Coffee and Provocation

Doggerland Once Connected Britain and France
When and how did it disappear? What if it had survived? " Doggerland – named after Dogger Bank, the large sandbank which currently sits in a shallow area of the North Sea off the east coast of England (dogger being an old Dutch word for fishing boat). Doggerland had a rich landscape of hills, rivers and lakes and a coastline comprising lagoons, marshes and beaches. It had woodlands of oak, elm, birch, willow, alder, hazel and pine. It was home to horses, aurochs, deer, elks and wild pigs. Waterfowl, otters and beavers abounded in wetland areas and the seas, lakes and rivers teemed with fish. It was probably the richest hunting and fishing ground in Europe at the time..."

There Were Mammoths in Essex
A 6-foot mammoth tusk discovered during an unusually low tide off the coast of Mersea Island, Essex, could be up to 12,000 years old.

Americans Know Nothing
And that includes knowing nothing about the Constitution. More than one in three people could not name a single right protected by the First Amendment; only one in four could name all three branches of government; one in thee could not name any branch of government, and; a majority believe the Constitution affords illegal immigrants no rights.

Was 536 ‘the worst year to be alive’?
In 536 a mysterious fog plunged Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia into darkness, day and night, for 18 months. The cause: a volcanic eruption in Iceland. Crops failed and huge numbers of people starved, killing off all the horses and other livestock to survive. It began the coldest decade in the past 2,300 years, and in 541 bubonic plague struck what is now Egypt and the "Plague of Justinian" then wiped out one-third to one-half of the population of the eastern Roman Empire. Good times!

He's Out There Now
Pedro Alonso López is a Colombian serial killer jailed for killing 110 girls but who claims to have raped and killed more than 300 across Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. López was released in 1998 on a $50 bail, and he absconded and has not been seen since, though Interpol believes he is still out there committing murders.

Whale Earwax Tells History
The history of the oceans is locked in whale earwax; the massive plugs contain spikes and dips of stress hormones that perfectly match the history of modern whaling and indeed the state of the oceans.