The songs of ‘Hero Lost’

I have been writing a great deal lately.  Some people know that I write either in a public setting where there is noise all around me, or in the mountains alone, other than my Jeep.  Or most often, at home with the music that takes my mind back to the time and place, saturates my house.   I write creative non-fiction, so I write about my own experiences.

 

All writers write from their lives, but some forms are more monogamous with the events.  These songs, are a sampling of music from the pivotal year in my life.  I met some of the most powerful friends of my life that year, almost died several times and felt love, for the first time.  It was a hell of a year.

 

The book is called Hero Lost, and is the second in a 5 book anthology.  It is in second draft and with a beta reader as I work on the last remaining book in the series, book 4.

 

The friends I had that year I had met the year before, but that year was the one that defined all of our friendships.  It was defined by parties, friends, music and cars.   This song, started most of our parties, along with a crack of pool balls and opening of bottles.

 

ZZ Top usually led to more hair bands, inevitably leading to Van Halen…

 

Big Rich was my oldest friend at the time, having met in second grade and we were the core of the group.  He was a gentle giant who most people liked and was totally oblivious of any girl who liked him, just never picking up on the messages they sent.  Big Rich wasn’t as into the music as the rest of us, but if you got to know him, you realized, he had one hell of a thing for one singer …

 

We lost track of Big Rich eventually.  He was into hiking and had injured himself on the Appalachian trail several times.  A couple of us years later, wondered if he is still out there on the trail, somewhere …

 

Pat was the funniest man I have ever known but you would never know it unless he decided to show you.  He was a smartass and a prankster.  I learned this by him drafting me, unknowingly often, into a prank he had worked on for quite a while.  I cannot count the number of times we ran out of a house, a classroom or our work, with the closing door behind us muffling the yelling we were fleeing.  His waters ran deep and he tended to see far more than others around him in any given situation.  He was also so unassuming, it made all the above possible…

 

One of my best memories with Pat was when we got kicked out of a golf course.  We decided it was too hot to be that bored so Pat made golf a full contact sport.  I was apparently driving the golf cart ‘dangerously’ so we were chased out.  In our defense, we parked the golf cart safely, in the parking lot of the 7-11.

 

Pat became a journalist for a time, dropping out of public life when his college sweetheart and wife, finally lost her battle with cancer.  I don’t know here Pat is today, but I hope he has not lost that prankster in him.

 

Little Rich really had one role, ladies man.  I have to give him credit, since he also suffered from short man disease, yet he had game. It was his house or mine that hosted most parties and this allowed him to be the center of attention.  He preferred the light to be shone on him, and he was good at attracting it.  He loved Journey, “cause the ladies love them, and me”.  He was a trip.

 

He struggled to find himself for many years and an unhealthy competition for ladies affection with his younger brother, later led to a very unhealthy marriage.

 

For a time, Eileen dated Little Rich but they were both such flirts, it could never last and it didn’t.  She grew up too fast and Little Rich was no help.  She became the life of the party and loved to dance and got good at lying.

 

My best memory of her was at a party where she was a little drunk and wanted desperately to dance.  She threw herself at a few party guests, so I walked past her and took her by the hand and danced with her while Elton sang one of her favorite songs.  For a few moments, Eileen was quiet, and not a blur of red curls.  I prefer to remember her that way.  She was almost always happy and laughing and eventually found her feet and her own identity.

 

Ann … was different.  She came to the group as Eileen’s best friend but she and I became fast friends, after she stopped yelling at me.  At first she tried to keep up with Eileen but luckily, realized she was not built for that.  She was younger than the rest of us, so she also was a bit naive.  As a result, I became her protector.  I got in a fight defending her, locked her in my room during parties when she was too drunk for her own good and always made sure she made it home safe.

 

She also struggled for a while after our time together but she eventually found her feet again.  I pulled her from an abusive marriage years later and we ended up dating for a while, bringing me some of the best years of my life.  We didn’t work out, but we are still in occasional contact and she is doing well.  She made it home safe.

 

My role?  I was the wheel man.  I made the alcohol runs since I looked oldest and wasn’t scared to run from the police as I crossed the state line.  I felt safe in my circle of friends that knew how broken I was, and didn’t care.   They never knew the worst of it, since I got good at covering my pain.

 

Every morning when I picked up Ann and Eileen from Eileen’s mothers house, I tried to get to school in the time it took to play Jesse’s Girl.  I caught my first air in a car trying.  Pat was my co-pilot.

 

Big Rich had been there and stood as my friend as my life was destroyed when I was 14, before I knew everyone else.  Pat made me laugh harder than I had in years.  Little Rich was simply injected energy, that I needed.  He also broke me out of the protective shell I had been living in.  Eileen was really just a friend in the group, but she lived with such passion and so little concern about the next moment, she pulled me out like Little Rich did.

 

Ann remained the most ever present person in my life, from that era.  Once I was sent away the next year, the group broke up.  Ann I kept in touch with, and kept checking in on.  We spent nights together over the years, like magnets that kept finding one another but never at the right time.  What I got from Ann though, was I learned at a time in my life when I saw no value in life, that someone loved me.  That may be the most valuable lesson, for someone that doesn’t know that…

 

When I write about this time, and these people, I listen to a playlist including all these songs and many more.  I knew when I was leaving town with that year behind me, that I would never find another group of people like them.  I was right.  I found amazing ones later and they are the subjects of other books, but this time, was THAT time, when music expressed what our emotions could not and in crazy moments, girls and boys, became women and men.  What I learned most from that era, good or bad, I also found in the name of a song that is still one of my anthems …

 

 

Things I Would Teach my Kids

 

I think every age group has something to teach every other.  I wish I had written a similar thing when I was a teen, in my late 20s and maybe around 40.  I may add to this when I am in my 60s.  Every age group is right about many things, wrong about many, and we all see things differently.

 

The idea here is trying to give some short cuts, that I have learned.  These are essentially things I wish I had known long before now.  I’m not sure if the generation before me would have the same message, maybe not, but I am sure I might not have listened or at least not given it as much credit.

 

But this is my attempt to offer lessons learned and perspective from someone who has seen a lot and done a lot to those who have not had the chance to yet.  Like my parents, not all will agree with all I have written here but that’s the beauty of individualism.  It doesn’t mean what I have written is wrong.  I’m also not the only one to think as I do.  So if nothing else, it offers a window into how other people think.

 

I have also selected topics that are both general and or divisive.  I try to offer insight that can hopefully add to anyone’s perspective.  These are also some of the bigger topics that are either not discussed or not discussed enough.

 

Topics include:  friendship, love, hatred, lust, sex, family, taking chances, trends, letting go, perspective, politics, religion, tragedy, violence, fear, fame, social media, justice/social justice, the press, bullies, war, the past, the future, yourself.

 

I have tried to show more than one side when possible.  No one is completely neutral.  I am very opinionated.

 

FAMILY

Family is a tough one.  Maybe it is tougher for me to write about than it is a topic.  I’m not sure I’m an expert on it.  I can tell you though that family is not always defined by blood or genes.

 

For the most part, give family a break.  Most family members are good people.  They try hard but are imperfect.  Again, give ‘em a break.  BUT, in-case there is more going on than I know about, if they are treating you wrong, and I mean really wrong, not that they didn’t get you the car you wanted on your birthday, don’t keep it a secret.

 

Family does not always love you.  You do not have to love your family.  You don’t owe your family anything.  That will piss some off but family should not be a debt.  Yes, parents, most parents, good parents did a lot of work to bring you up and spent a lot of money.  That was also their choice when they committed to a family.

 

What I’m saying may sound harsh but what I’m trying to say is, family should be an asset, not a debt.  Many of the people I am closest to, I met later in life and made part of my family.  I have friends I would die for.  Some of you I made my family, well after you were born.  Family can be a choice.

 

The biggest influence on you are those you grew up with, family or not.  Even if you hate who you grew up with and want to be unlike them, by you choosing to not be like them, they have thus partially defined you.  MOST people you grew up with had good traits.  I won’t say that about all.  I’ll say it about me.  There are MANY things about me I hope you don’t copy.  There are also many traits I would like to pass on.

 

 

FRIENDSHIP

Fiends are one of the most important additions you can make to your life.  You will have good ones and bad ones and only a few, amazing ones.  The amazing ones won’t always be around for long, like a shooting star they may light up your life briefly, but leave a lasting mark on you.  A very few, truly amazing few may last a lifetime.

 

I know it seems cold but by the numbers, MOST people you will be friends with in your life will not remain your active friends for as long as you think.  There are many times you will lose a large number of your friends at once.

 

When you move, you will very likely lose contact with your friends.  The younger you are the more likely this is.  Social media will help, but this is not a way to maintain friendships long term.

 

Another time you will lose track of many friends is when you graduate High School.  People used to stay close to home after graduation but this is becoming less and less common.

 

One of the more recent developments is on-line friends.  These relationships can be real, and you can genuinely care about the people but they are not a substitute for the real deal.  On-line is a convenience and people are losing interpersonal skills that make for real and lasting connections.

 

I compare on-line friendships to puppy love.  You can easily think it is far bigger than it is but in the end, when it ends, you realize they had very little real presence in your life so their absence is small.  IF you can make an on-line friendship into a regular real world one then cool, other than that, they aren’t real friendships, they are stimulation and interaction.

 

New jobs, romantic relationships and families will fracture many existing relationships and demand more time you used to dedicate to friends.  Don’t be scared by this, and don’t expect anyone else to forgo these changes to maintain friendships.  Relationships and time will reshape us.  Great friends will be a part of you, always.

 

Friendships take work.

Friendships need to be balanced over time.

Most friends will pass out of your life.

Your best friends, are often not who you expect them to be…

 

LOVE

Love BIG.  Love HARD.  Love completely…

 

If those words scare you, that’s ok.  If those words excite you, be careful.  But live them.

 

The first thing you should know is that love is not sex, and sex is not love.  Love is about finding someone you slowly, but powerfully, want to have in your life in almost every way.  Notice I said almost.  Love does not mean giving yourself entirely, it means allowing a person in your life like no one else, even your family.

 

Love will change you.  Love will forever change you.  It will build you up, tear you down and will be some of the most powerful aspects of your life.  It will scare you, scar you and it will also show you some of the most enduring beauty of the world.

 

Love is not expressed via text, or snap chat or emails.  I know this sounds like I am out of touch but lemme make two points here.

 

First, there is NO substitute for in person words and the human touch.  To SAY you love someone takes courage, every time.  To text it, or simply make a heart with your hands in a snap chat image, is chicken and will feel temporary to the other person.  If you don’t have the guts to say it, it isn’t real.

 

Love takes courage, be brave in how you express it.

 

Put it this way, the most cherished photos you will have, are not of others but of others with you.  If you are not there, together, you are a spectator to the relationship.

 

Second, if you love someone, truly love them, then leave them real and tangible things to covet, to hold onto, to cherish.  Think of it this way, I grew up writing love letters.  Pen and paper, ink and courage.  If I had passed away later, my girlfriend would have them to know, she was truly loved and could read the words I could no longer say.  If emails are the most personal you two get, that’s fine, but I don’t consider them the same.  You weren’t given a photo of a teddy bear when you were little; you got a real one.

 

Don’t express your undying love in a very temporary forum.  That’s chicken shit.

 

This does bring up an issue more and more common in modern society; long distance relationships.  I wont say don’t do it.  I will say there MUST be a plan to come together, as quickly as possible.  Love thrives in person, and struggles like a plant with no sun if left at a distance.  Please don’t enter into a long  distance love, without a plan to bring that love together as soon as possible.

 

Don’t ever let anyone tell you who you should or shouldn’t love. You didn’t choose, you fell like everyone else, without a plan.  (that’s why it is a fall and not a jump)  You can be too young for sex, but not too young for love.  You cannot be too old for love.  Love is not about reasonable thought or best fit or social standing, it is about being happy.

 

Love is not the same the world over or even for you in your lifetime.  Love in 6^th grade is very different than 12^th grade.  Love is different as an adult.  Loving your spouse, is different than love for your kid, or your family, or a friend.  Love is also different for every person, don’t judge.

 

If you are judging, you look and sound jealous.

 

If you are reading this and you are a teen, the love you know if you feel you are in love, is not the same as love you will feel later in life.  We love differently when so young.  IF and when it fails, IT WILL HURT.  Not just your first love, which hurts and leaves a scar no matter your age, all love, if it fails, hurts.  That’s ok.  You’ll survive.  Trust me, I know.

 

Don’t fear falling in love but don’t love foolishly.  There are many kinds of love you will have in your life.  You will love someone romantically, maybe several someone’s.  You will love friends.  You may love a mentor.  You may love people you work with.  These are all love but they are different.  Learn the difference.

 

Don’t be scared to love.  Don’t be scared if it fails.  Most will.  But you can love them completely and move on and always love them looking back.  Too many divorced couples spend too much time hating.  Just, love what you had but choose to move on.  Hatred is such a waste.

 

Love bravely.

Love who YOU choose.

Love proudly.

 

BEAUTY

Both men and women can be beautiful.

Everyone is beautiful to someone.

Not everyone thinks you are beautiful.

Not everyone needs to.

You are beautiful.

It’s ok if you don’t always feel beautiful.

 

LUST

Lust is many things.  The most provocative, of course, is sexual.  We’ll start there.  It’s important to know the difference between lust, love and lonely.  Many people I know have set bad patterns in their life because they substitute one for the other.  They all have their place but lust is the easy one to solve.  It is also the most dangerous and least rewarding.

 

We all desire things or people.  This is normal.  Advertising is based on it and many of the things we have in our life but don’t need, can be accredited to lust in some form.  Lust is not a bad thing, but is almost never what we make it out to be.

 

One thing to pay attention to is that lust is sometimes a symptom of emotional needs not being met.  When we try to fulfill our emotional needs through physical experience, we will ALWAYS come up short.

 

Lust is not a cure for emotional need.  That’s a rule, period.

 

I lusted after a Jeep for a long time but I made the things I needed priority, usually.  So as you can see, lust is not always sexual.  Things we desire to have or experience can be some of the best things in our lives.

 

Some people will philosophically say, desire the things you have, and you will be happy.  I suppose that can be true but I know no one who always does that.  Need never defines the things we have in our lives or we would only own and do the most economical things that simply meet needs.  Yeah, no way to live and nothing I suggest aspiring to.

 

Lust can tell us what were missing in our life but it’s not always what were lusting for.  I lusted after my Jeep but what I really needed was the ability to get into the back country and spend more time away from an increasingly busy, loud and claustrophobic world.  The Jeep was a symbol and vehicle, literally, to meeting a need.  This core need, could have been met other ways, but the Jeep is how I chose to meet it.

 

If you lust after someone, you have entered into a different situation we have all been in.  Sometimes it leads to something amazing, usually not.  I see lust relationships with people a lot like attending a concert.  When hearing their music in your ipod, they sound perfect, on pitch and dream-like.  In person, in concert, the energy can be amazing but the performance almost never lives up to your hopes.

 

Just remember that lust is almost always temporary and eventually, it becomes the seafood that stayed in the fridge too long.

 

SEX

I know that there is a lot to be said on this topic.  This isn’t THE talk.  That should be done in person, as a discussion, for there are many questions.  I will tell you some major parts I think are often overlooked.

 

Sex isn’t a tool

Sex isn’t a weapon.

Sex isn’t insignificant.

 

Now I won’t tell you when or how or who or whatever … That’s for each person to decide.  Sex can be part of a wonderful relationship or it can be something casual.  I won’t tell you what it has to be, that is again, for each person to decide.  I will tell you this though, casual is not meaningful.  Life needs more meaning, not less.

 

There will be times in your life when things feel very powerful with someone and those times are amazing.  There will be times when less is what is needed.  We ebb and flow.

 

When there is pressure to have sex, sex is a bad idea.  I’m not just saying someone else pressuring you, which is very wrong, usually the pressure comes from ourselves.  The pressure to join in, or know what others know is not as important as it being meaningful.  If you are pressuring yourself to have sex, slow down.  There should never be pressure to have sex, from anyone.

 

So let’s shift gears and stop talking about sex specifically and consider intimacy.  Sex is part of intimacy, but far from it all or even the most important.  Holding hands and kissing can be far more intimate, than sex.  It isn’t something you have to hide.  But again, they should never be used as a weapon or a tool.

 

Sex will happen in its own time, naturally.

Don’t rush to it or through it.

 

TAKING CHANCES

This is simple, TAKE CHANCES!  Ok, not all of them.  Take chances that have meaning to you.  Ask that person out that you have been wishing would ask you.  Apply for the job you want.  Plan for and schedule the trip you keep thinking about.  Chase some dreams.

 

Dreams don’t usually pay the bills so you cannot be too crazy but there’s nothing wrong with chasing some dreams.  The dreams are the things you wish were in your life.  The best way to add the things you wish you had is to go after them.  Some people make a career out of a dream they have.  Some become defined by the dreams they chase, in a good way.

 

The best advice I can tell you is that most of the amazing times I have had have been built out of dreams.  Most of the things that friends love to talk about in regards to me are related to the dreams I have chased.  Some of the best times I have had have been in the pursuit of dreams.

 

HATRED

Don’t hate.

 

It’s such an easy ‘go to’ emotion that’s so over used.  We hate this or that or those people because they are different or said something you don’t agree with or because hatred is easier than love cause hatred wont let you down.  It’s the emotion of the weak.  It is also the emotion of hurting yourself and others.  No one ever hated another in a good way.  No one ever hated someone and got a positive outcome.

 

Modern society acts as if you only have two choices when it comes to people; Hate or love.  Reserve your love for VERY few.  Hatred should be even less.  If you want to hurt someone, one you have some issues there but two, ignore them, don’t care about them at all.  Hatred is a powerful emotion that takes more from you than them.

 

One thing to remember, hatred demonstrates a passionate connection.  You cannot hate someone you don’t care about; so don’t gimme that.

 

We can dislike a choice made by someone.  We can hate words spoken by someone.  But to truly hate that person, even if they are the complete opposite of every value you hold dear, means they have power over you and got inside you.  To hate someone, means they own you.  If you know someone who speaks words that make your blood boil, the most powerful thing you can do, is to walk away and ignore them.

 

I have always felt flattered by those who have hated me.  I felt special that they gave me so much time and energy.   Hating someone gives them a lot of attention.  As a client of mine once said, “Don’t let someone you hate, live in your head.”

 

You are better than hatred.

Hatred is a waste of your time.

 

LETTING GO

Loss sucks.  As I have mentioned, most of the people in our lives will exit our lives.  The loss you feel when someone or a dream is lost, is real.  It isn’t childish.  You are human.  And real.

 

The key is that mourning and feeling empty and missing someone are all healthy things to do and experience.  But they also must be temporary things we do.  I’m not saying that mourning and missing someone can only be for a certain time then you forget and move on, but the loss cannot dominate your life or define it.  Life cannot be about our losses.

 

This is a very personal thing so I wont tell you how to deal with loss or change, but it is healthy to be able to let go and move on, but also healthy to stop and reflect and mourn loss, even the loss of a dream.

 

FREE SPEECH

Yes this is a topic in politics but we’ll get to that later.  The reason I’m bringing this up is that it’s so common that conflict starts with what someone says.  The spoken word is one of the most powerful tools in the world.  But I want you to think about what is powerful words and what isn’t; more importantly, why and how.

 

Consider this: for some within religion, the most powerful works they know are from their dogma.  These words can literally inspire a lifetime for some.  For others, political speeches are the most powerful words ever spoken, and worthy as well as some in religion, as being engraved in granite.  For still others it is lyrics sung, or poems, or written on the pages of an amazing book.

 

If powerful words are universal, then why do not the same words move everyone the same?  Why do some words change some lives and mean nothing to others.  Why do some words provoke outrage, and others nothing at all.  There are no impotent words.  There are also no universally powerful ones.

 

The reason words are powerful is we assign value to them.  Sometimes it is the word, sometimes it’s who said it, or when, or directed at who.  I have read and even written some very powerful words.  But the ones with the most power are the ones either said by the people who mean the most to me, or by people I don’t like.

 

Don’t let words define your emotions or people.  Most words that provoke emotions, called trigger words, are just words.  We assign value to them ourselves.  There are certain ones that can provoke response, but it was not always so.

 

No word has always been divisive, nor always will be.  Words also have different meaning in different languages and cultures so if words or people are provoking powerful emotions, it is more about us than the word or those who spoke them.

 

As you get older you will find certain people in your lifetime, have made a life out of being triggering.  Some in my life, usually in politics or religion, have made an entire career out of saying triggering things.  That is their chosen role in life.  I used to listen, I stopped somewhere when I discovered I didn’t really care since they were just trying to evoke an emotion from others. (remember hatred)

 

There are others who will say things that boil your blood.  Your mistake will be making them powerful to you.  We can say mostly, anything we want.  Freedom of speech is a Constitutional right.  If you feel that people should not be able to say some things, first consider what you should not be allowed to say.  If your own answer is nothing, then consider what you expect of others.  And grow up.

