last week would have been the 58th birthday of bernard baran, who was imprisoned in 1984 at the age of 19 after a pair of parents failed to get him expelled from his position as a teacher’s aide via a complaint about his uncloseted homosexuality and resorted to fabricating claims of pedophilia and sexual abuse. refusing a plea bargain for 5 years that demanded admission of guilt by maintaining his innocence, he received multiple life sentences and ultimately spent 21 years in prison. a scrawny boy of less than 100 pounds whose photo was published in the newspapers, he was beaten and sexually tormented, received threatening letters and a bounty was placed on his head. his conviction came in record time despite a total lack of evidence, countless contradictory and objectively impossible stories, and preschooler child witnesses outright asking for the “prize” they were “promised” after giving their testimony. his immediate appeal was denied, and afterwards his family was too poor to continue paying a lawyer. not a single lgbt organisation chose the side of a gay teenager being subjected to a kangaroo court in the middle of the satanic panic. ultimately, his release took until 2006, a few days after his 41st birthday, when a local advocacy group successfully proved the absurdity of his trial and the deliberate manipulation of evidence. he only got to live another 8 years in freedom, bearing mental and physical damage from years of abuse and negligent medical care. he needed a full set of new teeth to replace the ones that were punched out or broken and extracted. nevertheless, he enjoyed gardening and found work as a landscaper. his record has not been cleared to this day.
When schools offer free meals for everyone, local families reduce grocery spending. Large chains respond by dropping prices, amplifying benefits to the broader community.
The best of The Mayhem Guy from the Allstate commercials
okay, but where is, “I’M THE SMARTEST RACCOON I KNOW”
better
Okay good i didn’t want to reblog this without the racoon one
the raccoon one tho
Favorite commercial thing.
These were what I lived to see as a kid. I loved these commercials
HES STILL AROUND, like two days ago I saw a new one where he was a glitch in a smart house’s system keeping the garage door from opening and he was LITERALLY GLITCHING, it was so clever XD
I no longer know how to make gifs so here’s the vid.
when people are like “the hunger games just stole the plot of battle royale” like listen everything steals from the plot of everything the lion king is just furry hamlet westworld is jurassic park but sexier lost is edgy gilligan’s island there are no original stories and the only good piece of media is jennifer’s body
Michael crichton wrote westworld and jurassic park tho so he just pirated himself
michael crichton keeps TRYING to tell y’all about the evils of capitalism impeding on the progress of science when will y’all LISTEN
Maybe he just doesn’t like theme parks
michael crichton in line for a roller coaster at six flags: fuck this
Jesus Christ, that’s the height at which every rollercoaster and dark ride is a decapitation threat
how am I ever supposed to leave tumblr when it takes me on journeys like this
