Colossus of Roads

HOLY SMOKES. Italian physicist Paolo Di Lazzaro spent five years trying to reproduce the body image seen on the Shroud of Turin—and couldn’t. Using intense UV light, his team was able to create small areas of discoloration on linen, but recreating the full image proved impossible with modern technology. According to biblical scholar Jeremiah Johnston, Di Lazzaro estimated the process would require an extraordinary burst of energy: "Paolo told me it would take 34,000 billion watts of energy traveling in one 40th of a billionth of a second to change the chemical makeup of a fine linen shroud to leave that image... 'We don't have that power on Earth.'" "There was a chemical change to the shroud that if it had lasted longer than one 40th of a billionth of a second, it would've scorched." This is incredible.

Support for Israel among U.S. Catholics has dropped to an all time low of 35%. That’s a twenty percent drop since 2024.

States with the smallest gap between population growth and spending in the last decade? Texas. Population grew by 15%. State spending shrunk by 4%, inflation adjusted. What can other states learn from this?

Too many young people are resenting Boomers, claiming that Boomers had it " easy " financially in their youth. Here are a few fun facts about growing up Boomer. 1. Almost everyone grew up with one bathroom. Mom, Dad and all 3-6 siblings. 2. If you did get to take a vacation, you drove. With no air conditioning. No cup holders. No iPads. Just black vinyl seats and bologna sandwiches. 3. There were no club sports. No Parks and Rec activities. Summer camp was for rich kids. Get yourself a bike, a stick and a few friends. If you were bored, you laid in the grass and looked at clouds. 4. You ate what was served. Even if it was chicken livers. No DoorDash, no backup Totino's rolls. 5. No AP classes, no PSEO, no "fun" elective. They assigned you to a class. You went. You did what they asked. Or else. 6. Unless you had rich parents, you had a nice VFW wedding. Maybe rent a room at a modest hotel. 7. Most Boomers got their first pedi and mani in their 50s (when their feet got farther away). We didn't even know people got massages in real life, only in Hollywood. 8. You packed your own lunch for decades. 9. No one knew what red light therapy was, a facial, a spa day, or a cold plunge. Your gym was the YMCA. Usually in a rather old building. 10. We grew up with 18 percent inflation, 14 percent mortgage rates, 3 million continuing unemployment claims, and 200 other applicants competing for the same job. Now, this is not to say Millenials and Gen Z have it easy or don't face problems. It's just to say, nobody has it easy or doesn't face problems. My only hope, as my mom would say, is I live long enough to see my kids' kids complain about how easy they had it!