 

The only way your own freedom of speech is protected is for it to be universal.  If you feel that this freedom should not be universal, then come talk to me, I did something very wrong in your life and we need to work on it.  But you are free to think, and speak, as you like, regardless of me.

 

The way to limit the power of triggering words, is to remove your emotional connection to them.  You can hold the other ‘accountable’ to the words they said, but it is you that makes them powerful, not them.  Words are just words; and this is coming from someone who has written over a million words in his life.

 

Never in history have words been spoken that were known to be as powerful as they became.  Never in history, has anyone been universally powerful, by the spoken word.  Never has society been so limited, than by assigning power to words not worthy of the power.

 

The freest societies have free speech.

The most oppressed, started by limited free speech.

 

TRENDS

Trends can be fun.  If they aren’t fun they aren’t a trend you need to acknowledge.  Trends can be used to divide or to define and they are almost always wrong.  In reality I don’t know any trend that has defined accurately but I don’t know every trend so …

 

If you feel the need to follow a trend to ‘keep up’, then step back and get to know yourself better.  If you have friends who feel that you must follow the trends to be accepted, find new friends.

 

To be confident enough to be yourself, no matter what others say, is far more powerful than to be one of the herd, that all look or act similar just to be accepted.  We all want to be accepted so it’s an understandable idea but we also want to be ourselves, and we cannot be ourselves if you are like so many others.

 

Trends also circle.  Fashion comes around again about every 30 years.  The 2010’s teens did not invent cut jeans, that was an 80s thing on a return trip.  Some of the 80s style I grew up in was a return of 50s style, such as leather jackets.  There are always outliers in style, including music and fashion and what entertainment you like but that’s because there is broad taste.

 

I can tell you that if you have seen movies that try to represent the 80s that were written in the 2000s, they are very wrong.  Movies made in the day are more realistic but still microcosms.  I could not relate to Valley Girl, neither could most anyone not in Southern California, but I could relate to The Breakfast Club.  Whatever you may think was accurate of an era in the past, is inaccurate.  The reason is we think trends define an era, and they don’t.  Most people were between trends, not with them.

 

They key is to have fun, not conform unless you want to.  I promise when you look back on your past, you may cringe but if you had fun, who cares.  At the time of this writing, luckily the mullet has not made a return trip, but I had one and liked mine!

 

If I had hair, I’d have hair like Sam Elliot.  Or more specifically, Wade Garrett (look him up).

 

POLITICS (Notice it comes after trends, big clue there) 

Politics is another tough one.  There are a few things to keep in mind though.  Politics is a business.  There is a range of what that means.  Some politicians are truly trying to serve.  But they serve by raising revenues for their district and they must constantly fund raise, A LOT.  On the other end of that range is the politicians who are getting very wealthy by taking pay offs and bribes but more often manipulating public policy to favor businesses they have interest in.  This is as true when you read this as it ever was.  This is not new.

 

I know this sounds cynical but the Government does not serve you.  The Government’s job is to serve the Nation first.  It protects its assets and positions itself favorably for gain in a global political and economic system.  The second job of the government is to protect itself.  Sounds silly or obvious maybe but with no government, there is no nation so from the government’s position it must preserve itself.  The third job is to protect the nation’s political and economic allies to help ensure national security and stability.

 

Notice what is missing from the above paragraph?  Where do you fall into the hierarchy?  You are also protected, as a resource.  A nation runs on its population.  We are taxed and manufacture and fight in wars to protect our nation’s interests.  We are a resource, like food.  I’m not being cynical, I am being very honest and this is true of EVERY nation.

 

Ask yourself this; if a government serves an industry and the government does so to serve itself, then what will it serve itself and industry with?  In other words, what resource are they using to serve the given needs?  You.

 

Who individual politicians serve is varied.  Corporations contribute MASSIVE amounts of money to candidates.  In 2018 the Koch brothers spent 400 million dollars on a mid-term election alone.  They expect something for that.  They do not have anymore votes than you or me though.  So the politician must also court your vote.  All they really need is your vote.  After that they just need to not get caught doing something but that rarely happens from the people who vote for them.  The press usually catches them.  (see the first amendment)  We complain about broken campaign promises; see again, politicians must court your vote but do not serve you.

 

Now, with all that said, your nation is not likely to fall into anarchy or civil war anytime soon.  It can feel that way as a teen or young person and there have been times we have teetered on the brink of drama.  But even in the great depression, we were not close to collapse.

 

There is a flip side to this as well.  The government has an interest in either manipulating its population or nudging it in directions to let the government pursue its desired goals that may not be accepted, understood or popular with the population.  The usual way is through fear.

 

The 20^th century was great at this.  We went through a time of isolationism and ignored the world so we turned to fearing the wealthy of our own nation and demonizing things like alcohol and gambling.  When Japan attacked us we were finally forced to look outside our own borders.  After WWII, we feared communism, first inside our own boarders, then outside.  Right after the cold war ended we found the Middle East and Muslims, then terrorism … seamless transitions of identified fears.  Always someone to fear…

 

All of them were always there before and yet never feared, until that fear was needed.  All of this permitted the government to wage wars solidify power it wanted to, rather than needed to.

 

Consider this, if we are fearful enough of terrorism, then a government can get away with mining your personal information in the name of security.  Terrorism did not make that happen, our government did.  That data mining serves their preservation, not our freedom.  Remember, we are a resource.

 

At the time of this writing, Syria and the issues there, are almost never talked about.  However the events that were going on there and always in the news 2-4 years ago are still going on.  So why the change in what the news is reporting?  Because reporting it no longer serves the needs it met before.

 

I am NOT saying government is bad or the root of all evil.  It is a necessary evil though.  See it for what it is and don’t go to an extreme.  See the whole picture and use your common sense.  If the government is telling you to be scared, ask yourself why they want you to be scared and how does it serve them.  The government never told the US citizens to fear Nazi’s, they told us we will overcome.  Empowerment is NOT identifying a group to fear, that is oppression.

 

We have been told to fear terrorists.  We have been told to fear Communism.  We have been told to fear Mexicans.  We have been told to fear specific people like The Shaw of Iran, Saddam Hussain, Kim Jong-il, Muslims, minorities, illegal immigrants … while most never materialized to much of an actual threat to us as a people.  Terrorists never fail to solidify a population against them.

 

The reason we were told to fear them, was to permit the government to do what THEY wanted, to serve its own agenda.  The Iraq war was based on false documents to serve a political/economic need.  Not to protect us, the fear was the permission slip.

 

The running of any nation is a dirty business.  It is not what most want to see or know about.  Government is good at keeping the nation going.  By serving itself and preserving itself, it also serves and preserves its population.  You can see many, many times when nation’s leaders killed its own population en-mass, and the nations collapsed.  Eventually …

 

Your nation will protect you.  You can trust it as much as an in-law.  When your interests serve its interests or does not get in the way of theirs and may garner votes, it will serve your interests.  That’s the best I have on Politics.

 

 

TAXES

Stop making taxes an assault on your freedom.  Without them in ample supply, freedom cannot be ensured.  Those who feel we are too highly taxed, are ignorant of how government works.  But again, freedom of speech.  We are the least taxed nation in the world, other than Switzerland.  And we have the highest debt.  That debt WILL come due, all of a sudden.  It WILL be crippling.

 

 

TRAGEDY

Tragedy will happen.  It will happen often.  It will happen in far away lands to people you know little about and it will happen in your own life.  First thing to understand is not everything unfortunate is a tragedy, at least not to all.  Children and puppies die.  Innocent people die uselessly.  Bad people also live full lives.

 

156,000 people die a day as of this writing.  Loss must be personal to be tragic.

 

I will never tell someone what they should care about or feel the impact of deeply.  There will be and likely have been some seminal events in our shared culture we can say, “where were you when”.  I have had several for my lifetime, Challenger disaster and 9/11 are big ones.  Locally Columbine HS was a big one still referred to.

 

I can say this; usually the tragedy is not as bad as it feels at first.  Sometimes it keeps getting worse.  But how you feel when it happens is not how you will always feel, nor how you will feel about the event for all time.

 

Tragedy is personal.  Your feelings will not be the same as others about the same event even if you experience that event right next to them.  Tragedy is also to be moved on from eventually.  There will be another.  But more importantly, tragedy cannot diminish the joy that life has to offer.  We experience it and sometimes it takes a while to move on from it, but plan to.  Do so.  Live on.

 

VIOLENCE 

It feels like a violent world.  That sucks.  That DOES NOT mean most people are violent.  Most aren’t.  Most people are good and well meaning and can be trusted.  But the world is fascinated with violence.  America is more so than most nations I have visited.  Our TV is more violent, our movies are more violent and our video games are VERY violent.  Many sports are also violent.

 

I’m not saying that the Middle East is not violent, or East Africa.  They are as well but that’s an odd club to be in.  Violence should not be something we grow used to.  Violence cannot be a culture.  Violence is used to force someone to change.  Violence is meant to project ones beliefs on another.  “Agree or pay the price”.

 

We accept violence in many ways.  Entertainment is the most common.  We see thousands of shootings by the time we are 30 years old.  Domestic Violence is shown on police shows and movies with regular occurrence.  For a long time, domestic violence was the mainstay of programming on networks aimed at women.

 

Sports are also often violent.  The risk is part of what sells some sports.  I spent over a decade in racing and the risk was part of the appeal.  I actually feel that auto racing has become too safe.  I know that sounds odd but it comes from another point I often make about violence.

 

There are two kinds: Violence we impose on someone else and there is the risk we accept knowingly to pursue certain interests.  The first is never good.  The second is fine in my opinion, if the person understands and accepts the risk.  I accepted the risk involved in auto racing, but it would be unacceptable if I punched someone who felt I was foolish for risking myself in such a way.

 

Try not to be shocked by the violence we see in culture.  It will help you see events more clearly.  But violence should and will still shock you.

 

 

FEAR 

I could stay as simple as FDR’s opinion on it:  “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”  But if you think I will just leave it at that, you really don’t know me that well.  That statement was made by Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in 1932 and the nation was in a depression.  He was inspiring people to not be frozen in fear but to act and keep working.  It’s a good message.

 

Fear is your early warning system.  Anyone who says they are fearless is wrong and a fool.  Please extract them from your life, they are dangerous.  If we are alive we have listened to our fear.  People can appear fearless and I won’t get into how nervous systems work but there are kinds that show fear far less, even if they feel it.

 

Also, with experience we lose some or a lot of fear and show it less.  Pilots were all scared when they first flew alone, but over time most become comfortable in what used to scare them.  The first time you drive a car can be terrifying, but in time, it is normal and can be done easily.

 

You were scared when you first did things because with no or little experience, you are not sure how to do them well.  Even with experience, fear can still show you what you are doing is important and you value doing it well.

 

Fear is not a bad thing even if people tell you it is a weakness.  Those who say that, are the most scared.  Have sympathy for them.  I was still occasionally scared in a racecar even after a decade of racing.  But instinct and skill born from experience kept me from most accidents.

 

Listen to your fear but do not let it run your life, or love or keep you from change you desire.  A life lived in fear will leave you with nothing but regrets.

 

REGRET

This is not a simple issue.  There are people that will tell you to live everyday without regret.  That’s impossible so forget that.  It is an impossible thing to do and a meaningless statement.  This is more of a sales pitch, not a possibility.  ALL lives have regret.  We can see our past failings in the context of what we learned and make positives of them and I am proud of my scars, but every person has regrets.

 

To minimize regret is GREAT.  I don’t have many but I have some whoppers.  Everyone I know has them.  Think of it this way.  Say you had a bad day at home and later you snap at a coworker based on the issues at home, if you do not regret being rude to your coworker then you are likely to repeat it.  Someone who doesn’t have many regrets has little conscious.  That’s very bad.

 

Ok, so what do you do with regret?  You make lemonade.  I have done things I wished I had not.  Some of them I didn’t feel like I had many other choices, but we always have choices.  Some I did based on best information at the time.  Some I did out of negligence or even being mean.  Some, I was just stupid.  Learn from them.

 

Regret is like fear, it is trying to tell you something.  Listen.  Sometimes it will tell you to do it different next time.  Sometimes it’s too late to have another opportunity but you may be able to apply the lesson learned to something current.

 

If regret is weighing on you like guilt, own it.  Own it and it will become a positive, or at least less of a negative.  This will take courage, but it will also make you strong.  Others will always respect you to some degree.

 

 

RESPECT

This will be an easy one.  Respect is earned and yes it is deserved.  But respect is also conditional.  Everyone deserves respect unless they have either taken advantage of it, abused it or in the most common case where respect is lost, act like it is not conditional.

 

Give respect to get it.

 

Respect does not mean trust.  You can respect a person for something they have done that is hard, but that does not mean they can be trusted to act the same way for you or anyone else.  Also, horrible people have done amazingly wonderful things.  Just as wonderful people have done horrible things.

 

Life is not very straight forward.

 

MARRIAGE

First rule: Take it seriously.  It is work.  It is teamwork.  It is also a lifelong commitment that if you are not willing to make, then don’t even start.

 

Second rule:  If you ever find yourself saying before you get married, “If it doesn’t work, I’ll just get a divorce.”  Don’t. I’m not saying don’t get one, I’m saying never go into marriage with that as your plan.  You will need it if you do and you have no idea how bad a divorce can be, even among people who love one another.  There is nothing ‘just’ about a divorce.

 

Marriages can be called a contract and in many states, legally that’s exactly what they are.  You combine assets, meaning property, cash time and work, to make a single life together.  It’s a beautiful thing.

 

There WILL be bad times.  There will be stress.  There will be times when things seem to be against you.  Part of marriage is working TOGETHER and managing or solving these issues.

 

I am a research person, so I’ll work from this angle as well.  The most important thing for a marriage to work is proximity.  That means that the two of you need to spend time together.  This is why the military has such a high divorce rate.  It doesn’t mean if you are not traveling this is not an issue; being apart because one or both of you work so much is also lack of proximity.

 

The biggest single stress on a marriage is money.  If you make money a major part of your marriage, you risk your marriage based on the ups and downs of fortune.  If money and success is part of your marriage dynamic, so be it, but there will likely still be financial stress.

 

Know what ‘the honeymoon phase’ is.  This is the usually euphoric state that follows for 3-6 months after the honeymoon when your marriage seems magical and perfect.  It will fade, but that doesn’t mean your marriage in waning.  It means your marriage is following a healthy path.

 

I won’t tell you how to make your marriage work, there is no set plan but I will say that communication is the most overlooked, and most important requirement of marriage.  Two people who will spend the rest of their life together and likely the most time with one another have to have some way to communicate effectively.  There is no one way, but find a way that works for BOTH of you.

 

Marriage is a two way street.  Sometimes one will need more than the other but it cannot always be that way.  If you feel invisible or feel the other should be, I suggest counseling.

 

There is another part, which will lead to the next section… IF things are unsafe or beyond repair, make a plan and leave.  An unsafe marriage is no marriage.  Abuse, be it physical, verbal, emotional, sexual or financial has no place in a marriage.

 

If you have time, consult a lawyer first.  Know how to do it best.  But before it gets to that point, work TOGETHER to solve or manage issues.  If only one of you is working, it is not a marriage.

 

CHILDREN

Children are often the best part of an adult’s life.  They will make your life fuller, more entertaining and more challenging.  They are also the biggest commitment you will ever make.  If you are not ready to focus your life around them, don’t have them or at least not yet.

 

Things will come before children, sorta.  The bills need to be paid.  Medical issues may demand kids be handed off in an emergency.  That’s ok, as long as it is temporary.

 

Children will be THE most demanding and important aspect of your life once you choose to have them.  They will be your priority in almost or all of the things you do after you have them.  They will consume time, money, resources, patience, understanding and change your life forever.  Be ready for that.

 

They will also be the most amazing and fulfilling aspect if your life and provide you with many or most of your best memories.  The pride you will feel in your own children will not be equaled in anything or anyone else.  They will be more important than anyone else in your life, and you’ll make that choice without even knowing it.

 

I know whoopses happen, but please, plan for your children as much as you can.  They will change your life regardless but being ill prepared only makes it harder on all of you.  They deserve a great childhood and parents as much as you did.

 

Encourage them to compete in things that interest them.  DO NOT HOPE FOR PARTICIPATION RIBBONS!  Jobs are competition and if they do not learn to deal with competition, you are denying them adulting skills.  They need chores and expectations, again, adulting skills.  Teach them responsibility and consequences or life will kick them in the butt as adults.  If you do not do these, you have only taught them dependency.

 

This is a hard one in my generation but the lessons are frequent enough to know it is an issue, you should never be ‘best friends’ with your kids.  That’s a copout for you as a parent.  Be a damn parent!  This doesn’t mean you cannot go to concerts with them or hang out casually as adults later in life but your kids have friends, and best friends, and you are and should always be, their parent.  They can find a friend, they only have one mom and one dad, don’t take that away.

 

NEVER plan for your children to raise eachother.  They deserve a childhood and DO NOT have the skills to raise one another or themselves.  If you neglect them, I will step in.  COUNT ON IT.

 

Teach them to ride a bike, no one does that anymore …

 

DIVORCE 

If your marriage comes to this, I am sympathetic.  There are several things to remember in divorce:

 

1 – Always consult a lawyer.  You may not know the laws in your state and you could delay the process if you do not follow the procedure.

 

2 – It will likely not be as easy or as amicable as you hope.  Many divorce s are horrible.  Some are disgusting.

 

3 – It is NOT a competition where you try and screw the other as much as possible.  If you want to, go for it but it is ugly and few or no one will want to hear about your desire to ‘fuck over’ the other person.

 

4 – You will lose touch with friends: It’s just a fact.  Some will choose to remain closer friends with one or the other of you.  That is THEIR choice and not your right to ‘own’ them.  Some will walk away from you both.  Again, that is their right and they did not do anything wrong if they chose to do so.

 

5 – Few people will want to hear about your divorce.  Some friends will listen and give you an ear and support and thank god, but divorce is ugly, fractious, and personal for all.  Divorce is painful for ALL connected to it.

 

If you have kids and you are not protecting them and doing best for them, check yourself.  Having children means you committed your life to serving them as a parent/adult/role model.  Be an adult.  Be a parent.  Be a role model.  DO NOT make them a pawn in your divorce they may not have asked for, hoped for or understand.

 

Children are always hurt by divorce.

 

Children will be angry at times.

 

Children won’t understand.

 

They are not a sounding board for YOUR divorce, no matter their age.

 

Children are NOT a pawn in your divorce.

 

Be an adult and I will give you a piece of my mind if I find you seeing it as a competition, or finding glee in hurting someone.  I will step in if you are hurting or ignoring your children in the process.  If need be, I will step in legally to protect them if you forget to.

 

 

FAME 

Don’t be impressed by fame.  I have met some famous people and some VERY famous people.  They were either as normal as you and me or they were fake as hell.  Either way, there is no need to be impressed with them.  You can respect what they have done or be impressed with their contribution but to place someone on a pedestal, means they do not have to live to the same rules and that is wrong.

 

Some will seek fame because they want to feel love.  That’s fine, their choice but that is no reason to give them your attention.  To be impressed with someone for being famous makes no sense.  To be impressed with someone cause they are well known, makes no sense.  Charles Manson was well known, and famous … does he demand your respect?

 

People can also be famous for being famous.  Being famous is not that hard.  Being famous for a reason you want to be is hard.  Don’t be greatly impressed with little.

 

We don’t divide on any one thing, universally.  Fame is a slippery slope.  We tend to judge famous people differently, and we tend to give them credit where it is often not earned.  I have had several people in my life I have admired.  Some were famous and I never met them but I can only judge them for what I know and that’s fine.  I should not assume what I admire them for is everything about them.

 

Fame is usually fleeting and never the whole story.  Most people who are famous in your life right now, won’t continue to be so.  Fame is often like a trend, there are people who come and go.  Some will be famous throughout your life but they are rare.

 

Still, there are people who have been famous my whole life and several I don’t respect.  Some I do respect. Most I really have no opinion on.  Feeding fame should be someone else’s job.

 

 

HEROES/MENTORS

We all have and need hero’s and mentors.  You will choose your own.  It is not uncommon to first identify with the hero’s of our parents but eventually we find our own.  They aren’t always someone we want to be like, or wish we were.  They are usually people that either exemplifies traits we respect or people who help us fulfill our own self image.

 

First thing to know about ALL hero’s and mentors; they are all flawed.  We tend to see what we want to see and eventually have to see more.  Flawed is fine. Were all flawed.  In high school I wrote about the noble flaw and how it is sold as a bad thing; the thing that will bring down our hero.  I see them as the thing that makes people noble.  Without flaw, we cannot identify with them.  Perfection has flaws.  So do our hero’s.

 

With that in mind, seek out people who can teach you along the way to your goals.  Your parents have been in that role for a long time but everyone has a limited pallet to draw from.  I learned basic auto mechanics from my father.  It wasn’t long before I surpassed him and had to learn on my own.  Then I found other car people who I could learn with, not from.  Then when I started racing I learned more from my crew chief and I found a specific racing mentor, who eventually also sponsored me.  Learning is an evolution.  I surpassed that mentor in many areas as well.

