foremost democratic, capitalist countries like the USA, Canada, New Zealand and the whole of Europe are the happiest in the world. This is because in these countries, thanks to the free-market, whatever products people want, they can get. Where do all these thousands of products come from? Well, the less happy countries like the Asian Tiger economies tend to be the main exporters of consumer goods. In conclusion, all these unhappy countries need to do is start consuming more than they produce, like Europe, and the wealth and happiness will start flowing in.

What is it? Sailor tattoos call to mind a number of stereotypical images, but the bluebird isn’t usually among them. Yet, when a sailor had traveled 5,000 miles at sea, he got a bluebird on his chest. When he had gone 10,000 miles, he got a second on the other side. Done typically in blue and facing one another, variations on the theme include one blue and one red, or the two birds holding a scrolling banner between them.

Who gets it? Helped along by the popularity of the Nautical Star, this is a tattoo design that is increasingly popular among young and trendy body art enthusiasts who enjoy harkening back to the roots of tattooing.

Who has it? A. Jay Popoff (frontman for Lit); Shifty Shellshock (of Crazytown) on the left and right hip.

Where should you get it? The left and right chest placement is classic, with chest defined loosely and extending up to collar bone area near the shoulder. Even left and right forearm or left and right lower leg have carried out this twin design.

Why should you get it? You’ll be able to sing those seaboard shanties with authenticity.

What is it? Of all the skeletal parts, the skull is uniquely and immediately identifiable as human, and it is specifically representative of human death. Despite the grim grin, however, these tattoos are not always about death and destruction. They are also part of a suite of tattoo images that capitalize on the spirit of memento mori (Latin for “remember you must die”), and serve to remind us that life is to be cherished precisely because it is so fleeting.

Who gets it? Fans of the macabre gravitate to skull imagery, as well as people who have suffered loss, but also those who simply understand the message that life is short.

Who has it? Eminem has the face of skull on a mushroom on his left shoulder; Brian Setzer has the venerable skull with crossbones on his forearm.

Where should you get it? If this tattoo symbol is your reminder that all things must end, then put it somewhere that you can see it (forearm, lower leg, even upper arm or chest). Really, people get this tattoo almost anywhere–anywhere except the head though. That might seem a little eerie.

Why should you get it? You’ll be perfectly dressed for Halloween, Goth parties and wakes.

What is it? The Oriental dragon, unlike it’s counterpart in the west, is a mythical creature of great good will, power and wisdom. Equally at home in the sky or the ocean, it has come to symbolize a union of opposites. This tattoo symbol can be one of the ultimate tattoo statements, especially when done on a grand scale.

Who gets it? Guys who get this tattoo symbol, particularly when it’s more than a small icon, are projecting some of the power and fierceness of the dragon. It is definitely a more “walk-on-the-wild-side” type of image. Plus, when people ask what tattoo symbol you’ve got and you say “a dragon”, there’s nothing more satisfying than to hear them say “wow!”

Who has it? Rocker Lenny Kravitz has one that begins with the head of the dragon on the upper left chest, the body continuing over to the shoulder, and the rest finishing down the arm.

Where should you get it? This a serious tattoo that needs a goodly amount of real estate to realize the intricacies of the design–an entire arm, leg, or even a back would be best.

Why should you get it? You’ll be able to tell people that if they rub it, it’ll bring good luck.

What is it? Oh, the name game! Tattoo artists will tell you that this tattoo, while very popular on Valentine’s Day, also tends to come at the beginning or end of a relationship. Nothing says more about permanence and commitment than a guy getting the name of his significant other tattooed on his body. However, while permanence in relationships might be relative, permanence in tattoos is not.

Who gets it? The name of your girlfriend or wife is one of the most popular tattoo choices for guys who have unabashedly shown the world that they are, in fact, and, more importantly, in deed, hopeless romantics.

Who has it? Johnny Depp had “Winona Forever” on his right arm, and had it changed to “Wino Forever”; Billy Bob Thornton recently had “Angelina” on his left forearm covered by an angel and the word “peace”; actor Jude Law is scheduled to have “Sadie” removed from his arm.

Where should you get it? The name game is almost always played somewhere on the arm, so that it can be seen.

Why should you get it? Once you’ve separated, you’ll have a great excuse for an even bigger and more elaborate tattoo to cover it up, the proverbial win-win.

What is it? The heart, from ancient Egyptian tomb paintings to the cards at the Hallmark store, is traditionally the seat of emotions, the very core of our being. It has become the preeminent symbol, in the west, of one emotion over all others–love–to the extent that a simple red heart is actually read for the word “love.” The heart combined with a flowing scroll in the foreground and “mom” in a graceful font expresses a timeless and gentle sentiment.

