In the 50's, the CIA tried to assassinate Fidel Castro by slipping an exploding cigar into his private supply
In the late 1950s under Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential administration and in the early 1960s under John F. Kennedy’s, the CIA had been brainstorming and implementing plots to assassinate Fidel Castro, going as far as enlisting the help of mafia leaders such as Johnny Roselliand Santo Trafficante, Jr. to assist in carrying out their plans. Many assassination ideas were floated by the CIA in the covert operation which was dubbed “Operation Mongoose.” The most infamous was the CIA’s alleged plot to capitalize on Castro’s well known love of cigars by slipping into his supply a very real and lethal “exploding cigar.” A November 4, 1967 Saturday Evening Postarticle reported that during Castro’s visit to the United Nations in 1966 a CIA agent approached New York City police chief inspector Michael J. Murphy with a plan to get Castro to smoke an exploding cigar.
While numerous sources state the exploding cigar plot as fact, at least one source asserts it to be simply a myth, and another, mere supermarket tabloid fodder. Another suggests that the story does have its origins in the CIA, but that it was never seriously proposed by them as a plot. Rather, the plot was made up by the CIA as an intentionally “silly” idea to feed to those questioning them about their plans for Castro, in order to deflect scrutiny from more serious areas of inquiry.
Whether true or not, the CIA’s exploding cigar assassination plot inspired the cover of the October, 1963 issue (#82) of Mad Magazine. The cover bears the headline, “You’ll Get a BANG out of this issue of Mad Magazine”, and features a painting by Norman Mingo depicting Castro in the act of lighting a cigar wrapped with a cigar band on which is drawn Alfred E. Neuman with his fingers plugging his ears, awaiting the explosion. An exploding cigar is also featured on the poster for the Channel 4 British Documentary, 638 Ways to Kill Castro, which shows Castro with a cigar in his mouth that has a fuse projecting from the end and a lit match approaching. An exploding cigar was tested on a season 2 episode of Deadliest Warrior, KGB vs. CIA. The cigar completely destroyed the upper and lower jaw of a gel head but was determined to be very unreliable due to its timed fuse and small explosive payload.
70% of adult raccoons carry a parasite that could eat your brain. It needs only three days to reach your head.
Baylisascariasis infection in humans is rare, though extremely dangerous due to the ability of the parasite’s larvae to migrate into brain tissue and cause damage. Concern for human infection has been increasing over the years due to urbanization of rural areas resulting in the increase in proximity and potential human interaction with raccoons.
In North America, B. procyonis infection rates in raccoons are very high, being found in around 70% of adult raccoons and 90% of juvenile raccoons. Transmission occurs similarly to other roundworm species, through the fecal-oral route. Eggs are produced by the worm while in the intestine, and the released eggs will mature to an infective state externally in the soil. When an infected egg is ingested, the larvae will hatch and enter the intestine. Transmission of B. procyonis may also occur through the ingestion of larvae found in infected tissue.
The potential for human infection was noted by Paul C. Beaver in 1969 who studied infected mice, and the first case was reported 15 years later. Human infection with B. procyonis has been relatively rare, with about 13 cases reported since 1980. However, disease caused by this parasite can be extremely dangerous, causing death or severe symptoms. Reported disease has primarily afflicted children and almost all cases were a result of the ingestion of contaminated soil or feces. Out of the 13 cases, 5 were fatal and the remaining victims were left with severe neurological damage. Even with treatment, prognosis is poor. The common antihelmintic medicines are able to treat adult worms living in the intestines, but are less potent against migrating larvae. Animal studies have shown that treatment is more effective before the larvae have reached the brain; however, migration to the brain was shown to occur only 3 days after ingestion, leaving a very small window of opportunity.
It is possible that human infection is more common than diagnosed and most cases do not reach a clinical stage.
A monolith has been discovered on Mars
A perfectly rectangular structure was discovered on Mars after amateur space enthusiasts investigated NASA pictures of the Red Planet.
The Mars monolith is a rectangular boulder discovered on the surface of Mars. It is located near the bottom of a cliff, which it likely fell from in the past. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took pictures of it from orbit, roughly 180 miles (300 km) away.
The object was first discovered several years after it was photographed using a HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, reported Live Science. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA space probe that is used to photograph Earth's friendly red neighbor.
However, most researchers conclude, while it looks astounding, the Mars monolith is not anything out of the ordinary. It simply appears to be nothing more than a rectangular boulder on the surface of the fourth planet from the sun.
Source
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)