 

Eventually, I became a mentor, and a teacher and a coach and the cycle continued.  My father didn’t learn his mechanics from his father, he learned it on his own.  But he handed it down, and I handed down and somewhere there are people who know something about mechanics and racing because my father taught himself how to work on a car.

 

Perhaps the greatest testimony to anyone who teaches you, is when you realize they have taught you enough to not always need them.  My first race without my crew chief placed huge demands on me.  I did well, not because he wasn’t there, but because I learned enough from him, to succeed even if he could not be there.  When my racing mentor died, it was scary, but I also realized I was moving on beyond him.  So did he.  As a former track record holder he was my benchmark.  Soon after he died, I surpassed his record.  He would have been proud.  But he was still my mentor.

 

Hero’s are a tougher deal in a way.  When we name someone a hero, an over used term nowadays, we elevate them to a higher plane of importance and influence.  Pick your hero’s carefully and don’t be reluctant to drop them.  I have had very few in my life.  Usually, they have earned the status due to a long term demonstration of values I both respect, and seem uncommon in some way.

 

The reality is that not everyone can be a hero.  When I was a kid, after seeing my first race, most racecar drivers were heroes to me.  I saw them as knights.  When I became a racer, I refined my list to those I felt raced bravely.  They stood out once I knew what to look for.

 

Today, my list of hero’s is short but, some may be reading this.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is here to stay.  DO listen to the idea that anything you put online is there forever.  I’m sure this is not always true, but post that way.  Send that way.  You have or soon will see evidence of this.

 

As mentioned, on-line relationships are not substitutes for real ones.  If you want them to see something private, be with them in private when you show them.  There is NO privacy in on-line or electric communications.  EVERY digital photo is fully transmittable.

 

Remember that on-line communication is best used to enhance a real relationship or substitute for real connection when appropriate.  It is only a tool, not the real world.

 

Comment threads and chat rooms are not real world nor do they represent real world opinions.  I’m not saying that the emotions are not mostly authentic, they are, but people speak on-line with more brazen disconnect from reality than they almost always do in reality.  Also, not everyone posts on-line equally.  Those confident and comfortable in their opinions in reality are far less likely to post them in a chat or on-line.  Remember, on-line is only a tool for the emotionally and socially healthy.  It can be the whole world for the unhealthy.  Think about that…

 

I think the idea here is to understand that anonymity or distance from you via on-line communications can make people artificially brave and thus inauthentic.  They will say things they would not normally say in person, even if they claim they would.  There is an off button on whatever device you are on-line with.  Don’t argue.  Unplug.

 

Never send or post anything you don’t want to be spread around the world.  There have been private images sent that end up on porn sites.  Your bosses may attempt to cruise your social media pages.  The people who are considering hiring you WILL. I promise.

 

Every email, every text, every message sent electronically can be captured and stored and forwarded later to someone else.  If you ever doubt this, sit in a divorce hearing.

 

ENJOY social media.  Use it right.  Have fun.  Be smart.

 

JUSTICE/SOCIAL JUSTICE

The law is not always fair.  The law is not applied equally.  I know this sounds cynical but it is not intended that way.  It’s just the reality that will become evident.  The law protects the rich more than the poor.  The law prosecutes the poor more than the rich.  There are not equal prosecutions for rich and poor, white and minorities, connected and not.  Justice is NOT blind.

 

Also realize, the law is not Justice.  Justice is what happens by when the law is enforced.  The purpose of the law is not to prosecute, it is to prevent.  It is a set of limits we’re expected to respect.  Most do, most of the time.  All laws are broken.  Some are broken often, like speed limits.  Every law is broken everyday.  We don’t fund our police forces with enough money to be fully staffed and they are often behind on technology.  They CANNOT catch all offenders even when they know the law has been broken.  There are also many times, if not most, when they are not even aware a law has been broken.

 

Law officers are human.  That means they are just as mistake prone as you or me.  We can ‘expect’ that this is not acceptable in life and death situations but again, they are human.  Here is the other side; police investigate THEMSELVES when shootings take place.  That is not justice.  That is done to control the fall out.  There are many times the law has been wrong but did not punish itself.  That includes deaths.  If I kill someone unjustly, I can be convicted, if a police officer does so, even off duty, they are usually retired with pension and VERY rarely prosecuted in a criminal way and almost never found guilty.

 

Now I am not saying the law is wrong.  I’m not saying to not trust it.  Most police officers I have met have been honorable people doing a very hard job.  But many of the legal cases I have been connected to were miscarriages of justice.  The guilty get away with A LOT.  Do not expect justice to satisfy you.  It often won’t.

 

Another thing to remember, I have been in the middle of a couple investigations.  Law officers can lie to you, and will.  Law officers can manipulate you, and will.  Law officers can and will play games, in the name of an investigation.  They are very good liars.  They will make you feel guilty, even if you are not.

 

I will make one thing very clear in contrary to what is often said, if you are being investigated, get a lawyer.  Innocent people get lawyers.  Movies, TV shows and law officers will try to convince you otherwise; they are lying.  Also, evoking a lawyer does not mean questioning will stop, nor has to.  But once you HAVE a lawyer, they cannot question you without one.

 

I’m not saying this expecting you to need one, but I know very few people who have never needed a lawyer.

 

Knowing all this is not a permission slip to make your own justice.  Social justice is usually in itself a miscarriage of justice and you are usually breaking laws to exact revenge.  There is also a good rule, the second person in a fight is usually the one that gets caught.  You have no excuse when you are caught exacting social justice.

 

I have broken the law.  I have broken significant laws.  I have also exacted social justice.  I have done so to the tune of a lot of money.  I was wrong to break laws.  I was wrong to cost people when I broke laws.  The social justice I have exacted, never got me justice.

 

I touched on revenge.  Revenge is not a profitable pursuit.  “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”.  This is true for the most part.  Revenge is not about justice, it is about your own pain.  Revenge won’t cure it.

 

The most powerful people in the world have a common skill.  The ability to walk away.

 

THE PRESS

The press has an important national role.  Free Press is mandatory for a free state.  But do not always accept the press as purely honorable or professional.  Like police officers, there are many very good and honorable journalists.  There are also opportunists and there are scumbags.

 

In my life I have rarely seen national attention for a missing poor black teenager; or a missing homely white woman, or for almost any boy.  Rarely have Search and Rescue operations seeking men been well known, but make it a woman and it likely is.  Make it a young white blonde girl, and the world will likely know.  Make it a young, blonde, attractive wealthy woman and it is a national tragedy.  You get my point.

 

Truth be fair, most that go missing are girls/women.  This is just an example I am giving to show that the press is not an unbiased reflection of the events around us.  The news is a cherry picked selection that will sell commercial time.  Consider that only yesterday, I saw a news report regarding the imminent winter storm with predicted snow falls of … 1 inch.

 

Tragedy happens in clusters.  Not natural disasters, there is no law of threes, but there is clusters of mass shooting types.  Mass shootings in general have no cluster because they happen almost daily.  I honestly don’t know if it is attention by the press that popularizes the idea or if the press focuses on ones that happen most days anyhow until they are no longer popular stories.  Yes, I said that mass shootings, (4 or more dead in a single event) happen MOST days in the US.  They do.

 

NEVER assume the news is all that is happening.  They focus on what sells. (if it bleeds it reads)  They will ride a story until it is dead, dead, dead.  They will ignore other stories while they focus on what they know is selling.  They will also focus on divisive angles to every story, so be aware that they ARE trying to divide listeners not only because they have a political agenda, but because division makes discussion which makes interest which makes ratings.

 

I have been interviewed many times and they will choose the sound bites THEY want, not that YOU want.  They will make the story THEY want, not the one you want to tell.  The reason is simple, they will SELL your story.

 

Also, and this will piss off some but do not blindly believe what the politically driven press says about the press.  The press is not liberal.  That is the oldest lie in American journalism.  If you cannot be bothered to look up who owns the news stations you listen to then you deserve to be fooled.  At the time of my writing this, there is NO liberal news agencies.  There are news agencies owned by very conservative companies that are pretty neutral.  And there are news agencies that are so conservative they should be painfully obvious.

 

I’m not saying this to tell you one or another party is bad I am saying if you just believe things you are told about or by the press, you will live an ignorant life.  If you hope to be or expect to be told the neutral news as gospel, you are exactly the listener they are marketing.   Your choice.

 

BULLIES 

Bullies Suck.

 

I know this will sound contradictory but bullies are weak.  They are intimidated by others and scared to show they have weaknesses.  There is only one solution.  You stand up to them.  I’m not saying you fight them, I’m saying you stand up to them.

 

Bullies are skilled at finding issues that make each person weaker.  We all have some and at certain ages, we tend to have similar ones.  We’re all insecure.  We’re all scared of something.  We’re all hiding something.  Bullies may not have great insight into you and thus manipulate you, they likely observe and poke and when they see or find a weakness, they exploit it.

 

The defense is to recognize what you are experiencing that they are triggering and understand that this is not the end all, be all, definition of you.  We all have weaknesses.

 

If what they find as a trigger is something you can at least pretend to not care about as a flaw, then they lose their power.  It will also help you deal with future bullies.  There will be more.

 

The other part of bullies that sucks is they don’t all grow out of it.  Adults have bullies too sometimes.  Same defense.  Same solution.

 

Stand up to them.

 

 

WAR

War is the act of killing other people for political and or economic gain.  There are occasionally wars of ideology such as religion as well but there is usually a political element there and many, including myself, put politics and religion in the same bed.

 

If the idea of killing other people, soldiers, civilians, kids, animals and any or all  life that is in the way does not appeal to you or if you think I am over-simplifying it, you need to look at war harder for yourself.

 

There is a fact you need to embrace before you think war is a simple answer.  Each soldier, every soldier is trained to kill humans efficiently, coldly, brutally at times and without regard whenever possible.  In order to train a soldier to have the best odds of coming home, they will be trained to kill humans.  ALL soldiers.  It changes a person forever.

 

We as a nation have already demonstrated we struggle with compassion for these soldiers when they return home, after doing exactly what their nation asked them to do.  The answer is have compassion before we go to war.

 

When we go to war, I believe we must go to war completely.  I’m not saying nuclear weapons, I mean commit to a clear purpose and timeline and have an exit plan and give our soldiers and commanders ALL they need to achieve these goals as quickly as possible and then get out of their way.  Soldiers should never want for equipment when we choose to go to war.

 

All wars started in the 20^th century were for political or economic gain.  NOT as defense.  If you want to see the bigger truth, read about The Pentagon Papers as it applies to Vietnam.  Read about the real origins of 9/11 and the fake causes of war in Iraq that came as a result.  Read not just domestic sources but foreign sources.

 

Another reality to consider when beating a war drum is, are you committed enough to this war that if it comes home, across our borders, will you still believe in the cause?  It is easier to believe in war when it is fought in someone else’s back yard.  It is also easier when the death and destruction are easily ignored.

 

War is never simple.

All wars kill and most deaths are civilians.

All wars are inhuman.

All weapons only have one purpose, to end life as efficiently as possible.

 

We as a nation have little appreciation of the true cost of war.  We have only had two wars fought on our own land.  One additional in the war of 1812 but it was minor.  The civil war is the closest of those.

 

In the entire history of the US, we have not lost less than 1 million soldiers in war, at least at the time of my writing this.  The Russian losses alone in the battle of Stalingrad in WWII, was around 500,000.  The battle of Moscow included over 1 million wounded or killed.  Those are just battles.  Not wars, much less entire history of a nation.  All loss of life in war is violent.  The US has had VERY low loss of life due to war compared to other nations.

 

IF we go to war, it is not a guarantee, but be prepared for 1,000s of American lives lost.  If this is not acceptable for you, you may want to rethink wanting to go to war.  Also, the cost Americans almost never consider, the cost of civilian lives in the nation where the war is being fought.  It can and has been in the 10,000,000s.  Civilians.  Just like you.

 

To give another example, in the battle for Okinawa, over 12,000 Americans were killed.  Over 77,000 Japanese soldiers were killed.  But over 150,000 civilians were killed.  The war had to be fought, but remember the cost before you start enthusiastically beating a war drum.

 

You are beating a drum for other families, sons, fathers, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters, kids and parents to die.  Be sure you are ready.  WWII, an ‘honorable war’ from our perspective, killed 45,000,000 people.  Be very sure you know what you are asking for.

 

I am anti war-because I am pro-soldier.  I have had many friends serve from Vietnam to current day.  I have had many family serve, from the American Revolution to Korea.  I have worked with many veterans in my line of work.  I respect them all.  I ALWAYS have to wonder if the cost they had to pay was necessary.  Often, it isn’t.  Those eager to rush to war are not usually the ones who will fight the war.  That should tell you A LOT.

 

If you feel we should go to war, I’d like you to first consider this:  Look around you through a week.  LOOK at the people all around you.  The men and women going to war will be your friends, your co-workers, your family; your friend’s kids … you.  Many won’t come home.  Many more will come home broken.  Are you sure the war is worth that cost?

 

It is so easy to say someone should go to war.  It is also easy to say, “I’d go.” as a way of justifying the desire to go.  Back in the day, I would not have been accepted in the armed services due to metal in my body.  But I knew friends serving and I was not as eager as some of my friends to go to war, cause I wanted my friends to stay home.

 

Also, always please remember, as I said most casualties in war are civilians.  NOT soldiers.  I am as guilty of glorifying war as the next guy but it should never be glorified as we consider going to war.  They often do not die quickly.  The human cost of war can be paid for generations.

 

Consider as you red this, Agent Orange.  This was a chemical all soldiers and civilians in Vietnam were potentially exposed to by the US.  They can now see the genetic signature of it in the grandchildren of those people originally exposed.  The cost of war is ALWAYS paid for generations to come.  You do not send your friends to war, you send their entire family and family tree downstream from them, to war as well.

 

In my lifetime I have been eager for a war.  I have also seen through false justification for war.  There is a family in my neighborhood who lost two kids in Iraq/Afghanistan.  I use them as my measure.  Could I justify a new war to someone who knows the cost of war so well?  I say, any war we are eager to fight, we likely shouldn’t.  Any war we feel we need to, but fear the cost, we likely should.  War should never be rushed into; nor glorified.

 

If you are eager for war as a result of some act, I suggest you enlist.

 

Please don’t.

 

 

RELIGION

Five simple rules:

Only claim a religion if you mean it.  Millions and millions of people have died for its beliefs.

Practice what you preach.

Leave your nose out of other’s practices.

Any religion that demands money or that you hurt others is not a religion, it’s a business or a cult.

Not all who claim a religion are practicing its values. (see rule 1)

 

Most religions are based on a book written by lord knows who, pardon the pun, and was written in very different times.  Many who quote these books are not quoting them correctly or at all.  No one lives to the books teachings completely, that would be illegal in modern society so all religious application has changed from the original writing.

 

Religion can be a wonderful thing.  Most religious people are seeking structure and society; nothing wrong with either.  Most religious people are good.  But every major and many minor religion has been used to justify oppression, division, hatred, exclusion and killing.

 

Religion when practiced peacefully and in service to others is a wonderful thing.  It should never be a weapon.  It should never be justification for bad behavior.  Most people practicing a religion are doing so wonderfully, but remember those rules and honor yourself and others with respectful practice.

 

Never lose yourself to a religion.

 

 

HISTORY 

Winston Churchill said, “History shall be nice to me, for I intend to write it.”  There is an important lesson in there …

 

History is fun to learn about and we must.  The saying, “If we do not learn from the past, we are bound to repeat it” is true.  I have seen history repeat itself several times.

 

We should do our best to learn about the past from many sources.  Another accurate saying is “History is written by the winners”.  That doesn’t mean they are right and there is no way one historical accounting can be a complete and unbiased accounting of the event.

 

In my life, I have rarely found the generally accepted truth to be the whole truth.  Sometimes I have found the generally accepted truth to be mostly wrong.  It is a matter of perspective, both yours and the person providing the facts as well as the time it was told.

 

Learn about the past that interests you.  I have read some or a lot of almost every major book religions are based on, including Darwin.  None of them say what popular opinion thinks.  I am not a soldier but I have read a lot about what it means to be one so I can understand them better.  That DOES NOT make me an expert.  I have read about the politicians I have voted for and against.  Read MANY sources and think for yourself.

 

Most mistakes I have seen regarding the past is based on the active determination to only read sources that support what you want to believe.  History, if it is not at least a little uncomfortable, is not accurate or complete.  Much of human history is rather uncomfortable to know, both distant and recent past.

 

Categorical revisions of history are almost never accurate and likely serve a political, economic or cultural agenda rather than serving fact.  If an accounting of history doesn’t make sense to you, first see if it is uncomfortable, or doesn’t make sense.  Some accountings are really wrong.  Most are a little off.  Many will be uncomfortable, but pretty accurate.

 

Also, there are amazing events in the past you know almost nothing about.  History can be great fun and always teaches.  Your own history will teach others.

 

PERSPECTIVE 

We can only see the world though our own eyes.  We can discover other perspectives by doing our best to see the world through other’s eyes.  Most Americans don’t travel away from our own nation.  Many don’t even travel to far away parts of their own region.  We have also homogenized the US.

 

Ray Kroc built up McDonalds on the idea that it is comforting to find the same food anywhere you go.  So the chain restaurant was born and much of the local flavor and character of the US was lost.  It would do us well to find discomfort from unfamiliar surroundings and learn to feel discomfort in the unfamiliar and that it is not wrong.

 

Different is not wrong.

 

I am an American White Male.  I cannot see the world through the eyes of a woman.  I cannot see the world through the eyes of a black man.  I cannot see the world as an Egyptian.  But this does not mean I cannot try and learn how the world looks for each, by listening, asking, and learning.

 

We tend to seek familiar and comfortable.  We tend to judge anything not familiar and comfortable by our own standards and most things cannot measure up.

 

As I mentioned, most Americans never travel abroad.  Many who do, go to what I call ‘canned America’ such as cruise ships or resorts that cater to Americans.  Until an American goes to another nation, not just Canada, and looks back at the US from another perspective, you cannot truly see the nation.  This is the same as claiming to know your home when you have never left the inside of the home.  The outside view is VERY different and just as valid.

 

You are more like the people in other nations than dissimilar.  Your government is more similar to the government in other nations than dissimilar.  You are just as dissimilar to your government as others are to their own.  Nations divide, people don’t.  Governments go to war, people don’t.  The people you hate are far more similar to you than you’d likely like to admit.  We tend to focus on differences.

 

If you do go to Canada, discover that if not for the national border, would you even see them as very different from us?  These are too amazingly similar nations, yet we tend to focus on and dwell on the differences we see from over a line on a map.  It tells me a great deal more about the person doing the dividing, than the culture they are describing.

 

Broaden your world view as much as you can.  See the world and the US and thus yourself from other views.  This WILL be scary.  This WILL be rough in many ways but if we cannot look in the mirror, we never truly know ourselves.  If you choose to see the world from a safe and familiar chair in front of a computer, so be it, but you are missing out on most things in the world.  Most importantly, you are missing learning about you.  You are thus choosing to see your area, or your state, or your profession, or your age or gender or race or religion or yourself, incompletely.

 

YOUR PAST

By the time you read this you will have a past.  The longer you live, the longer your past.  One of the hardest things to come to terms with is that there was a past LONG before you were born and that past is a part of your world.

 

YOU are only responsible for your past.  YOU are not guilty of anyone else’s actions.  But we must learn from others and their past and our own as a family, a nation, a species.  Notice I am not saying race or religion or class or whatever …  EVERY race, religion, class or whatever has things to be proud of and things to be ashamed of but too often we use those divisions to assign blame and continue poor choices of the past.

 

Your history is what you make of it.  It does not define you.  I have done some bad things.  I have done some illegal things.  I have also done some amazingly wonderful things.  As long as I don’t ignore the bad things I have done and own them, I am not continuously a victim of my bad choices; same for the good.  Some good actions do not make you eternally good.

 

I know you will do some bad things.  I know this because you are human.  I also know you will do some amazing things.  You already have.  Most of the time, were just living day to day.  Live towards the future and make it the way you want by learning from the past.  Your past is your best teacher.  Other people’s pasts are also a good teacher.  I am writing this to help you learn from my past.  These are all things I wish someone had told me.

 

THE FUTURE

Your life can be anything you have the power to make it be.  Your limits are fewer than you think and far, far fewer than some will try to convince you of.  Dream big and adventure forward.  Life is amazing.  You’re life can be amazing.

 

Your future will not be a straight line.  It will not be as you envision it.  That’s ok.  Your life will be a like a stream in the wilderness: wandering, sometimes fast, sometimes slow and nurturing to many.  But it will never be predictable and eventually it will dry up.

 

Live every day as best you can with no expectations that every day has to be amazing.  Be the best you, you want to be.  One of the best ways to be unhappy in life is to live to everyone else’s expectations.  That’s not a fun life.  Lead your own life.