Who gets it? It’s a sweet tattoo for a sensitive guy but is it stereotypical and overdone? Maybe. Then again, who doesn’t like a guy who likes his mom. It’s not a a classic tattoo symbol for nothing.

Who has it? Johnny Depp has Betty Sue (his mom’s name) in a heart on his left arm.

Where should you get it? A sentimental tattoo is sometimes placed over the heart, especially a memorial tattoo.

Why should you get it? This is the one tattoo design that stands a chance of getting mom’s approval.

What is it? She is the woman who needs no introduction and only a little explanation. The hallmark of the pinup girl, who truly came into her own in World War II when GIs “pinned up” pictures in their lockers to remind them of home, is sex appeal. But it is a sex appeal that completely skips the tease or any sense of pretense, going instead for the kind of obvious and guiltless flirtation that makes her so attractive.

Who gets it? Today this tattoo symbol is having a renaissance, infused with an “Old School” and “Rockabilly” look that perhaps reminds us of dad (or especially granddad).

Who has it? Travis Barker (of Blink-182) has the trucker girls (from the mud flaps) on each side of his chest.

Where should you get it? If you’ve got the muscle flexing that can make Betty Boop, Betty Grable or Bettie Page dance, then place it on the upper arm, the forearm or chest.

Why should you get it? For a tattoo the other guys are going to like, the pinup girl can’t be beat; and if it turns off the girls, then you won’t waste your time with them, since girls who like it are the ones you want anyway.

What is it? The ultimate symbol of Christianity is also one of the most prevalent symbols in tattooing. They come in all shapes and sizes, from simple crossed lines to intricate Celtic knotwork versions, but they all refer to the wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified by the Romans.

Who gets it? The cross is a tattoo symbol that is, obviously, for the Christian guy but equally obviously not for the typical one. Instead, men with cross tattoos are putting one foot in the rebellious world of tattooing and keeping the other in the religious world of spirituality. It’s also the type of tattoo symbol that stands a good chance of being relevant for the wearer’s lifetime.

Who has it? Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake (on the shoulder), Moby (on the back of the neck).

Where should you get it? The more straight lines there are in a tattoo, the better off you are on a relatively flat place on the body so that the lines have some chance of being straight–back of the shoulder and lower back are nice areas for this, although the upper arm is probably the most popular of placement for the cross.

Why should you get it? It simultaneously works to repel vampires and evangelize unbelievers (who may or may not be vampires).

What is it? Because the Japanese and Chinese writing systems are based on ideograms (small pictures that actually represent things), the modern characters still retain visual interest and the ability sometimes to express complex thoughts in a just a few symbols. Generally, people pick kanji characters (Japanese) that spell something desired, such as “strength”, “love”, or “luck.”

Who gets it? Men who are getting this tattoo are capturing something of the exotic in their skin and also something with hidden meaning and a bit of mystery. They’re also conversationalists since they are inevitably asked what their tattoos mean.

Who has it? David Boreanaz (star of Angel) has some on the inside of both wrists; Johnny Rzeznik (of the Goo Goo Dolls) has kanji for love, dreams, discipline, faith, truth, and greatness!

Where should you get it? These symbols are typically done on a smaller scale and can fit as easily on the back of the neck as they do on the lower back.

Why should you get it? You can change what your tattoo means from time to time since most people won’t be able to read it.

What is it? Everyone has seen the tribal style of tattooing, where they know it or not. Done in solid black with curves that end in points and sometimes interlock in complex patterns, the favorite placement is an armband. These tattoos are founded in Polynesian tattooing traditions where the different peoples of the region all ascribed various meanings to them (rank, achievement, high status, as a few examples).

Who gets it? Men today who are getting this style of tattooing are projecting not just cool, but also tough and a even a bit of intimidation, with their wickedly curving and boldly black abstract designs.

Who has it? WWF Wrestler, The Rock, has tribal tattoo work on his shoulder and arm; Rapper Eminem has a small wrist band design.

Where should you get it? The armband placement, while not traditional in Polynesia, looks particularly nice around a well-muscled arm.

Why should you get it? It keeps other guys from messing with you.

What is it? The five-pointed Nautical Star of mariner’s charts is found on the compass rose, straight up, at the North position. Somewhere back in the salty mists of time it represented the North Star, also known as Polaris, which was so crucial to navigation. Today it is a tattoo symbol that harkens back to finding one’s way home and the luck that it sometimes takes to get there. The Nautical Star tattoo can be big, small, two colors, one color–pretty versatile really.

Who gets it? This is a tattoo symbol that is absolutely raging in popularity right now, especially among young hipsters who dig the nautical/retro feel.

Who has it? Mark McGrath (lead singer of Sugar Ray) has a blue one on his left elbow.

Where should you get it? The elbow is a classic placement of the Nautical Star, like Mark McGrath, but they also tend to occur in pairs, on either side of the chest or the insides of the forearms. Because it’s a essentially a bunch of straight lines though, it lies and looks best on relatively flat areas.

