BURSTING AT THE SEAMS WITH CAKE!

Happy National Dessert Day! Fittingly, we will be feasting on a LOT of cyber-cake today. However, today is also National Fossil Day, so don't forget to give a socially-distanced air-hug to your friendly neighborhood paleontologist for bringing us cool stuff like dinosaur skeletons and a keener understanding of our own place in Earth's history.

Alright, cake time!

• First up, alles gute zum geburtstag to political philosopher Johanna "Hannah" Arendt, born this day in 1906! Ms. Arendt's writings delved into a broad range of topics, but her most notable works dealt with the nature of power & evil, politics, direct democracy, authority, and totalitarianism.

• Next, happy birthday to 34th President of the United States Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, born this day in 1890! While his post-WWII foreign policy outside of the creation of NATO was at times "problematic" (Korean War, Bay of Pigs, various other proxy entanglements, etc.), domestically he was a more moderate conservative, continuing and expanding upon New Deal agencies, expanding Social Security, and covertly opposing McCarthyism during the "Red Scare" via use of executive privilege. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and authorized the use of federal troops to enforce the integration of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. He also promoted strong science education via the National Defense Education Act, authorized the creation of NASA following the USSR's successful launching of the Sputnik satellite, and created the Interstate Highway System. Despite his rep as a former general and commander of Allied forces, one of his parting addresses to the country before he left office was to warn against the proliferation of excessive military spending and the nascent "military-industrial complex", a term he coined.

• Finally, happy birthday to eternally baby-faced R&B icon Usher Raymond, born this day in 1978! Besides selling over 80 million copies of his albums worldwide, he's also very active with humanitarian causes and started his own nonprofit foundation, Usher's New Look, which works to improve the lives of disadvantaged kids & adolescents.

OK, link time!

1. South African artist Jaco Haasbroek has been spreading good news with flyers featuring fictional headlines.

They're pun-tastic!

2. Nashville graphic designer Justin Bryant has turned all our childhood board games into horror movie posters, and they're awesome!

I will never look at Candyland the same way again.

3. Bored shoes salesperson has put together a must-have guide to various shoes and what they say about the people that wear them.

The most wholesome of which is probably the one regarding some 'athletic sandals': "John, 58. Likes fishing and treasures his wife. Tells "pull my finger" jokes and lets the grandkids have ice cream when grandma goes to bed."

4. Makeup artist Vanessa Davis is making things especially spooky-scary this month with her vibrant and fantastical skull makeup art.

Between Vanessa and the people acting as her "canvas", there is a LOT of patience on display in this feed.

5. Australian firefighters posed with animals for their 2021 charity calendar to help treat wildlife injured in the wildfires last year.

Mmm...beefcake...