 

Life will move faster and be shorter than you think.  Weeks, months and years will start to pass much more quickly.  That is inevitable.

 

Life is not where you end up, but the journey along the way.  It will be full of love, and fun and some pain and disappointment and there will be horrible times.  But there will be times that will take your breath away.  If you are lucky, it will also be an adventure.  It will be, if you make it one.  Life will be a product of what happens to you, and the choices you make.  Your choices are the true power in your life.

 

 

YOUR POWER

This is a tough one.  This is tougher for some than others but we all doubt our own power at times.  I won’t make some self help claim like never doubt your power … we all do at times.  If not, we are a hard core narcissist and that’s A WHOLE other talk.

 

You have power over your life.  You have the most power.  You can decide to do or not do, anything.  Decisions run every life.  Choices are YOUR power.  You will make good choices and bad ones and sometimes we will choose not to decide, but you still made that choice, Thank you Rush (the band).

 

Let me say this clearly, THE ONLY THING YOU HAVE ABSOLUTE CONTROL OVER ARE YOUR CHOICES.

 

No one can make you always feel a certain way; that is your choice.

No one can make you dwell on any one thought; that is your choice.

No one can make you do anything; that is your choice.

 

Those things being said, we need to do things to accomplish what we want, have what we need and desire and experience our dreams.  Make your choices powerful, leading you to where you want, what you want and how you want to be.

 

YOURSELF

Be yourself.

Be proud of yourself.

Make your own choices right for you.

Don’t let anyone pressure you to change, if you don’t want to.

 

Those being said, remember you will forever change.  You are a living being that will evolve and your interests, desires and world view will change.  Be open to it.

 

The experiences and opinions I have given you are to help, based on my experiences.  You have your own and will have many, many more.  You likely already don’t agree with all I said.  Maybe you disagree with all of it and that’s fine.

 

You don’t have to be perfect and you WILL make mistakes.  Own them.  It will take courage.  You have that.

 

The important thing is that you own you.

 

To reiterate in a different way, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”

 

 

THINGS ABOUT ME IT’S USEFUL TO KNOW

I have been in love; more than once. You may too.

I have loved with every fiber of my being.  I never regretted that even when it went wrong.

I have lost people I loved and in love with.

I have made so many mistakes, there isn’t enough memory in your computer to list them.

I have chased dreams, some were good, a couple were amazing, some I luckily gave up on, a few I survived.

I am far from flawless and I used to worry about that.  Please learn from me, and not sweat that.

I have been on the wrong side of the law.  I have been in cuffs.  I learned from it.  Learn from me and don’t follow that.

I regret the things I have feared to do.

The choices I am proudest of are the things I have chosen to do even if I was scared or it seemed overwhelming.

I have saved lives.

Anger has kept me from happiness.

I have hurt people.

There are people who hate me.

I have loved the sound of revving engines, blaring music and silence has made me cry.

I like most of me, not all of me.

I plan to die interestingly.

There are more people that love me than I know.

I won’t live forever and when I go, I hope there is a party, not a wake.

 

 

THINGS I ADMIRE ABOUT PEOPLE CLOSEST TO ME

I know some amazing men and women, ladies and gentlemen, guys and gals.  I’m not just friends with them ‘cause they are fun or have a great music collection.  I admire things about them I either wish I had or love having in my life.

 

The things I admire about the men I am friends with:

They are great fathers, especially to their daughters.

They have gone to great lengths to support me, just because we were friends.

They stand by their convictions.

They admit when they have been wrong.

Warped senses of humor.

They have stood by me when I have been wrong.

They are honorable.

I have trusted some of them with my life.

 

 

The things I admire about the women most important to me:

They seem to have an endless capacity to love.

Some have loved me, and I was too blind to see it.

Some have loved me completely.

Many are smarter than me.

Every one of them is beautiful.

Their amazing ability to overcome adversity and keep going.

Tolerance.

Determination.

Wicked senses of humor.

They never gave up on themselves.

 

The best moments in my life, the ones that will pass through my mind in my last moments, will be about others and what I shared with them.

 

The women who have loved me, I admire most for I know I am not easy to love or be in love with.

 

 

MY LITTLE ADVICES:

 

Dream BIG

Live small

Learn to cook a couple amazing dishes you love.

Do small things every day, just for you.

Do small things for those you love in your life.

Sing.

Take a ride in a racecar

Plan for tomorrow and live today.

Never be ashamed of your emotions.

Never let fear stop you from dancing.

Take a flight in a glider.

Give your parent’s a break.  You aren’t as angelic or as right as you think.

Laugh loudly and often.

Many of your dreams will change throughout your life.

Don’t get mired in the past.

Learn to let go.

Love proudly.

I know at times you think you are the only smart person in the world, you aren’t.

But you are likely smarter than you think you are.

Occasionally do something stupid.

Brains aren’t everything, plenty of brilliant people fail.

Hard work is always rewarding, either in success or knowing you gave it your all.

Don’t let anyone define you or limit you.

Try not to overlook the beauty in every day life.

Adventure

Tell those you love, I love you.

Love is love.

Beauty is beauty.

And hate has no place in an intelligent world.

 

P.S. Don’t fall outa bed.

 

YOUR MUSIC SUCKS

Ladies and Gentlemen, David Lee Roth

If you were born after 1977 I feel sorry for you.  It seems, of all the things the internet killed, music is among the most dead.  Yes we know that VHS tapes and bulky stereo systems are also but they were on a life cycle of their own regardless and would go the way of cassettes and 8 tracks but with the advent of streaming and downloading music off the net illegally, the financial base of music seems to be gone.

The other reason I feel sorry for you is that most music today, the music and voice is put through so many filters that they could make Rosanne Barr sound good.  Ok, decent.  Let’s not get stupid.  The good thing is, you can still buy the good music that was played by amazing musicians and amazing actual singers.  Do so.

The reason I say all this is that among many of my Godchildren and adopted kids (most now adults), I hear them rolling up to my house with my generation of music blasting out their car.  I was asked by my nephew if I had ever heard of AC/DC, and one of my adopted kids desperately wants to see Journey in concert and hated Steve Perry for leaving.  A Goddaughter wants to see REO Speedwagon and Journey and Cheap Trick and wishes Phil Collins would tour.

Phil Collins at his best:

For those of you who love music today, don’t freak out, I am not claiming that there is no skill or talent present.  There are very skilled musicians, singers and bands today.  But they won’t likely have the staying power of the previous generation.  And for those who don’t know, I am biased but not blind.  I came of age in the 80s; the last (currently) golden age of music.

My ipod also has Marc Cohn, Alien Ant Farm, Avril (yes), Edwin McCain and Kelly Clarkson and Disturbed as well so I am not totally 80s and before but those represent exceptions.  I like Metallica and they seem to have had the most staying power of the post 80s era.  Dave Mathews was big for a long time and still tours but not like back in the day, but that’s normal.  The idea that I can name these is both a testament to their popularity and rarity.

What’s missing is variety as well as power.

Look at it this way, there are very few recent artists that sell more tickets while touring than the nostalgia bands of the 70s and 80s who’s members are in their 50s, 60s and even 70s.

The undeniable, U2 …

Now I will also admit, some of these bands have few original members, which means the music itself alone is outselling a modern artist performing his or her own music.

For those of you who missed out on Steve Perry

The variety of the 80s was amazing.  In my formidable years I was partially formed to the music of Brian Adams, David Bowie, Journey, Police, Phil Collins (Genesis), Poison, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Crowded House, Talking Heads…

… Cindy Lauper, Madonna, Michael Jackson, U2, Whitney Houston, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Culture Club, Springsteen …

… Def Leppard, Huey Lewis, John Cougar, Rush, ZZ Top…

And we closed out that era with one of the last Mega Bands, GnR.

We also had the bands that came of age in the 70s and either kept on keepin on or modernized like The Stones, Doors, Elton, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Rush, Chicago, Pink Floyd, The Who, Aerosmith and of course, Queen.

If you haven’t seen the movie then at least see the Youtube video of Queen at Live Aid.  This is live, unfiltered true musicians and a singer who was the best front man ever.  I can’t help you if you don’t enjoy this to some degree.  You may also want to see a therapist.

As David Bowie said while waiting, “How the hell am I supposed to follow that?

We too had sprinkles of ‘classic rock’ then such as Buddy Holly …

Where it all started…

The Beach Boys (who I saw live twice, once against President Reagan’s wishes) set my life in motion, The Beatles, The Kinks, Simon and Garfunkle, CCR, Bob Dylan and one of my all time favorites, Roy Orbison.

Oh my summers …

Something happened in the grunge era.  Music variety died.  Music power died.  Anger prevailed and it was exhausting and boring.  The 90s was not an era of rock, it was an era of modern country.  For those that don’t know, the 90s country music wasn’t all about getting drunk.

And the lesser known but amazing …

Music is the soul of the words poorly written that are the narrative of an era.  These bands defined when I fell in love the first time.  The first time I stepped out on my own.  The first time I felt loss to the core of my soul.  And when I truly learned who I was, good and bad.  There is music to every memory for me and some of these are those memories I hear in the sound track here.

And …

and the beautiful sounds of …

Each of the songs above represent a woman of the 80s for me.  Each one taught me, loved me, made love with me and they are each amazing.  I learned from them, I could love and care deeply, I could imagine having a home, and I learned about sex.  Not a bad era.

The list above is impressive and incomplete.  What is not said there is the power of the music of the era.  Music is the era’s narrative.  The music of that era was the backbone of so many of its movies that today are or are becoming classics.  The same music, unless iconic to one movie like Simple Mind’s Don’t You Forget About Me, is continuously being recycled.

Iconic

As mentioned, Simple Minds from The Breakfast Club, Danger Zone from Top Gun, Road House, Dirty Dancing, Ghost, even Young Guns all had hit sound tracks then based on music of the era.

I could also talk about the amazing record sales.  They had to invent new classifications for these bands.  There were albums that debuted double platinum.  There are albums like Van Halen 1984 and 5150, Michael Jackson Thriller, ACDC Back in Black, Springsteen Born in the USA, GnR Appetite for Destruction, Prince Purple Rain, Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet, Def Leppard Hysteria, Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood, U2 Joshua Tree, Madonna Like a Virgin,  Journey Escape, ZZ Top Eliminator, Billy Joel An Innocent Man … all standards today, iconic and monsters still …

Four of those have never left the top 200 list since debut in the 80s or early 90s.  think about that …

THE 80s icon …

I remember when Journey, with Steve Perry came to town.  They were there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  They sold almost a half million seats in one city in one stop.  Then they moved on to the next city to do it all again.  They weren’t the only one.  They invented arena rock.  They invented stadium concert tours.  They invented the tour bus caravan and the tour PLANE.

By the late 80s the hair bands had learned how to dominate and took it as far as it can go.  I respect that.  I learned the limits of racing by exceeding the limits … It takes guts and although we can look back at these..

And wonder if it went too far … no.  It was an age of excess and individualism.  I love these guys.

These bands brought us torn jeans as fashion (its back again), spandex (its back again in the form of leggings), cut off Ts (they never left but some should not indulge, thank you), they made long hair for men fashionable again (I had it) hair gel and aqua net were of the era as well and luckily most of the look is gone, or actually, so much never really was.  Also, the bands of that era have not apologized for the spandex, to my knowledge …

In this era and to this music I did much more than chase women.  I raced.  I didn’t race on a track yet, although that did start in 89, this was the other kind.  The dangerous kind.  I street raced to the anthems of Poison, GnR, Quiet Riot, AC/DC , Boston, Twisted Sister and countless other hard driving bands of the era, I turned up the stereo, spooled up the V8s and threw my life to chance in exchange for adrenalin rarely felt since.  I wrecked a few cars, I rolled one three times, I ran from the cops on more than one occasion, more than ten … and all by turning the stereo up louder…

This song was timed in my racecar to start with the drop of the green flag.  It worked, and still does.

As I write this, I am in a restaurant that is playing almost entirely music from the list above.  The day that Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper was immortalized in Don McLean’s song, American Pie as the day the music died.  It was reborn in the 80s.  It may have died again in the 90s.  But like the rebirth after Buddy Holly died, there will be another, but I do wonder … if I was lucky enough to come of age in the greatest age of music.

I am so lucky to have these and dozens more songs as the soundtrack to the most powerful years of my life.  I loved to some of these songs.  I cried to some.  I almost died to some.  And they are all in my DNA and to the artist who made them, sweated over every chord, every word, every pause in the chorus … to those who first stood in front of a crowd and sang from their heart and soul and hoped their dream would take flight, I love you.

The immortal …

As a final I will ironically symbolize that there is always a chance at rebirth by playing the song that will be played at my funeral, hopefully after something spectacular or heroic but more likely in the middle of the night after eating too many cashews…

My favorite song, ever.  The immortal John Denver.

God I Miss Her

Every man needs a romance … THAT romance …

That romance that scares your mother.

That romance that makes other women a little annoyed but also a little jealous …

She needs the be an attention getter.  She needs to wrap herself around you and remind you you are safe, but also know that she could kill you.  There is only room for one.

You have to be willing to put it all in and expect it all from her.  You have to know that no matter what, no matter how long it takes, if you give it all, you will get it all.

For a time in my life I was the most alive I have ever felt.  I have touched on it since but not like then, not predictable, like when I knew it was about to happen.  Sometimes it didn’t work out but as I got better at it and more prepared, those moments of life made the waiting between all worth it.  All the work and time and effort and scars made those times, those amazing times so worth it.

These times will likely still go down in my life as I get older as some of if not my greatest moments.  When life slowed down.  When everything made sense.  When I was in control.  When even the confusion of it all was beauty in chaos.  I walked towards the heat and the danger.

It excited me.

The heat could be amazing.  Overwhelming.  I didn’t care about the sweat, it was part of the allure.  It personified the power.  It defined those moments.

Sometimes it felt dirty.  It was wet.  It could consume every sensation and every part of my body.  Never before or since have I put so much of my body to use all at once and consumed everything I had.  Sore muscles, thirsty, exhaustion, the overwhelming desire to go faster, longer, harder … GOD IT WAS LIFE.

After a while I added music to it.  Not just any music, power driving music.  you know, THAT music …

When i did …

it ALL came together …

like nothing before or since…

Then, only on occasions … but then … it was perfection.

The noise, the motion, the power all dominated all my senses.  There was room for nothing else.

No one else.

It could be so overwhelming sometimes it could even bring me to tears.  When done, there was nothing left but that feeling that something amazing just happened and the world had changed a little.

Afterwards …

Afterwards I would strut.

God I miss racing…

USELESS TRIVIA

Those who know me know I love little bits of useless information, trivia.  I study speeches and helped write them (retired) and I love quotes.  So here is where this post comes in.  So much of our simple meaningless knowledge is likely wrong and some I know is wrong.

Much of this will not be new.  I didn’t spend hours researching each of these, they are anecdotal information drawn from all over and as I go through life.  Many are related to my work or other projects I have researched and written.  This is for fun but also I try to be accurate.

For example: Trivia comes from the meeting of roads, where nearby towns would post information deemed interesting or needed for people to read as they pass.

For those who return, this is a living document.  I’ll add to the list at the top.

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….

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Martin Van Buren was the first President actually born in the United States.  All previous Presidents were born in what would become the US.

In related news, the Constitution states that President must be a Natural Born citizen of the United States.

Also in related news, the Constitution was adopted in 1787.

Also, also in related news, George Washington became President in 1789.

In related news, George Washington was the 15th man to hold the title of President.  There are 14 men who served in that title before the Constitution.  Articles of Confederation ratified 1781-1789.  This was the document that officially named the new nations, United States of America.  There was a clause that permitted Quebec to join if they chose to, without a vote.  It did not empower taxation even though taxation already existed and funded the revolution.

Sam Huntington was the first President under the Articles of Confederation which was the first document to name the new nation the USA, he was the first president of the USA.

Peyton Randolph was the first President under Continental Congress, 4 more followed.

George was the first Constitutional President.

Spuddle means working hard at looking busy but not working.

OJ didn’t publish a book called “I Didn’t Do It, But if I did, Here is how I’d Do It’.  That was a skit by Chris Rock in 1999.  OJ did publish, ‘If I did it.’  Confessions of the Killer.’

National Comics #18 depicted Uncle Sam defending Pearl Harbor from air attack.  It was released November 1941.

We all know of the presidential election where a young hotshot charismatic democratic presidential candidate defeated an uncomfortable not quite conservative enough Republican candidate senator who lost.  This was season 7 of the West Wong, not Kennedy/Nixon.

Bruce Lee once stared in a movie where an actor was killed accidentally by a prop gun while filming a movie.  His son died the same way.

There are more statues of lions than actual lions.

The US national Anthem has 4 verses.

The Peanut Gallery originated to mean the cheapest segregated seats in a theater where peanuts were sold as concessions.  Uppity refers to a minority but usually a black who is dressed or acting above their the social station the person using the term thinks is acceptable.  Hooligan is a derogative term for Irish.  To be sold down the river means to sell an unruly (uppity) slave cutting his losses to get rid of the problem.  In Eeenie Meenie Miney Moe, the tiger refers to a slave.  Now listen to the diddy again.  Eskimo refers to raw meat eaters.  Off the reservation refers to an Indian that left their assigned reservation and went illegally rogue.  (not sure there is legally rogue) A grandfather clause refers to one of the many ways of limiting black voters by requiring the voter’s grandfather to have been a land holder in order to have the right to vote.  This law was still in place in the south as recently as the 80s.  1980s.  Ghetto is a term originated to describe the segregated Jewish areas of Venice.  the term ‘inner city’ especially in the 50s-prsetn is a colloquial term to mean “black section of town.”  Indian giver is a term meant to mean the tradition of Indians always giving something back when given any gift or deal that white people didn’t understand and interpreted it as cheap or manipulative.

As more evidence of the 80s rock scene being the best music era ever, here is a list of additional and today largely unknown 1 hit wonders: Dead or Alive, Big Country, Georgia Satellites, Bruce Willis, Madness, Stacey Lipps Inc. Bow Wow Wow, Nena Cherry, Timbuk 3, Tom Tom Club, Kajagoogoo, Thomas Dolby, The Waitresses, Wall of Voodoo, Don Johnson, Boomtown Rats, Peter Schilling, Harold Faltermier, Frank Stallone (yes his brother), Midnight Oil, Haircut 100, Aldo Noava, XTC, Nu Shooz, Pretty Poison, Yello, Robbie Nevil, Mathew Wilder, John Parr and Soft Cell.  More to come later.

‘Take That’ was a British band in the 90s that sold more albums in UK history than any other band than Beetles.

In related news, I haven’t heard of them either.

Yes, General Lee held slaves.  He inherited them from his wife’s father and fought to keep them in slavery even though his father-in-law wanted them freed.

Chloroform and Ether were both readily available and used in the Civil War for surgery.  the operating without anesthesia is a myth.

Yes the Confederacy drafted solders, many of them.  Legislation was passed to conscript 18-35yo males then expanded 17-50 much like Nazi Germany late in their war.

If you had at least 20 slaves you were exempt from service.

Yes the war was about slavery although Lincoln winning the election without carrying any southern state was a big force.  There were 5 presidential candidates.

In Related News, there was no legislation passed or proposed to eliminate slavery prior to the war.

Coconut milk is called endosperm when it initially forms in the coconut.  When it starts to crust around the edges it separates the solids form the fluid which is called coconut milk.

In related news that is not as dirty as it sounds.  I think.

The same man invented MnMs, Peanut MnMs, Uncle Bens Rice and Pedigree pet food.  He was also allergic to peanuts.

Here is a partial list of sports or teams that have been known to have been fixed.  This isn’t cheating in the traditional sense.  The many New England Patriots cheats, football, filming practices, deflategate etc, 1919 Chicago White Socks, in the NCAA ASU and also BC basketball.  FIFA world cup, at least 2 times, Snooker at least 2 times, FIFA season game times 7, Badminton, F1 racing, Cricket at least 4 times, Cricket at least 4 times, NBA, Handball, Olympic Boxing, American boxing at every level and any match connected to Don King, Farts, Tennis at least twice and best yet, the Togo Futbol team was entirety fake.

Anyone named Isabella can have free access to the Gardner Museum in Philly.

In related news the 13 pieces of art that were stolen from that museum are today worth over $600,000,000 (2024) and have never been found.  It is the biggest art heist outside of war in history.  No one knows who did it.

The most valuable of the stolen pieces is a Vermeer worth $250,000,000.

Most animals see orange as green which is why Hunter’s Orange works so well, as well as why tigers are successful hunters but unsuccessful prey.

We all know bulls cannot actually see red but chickens do and they HATE it.  They are aggressive towards it.

Pecking order is a reference to how the alpha (yes they do exist) enforces HER power.

NASA vehicle assembly plant 1 is the tallest single story building in the world and can have rain clouds form in the ceiling and rain inside.

In a research project, Magpies removed radio tracking packs off one another and foiled the experiment.

A family with successively fewer children in each generation is called a receding heirline.

Quanked means to be overcome with fatigue.

Spell Check doesn’t know that.