Why should you get it? You’ll never have to pull over and ask for directions again.

Although you might not have found your perfect tattoo in the list above, you are no doubt starting to visualize one. As you continue on your journey to that final result, make your own top ten list of the greatest tattoos and keep revising it. In time, you may find that you’ll have a tattoo, one that’s just right for you, instead of just thinking about it for another decade.

Xbox Live recently banned Josh Moore for violating its gamers’ code of conduct.  His offense?  Filling out his Xbox Live profile.  You see, Mr. Moore lives in West Virginia. More specifically, in FORT GAY, West Virginia. As Microsoft says, the word “gay” is always offensive. Never mind that several US townships incorporate the word into their name, many people have “Gay” as a first or last name, and some homosexuals do identify themselves as “gay.”  No, Microsoft obviously had a wise guy in their midst, and he had to go. So, despite a total lack of customer complaints, Microsoft froze Moore’s account and warned him that he could lose his prepaid subscription if he badgered Customer Service further. Fort Gay Mayor, David Thompson, tried to intervene, but was told that the city’s name didn’t matter;  the word “gay” was inappropriate in any context. As a result, Moore missed a Search and Destroy competition and his team lost. Microsoft has since carefully reviewed the matter and reinstated Moore with full Xbox Live privileges (translation: the story hit the web).

In 2007, Santa Clauses in Sydney, Australia, were forced to revolt for the right to say “Ho Ho Ho”, the traditional laugh of jolly old St. Nick. It turns out that their employer, the recruitment firm Westaff (that supplies hundreds of Santas across Australia), told all trainees that “ho ho ho” could frighten children and be derogatory to women. Why?  Because it was too close to the American (not Australian, mind you) slang for prostitute. Instead, the Santas were instructed to lower their voices and say “Ha ha ha”. Westaff relented only after the story broke nationally, deciding to leave the belly laughs “up to the discretion of Santa himself “.

In 2003, Dennis Tafoya, director of the LA County affirmative action office, issued a memo describing an “exhaustive search” for any computer equipment labeled “master” and “slave”.  He also stated that all offending labels should be replaced with more appropriate terminology. Purchasing officials subsequently requested that all suppliers cease using labels deemed “unacceptable and offensive”—the first step of a creeping labeling ban.  The county began their investigation after ONE worker saw a videotape machine bearing the labels and filed a discrimination complaint with the Office of Affirmative Action Compliance.  However, “master” and “slave” are common terms for primary and secondary hard drives in the computer industry, and have been used without complaint for decades.  Due to overwhelming negative publicity and a near revolt from suppliers, LA County’s Division Manager of Purchasing and Contract Services promised there would be no ban on computer equipment based on current labeling practices.

Uncle Remus is the American Aesop, and we’re losing this literary treasure in our libraries and cinemas. For example, Disney’s delightful “Song of the South” hasn’t been in official circulation since 2001, and likely won’t be anytime soon. The general objection to the film (which features the Uncle Remus stories) lies in the portrayal of African-Americans in the live action sequences. Many mistakenly believe that the movie sugarcoats slavery, but, if any of the self-appointed PC censors had actually READ the book, they’d know that the Uncle Remus stories are set AFTER the Civil War and AFTER the abolition of slavery. This is evident in the film, when Uncle Remus freely leaves the plantation with no fear of reprisal at all.  Walt Disney assumed people already knew this, and thought explaining it would be over the heads of most children (it is a kid’s movie, after all). But, depending on the PC crowd to read is a losing bet, and “Song of the South” remains locked in a vault.

Administrators at a California high school sent five students home after they refused to remove their American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican Day of Independence. That’s right, kids, you can’t wear your country’s flag in your country, lest it offend someone celebrating the holiday of a different country.  The story began when Assistant Principal, Miguel Rodriguez, asked two of the five teens to remove their American flag bandanas. The boys complied, but were still taken to the principal’s office for a chat. One of the boys told NBC “They said we could wear it on any other day, but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday, so we were not allowed to wear it.” They are right. It might be a little insensitive to wear an American flag shirt on Cinco De Mayo– if we were in MEXICO.
And it is an important holiday—IN MEXICO.  School District Superintendent Wesley Smith later described the incident as “extremely unfortunate” and said the matter is still under investigation.

The Maine Human Rights Commission has proposed banning ANY gender divisions in public schools after ruling that, under the Maine Human Rights Act, a school discriminated against a 12-year-old transgender boy by denying him access to the girls’ bathroom. Think about that last part: after denying HIM access to the GIRL’S bathroom. As a result, in the near future, Maine schools may have no gender differences in sports teams, school clubs, bathrooms, or locker rooms. So, how many horny Maine boys do you think are working on a “transgender” scam to get into the girl’s locker room? Hint: it rhymes with “all”, because it is “all”.  The commission promises to issue guidelines on how to deal with the thorny particulars. I’m sure it will make fascinating reading.

