24 5 / 2012
Obit of the Day: Norway’s Greatest War Hero
After the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, Gunnar Sønsteby decided to take part in the fight against the Third Reich - by joining them. Sønsteby signed up as a member of the Nazi-controlled Norwegian State Police. His role allowd him to travel freely around the country, cross the border into neutral Sweden (where he joined Britain’s Special Operations Executive, aka “SOE”), and surveil German operations including the building of U-boats in Trondheim.
For two years Sønsteby managed to escape notice of the Germans through a combination of security clearances, handmade forged documents, and disguise. (The above image is one of Sonsteby’s fake passports. His identity is given as “Tor Hansen.” He is listed as a “politibetjent,” a police officer.) His last mission before needin to go into hiding was the theft of engraved bank note plates the SOE could use to create authentic-looking counterfeit bills to fund the Norwegian underground movement. During his escape into Sweden with the plates, a colleague was captured forcing Sønsteby to stay out of Norway for over a year.
He returned by parachute in November 1943 and began leading a group of Norwegian resistance fighters who went about the country sabotaging German records, arms plants, planes and ships. When the Allies invaded in 1944, Sønsteby and his men destroyed vital rail links, preventing Nazi reinforcements from reaching the front lines.
For his service in World War II, Sønsteby was awarded Norway’s War Cross with three swords the highest honor ever presented in the country’s history. He also earned the Distinguished Service Order from the United Kingdom and the Medal of Freedom from the United States.
In 2007, a statue of Sønsteby and his bicycle was unveiled on Solli Plass in Oslo. Gunnar Sønsteby died at the age of 94.
(Image of Sonsteby’s false passport is courtesy of www.sbsf.no - which is apparently a Norwegian veterans’ group.)
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04 5 / 2012
Democratic Dreams: The Fate of My Peers
“This doesn’t make sense; I don’t understand.” “Just write it down. It doesn’t matter anyway.”
“I only Sparknoted The Great Gatsby. Do you think that’s enough for this quiz?”
“When will we ever use this in real life??”
Arbitrary, disconnected facts.
Crammed in, and spit up
for The Test
A 92,
Then forgotten.
Regurgitation. Academic bulimia.
Everything is backwards everything is wrong, bullet points, too fast, nothing makes sense.
But it makes perfect sense!
Nothing makes sense.
Everything is arbitrary.
We’re descendents of a Lost Generation
Stopped searching.
Life doesn’t make sense,
So why should school?
There’s no meaning anywhere,
It’s all just prep to sit in a cube all day
then a tv at night.
day in and day out.
Cube, tv, cube, tv.
92s, successful student.
I am successful, I am smart, I am good.
92, 92, 92.
I am successful, I am free,
Cube, tv, cube, tv.
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25 4 / 2012
Lunch of the week: @sushirrito
via berkeleyfood
Sushirrito is an SFMOMA staff favorite. How can you beat sushi as big as a burrito?
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24 4 / 2012
Scientists by Tomas Muller
With the intention of depicting science as the true adventure and worthy pursuit it is, Tomas created this series as a promotion for the Charles University’s Faculty of Science in Prague. These Titans of ginormous stature are each a visual representation of an area of science: biology, geography, chemistry, and geology. I’ll let you figure out which Titan is which, after all, you should already know this stuff. But before you ask: the Titan representing the science of pizzamaking was, sadly, omitted.
(via monsieur-toupoutou)
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