Stars who became long serving inmates … Sug Knight is serving 28 years, manslaughter.  Danny Masterson is serving 30 years for 2 counts of rape. R Kelly is serving 20 years.  Phil Spector was sentenced to 19 but died in prison.  Joe Son from Austin Powers is serving life.  Jaron Fogle is serving 15 years.  Michael Jace famous for portraying Michael Jordan in the movie is serving 40 years for murder.  Shannon Richardson is serving 23 years for poisoning and framing her husband for it.  Josh Duggar could be considered famous if you sit on the sofa a lot, he is serving 12.5 years.   Ryan Grantham is serving life.  Todd and Julie Chrisely are serving 12ish years.  Roy Estrada who founded Little Feat is serving 25 years for lewd acts against minors. War Machine (martial arts not Iron man) is serving life.  Pete McNeal who played drums for Nora Jones is serving life for sexual assault on a 3 year old.

Cease To Exist was recorded by the Beach Boys and put on the B side of the single Bluebird over the Mountains.  Cease to Exist later renamed Never Learn not to Love was written by Charles Mason.

It takes 2,177,988,019 MnMs to fill a C5 Galaxy plane.

The Earth is shrunk to the size of a billiard ball would be smoother than a billiard ball.

The statue of Unity in India is the tallest statue in the world, 4x taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Yes, KFC is actual real chicken.  McDonalds does use real eggs.  Yes Taco Bell uses human consumption grade beef.  Fast food salads are usually less healthy than the burgers you are avoiding.

Pounds abbreviated is Lbs because Libra Pondo means Pounds by weight.

Some animals including dogs are autistic.

Hello as a greeting came about with the telephone.  The word did previously exist but as an expression of shock.

The High Five is a new expression and only entered the dictionary in 1980.

Diamonds do burn.

Mole Rats are cancer resistant.  Mall Rats are not.

Liquid can levitate above a surface that is much hitter than the liquid’s boiling point.

Spielberg hired Robin WIlliams during the filming of Schindler’s List to help lighten the moods of staff and actors during heavy filming.

Lava is a solid.

In spite of wrongly assigned jokes, France has won the most battles known history with 1,150.  UK is next with 1,005 and the US has 833.

In related news, the US is the most warning nation in the last 250 years.

Also in related news, the reputation France has should belong to Italy.

Opiorphin is 6x more powerful than morphine but completely non-addictive because it is sourced from human saliva.

7% of Bermuda is golf courses.

In related news, 96% of UFO sightings are in the US.

There are 85 nations with US military presence.

In somewhat related news, there are only 22 nations that have not been invaded by Britian.

Bangladesh has greater population than Russia.

Japan is further North, South, East and West than Korea.

A Cameleon that cannot change its colors has reptile dysfunction.

Orvil Wright was piloting the plane when the first airline passenger fatality occurred.

Bir Tawil is a piece of land between Egypt and Sudan that is not claimed by any nation or tribe and has zero population.

Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussel sprouts, savoy, cabbage, kohlrabi and Gai Lan are all parts of the same plant selectively bred to enhance different.

More planes were destroyed in WWII than currently exist today.

A tosher, as referenced by the not very British Don Cheatle in Ocean’s 11, was someone who scavenged sewers looking for valuables.

In related news, they made a good living.

Hired mourners are a real thing.  For many years there have been people who can be hired to mourn the deceased to make them seem missed by more.

Cherries can be damaged by water so they are dried from rain on the vine, by using helicopters.  In related news, they are expensive.

Gruntled is a word. It means pleased or satisfied.

In related news, spellcheck doesn’t know that.

If you spell ‘Absolutely Nothing’ backwards you get gnihton yletulosba which ironically means absolutely nothing.

Yesterday Island and Tomorrow Island are only a few miles apart.  Yesterday Island is American and Tomorrow Island is Russian.  The Internatinal date line and 23 hours is between them.

In related news, you can walk from Russia to the US in an hour, in the winter.

El Paso is closer to LA than the East edge of Texas.

Almost all of South America is East of Florida.

Maine is closer to Africa than Florida is.

Spuddle means to work hard at hardly working.

If you bite it and you die, it is poisonous.  If it bites you and you die, it is venomous.  If it bites you and it dies, you are poisonous.  If it bites itself and you die, it is voodoo.  If it bites you and someone else dies it is correlation.  If you bite each other and no one dies it is kinky.

Of all the cutlery, forks are the tiniest.

If you dissolve a spring in acid and take the temperature of the acid, that temperature will be somewhat above ambient temperature.  If you dissolve the same spring in the same acid in the same setting but that spring is compressed, the temperature of the acid would be higher than not compressed.

The actual name of Mexico is The United Mexican States.

Sonoran Desert toads are going extinct due to people licking them.

Stop licking them.

Zeus is equivalent to Jupiter as named by the Greeks and Romans respectively.  Jupiter’s 4 major moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are named after Zeus’ lovers.  Nasa is sending a probe to Jupiter and its moons to check them out.  The probe is named Juno, which is Zeus’s wife’s name.  Tell me Nasa ain’t got a sense of humor.

In related news, ain’t is actually a word.

Also in related news, spell check doesn’t know that.

The word explosion comes from the meaning to clap loudly in order to expel.  It comes from an audience clapping so loudly the performer cannot perform and thus leaves the stage.  The term is to explode.

Ohio has produced 25 astronauts and the first two pilots of powered controlled flight.

In a book published 14 years before the Titanic sank, an 800-foot-long ship called Titan struck an iceberg 400 miles off Newfoundland and sank.

There are still, as of this writing (Jan 2024) about 85,000 operational pay phones in the US.  The minimum number of calls for the phone to remain operational is 3 calls a day on average.

*Removed because it was too silly to keep here.

‘Be there or be square’ is not an 80s term but originated in the 1940s jazz scene where it simply meant to be there (The jazz club) is to be unconventional.

Ore-Ida brand potatoes uses potatoes from Oregon and Idaho.

In equal time you get more radiation exposure in Grand Central station than a nuclear reactor control room.

The electrons that make up the internet weigh collectively about as much a chicken egg.

Remove the space between all the atoms of mankind and all of us would fit in a dice, if a dice were hollow.

Contamination can flow up stream.

South Keora never signed the armistice and there is no peace treaty between North and South Korea, so a state of war still exists between them.

A dingo really did take and eat her baby.

The (Dixie) Chicks were right (the war was unwarranted and thus a war crime).

Dominique Moceanu was right. (sex abuse scandal in US gymnastics)

Hans Blix (UN Inspector) was right..

Welcome To the Jungle was the first single off of Guns and Roses premier album Appetite for Destruction.

In related news, Paradise City was next and Sweet Child of Mine was third.  All off of their first album.

Also in related news, WOW.

Sign language is the least spoken language.  (think about it)

Dr Seuss and his wife pretended to have a daughter for the purpose of parties to give them something to talk about with friends who were parents.  He name is Chrysanthemum-Pearl.  She had a whole back story of school, activities and friends.

In related news in more ways than one, he invented the word nerd.

The US has more than one gun per person at 1.2 guns per person in the US.  That equates to 393,000,000 guns.

In related news, that make the average gun owner in the US own 3 guns.

Also in related news, the most frequently sited reason for gun ownership is protection from those with guns.

Also, also in related news, the three most likely persons to get killed by a private gun is the owner of that gun, the spouse of that gun owner or one of the children of the gun owner.

As an example of circular logic, Gun owners often site home protection as a reason for gun ownership but as most gun owners report they keep the gun(s) safely locked away somehow and may even tell you they keep the ammunition and gun separate.  Yet, the most likely persons to get short as sited above, are the gun owner or their family.  When asked who they feel they actually need to protect themselves from, the most common answer is a criminal with a gun.

It is a myth that the Civil War was not fought over slavery.  Many of the states listed it directly or referenced it with ‘way of life’ comments in their documents to leave the union.

The northern reasons for the war was preservation of the unions and the abolition of slavery was only a stated objective by the government when the war was over a year old.

In Queensland Australia it is illegal to own a rabbit unless you are a magician.

No one knows why Oscars are called Oscar.

In related news, no one cares.

There is a real thing called the LA Effect.  It is the perception by those in the LA area that those outside the LA area have great interest in what goes on in the LA Area.

The movie Purple Rain was the last winner of the Oscar category, Best Musical.

George C Sott and Marlon Brando refused the Oscars they won.

To date, only 7 women have been nominated for best director.

In related news, to date (Jan 2024) there has only been one female winner of best director in 81 years.  Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker.  Ironically, those I know who were there said the movie was woefully inaccurate, BUT it is Hollywood, not history.

In 1940, the LA Times published the list of winners before the event occurred.

La La Land was announced as the best picture by mistake, when the wrong envelope was given to the presenters.

That was not the first time that event happened.  A few decades before the same thing happened but that time, the envelope was for a movie that was not even nominated which makes no sense at all.

In related news, neither do the Oscars.

All the gold ever manned by man would only fill three Olympic size pools.   That is among the gold in the earth which is estimated at enough gold to cover the earth 1.5 feet thick.

At the equator, the earth is moving at about 25,000mph.  Near the poles the earth is hardly moving.

A night soil depository is a field where human waste was deposited.

In the southern US, any town named Lincoln is very unlikely named for the former President.  Much more likely the town is named after Banjamin Lincoln, as Revolutionary War General who was from the south.

Genetics determine if brussel sprouts taste bitter.

Ha highjacker named Glenn Tripp (ironically) demanded $600,000 but after 10 hours of negotiations, he settled for 3 cheeseburgers and a ‘head start’.

Tome Brady never took a snap, in his career, where the team he was on was out of the playoffs.

In what was one of the worst QB performances ever, Kendall Hinton went 1 of 9 for 3 yards and 2 interceptions.  So he had more completions to the other team than his own.  In his defense, he was a wide receiver and the 5th string QB on the team.

In related news, the first 4 QBs attempted to cheat the covid protocols and got put in isolation for their efforts.  The NFL refused to delay the game since the QBs were cheating the system.

Wigwam Weavers in Denver invented the coffee break during WWII to increase moral over hard work.  They found it increased productivity.

Alaska’s population density is the same as 30 people living in Manhattan. That seems high.

Rongorongo are glyphs found on Easter Island.  They are thought to be a language and if they are, it is one of the only independently developed languages in the world.

In the run up to WWII there was a movement to remove Jewish physicists from German physics. In some cases, the names for work were removed or changed.  In others the entire lines of thought were discarded.

Time dilation is the term that references that time is mailable according to velocity.  Once the dark catches up, time stops, at least in theory.

The oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world opened in 1732, called Livraria Bertrand in Portugal.

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is the most stolen painting in history.

In related news you should look it up, not because it is amazing but because it will offset some of your OTHER search history.

During the Apollo 15 mission, James Irwin had a mild heart attack. No one else on the crew was notified until the mission was over.

In related news, luckily what he needed was oxygen and monitoring which he got from his suit.

North Korea never actually hacked Sony.  It was in inside job.

Mars isn’t actually red.  It is butterscotch but appears red because of our own atmosphere.

In related news, there never has been a red phone to Moscow in the President’s office.

Napolean didn’t knock the nose off the Sphinx with artillery.  It was missing long before he got there.

In related news, it may have been due to a cold.

Most western cities had more stringent gun laws in the old west days than now.

Disney changed the name of the movie Moana to Oceana when they released it in Italy, Moana is the name of the most famous porn star in Italy.

In related news, looking her up would offset the search you did before.

Kim iL Sung still rules North Korea even though he died in 1994.  He will always be the ruler and all after him are stand-ins for his wishes.

One company profits from the making of the penny, Jarden Zinc Products.

They have VERY powerful lobbyists.

Military grade only means minimally qualified for use, not durable or even strong.  It is the LOWEST grade acceptable, like ‘genuine leather’.

Things we do not understand yet:

What yawns are and why they are contagious.

How bicycles stay standing.

Moth’s attraction to lights.

Intuition.

What intelligence is.

How homing pigeons, home.

Hangovers.

Most of the brain.

Sam Kinison was a Pentecostal preacher before he became a comedian.

Tim Allen was a drug trafficker.

In related news many people in the Detroit area watched Home Improvement and thought, ‘Thats my dealer!”

Frank Wilson caught Al Capone not Elliot Ness. None of the charges Ness brought were successful.  All of the ones Frank Wilson did, did.

The fastest a man-made object has ever traveled is not even .5% of speed of light.

In related news, it would take 8,600 years to travel to the nearest star outside our solar system at our current technology.

There is a species of earthworm that grows to be 12 feet long and weight over 1lb.

Bird nest soup is a real thing.  Swiftlet birds make their nests out of saliva and is dissolved in water and … SOUP!

English muffins aren’t English or muffins.  They were invented in New York City and as actually think crumpets.

Hard taco shells were made popular by Taco Bell.

Most wasabi in the US is Horse Radish with green food dye.  Real wasabi is very expensive.

Pistachios can spontaneously combust which is why they are generally packaged in smaller bags.

In related news, most tree nuts, grains and hay can also spontaneously combust.

Pirates had workman’s comp.

Pizza Hut used to be SO healthy, they were the US’s largest buyer of kale.

In related news they used it to cover the ice on their salad bars.

Also in related news, no one knows who actually invented the salad bar.

Black and green olives are the same olive harvested at different times.

There were satellites in the 1800s.

Target, the store, as a top-grade criminal forensics lab that is rated for legal evidence.  It is often provided for law enforcement who cannot afford their own.

In 1986 Kenny Roger released the song, ‘You’re My Love’.  It was written by Prince.

In related news Prince wrote other songs made famous by other performers such as:

Manic Monday   The Bangles.

Stand Back   Stevie Nicks

Nothing Compares to You   Sinead O’connor

Nasty Girl   Vanity 6 (this is the song playing in the strip club scene if Beverly Hills Cop)

Glamorous Life   Sheila E

Love thy Will be Done   Martika

Sugar Walls   Sheena Easton

You Don’t Call me Anymore   Alicia Keys

Love Song   Madonna

As well as every song performed in the movie Purple Rain, no matter which band.

In related news, Jennifer Beals of Flashdance fame was supposed to be Prince’s love interest in Purple Rain, by his request.

In the theme of actors and music, we can go the other and less common way, actors who have produced commercial music, some of them are as follows:

Eddie Murphy is a one hit wonder from the 80s with Party All the Time.

Bruce Willis also put out a sing in the 80s and made it to #5 on the charts.

Kevin Kostner, Kevin Bacon, Billy Bob Thornton, Zooey Daschanel , Jeremy Leto Keanu Reeves, and Scarlet Johansen have all released albums and, in some cases, toured extensively.

Jamie Foxx is a Grammy Winner.

Gary Sinease has taken a lifelong passion for music and turned it into a passion for veterans after his time filming Forest Gump.  His band has done over 300 USO shows or charity events for veterans.

Johnny Depp has messed around with music.

Jared Leto is kinda a combination since it is unclear if he is an actor or musician first, both having an Oscar and leading 30 Seconds to Mars that has 5 top 10 hits.

Ryan Gossling, Russell Crowe, Dennis Quaid, Michael Cera, Jason Schwartsman, John Corbett, Tim Robbins and craig Robinson have all had albums or toured with bands.

Jack Black of School of Rock fame and much more, has two top 10 albums to his credit.

Hugh Laurie of all people have two albums.

Jeff Bridges, the Dude himself, has three albums!

Last nit not least, Steve Martin has albums, a band, has sat in on other’s albums, been featured in top venues and has three Grammys.

Not to be outdone by Prince, other singers have crossed over into acting, and many with more success than Prince although he did have a top rated movie which most others have not.

Other singers who have acted with various degrees of success include Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristopherson, Elvis, Bing Crosby, Will Smith (yes he was first a singer DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince), Ice T, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Mandy Moore, Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch), Donnie Wahlberg (New Kids on the Block long before he was an actor but after he was a kid), Queen Latifa, Cher, Barbara Streisand.  Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Harry Styles, Meatloaf, Madonna, Harry Connick Jr, Dean Martin, Tim McGraw, Snoop Dog and many more have wandered across the silver screen, usually portraying singers in films and usually not cast for their acting ability.

The Dutch lived in New Amsterdam, but most of New England were … English.  The English then and largely now do not like the Dutch.  The two most common Dutch names for men were Keys and Jan.  These were combined by the British to be a general term for the population of New Amsterdam, Jankeys.  And that is there the term New York Yankees came from.

In 2023 the Denver Broncos were involved in two games with final scores that had never occurred in the NFL before, 70-20 and 29-12.

In related news, a 6-1 score is possible in the NFL.  This would require a flubbed point after or 2 point attempt, the attempting team taking possession of the ball and being tackled in their own endzone for one point.

The largest private home in the US is the Biltmore Estate at 175,000 square feet.

In related news it started out (on paper) as a 6,500 square foot home.

Also, in related news there are approximately 65-68 fireplaces in the residence. I say approximately because numbers vary.

Although you will not find this in the tour, The Biltmore almost bankrupt George Vanderbilt.

In related news to that, George was worth less than $1,000,000 at his death and bequest more money to family and employees than he had left.

62 paintings and 17 sculptures from the National Gallery of Art were hidden in the music room at Biltmore during WWII, under guard.

George and his wife Edith were booked on the Titanic but were homesick, so they took an earlier ship, the Olympic.

In related news you could say Biltmore saved their lives, or at least his.

In 2023 you will have to make $539,900 in income as a single person to reach the maximum tax bracket.

XXY persons occur in about 1 in 600 births.

The Tibetan Mastiff is considered the most expensive breed of dog in the world.

Martial Eagle has the largest wingspan at 8.5 feet.

In related news, the sound of the bald eagle you hear in movies and commercials, is actually the sound of a hawk.

In related to that news, the bald eagle has the third largest wingspan at 8.2 feet.

Johnny Cash never served time in prison, much less Folsom Prison.  The mug shot was done for promotional purposes.

Polygamy is usually connected to the Mormon Church by Americans, but it is part of many religions.  The Bible refers to polygamy in reference to Jacob, Esau, David and Solomon.  The issue people have with Mormon polygamy is that it is modern, and we have progressed beyond that.

In related news, the mainstream Mormon Church condemns polygamy.

In spite of being founded in the same town and same year, Hershey Ice Cream and Hershey Candy are not related, nor are their founders.

Compressing coal for a long time, makes two things.  Coal dust and a waste of time.

The fastest runner can run faster than the fastest car.

Hard Rock Cafe is entirely owned by the Seminole Tribe since 2007.  That means the Seminole Nation is the owner of the largest rock memorabilia collection in the world.

In related news, look up the legal battle between The Hard Rock Cafe and the Hard Rock Cafe in Empire Colorado.

Joan Cusack is cast in many of John Cusack’s movies but she herself has two Oscar nominations and John has none.

Many knights never swore an allegiance to a king or nation but would hire out their services.  These knights were known as ‘Free Lances’.

In somewhat related news, Minnie Driver released an album in 2014 with three singles released.

In 2015 no one summited Mt Everest.

In related news, this was largely because there was an earthquake that triggered several avalanches one of which hit base camp and killed 24 people.  In Everest like news, only 19 bodies were recovered.

These 24 deaths are among 332 deaths that had occurred by the time of writing.  Of those 332, 44 are listed as recovered or buried (deliberately by man) on the mountain.  At least 5 are located but not been recovered, one being stepped over by every climber so summit.  Two are listed as have been moved, but not recovered and one is listed as ‘likely recovered’.

In related news, I have no idea what that means either.

Talladega in 1987 was the last non-restrictor plate race at Talladega or Daytona in NASCAR until the fuel injection era.

Nothing starts with an N and ends with a G.

The artificial sweetener Saccharin is derived from coal tar.

Charlie Sheen, Nicole Kidman, Emelio Estevez, Robert Downey Jr, Rob Lowe, Sean Penn, Chris Penn and Naomi Watts all went to high school classes together.

The entire film, Blair Witch Project had no written dialog.

The Outsiders may be the greatest springboard move of all time.  The 7 male and 1 female lead combined for only 40 acting credits before filming The Outsiders.  C Thomas Howell had only 1 and Tom Cruise (yes he was in it and spoke) had only 3.  Combined, the 8 primary cast members today (7/28/23) have 674 acting credits.

In related news, among that powerhouse of names and revenues to follow, C Thomas Howell has the most acting credits at 218, by the same date.

Spaghetto is a single strand of Spaghetti.

Scalawag is a southern term for a politician who took advantage of post-Civil War economics for personal profit.

In related news, Carpet Baggers were northerners who went south to do the same.

The KKK was formed by conservative Democrats who felt disenfranchised after the war.

Democrats in congress opposed going to war.

Lee’s Army was the Army of Northern Virginia whose flag was what we know today as the confederate pattern in the upper corner of a white flag.  The white portion was eliminated as it looked too much like a surrender flag and the remaining pattern was retained.

As the leader of the Confederate Army, Lee’s flag became symbolic of the Confederate Army.

It was never universal or even common during the war, gaining most of its popularity after the war as a symbol of Confederate Veterans, then often carried on by their sons.

