The Church of Scientology's exalted membership, and more

The Church of Scientology's exalted membership

Despite its claims of having 8 million members, only about 25,000 Americans say they belong to the Church of Scientology. The FBI is now investigating claims that some members of the church’s elite Sea Org group are held against their will and forced to work for little or no pay.

The New Yorker

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Number of escapees from Egyptian jails: 17,000

More than 17,000 prisoners escaped from Egyptian jails during the revolution, as police simply abandoned their posts. Among the escapees, say Egyptian officials, are several “senior jihadists” and dozens of members of al Qaida and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

The Washington Times

Let's hope NASA's right about Apophis

Russian scientists are warning that a 25-million-ton asteroid called Apophis might crash into the Earth on April 13, 2036, causing giant tsunamis, global chaos, and the death of tens of millions of people. Not to worry: NASA scientists say their calculations indicate that Apophis’s path will be a near miss, with its chances of hitting the Earth at 250,000 to 1.

Space.com

A partisan take on sex scandals

An analysis of 20 years of politicians’ sex scandals reveals that Republicans have slightly more of them—34 since 1990, compared with 27 for Democrats. Republicans have had more scandals that involved prostitutes, politicians claiming to stand for “family values,” and underage boys; Democrats’ scandals are more likely to involve female staffers, sexual harassment, and underage girls.

TheDailyBeast.com