Friday miscellaneous (12/21)

So today supposedly marks the end of the world. Although it might prove disappointing. But should we actually make it to Christmas, we can thank our puritan ancestors for starting the popularly called “War on Christmas.”

Art of Manliness this week profiled the history of hot cocoa.

This is an excellent story on Steve McQueen’s conversation to Christianity.

If you’ve ever seen a baseball game, you know things can sometimes get rather heated between the umpire and the manager. But things aren’t always what they appear.

As for different stories, here is one on exploring the sealed off postal railway under London. And the town in Argentina that spent 25 years underwater.

Commentator Glenn Beck has decided to support gay marriage. And speaking of marriage, did you know that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien had a marriage debate?

While on politics, the GOP is considering changing the way electoral votes are distributed in some bluish states.

Although for electoral strategy, not much beats being the coolest mayor in the world. Too bad he’s in Reykjavik, Iceland.

[I]n 2009, to poke fun at the establishment, Jon and a few of his industry buddies, with zero experience in politics, formed a party called “The Best Party”. 

Since all the other political parties were secretly corrupt, the Best Party declared they would be openly corrupt and admitted they would not keep any of their promises made pre-election which included, “free towels in all swimming pools, a new Disneyland, a drug-free Parliament by 2020 and a polar bear for the Reykjavík zoo”. 

Six months later, Jon and his party won the elections.

On a more somber note, poverty is still an issue in our country, especially for children and young adults. For some, intentional illiteracy is the only hope. And our economic troubles may be losing an entire generation. Here is one teen’s encouraging story on how she broke out of the cycle of poverty.

And finally, we bring you what appears to be insider footage of the debt negotiations going on in Washington DC.