In the middle of the 20th Century, it became a symbol of Dixiecrats (Southern Democrats) who supported segregation and denial of universal rights such as voting.

No, blacks did not fight in the Confederate Army.  In reality blacks were forbidden to fight in the Southern Army until only three weeks before surrender.  There is no evidence anyone volunteered in those three weeks.

There is also no evidence that any blacks were forced into combat roles but were used in supporting roles such as cooks and wagon drivers.

The south seceded from the union based on slavery.  Most southern state’s declarations of war stated it specifically as one of or the cause to go to war.

In related news, South Carolina and Mississippi named it directly as why they would go to war.

Post Civil War America was universally a pretty bad place to live for blacks, even after the end of slavery.  Even northern cities had dramatic restrictions on blacks including red lining, loan denial, refusal of business licenses, segregation.

Red lining and loan denial was still common in the 1970s.

Sunset towns were towns where blacks could work but were not allowed to live so they literally had to be out of town by sundown.

Kentucky was neutral in the Civil War.

West Virginia broke away from Virginia over slavery.

Dianne is a shortened name from Dianthe. (not sure how it is shorter)

In related name news, B Traven wrote Treasure of the Sierra Madre yet no one knows who he was.

According to L Ron Hubbard heaven looks a lot like Pasadena.

He also wrote that the human jawbone evolved from the hinge of clam.

Mr. Hubbard also reports that if you describe to a human how a clam died, his or her jaw is likely to quiver, he or she experience jaw pain or even have their jaw lock.

There is no word on what happens when a man or woman eats clams, other than the frequent desire for dipping sauces.

In related news, white wine dipping sauce is the most popular for clams.

Eratosthenes fairly accurately calculated the circumference of the earth in about 200BC.

Because math is hard and his brother had not stolen the right maps, Columbus thought it was about 2,800 miles from the west coast of Africa to India.  He was only off by 9,500 miles.

In the Roman empire it was illegal for a citizen to own a map of the world.  This would partially be that the world had not been mapped so any map would be fictional and a guess but even a map of the known world, would be so rare and valuable that for a citizen to own it, it would have had to have been stolen.

By 1,300CE maps were subject of espionage as trade routes were so valuable for national economies that stealing them was a death penalty offense.

When the Portuguese ships sailed to India, they were followed by war ships with orders to sink any ship attempting to follow them and kill any survivors.

There is no evidence that Marco Polo traveled anywhere other than to a library.  His writings reported already recorded information about China as there had already been many travelers to China by his time.  His books reflect known information and very wrong information that he would have known was wrong, had he been there.  There are also many records of other European travelers that went there in Chinese records but none of Polo even though he claimed to meet with leaders.

John Mandeville’s travel works have been not only considered non-fiction but as references for explorers.  There is no evidence he made most of the journey’s he wrote about and the contents if largely fiction is not fantasy.

Pike never climbed Pike’s Peak and instead named it Grand Peak.  The public referred to it as Pike’s Grand Peak but map makers shortened it to Pikes Peak.  There is no apostrophe because the Board of Geographic Names (yes there is one) prohibits possessives.  Thus, it had become known as Pikes Peak.

In related news, the Ute Indians called it Sun Mountain.

Since Pike never climbed it, who was the first white person to do so?  James Edmund of course.

Cathedral Nueva is a Spanish cathedral that is 100s of years old but has a space man in a space suit carved into the stonework.

In related news, it was added in 1992.

Polonium is named for Poland, Marie Curies home nation.

Puffer fish should be called pumped fish, since they fill with water not air.

In related news, they are not trying to PUMP YOU UP.

You bite up.

Blue eyes and red hair is the least common combination.

Tide Pod eating was a media event far more than a real event.  It did happen, a few times.

A woman’s water breaking is not usually a first sign of going into labor.

The 1981 movie ‘Take This Job and Shove It’ is the debut of Bigfoot.  (the truck not the creature)

1982 saw the first Monster Truck show.  It stared Bigfoot (the truck not the creature) and sold 70,000 tickets.

Most burglaries happen during the daytime while people are at work.

Incorrectly is spelled incorrectly in old dictionaries.

Rules of combat stated that a ship at sea may fly any flag at any time but must fly their real flag, before firing, thus showing their true colors.

In related news, Cindy Lauper wasn’t singing about ships.

If your birthday is October 20, then you share a date with a gallon of milk that has been in the fridge at MIT’s Random Hall that has been there since about 1994.

The stripes on the end of runways not only mark the end of the runway but also indicate the width.  6 stripes = 75 feet wide.  8 = 100.  12 = 150.  16 = 200.

Runways usually are aligned with prevailing winds for the area and when there is room, an off-angle option.

Runway numbers are the first 2 digits of their compass heading with a suffix sometimes of L,C,or R if there are parallel runways. In related news, the numbers are all 63 feet tall.

Runway length is about the planes planned to use them and elevation.  Higher elevation runways will be longer for the same planes to use.  The longest runway is 18,000 feet long at an elevation of 14,000 feet.  (closed now)

Professional athletes often have similar birthdays, which placed them as the older in their grades and thus a slight developmental advantage over their peers and thus more advantage in access to playtime and coaching.

Although the location of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan is not known, their plight is well understood and not a mystery.

Although the location of Jimmy Hoffa is unknown, his plight is easily understood and not a mystery.

There are only two real possibilities for the Roanoke Colony, either they moved inland on their own and died away or integrated into the native cultures and migrated away.  That is the only mystery and not a very big one.

There are only two real possible outcomes for DB (Dan) Cooper.  Either he died in the jump or he survived the jump but lost his money in the process.  The first is far more likely.

Glenn Miller’s plight is well understood except what put them into the English Channel.

Similarly, it is easy to know what happened to Frederick Valentich, just not where into the ocean he crashed when he ran out of fuel.

Same with JFK Jr’s plight.

The same for Flight 19, only the location they crashed when the first plane ran out of fuel is unknown.

Chloroform and ether were readily available on both sides of the line throughout the civil war.  Surgery without was almost unheard of.

No one was impregnated by a bullet passing through a scrotum and then entering a uterus.  It was a joke article and was identified as so.

In related news it is also impossible.

39 of the 50 deadliest mass shootings in US history, have happened since 1999.  Texas leads with 5 of them, Virginia and Colorado have 4 but Colorado is rising with a bullet and Florida has 3 of them.

In France (that is usually a clue it will be interesting) if you have sex with a non-spouse while on a business trip, and die during said sex act, it is legally classified as an industrial accident and the spouse must be compensated.

No credible research has shown that mega dosing on vitamin C when you feel a cold coming on will help prevent that cold from setting in.

Warts are not contagious.

Drinking too much water is not as dangerous as too little water but either extreme is deadly.

GE Televisions in the 1960s radiated a bit too much radiation and they were not safe to watch very close to them.  They were recalled.  After 1968 there was never this problem again and sitting too close to a TV was just annoying, not dangerous.

Goldfish actually have good memories.

1/3 of all births in the US are by C Section.

81% of all murders in the US during 2021 used a firearm.

Psithurism is the sound of rustling leaves you hear n the woods.

Phosphenes are the sparks and squiggles you see when you rub your eyes.

An eccedrntesiast is someone faking a smile.

Griffonage is illegible writing.

Lant is stale urine used for tanning leather or making the taste of beer stronger.

The 4th of July is the deadliest of holidays.  Along with approximately 1,500 ER admits for fireworks injuries, sparklers being the cause for most injuries, the 4th has become the deadliest day for firearms deaths with 180 deaths on that day in 2021.

In related news, it has also become one of the most common days for mass shooter events.

In related to that news, there are less drunk driving deaths on the 4th, (or early 5th) than gunshot deaths even though there are almost as many drunk driving deaths related to the 4th, as New Years.

July 4th and 5th have become the most prolific two-day span for mass shootings.

4th of July is also Independence Day for Rwanda.

It is also the Independence Day for the Philippines, ironically from the US.

Many know John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4th 50 years after the historic day, but James Monroe also died on the 4th of July but not that same year.

This means, the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Presidents all died on the 4th of July.

It is sometimes told that Markie Post from Night Court was the singer on Meatloaf’s ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’, but that is relatedly wrong.  Markie replaced Ellen Foley on Night Court and it was Ellen that sang the female part on Paradise by Meatloaf.

In related news, Harry Anderson was a magician that had appeared on Saturday Night Live before appearing on Cheers as a con artist and magician which led to a starring role in Night court while still appearing as a sometimes character on Cheers.

Also in related news, it is sometimes rumored that Norm was supposed to be an occasional character, but he was on the opening credits in the first season, so he was intended to be an every episode character.

The NORM that was cried out by the staff when he entered, was actually started by the studio audience.

However, Cliff and Frasier were supposed to be occasional, and became fan favorites.

George W Bush’s Secret service code name was tumbler due to his issues falling down while drinking.  Eventually they changed his name to Trailblazer.

In related news no one is aware of what trail he blazed or where he got the pot.

Obama’s Secret Service code name was Renegade.

Carter was Deacon.

Melania’s Secret Service name was Muse.

Traditionally Secret Service code names of family members start with the same letter.

The greatest attendance for a concert was Metallica in Moscow in 1991, 1.6 million attendees.

The song ‘Yesterday’ is the most covered song in history with over 1,600 recorded covers.  It is estimated that the song was played and performed over 7,000,000 times in the 20th century.

In related news, it was written by McCarthy and Lennon and Lennon didn’t like it but took much credit for it.

The most redone movie in history is Dracula with 61 remakes.

Second is a Christmas Carol with 22.

Distant third is Three Musketeers with 8.

Oddly enough, Brewsters Millions has had 7!

Pattie Boyd was married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton, although not at the same time.  During her tenure as their lives, they penned and recorded a total of 11 songs about her including ‘Wonderful Tonight’, ‘If I Need Someone’, ‘For you Blue’ and ‘Layla.’

Although states differ in definition there are approximately 350 stranger abductions per year, of people under the age of 18.

In related news, most stranger abductors are unemployed males with few social ties.

The number of abductions in general have gone down dramatically from 1984 to 2010, with 680,000 and 200,000 respectively spanning the introduction of the internet.

There are subtypes of abductions such as Extraordinary Rendition which is the capture of a person by someone not of their culture and taken to a third location for detention or interrogation.  Guantanamo Bay is an example of this as is Governor DeSantis detaining immigrants and transporting them to another jurisdiction against their will.

Gooning is when parents arrange for their family member, usually a child to be abducted and taken for ‘deprogramming’ usually due to perceived or actual homosexuality, mental illness or simple defiance.

The ‘Stranger Danger’ campaign did almost nothing to prevent abductions due to overwhelmingly most abductors being within the family or familiar to the family with less than 1% of abductions being by strangers.

Of those abducted, females 12-17 are most common with no common physical or socioeconomic traits.

In related news, the news would have you believe most are blonde, generally considered attractive and middle or upper class.  They represent a small portion of those abducted.

In 1995, 55% of all children abducted were returned.  In 2011, that number was 92%.

The number of abductions per year are related to the rate of divorce.

4,400 unidentified bodies are found in the US each year. About 1,000 of those remain unidentified each year and likely will remain so.

In related news, approximately 543,000 people are reported missing each year.  Approximate 340,000 are under the age of 18 and overwhelmingly most are found within 24 hours.

In related news and as otherwise stated in this list, there is no waiting period for reporting a missing person.

Human trafficking was not federally illegal until 2000.  It protects all people in the US, legal and otherwise.

The Sphinx is not referenced in any Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Neither are the pyramids.

*removed after discovered inaccurate

The song ‘Photograph’ doesn’t need anymore cowbell, it has just enough.

Slavery existed long after the 13th Amendment.  Many slave holders hid the fact that their slaves were free, from their own slaves.  Juneteenth is a celebration of the date slaves in Galveston, TX were freed, over a year after the end of the Civil War.

In related news, much longer than that was ‘convict leasing’ in the south.  This was the arrest of black people for a trumped-up charge, then fined in court to a degree they could not pay, then a white plantation or mill owner would buy the debt forcing the man, woman or child into financial slavery, never able to work off the fine.

In related news to that, the plantation, mill and factory owners placed orders to get the slaves they needed, such as children.

Also in related news, many slaves were converted to share cropping on the same plantation they were previously slaves on.  They were granted a section of land and could work it, paying a % of the crop each year with no accommodation for insect infestations or weather that limited or wiped out the crop, thus ensuring that they were soon 100% in debt, and thus … working for free.  This went on well into the 20th century and legal.

Also in related news, President Trump has never claimed the charges against him are trumped-up.

You are 20x more likely to be killed by a coconut than by a shark.

Balloons kill more children each year, 6, than sharks kill people.

Lawnmowers kill 75 people each year in the US.

Ladder falls kill 113.

Each year there are 100 deaths from pens of pencils.

Space heaters kill 470.

Toasters kill 300.

Sharks kill 4.

Toothpicks are less deadly at 3 deaths per year.

In the entire history of Auto Racing 8,757 people have died worldwide including staff, spectators and drivers.

Tracks with the most overall deaths are Le Mans with 115 including 84 in one accident in 1955.

The US track with the most deaths all-inclusive is Indianapolis with 55.

Tracks with the most driver deaths is Nurburging with 56. Indy with 55.  Le Mans with 25.  Daytona with 24.

1955 was the deadliest year for overall deaths.

The first woman driver killed was Benedicte Rivoire in July of 1916.

Americans lead with most driver deaths, 3,702 over more than a century.

567 women have died in motorsports worldwide.

1814 spectators have died worldwide.

92 track officials have died in motorsports.  63 team members have died.  40 photographers.  12 journalists and 16 rescue personnel have died connected to auto racing.

The US averages less than 20 deaths per year due to motorsports, which is less than the number of deaths from pens and pencils.  Both are declining.

Covert actions by the US Government that are illegal include but not limited to:

Operation Mockingbird where the government planted fake news stories to manipulate the news to not focus on things the government did not want a lot of attention on.  It was exposed in the 60s, so happened before that.

CIA assassinations of foreign leaders.

Cointelpro was the bugging, placing false stories and disrupting of social and political persons and organizations such as Martin Luther King Jr and the ACLU.

Iran Hostages were held for real and the fault of Iranians however Reagan brokered a deal behind the scenes to free them in exchange for the lifting of terrorist nations sanctions, as long as the Iranians held the hostages longer to last through the presidential election against Carter so he could win.

Operation Gladio.  They were small bands, kinda armies, that stayed behind when the iron curtain fell to cause problem and lead insurrection.

Iran-Contra which sold weapons to Iran and used the proceeds to fund Nicaraguan contras to overthrow that government.  Both was illegal and it was done with full knowledge of Reagan.

In related news, the same administration turned a blind eye to contra drug trafficking into the United States so they could fund their rebellion.  Oliver North had the obligation as an officer to refuse orders that subverted the constitution.

Watergate.  The bugging and undermining of the Democratic party by the Nixon White House and most high-ranking Republican officials.  It was election rigging at its finest.  Names connected to the Nixon White House for actions was Donald Rumsfeld who later was Chief of Staff under Bush 2, G. Gordon Liddy who was a radio talk show host and leading conspiracy monger before it was cool, and actor Ben Stein.

In related news, Nixon had full knowledge of the operations and their intent and results.

The US Government poisoned liquor during prohibition.

The US and British governments ran operation Ajax.  This was the overthrow of the Iranian government when they nationalized their oil industry thus pushing out American and British corporations.  (thus the US and UK governments were acting on behalf of private industry profits).

The well-known MK Ultra.  If you don’t know this one, look it up as it is appalling and produced the Unabomber as well as many other disturbed and dangerous people.

The Gulf of Tonkin never happened but filled its purpose allowing President Johnson to officially enter the action in Vietnam.

Notice how many of these covert and illegal actions involved manipulating Iran.  Still wonder why we are hated in the Middle East?  Well, that’s not even half of it…

More people live in Tokyo than Australia.

22% of all modern relationships start on-line.

There is no actual evidence that there is life anywhere else in the universe.

There is no evidence that events happen for a reason.

In related news, when we have a positive result of a negative experience, we often attribute the negative event to being purposeful.

Most major news conglomerates are owned or run by well-known Republicans.  Gannett is an exception.

George Custer was AWOL when we he went to his death at Little Big Horn.  He had been directed to DC to be court marshaled for dereliction of duty, (again).  If he had survived, he would likely have been jailed.

He was also not a General.

All water enters your home through a single pipe from a single source and are all the same.

At the start of the Revolutionary War, (April 19, 1775) there were 12 break away colonies, not 13.  By July 2nd, 1776 (the date the Declaration of Independence was done being written), Delaware had broken away from Pennsylvania thus making 13.

In related news, there were two colonies that remained loyal to the British crown, they both made up what is now Florida.

The beginning of the 21 Century ironically coincided with the end of the 20th Century.

The 5 most common elective cosmetic surgeries in the US are:

Rhinoplasty (nose job)

liposuction

Breast augmentation

Blepharoplasty (eye lid job)

and ironically breast implant removal.

In related news, 400cc is the most common breast implant size.

The term ‘washing hands’ of a situation is a reference to Pontius Pilate and Jesus.

In related news, ‘God Bless You’ is said to originate in the days (months and years) of the plague as a blessing in case your sneeze is a symptom.

‘Sold down the River’ is a direct term from slavery.

‘Being Gypped’ is a reference to the swindles gypsies were known for.

‘Blonde Bombshell’ was a term originally applied to Jean Harlow in the 1930s.

‘Gaslighting’ originates from a movie in 1944, called Gaslight where the husband tries to convince his wife she is insane using the gaslights in the house.

‘Paparazzi” was coined in a 1960 movie called La Dolce Vita from a character in the movie named Paparazzo who was a celebrity photographer.

Ghost Bunters coined the word ‘toast’ as a threat, as in “You are toast”.

Nimrod is from the Bible but used in the opposite way we use it.  Bugs Bunny originated it in the way we use it when referring to Elmer Fudd.

Marie Antoinette could not have been the one who said, ‘Let them eat Cake’ because when the term first appeared, Marie Antoninette was 15 years old and not yet Queen.

In related news, the term is “Want to eat your cake and have it too” not the other weird and stupid way around.  Stop saying it.

The term, ‘I could care less’ is wrong and implies that you still care.  The insulting or demeaning term miss quoted is ‘I could not care less’.

Water is not organic.

Water is also a chemical.

Food is also made up of many chemicals including water.  ALL food.

In related news think about that next time you think about organic foods.

There are approximately 1,175 Search and Rescue teams in the US, from local, to county (most) to federal.

Approximately 81% of US SnR missions are successful.  In SnR terms that is measuring how often the person, dead or alive is found (alive) or recovered (dead).

At the time of this writing there is only 1 official registered SnR team in the US that is a stand-alone vehicle-based program.

In related news, that one team is Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery (COSAR member) (co4x4rnr.org)

In related news, the first known all vehicle based SnR team in the world is Wessex 4×4 Response in England. (wessex4x4response.org.uk)

Also in related news, Wikipedia doesn’t recognize vehicle based SnR as a distinct type of SnR.

Michael Jackson didn’t invent the moonwalk.  In the 70s, it appeared often on Soultrain and was called the back slide.  Before that it was a tap step, called a tap slide.

The state losing the most population as a percentage of population is Alaska at -0,08% of their population, but only 5,893 people lost.  The one gaining the most as a percentage of population is Idaho, at 1.87%  and 32,857 people gained.

In related news, Texas is the state that is gaining the most population. at 294,036.  The one losing the most is New York at 88,648.

Wyoming is the least populated state and losing population all the time.

According to the NRA, in 2016 there were over 150,000,000 handguns in private ownership in the US.

In related news, this number is considered very low by any other source I have found.

According to Marine approved website, there are approximately 303.347,000 privately owned guns in the US in 2020.

In related news, in 2020 there were 22,800,000 guns privately purchased in the US with 19.900,000 purchased in 2021.

Somewhere around 10% of the US population has a substance use disorder.  That is down from the estimates when I was in grad school.

In related news, I doubt that has anything to do with me.

Bridget Driscoll was the first person killed by an automobile in Britian.  She was a pedestrian.

Henry Hale Bliss was the first American killed by an automobile.

Crispus (love that name) Attucks is generally considered the first man killed in the American Revolution.

In Medieval times, a moment was 90 seconds.

Ferdinand Magellan is widely considered to be the first person to sail around the earth.  He wasn’t.  His body is buried in the Philippines.  His crew that survived the global trek are therefore the first persons to complete circumnavigation of the earth.

Larping is not a new thing, even as a term.  The term came into use in the 70s connected to DnD gaming but lets be real, playing cowboys and Indians or knights and Hethans or Huns and the soon to be overrun, whatever in a childe’s era is all role playing in costume in the real world.  It is only the concept of taking a game from indoors to the outdoors that people decided it needed a new word, as we seem to do for anything now.

In related news, sermon over.

Also in related news, I’m sure it isn’t.