In 2008, a Carmel, Indiana, school bus driver, Betty Campbell, overheard little Rachel Zimmer saying that she couldn’t vote for presidential candidate Barak Obama because of his positions on abortion and gay marriage. That led to unsubstantiated allegations that she said that other students would go to Hell, which Zimmer strongly denies. When Campbell heard the allegations (again, unsubstantiated) she stopped the bus and delivered a politically correct sermon on tolerance to her captive audience, who probably just wanted to go home and play Xbox before their moms and dads came home.  The security camera caught it all on tape, including Campbell’s conversations with another student. She probed this student for racist allegations, threatening to “eat Zimmer alive” and calling her “a stupid little bigot”. It gets worse. After dropping Zimmer at home, Campbell completed her route and then RETURNED to the Zimmer home, ordering Zimmer and her sister back into the EMPTY school bus (without parental knowledge or consent) for more browbeating. She again lectured Zimmer about her opinions on gay marriage and reduced the girl to tears. After seeing the tape, Zimmer’s parents went ballistic, saying: “That’s not someone looking out for someone. That’s someone out to get somebody.” Carmel Clay Schools refused to fire or even discipline Campbell, stating that she was working within “the scope of her employment.” The family has since filed a civil lawsuit.

In 2006, the Duke Lacrosse team held a party and hired two strippers for the event. Not impressed with the talent on display, they rudely sent dancer Crystal Gail Mangum and her friend packing after a few songs. Payment was an issue, but witnesses say they departed safely. However, Mangum later accused three players of raping her at the party. What followed was a PC free-for-all involving the university, the press, and the district attorney’s office. Presumption of guilt was total. The university cancelled the remaining lacrosse season. 88 faculty members published a rushed full-page ad in the newspaper siding with the alleged ‘victim,’ and decrying institutional racism at Duke. Three players were indicted for first degree forcible rape and kidnapping, while several others were pilloried in the school newspapers and complained that professors were unfairly failing them. Other players transferred to lesser schools, glad to get a degree at all. District attorney Mike Nifong wanted in on the rich college boy takedown, so he ignored the DNA tests that failed to connect anyone on the team with Mangum, and used a ‘suspects only’ photo list for her to ID her assailants. Eventually, scores of inconsistencies in Magnum’s testimony came flooding through, including prior false accusations of rape, no corroboration from her friend at the party, and an ever-changing events timeline. One newspaper determined Mangum was telling at least five different stories at any given time. Worst of all, one player was videotaped by an ATM camera miles away at the exact time he was supposed to be raping Mangum. The tide had turned– North Carolina law and Duke were looking decidedly foolish. So on April 11, 2007, the Attorney General dropped all charges and declared the three players innocent–victims of a “tragic rush to accuse.”

District Attorney Mike Nifong was later disbarred.  The ex-players are seeking unspecified damages from the City of Durham, and Duke has already completed several legal settlements. The NCAA even reinstated the players’ athletic eligibility, although most had already graduated. The group of 88 professors has yet to publish an apology or retraction of their original ad. Miss Mangum was later arrested in 2010, in a separate case, and has been indicted for attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, communicating threats, three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property, identity theft and resisting a public officer.

Political Correctness can have deadly consequences, even for an army at war. In November 2009, US Army Psychologist Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people (one pregnant) by opening fire on a US Army base, all while shouting “God is Great” in Arabic (a misappropriation of Muslim prayers, but used in the 9/11 attacks).  How could anything like this happen on a military base?  Unbelievably, the Pentagon knew of Hasan’s emails to radical imams, and his increasingly bizarre policy recommendations for Muslims serving in the US armed forces.  Many coworkers and colleagues referred to him as a “ticking time bomb.” Red flags appeared everywhere showing that Hasan was seriously conflicted about being a Muslim in the US military, but the Army’s middle management ignored these signals because they were “afraid to be accused of profiling somebody.”  That PC fear may have cost 13 people their lives.

The fear of genetically modified (GM) crops, whipped up by environmentalist hysteria in Europe and America, has prompted many African countries to ban ALL U.S. food aid because it may contain GM corn. This occurs even as desperate Zambians and Angolans break into government silos to “steal” donated GM food that is being denied them. There are no restrictions on these foods in industrialized nations, yet people too poor to buy their next meal are denied the same foods even when it’s free. They could realistically starve without it, yet Greenpeace prides itself on stopping shipments of GM food to starving people.  The policy borders on genocide. Penn Jillette (always good for a quote) sums it up nicely: “Unless you and yours are starving, you need to SHUT THE $#@! UP.”