Generation X generally considers itself to be the ‘whatever’ generation.  Meaning that the generation learned to not care deeply or invest in social ills and changes.  They profess so and can easily become aggressive or upset when you point out that isn’t accurate.  The most common reply when challenging that trait, is to call the accuser a ‘Boomer’.

In related news, apparently it wasn’t.

In 1956, a futuristic plane landed at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico.  The single occupant was wearing a space suit and they whisked the craft and occupant into a hanger and all present were asked to not speak about the event.

It was a dead stick landing by a test form of the U2 spy plane.  It experienced engine issues over Tennessee and ended up gliding the last 300 miles.

There are 400 distinct chess positions possible after two moves.

There are 8,902 after three moves.

Unless there is a move or time limit agreed upon in a chess game there is an infinite number of chess positions possible.

With 37,000 locations, McDonalds is the largest fast food chain.  With differing entrees per nation, the most sold item in the franchise is the fries.

The Ferrari 458 Italia is the most successful model Ferrari ever sold.

In related news I have seen more Ferraris wrecked on race tracks then I have seen in person on the street.

Also, in related but irrelevant news, I used to drive a home bult racecar that was faster than the Ferraris I shared track with.

It is very hard to get up on your own once you lie down, if in a suit of armor.

In related news, suits of armor were rather rare.

The first airlines came from the failed mail routs in the US, starting in late 1926 but most of them failed as well.

However, mail route number 4 that renamed itself Western Air Express started operations in late 1926 and was successful under the name of Western Air Express.

In related news, this eventually operated as Western Airlines until they joined Delta in 1986.

Robertson Aircraft company emerged out of Air mail route 2 with their primary pilot Chas. Lindburgh.  They eventually became American Airlines.

In related news, the kidnapping of the Lindburgh baby was called the crime of the century when it occurred and was as big as the OJ Simpson murders later.

In related news to that, one of the investigators of the Lindburgh kidnapping turned murder was named Norman Schwarzkopf.  His son, Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. gained fame by leading the allied forces in Desert Storm.

This investigation of the kidnapping was handled almost as poorly as the Ramsey murder.

These two cases also relate to one another in that they both started out as kidnapping investigations but became murder investigations.

The difference is the culprits in the Lindburg case were identified and one caught.  Ramsey is likely known by a few investigators but can never be brought to trial and therefore never ‘caught’ unless they confess but no lawyer would advise that.

There have been 3,512 medals of honor awarded (April, 2022).

Douglas Albert Munro is the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the medal of honor.

In related news, 1,000s of guardsman served in WWII in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters and involved in every major US landing in both.

There have been 19 soldiers that have received 2 medals of honor.

Turducken is a Southern Louisiana invention.

The reason you know what it is, is John Madden made it famous when calling a Saints game.

The three stripes on Cap’n Crunch’s sleeve means he is a Commander, not a Captain who would have four.  (Thanks Matt Balazs of On Trail Training)

The first American conviction that used fingerprints was Thomas Jennings in 1910.

In related news, Francisca Rojas is thought to be the first person ever convicted in the world by fingerprints.  The year was 1892 and in Argentina.

Colin Pitchfork was the first person to be convicted using DNA, 1983.

In related news, looking up the answers to both, takes work. Most results only provide first Americans convicted, not first in the world.

When I asked several friends what movie (actual movie not a documentary about the word) uses the F-word most times, all the answers were wrong, including mine.  Offered answers: Pulp Fiction (Ranked 28 ), Reservoir Dogs (27), Inglorious Bastards ( >100 ), Goodfellas (16).

In related news, the highest number in a single movie not a documentary is The Wolf of Wallstreet.

James Hong has the most credited appearances in TV and movies with more than 600 as of 8/20/2020.

Most profitable movie roles.  This includes % of profit as well as salary. Bruce Willis ‘The Sixth Sense at 116 million.  Johnny Depp stared in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies totaling 450 million, 90 million apiece.  Johnny Depp was also paid a cool 68 million for saying 661 words in ‘Alice in Wonderland’.  Adam Sandler was paid 62.5 million to star in The Ridiculous Six (never heard of it)).

In related news if like me, you have never heard of The Ridiculous Six, you have good company as it scored an amazing 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Also in related news, Samuel L Jackson has the highest domestic career box office at 5.7 billion dollars.

The largest cast ever in a movie was around the World in 80s Days at 1302.

In unofficial rumors Roseanne Barr was rejected for the cast.

The first American combat ship named for a foreigner was the USS Winston S Churchill launched in 1999.

The most common river name in the US is ‘White River’.

The earliest known computer security form was to beat the guy next to you with a magazine for looking over your shoulder.

A screwball comedy is a comedy that focuses on a couple where the female character usually dominates the male character.

In related news, they became popular in the 1930s and again in the 1950s but still exist.

Also in related news that description isn’t sexual.

The Edificio Copan has the most apartments of any building at 1,160.

E-ONE-CR has the highest reaching ladder of ay fire truck at 13 stories (137 feet).

In related news, think about that when you live on the 20th floor.

The Kroll K10000 is the world tallest free standing crane at almost 470 feet.

In related news, the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet tall.

Elvis has the most weeks of having a single on top 100 billboard, with 1,598.

You Light up my Life was the first single to be #1 on the charts for ten weeks.

“I will Always Love You’ by Ms. Whitney Houston was number 1 for 14 weeks.

In related news it is the most amazing vocal performance of all time.  FACT

Michael Jackson’s Thriller album spent the most weeks at #1, 37 weeks.

Garth Brooks is the first country singer to top the pop charts.  He did it several times.

The more impressive feat though is to be in the top 200 for the longest.  That honor is held by the very distant leader, Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon that has been on the top 200 charts for 1,000 weeks consecutively.  Second is Bob Marley Legend at almost 700.  Other top achievers are Journey, Metallica and Johnny Mathis!

The Mongolian recurve bow is considered the most powerful bow ever made.

Cruise ships … there’s nothing interesting about them.

NEW AS OF 2/28/2022

We tend to believe things we like and discount things we do not.  This shapes our perception and thus our reality.

Diesel locomotives are hybrid electric vehicles and have been since they were invented.

When we list something as the biggest or oldest or anything definitive it is among the known, rarely an absolute.

In related news, many people struggle when perceived absolutes change.

What most people conceive of as emergency rations are far from enough to survive for long or what is needed for the conditions, they are in.

It is often said that courage is the lack of fear.  Courage is proceeding in spite of fear.

In related news, having manageable fear in high-risk situations is conditioning and training.

Theory goes that the term movie easter egg was coined on Rocky Horror Picture Show.  The crew had an Easter Egg hunt at one point while shooting and not all the eggs were found.  However, they can be seen in the background in the movie on occasion.

I’m not a huge fan of the movie but it is so rife with trivia, I have to cover it.  This is Tim Curry’s (one of my favorite actors) film debut.

Bostwick and Sarandon actually hurt each other physically in the film, and in the final cut.

Meatloaf had to audition for the role as he was not well known and no one felt he could nail the song.  They were wrong.  Oh so wrong …

The film has been in almost continuous screening since a year after release.

Humans are the only animals on earth that snap.

Your ears and lips have no sweat glands.

If the entire nation lived with the same density of NYC, the entire country could live in Rhode Island.

In related news, they don’t want us to move in.

Also in related news, I’m not going.

It only takes 3 slices to make 8 pieces of cake.  Two vertical and one horizontal.

With the imperfection of an average shuffle, it takes seven times to shuffle a deck of cards into randomness.  Once random, it cannot become more random.

Goosebumps do not serve any purpose on humans anymore since we’re no longer covered in fur(most of us).

96% of the universe’s mass is unknown.

In related news, the moon smells like gun powder.

Approximately 15,000 new animal species are discovered each year.

The US held approximately 425,000 POWs in WWII.  Most were German.

Approximately 3,000, went through a camp so top secret that it was not known until the late 90s, and even local residents in the area after the camp was torn down, had no idea it was there.

In related news, I am one of the residents that had no clue.

Also in related news, it was called PO Box 1142, or Fort Hunt.

England during WWII also built concentration camps for Jews.  They lasted three months.  The nation apologized after the three months.

In related news, the US ‘interred’ Japanese Americans in camps for the entire war.  We called them that, but they were also concentration camps.  No, we did not kill them.  We took away their freedom and violated their constitutional rights.

In related news, most were Americans like you and me.

The most prescribed medications in the US are a decent reflection of health in the US.  High blood pressure, thyroid meds, diabetes and Cholesterol lead the way.  Lisinopril, Lipitor, Synthroid, Metformin, Amlodipine, and Metoprolol.

In a nation that claims to be popping psych meds everywhere, the highest psych med is 14th on the list.

Also, in a nation that claims were all on Adderall, the med is 27th.

The US state with the most numerous earthquakes is … Alaska by a longshot.  Alaska is also the most likely to have a severe earthquake.

There have been numerous animals registered as extinct that are not.  Among them are:  tree lobster (do NOT eat that thing), goblin shark (also in the running for ugliest damn animal), and Kashmier musk deer (it has fangs!)

In related enws there is no ‘registering your hands as lethal weapons’ in the US.  it is a myth.

In lreated news, martial arts movie stars in the US have had body guards not because they could not fight, but because so many others did.

The nearest star outside our solar system would take thousands of years to get to at light speed.  Think about that next time you think you saw a UFO.

One of the ways that votes are determined accurate is the random occurrence of numbers.  Approximately 30% of the numbers will start with the digit 1.  Only 5% are 9.

Your inner voice can talk at 4,000 words a minute.

There are about 62 elements in the human body.

The small finger, sometimes referred to as the pinky, is responsible for about 50% of your grip strength.

In related news, I was taught that by my orthopedic surgeon when I broke by fifth metacarple.  This is also often called a boxer’s fracture.

The sun still doesn’t set on the British Empire, with still 14 colonies around the globe.

Blondes generally have the thickest hair.  Redheads the least.

Only two of the elements on the periodic table are liquid at room temp.

In related news, those are Mercury and Bromine.

If you add salt to a glass of water, the water level goes down.

By 2021, six nuclear bombs have been lost in transit.

The first modern fly rod, split cane, was made in 1845.

Original fishing lures were made in 1898.

Henry Gunther is considered the last person killed during WWI.

The oldest US ship that served in WWII is … not clear depending on your definition.  The USS Oregon was being scrapped but that scrapping was halted.  The ship was basically only a hull and turned into an ocean-going barge.  I don’t feel that fits the bill for the oldest commissioned ship serving in the war.

To the best of my research and others who have helped, USS Wilmington commissioned on May 13, 1897 served in limited capacity in coastal defense throughout the war appears to be the oldest.  It was named USS Dover through the war.

NEW AS OF 12/31/21

The Bigfoot suit warn in the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was bought from Morris Magic Company in Charlotte, NC and was filmed in late summer 1967, not October.

Bob Heironimus was the man in the suit.

About 50% of all tigers in the world are in Texas.

In related news, most of those are in private collections.

The average human brain has about 2.5 petabytes of information.

The Holy Grail does not appear in the Bible, or any other texts of ancient Christendom.

It is introduced in the stories of King Arthur contained in the ‘History of the Kings of Britian’ by Welsh cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth, in 1136 that sets the table for the introduction of the grail as we know it.  This is where he introduced King Arthur, Merlin, Guenevere and the legend began.

In 1190 Chretien de Troyes added Percival and his quest for the Holy Grail as a way to restore honor the fallen King Arthur’s Court.  This was in 1190 and what would be considered fan fiction today, building on the King Arthur story.

In related news, the 1190 story not describe what the Holy Grail was.  Even in it’s fictional origin it is not described.

Its definition as a cup, comes from ‘The Death of Arthur’ in 1485, described as a golden chalice (sorry Indiana, Lucas and Spielberg).

Also in related news, this means that one of the most cherished relics of Christian history as perceived by some, is purely a 550 year old fictional object, literally.

Charles Lindbergh was the 65th person to cross the Atlantic by air non-stop.

In related news, he was the first to do so, alone.

The only nation Germany declared war on before attacking in WWII was the US.

Germany attempted to open peace talks with England in WWII, before they invaded France.

Germany pushed Japan to attack the US to divert war resources from Lend Lease, to Japan and thus less directed on Germany, even if not by Americans.

At one point, half of all CDs produced were purchased by AOL.

Chasing zebras is a term meaning tying to fit an unusual or rare diagnosis into symptoms.

Hair products that advertise their products as adding ‘health’, or making your hair more ‘healthy’, adding life, full of life or repair hair … are lying.  Hair is dead and ain’t no hair product gonna change that.  You can influence and manipulate it and alter it.  But not add life or ‘fix’ it, unless you are Frankenstein.

Acupuncture was never meant to do anything more than pain relief IN CONJUNCTION WITH conventional chemical based pain meds.

Gerald Ford took office as President while only ever being elected to serve as a Representative serving two counties in the US.  In other words, the 38th President was only elected by less than 1% of the nation.

The ship, The Great Western never had two (or any) skeletons in its hull discovered at time of scraping.  The area in question was inspected many times and the people said to be in there would never have both been in there together.

Even though this sounds like a TV plot, it was, criminal ‘safe zones’ where they live and do not ply their criminal trade really was developed from an idea inspired by sprinklers.

“Quit while you are ahead” means you lose.

Food quality and manufacturing regulation is not a new idea.  At the turn of the last century there was no national food regulation or standards.  One of the companies pushing for it hard, was Heinz.  They benefitted from this but so did all consumers.

Coca-Cola had to defend its right to have caffeine in their product in the Supreme Court.  They compromised by cutting caffeine in half and Coca-Cola agreed to not use kids in their ads.

John Kellog started a sanitarium in Michigan and invented the corn flake.  He also invented many other healthy food products.  But the Kellog we know is not John but Will, his brother who bought the corn flake product from John.  The rights to the name and the flake were later settled in the Michigan supreme court.

There is a town in Texas founded by CW Post, named after him.

He had gone to the Sanitarium where Dr. Kellog was working health miracles but was unsuccessful in his effort to cure his ailment.  He did however get the idea for cereal that was successful.

Eventually he killed himself due to the pain of his ailment.

For many people, the last time they heard a busy signal was over dial-up internet connections.

Methadone is incredibly dangerous and highly addictive.

In related news, it IS state sponsored, and court ordered addiction reduction, but addiction all the same.

No the CIA never imported drugs in the US, at least as the conspiracy theory claims.  They di dlook the other way as drug cartels smuggled drugs in in exchange for intelligence in central America.  So the CIA didn’t actively priomote the drug issues in the US, but were indifferent.

The most Medals of Honor won by a single type of aircraft is the B17, at a tally of 17, oddly.

The most for pilots in a single kinda plane is for the F4F wildcat of WWII.

A traumatically amputated limb can cut off its own blood flow to keep from bleeding out.  Many traumatic amputations never had a tourniquet and the person survived.  (this is not a recommendation so don’t sue me.  I am also not a medical professional so taking my trivia as medical advice is moronic.)

In related news, tort law has always been around as long as there have been lawyers (shocking).  It has seen a dramatic rise in the US since lawyers were allowed to advertise on TV and radio again, often representing 50% of all ads.

Also in related news, they are all number 1 in their specialty!

Also, also in related news, someone should sue them for making a false claim.

‘Brown Shoe Navy’, ‘Black Shoe Navy’ are terms that date back to the Navy being taught how to fly by the Wrights themselves, and the newest and first Naval Aviators opting for brown shoes and leggings due to the dust on the field where they learned to fly; North Island San Diego.

The words “Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth” as used by President Regan after the Challenger Disaster, was taken from a sonnet written by John Gillespie Magee Jr.  A Canadian Airman who penned the sonnet just before his death in service to the RAF in WWII.

In related news, he was describing his joy of learning to fly.

If Blazing Saddles were edited for television, it would be 14 minutes long.

Nixon ordered domestic and illegal spying on his personal enemies and the press.

He was not the first to do so, with Kennedy and Johnson also did it.

Also Trump, dramatically so.

Nixon was guilty of obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence.  It was clear in his own words on the tapes.

He was also guilty through conspiracy of defrauding the government, election tampering, bribery and dozens of local laws.

In a not so strict interpretation of the laws, those could equate to treason.

The effect that is known as ‘deer in the headlight’ is known as tharn.

‘Old as Fuck’ is actually 1.2 billion years.  That’s when our evolution started using sex for species proliferation.

In related news, Old as balls is about 100 million years ago, when first animals developed external testis.

The CIA recruited well over 1,000 former Nazis as spies, many retiring in the US.

Leon Panetta as director of the CIA ran programs that Congress was not informed of, and denied when asked, that included domestic spying and intelligence gathering.  It was secret because Dick Cheney ordered it so.  It likely included an assassination program as well.

In related news, the government has to keep secrets.  It is the ones that leak out that often makes government look bad.

We are surrounded and permeated by radio waves constantly, continuously, everywhere … Almost all of them are natural, not man made.

In related news, the biggest contributor is the Sun, then Jupiter, not to mention about 100 lighting strikes a second that puts out radio waves.  Everything orbiting, being orbited or unstable, puts out radio waves.  Man-made radio waves are a grain of sand on the beach in the world of electronic pulses in our world.

The ‘Red Edge’ is a means for detecting possible life on other planets.  Plant life absorbs blue and green light, leaving a sharp red color edge in the visible spectrum.  This was discovered and the Jupiter explorer Galileo was used to look at Earth as a foreign planet looking for signs of life, as it passed by one of a couple times.

In related news, this was discovered by Carl Sagan.

Also in related news, they have not stated if the sensors detected life on Earth.

Also, also in related news, Galileo (the space vehicle not the man) took a very weird and complicated path to gain speed to get to Jupiter.  It had originally been planned to launch from Challenger in a later flight so they had to get creative, with passes by Venus and Earth twice, as well as other moves to gain speed.

In related news to that, WOW these are smart people.

Monsanto was bought out in 2018, by German company Bayer.

In related news, Monsanto never sued a farmer for their patented seeds ending up on his property.  That was Hollywood making a film playing off of the fears of the public.  They did sue the farmer in the movie though, for stocking, cleaning and replanting the seeds he had bought under contract and violated that contract.  They would not have done it except it was a large operation.  That is the only time they have sued a private farmer for such issues.

The fastest man-made object ever was the ejection capsule from Stardust that entered the Earth’s atmosphere at Mach 36.

The Curiosity Rover is 2,000lbs and about as big as a car.

There is no record in his lifetime of David Crocket being named or referred to as Davey.

In related news, there is also no record in his lifetime of wearing a Coon skin cap.  The accounts of him doing so are decades later, and at least second hand.  Much like the western lifestyle largely being defined by Buffalo Bill’s Wild West rather than reality, Crocket was the subject of numerous stage productions after his life, more fiction than fact.

In Alamo related news, there is no record of Travis ever drawing a line in the sand, but in his defense, hardly anyone lived to dispute it, or confirm it.

In related news, there is no record of Moses Rose, there or anywhere else.

Jim Bowie was there, and he took over command since almost no one would listen to Travis.  He was famous so the men who largely knew of one another, followed him.  His Slave Jim is known to exist, and likely there.

In related to that news, the Bowie family did make knives, but there is no one type of Bowie knife.  They made a wide variety of knives.  Pop historians have denied that some knives were Bowie knives on such programs as Antiques Road Show, because they do not fit the Hollywood mold.

Also in related news, Jim Bowie was not famous for his knives, but as a slave trader.

The largest (known) dinosaur had a toe bone, about half the size of a human.

The Peace symbol as we know it today, was originally created by Gerald Holtom and was a combination of the semaphore symbols of N and D which stood for Nuclear Disarmament.

The wedding vows are not found in the Bible but the foundation of them are found in religious writings.

In related news marriages are not religious, but a legal contract.

Weddings can be religious, but don’t have to be. The religious ceremony holds no legal power.

Also in related news, Ship captains can marry people, as could railroad conductors in the older times.  In towns with no religious or official persons, a family member or most respected person in the town presided.

Also in related news, I have been asked to preside over a wedding.

In related to that news, they are divorced now.

The most common person to marry people in the US?  County clerk.

The Pope is often seen wearing or with an upside down cross.  This is not a satanic thing, just a modern claim among those ill-informed.  It is the cross of St Peter.  He was crucified upside down because he felt he was unworthy of being killed the same way Jesus was.

Oddly, serial killers slightly tended to like Volkswagen Bugs until the 90s, then they preferred Cherokees.

14 of 32 NFL teams had zero attendance in 2020.  Most teams with attendance had less than 10k a game.

The original profile put forth by the BSU, now the BAU in the FBI, profilers, is today considered arcane.  Serial killers are of every race, every intelligence level, both genders and every definition of it.  Although fewer women serial killers are known, society tends to want to deny them, so they become defined in other ways.  They are also often released early or hardly sentenced, largely based on how sexually appealing they appear.

Women have been convicted of killing three children and sentenced to time served.

There is also a very clear bias in both news and law enforcement regarding blonde women, both offenders and victims.

Like most sciences, the early days of behavioral analysis was only partially accurate and was wrong in many ways.  What changed was the broadening of the subjects studied and by who.  Early definitions were based on assessments of mostly middle age white men by middle age white men.

Although it is usually reported via secondary sources that the FBI feels there are about 60 serial killers in the US at any one time, some sources say up to 2,000.

Although the high number is likely very high, that is a result of differing definition of serial killer.  FBI has changed their definition of what defines a serial killer.  Statistics are not updated as often as we’d like to think.

Pressure from politics (there are many forms, not just partisan and federal) has also pushed law enforcement to not report any death as a murder unless it is clearly one, leading to under reporting.

In related news, in an age of ever-increasing loss of privacy and increase in tracking, the reports of missing persons are dramatically increasing.

Some have claimed that ‘missing’ is the new murder due to the number of shows and sources available featuring forensic techniques.

Most of the people who are interested in true crime, are women.

In most states, evoking a lawyer will not always stop questioning, but what is said after cannot often be admissible.  TV and movies often get it wrong, but it does differ.

As said in another section, not all jurisdictions give you a phone call and you have no universal right to one.

November 18, 1883 is when we went to standard time zones.  They were demanded and established by the railroads.

Pareidolia is the tendency to see human faces in things that are not human faces like rock formations on Mars or toast.

Project Plowshare was a program that sought peaceful uses for nuclear detonation.  During the project, 31 nuclear warheads were detonated underground in the US for various reasons.  It had limited success.

In related news, Russia did similar experiments.

Also in related news, the US has detonated over 1,000 warheads, most on or under US soil.

A single cactus, ends with US.  Plural cactus is cactI.

Aztecs are considered an ancient culture, having started in 1428.  Oxford University is older than the Aztecs.  Oxford University was established in 1096.

In related news, University of Bologna was founded in 1088 and is the oldest continuously operating university in the world.

Methadone was first developed as an opium substitute in WWII by Germany.  It was later developed into a substitute for opiates as a treatment.

In related news, it is HIGHLY addictive.

In German related news, the drink Jagermeister is German, obviously.  The name means hunt master.  It has at times been tied to Herman Goring but it was imported into the US by Sydney Frank, and marketed to young partiers.

The Sargasso Sea is a section of the Atlantic and has no coast.  It is also not an official title nor an official Sea.  It is a region with a lot of seaweed called Sargasso and often times little wind which in combination gives the fear of becoming mired in the Sargasso.

At the time of the American Revolution, there weren’t 13 colonies, there were 15.  Florida had been acquired by the British in trade for Cuba to the Spanish.  Florida was split into East Florida with St. Augustine as its capital and West Florida with Pensacola as its capital.

In related news, St Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied city in North America, predating Jamestown.

Also in related news, all of the east coast of the now US, used to be called Florida.

Also, also in related news, the Spanish captured Pensacola during the American Revolution.

Also, also, also in related news, Florida during the Revolution was loyal to the King of England so they did not sign the declaration nor support the war.

The tank, is called that because in original development, they were code named as water tanks since they were thought to be a war winning technology.

In related news, it was the latest invention meant to end wars, such as the machine gun.

In related news, the machine gun is credited as the single deadliest invention of all time.

The Rothschild conspiracy has some truth to it.  They did help finance, invest, in wars on both sides in the past but the wars of the 20th Century ended that when wars got too expensive.  They aren’t THAT wealthy.

In related news, they also lost most of their fortune when they fled Europe in the run up to WWII.

Columbus pretty much started the Trans-Atlantic slave trade but going the other way.  He took natives of Haiti back to Europe since there was not enough gold to bring back. (the point of the voyage was profit, as all similar voyages)

He did not take anyone who could not pay tribute.  The natives were required to pay tribute to Columbus with riches, gold preferred.  If they had nothing or deemed not enough, an appendage was cut off.  Thus rendering them without value as a slave in Europe.

In related news, the Pre-Columbian population of Haiti was about 8,000,000.  In 1496, the population was about 3,000,000.  By 1555, the native population was gone.

Columbus is not a hero to America, he is a hero to white America.  (ok, some of white America and fading fast.)

In related news, Columbus Day was largely pushed by the Knights of Columbus as an American Hero and has been painted in school history books as discovering North America were Millions of people already lived, bringing democracy and cultural evolution to cultures that already had democracy and far less disease.

Also in related news, if this feels unamerican to you, it is basic history and I take our history, the good and the bad, this is us.

Most of us know about Gary Powers, the US U2 pilot who was shot down over Russia in contrast to denial about such flights by President Eisenhower.  What is not known is he was not the only one.  There were 31 flights shot down over Russia or Russian territories over time.

In related news, most of the families were never told what happened to the crews.

Woodrow Wilson was a proud white supremacist.

In related news he also believed that a strong America was partially dependent on having the strongest economy in the world.  That sounds good until you understand that that meant he (and many, many other presidents) felt justified in undermining other economies in the world to ensure US Dominance, all while touting freedom and democracy.

In related news, the US invaded Mexico in 1914 and ten more times in Wilson’s reign, Haiti in 1915, Dominican Republic in 1916, Cuba 1917 and Panama in 1918.

He also blockaded Russia in support of the Russian Revolution.  Also provided financial aid and invaded Russia to the aid of the ‘white’ (anti-communist) side of the revolution.

Fairbanks disease inhibits bone growth and leads to short stature in adults.

Bitumen and ground up mummy has been, in the past mostly, sold as medicine.

Mummy’s were also served as food in England’s finer restaurants.

In related news, they largely ran out of mummies.

In related news, cannibalism is not as rare as you may think.

Also in related news, the Catholic religion metaphorically feeds you Christ.

Also, also in related news, cannibalism is not illegal in most states, including Colorado where Albert Packer was convicted of cannibalism.

In related news to that, the conviction was overturned based on, you know, it not being illegal.

The rock group Mount Rushmore has four members, none of which who sing or play an instrument.

Mail carriers favorite Italian City is Parcelona.

Before the declaration of war using the explosion of the Maine while at dock in Cuba as the reason, it was investigated by many parties and all concluded that it was a coal dust explosion.  A re-investigation in 1974 reiterated this.  1898 and 1911 investigations concluded an external explosion but did not assign blame.

In related news, we lost a battle with Cuba.  Yes, we largely used Cubans who fled from Cuba as soldiers, but we were the one who designed and equipped the invasion.  It was supposed to have US air support, which was late because of you know, time zones confused them.

Many captured serial killers had been previously investigated and dismissed during the investigation for the serial killer.

9/18/20

Einstein’s theories of General and Special relativity explain the way the large universe works.

Quantum mechanics describes the tiniest parts of the world.

In related news to them, there is no theory that links them, usually dubbed the single unified theory.

Also in related news, Quantum entanglement (or as Einstein described it, spooky action at a distance) may explain or link these.

Einstein and Niels Bohr did more in their competition to push physics than any other two people except maybe Newton.

In related news to that, the Chinese are leading the research on Quantum Entanglement (within quantum computing).

Although people may hate the whole concept of the atomic bombs, they gave us the world we live in through parallel and cumulative research.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki likely saved lives.

In related facts, it was impossible for the allies to have had 1,000,000 casualties in the invasion of Japan, because we didn’t have that many soldiers in combat in the Pacific at that time.

In as far as the other direction of logic and reason, there was no ‘River of Blood’ battle.  That is not a political view or statement, that is simple fact.  Feel free to post your actual proof at the end of this or email me and I will edit this post if it checks out. (it won’t)

It is unclear which twin was unplanned.  Or both.

In related news, ‘vanishing twins’ occur at least 33% of the time.

There was no magic bullet implied or needed in the warren commission report.  They show a direct line of fire based on the angle of the shot, and the position of the two people injured.

In related news, the full metal jacket bullet was not pristine at all.

Also in related news, the full investigation of the assassination has already been released, most were done so in the 60s.  Additional in the 80s and the remainder in 2017.

Swims is a dual palindrome.  It reads the same when written upside down and backwards.

In 1846, the first recorded white women reached Oregon via the Oregon Trail.  Eliza Spalding, and Narcissa Whitman were missionaries and dispelled the common myth that the trail was too tough for women to survive.

Before the Continental Congress named their new break away country The United States, we were called the United Colonies.

The V2 weapon Germany used in WWII was the first weapon to have negative effects.  It cost more to manufacture than cost the nation it was used on and cost more lives to manufacture than cost in lives in the nation it was used on.

In related news to that, it was hardly the last.

In related news, the total bomb load they delivered in WWII over its entire deployment, about 3,000 tons, was delivered by 3,000 V2 weapons that were single use only.  Each major bombing raid by the allies delivered about the same amount and there were about 5,000 bombing raids in the time it took to deliver the 3000 V2s.  Totaling about 15,000,000 tons of explosives.

There is a myth that Germany’s attack on Russia in WWII was pre-emptive since Russia was about to attack Germany.  This is wrong.  Coming to power Stalin had purged about 95% of Russians top military leaders and military development had stalled.  Stalin knew he could not defend himself from Germany, so he appeased Hitler, a lot.

In related news, Russia Barely defeated Finland.

Also in related news, there are some people who don’t think Finland exists.

In related news to that, the fictional nation Russia could not defeat has asked to join NATO.

In related news, it has been admitted.

Many residences of almost all major Chinese cities have been wearing face masks for over a decade.

In related news, they do so out of modesty and due to pollution.

Also in related news, that’s where Covid 19, the Corona Virus, Nora-Corona Virus or Beer Cooties, whichever you want to call it, started.

A court that seeks blame, cannot be seeking justice.

Although it has widely been said THC is not addictive, anyone in a related field knows any behavior with rewards can be addictive including smoking THC.

In related news, the claim has been made that it is not addictive due to being natural.  Although reduced to smaller components, so are coca (cocaine) and opium, (any number of pain killers as well as heroin) and tobacco.

Also in related news, get over yourself, pot can be addictive just like alcohol, which is also all natural.

The Canadians lost more people per capita in WWII than the US.

Cleaning is really a transfer of dirt.

The existence of Area 51 has never been a secret, having been announced to the press when it was built.  Area 52 however, is top secret and no one including me even knows there is one.

The PG&E settlement made famous in the Erin Brockovich movie, is almost entirely unknown.  It was settled in arbitration and thus no records are public.  It is unknown what if any medical cases were connected to chormium-6, how many there were, if any and what portion of the $333 million settlement was dispersed to whom, other than over 1/3 that went to the lawyers.  $2 million to Ms. Brockovich.

In related news, Chromium-6 can be harmful in high enough doses but most known about it related to health is based on breathing it in, not ingesting it which is the claim in this case.

Also in related news, almost all major companies that manufacture or construct, have a part of their budget for lawsuits.  Some simply see it as part of doing business, but this is as much a reality of nuisance lawsuits as liability.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise dramatically accelerated the US towards the Civil War while simultaneously infuriated Abraham Lincoln, pushing him to run for President.

In related news, Lincoln did not run for president on or intend to end slavery when he ran for office.

Lincoln won 40% of the popular vote.

In related news, there were four candidates.

It was the fact the Lincoln was not even on the ballot and received no votes in 10 southern states that played a major role in triggering the Civil War.

It was not slavery directly, nor the intended stop of slavery spreading into the west that Lincoln proposed that started the war.  The South succeeded because they saw the election as an aggressive act by the North, against the South.  They saw the election as happening without regard to the South and its issues.  But the issue of Slavery was the cornerstone of that perspective.

The Southern States seceded before Lincoln had even taken office.

Policies in Missouri regarding slavery is what largely turned the War of Succession into a war of abolition.

Most US historians see John Brown breaking into the armory at Harper’s Ferry, the first conflict of the Civil War.

The Firing on Fort Sumter officially started the war.

Expired poison is less poisonous.

The first shots between Germany and the US in WWII occurred on Sept 4, 1941.  They took place between a US Destroyer and German U-boat.  That was 3 months and 3 days before Pearl Harbor and 3 months and 4 days before Germany declared was on the US.

In related news, neither was damaged.

The two naval forces exchanged fire again in October, this time the USS Kearny took a torpedo on October 17th, with 33 casualties including 11 deaths.

John Wayne was Booed by marines during and after WWII for dodging the draft.

Yes he did actively try to avoid being drafted, by his own words.

General MacArthur, of WWII and Philippines fame, had a famous father, Arthur MacArthur.  He held the colors in the battle of Missionary Ridge in the Civil War, and the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.  It is also his yelling, ‘On Wisconsin’ that gave the line fame, very supposedly.

In related news, The 1st Kansas was the first all Black Regiment in the Civil War.  The Massachusetts 54th was the second.

The primary German fighter plane of WWII, ME 109 Messerschmidt was used by Israel after the war in their air force.

Even though almost no one who reads this, (or wrote this) realized, we know the ‘Uniting and Strengthening of America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism … Act.

In related news, that is what the USA Patriot Act or, The Patriot Act actually stands for.

Also in related news, how many interns did it take to fit that statement in the word Patriot!?

Also in related news, why not just name the damn things and stop forcing acronyms into them.

The code of chivalry is only partly what we think.  It was a symbol of Knights, but it was a result of Knights behavior prior to the code being imposed.

In related news, before the code, knights were rapeists and pillagers.

Also in related news, it was Knights apparent wealth that was as effective at saving their lives in battle as armor.  When captured they would be ransomed back so they were more valuable alive, to their enemies.

Much of the water that is contributing to sea level rising is from one Glacier; The Canadian Arctic Glacier.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded is a 9.5, in Chile in 1960.

It is just as hard to lose a game of rock, paper, scissors as it is to win.

1,000,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of snow fall on the earth each year.

In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge massacred 21% of their own population.

I have sometimes been known to say someone could wear burlap and rock it.  As it turns out, Marilyn Monroe actually wore a burlap potato sack once…

In related news, she rocked it.

At the core of Marxism is the idea that the struggle that is the identity of any group of people, defines their social class.

In related news, that means that any group of people working against a defined system or structure that seems to be holding them back and thus identifies that group , is demonstrating Marxism.

Also in related news, Karl Mark is considered one of the founding fathers of Communism.

A nuclear power plant is a steam engine.

The caste system in South America was very odd.  It classified you by which racial mix you were but if you were successful, you would be granted a new classification which translated to “Legally White”.

Bastille Day was not about freeing prisoners of The Bastille during the French Revolution, there were only seven prisoners, it was about getting guns.

At the time of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence that contains the line, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”, about 30% of the people in the colonies were slaves.

In related news, the man who wrote those words, Thomas Jefferson, was a slave owner.

It also stated that the colonies wanted a government of, for and by the people while women, slaves and men who did not own enough property could not vote or take part in government.

So, in related news, the people who were eligible for taking part in a government of, for, and by the people, was really only about 12% of the people in the Colonies.

Tea is not British.  The Brits didn’t have tea until the 1660s.  It is Chinese.

The 7 years war, that was longer than 7 years, was expensive for the British so they chose to pay for it by taxing the colonies in the US, where the war was also fought and who’s residents also fought in the same war on the British side.

In related news, this led to a series of taxes that eventually led to the American Revolution, but it was not the Stamp Act as so many of us were taught that was the last straw, it was the series of taxes on goods sent to the US under the Townshend Act of 1767.

About 6% of all African slaves who were taken from Africa, were taken to the US.  Over 90% went to the Caribbean and South America.

In related news, that was still over 10,700,000 first generation people who survived the journey and enslaved, from the 12,500,000 Africans taken from Africa to the US.

The Boston Massacre included a total of five (5), one, two, three, four, five deaths.

The Boston Tea Party was a rebellion regarding new regulations that would have actually made tea cheaper. (there is a joke in there about the Tea Party but I’ll let you make your own)

The (Political) Tea Party was formed in an effort to reduce taxes.  It was formed at a time when Americans were paying the lowest taxes in history.

In related news, those roads we all love and firefighters we depend upon aren’t free.  But clearly, we believed our police, fire fighters and EMS personnel should all take massive pay cuts since we all want to pay less taxes.  Oh and fire the damn teachers too …

Also in related news, if you earn enough money, you pay relatively few taxes.

Also in related news, feel free to stop working and home school your children, I’ll wait …

Syphilis appeared in Europe in 1493, as Columbus’ voyage brought it back from Haiti.

In related news, the Italians called it ‘The French Disease’, the French called it ‘The Disease of Naples’, The Polish called it ‘The German Disease’ and the Russians called it, ‘The Polish Disease’.

Also in related news, sailors got around …

Also in related news, tobacco came from the new world as well.  TAKE THAT, EUROPE WITH YOUR SMALL POX!

Also in related news, cigarettes were donated by American tobacco companies to the soldiers in WWII.  More soldiers died from lung cancer connected smoking than died in the war.

In Columbus related news, he was a terrorist as well as his brother who could be in the same category as Stalin, Hitler and the Khmer Rouge for ethnic extermination.

Pigs, cows and horses were not native to the North American continent.

In related news, Europe, Africa and Asia got tomatoes, tobacco, curry, corn, beans, potatoes, peppers and peanuts from the Americas.

Chutes and Ladders is just a modern version of Snakes and Ladders which is very old, 100s BCE, and requires no skills at all.

Herodotus (about 450 BCE) of Persia is the source for the US Post Office motto.

The word barbarian originally meant anyone who does not speak Greek.  In other words, almost all of us would be considered Barbarians today.

Look up the Indus Valley civilization, it will blow your mind.

“An eye for an eye, leaves the whole world monocular.” John Green

One of the biggest guarantees animal species have had for survival of a species, in the last 10,000 years, is human interest in eating you or your products.

One of the biggest guarantees an animal has for living comfortably is to be entertainment for humans.

Foraging in the modern context is homelessness.  Ironically, through history, foragers did better than farmers or hunters with less time spent to meet the daily need for caloric intake.

The fall of communism did not lead directly to capitalistic success partially due to most of the ownership of intellectual property being retained by the states or individuals who used force or coercion for exploitation.

In related news, people fled Eastern Europe and those who remained were often then and still, either oppressing or being oppressed.

Alcohol being called the ‘elixir of life’ can be traced back to Nicola Tesla.

Tesla did not invent free energy.

Tesla did not invent AC electricity.

Tesla wasn’t screwed by the US government.

Tesla did screw the hotel he lived in for the last years of his life but likely didn’t mean to.

Tesla’s greatest success was ‘Love Song’.

There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar, in 2020 currency.

It is illegal to sell alcohol in Alaska between 5am and 8am.

You cannot throw missiles in Alaska.

Shanghai is more populous than Australia while half the size of Sydney.

Mexico City sinks about 10cm a year due to withdrawing water from the aquifer under the city.

The Antilia in Mumbai, India is one of the most expensive homes.  It is 27 stories tall and 400,000 square feet, costing approximately $2,000,000,000 to build.

In related news, one person would have to start vacuuming it on the first and finish just before the end of the month, working full time.

It is illegal to salt a railroad track in Florida.

In related news it is illegal to sell alcohol during a hurricane in Florida.

University of Pennsylvania was founded long before the state it is named for.

In G.I. Joe, G.I. stands for Government Issue, or General Issue, but likely first stood for Galvanized Iron.

Original Mr. Potato head was an actual potato, you supplied yourself.  Can’t make this stuff up.

Also, it was the first toy advertised on TV.

Like many myths, the story regarding Lady Godiva can only be traced back to 200 years after she lived.  Kinda like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, and Oak Island…

The occurrence of people living over 100 has dropped rapidly as their birth dates, surpass record keeping dates in all the states.

Foil hats, magnify many radio waves.

In related news, there is record of the term ‘conspiracy theory’ going back at least to the 1880s.

For perspective, the plague killed about 30% of all people on earth.

In related news, no it was not due to lack of bathing, they were all about it then and had soap.

In movie related news, kings or anyone for that matter didn’t eat turkey legs in the middle ages.  Turkey’s came from the Americas.

Also in related news, moats were to prevent tunneling, not approaching the walls of a castle.

Terrorism is nothing new, going back 1,000s of years.  It is almost always religious based and used to achieve political goals.

In related news, it has always advanced the opposing political agendas as the opposing or victim party saw fit.

England entered WWII because of an agreement with Poland to defend each other (Poland, France and England).  They stated when they declared war on Germany they were fighting for the liberation of Poland.

In related news, Poland was not independent until 1989.

Also in related news, although the B-29 was the largest bomber of WWII, the biggest payload was the Avro Lancaster flown by the RAF.

Also, in related news to that, they dropped more bombs over the course of the war than the B-17.

Also, also in related news, as I have stated the Nordon Bomb Site of WWII infamy was not accurate.  However, the ground tracking radar the RAF had was so accurate they were more accurate bombing at night than the US was in the day using the Nordon.

In the 60s, 70s, tactical nuclear warheads on small mobile launch platforms numbered in the 1,000s.  They were often controlled and under the discretion of low-ranking officers or even non-coms, such as my father.

Tiger tanks were generally the most feared of the German tanks of WWII but they were more myth than foe.  There were less manufactured than there was T-34s or Shermans over a single month.  They also sucked gas like a … well, a lot.

About 70% of the earth’s oxygen is produced by the ocean

In related news, only about 5% of the oceans have been explored.

12 Step programs are based in evangelical Christian practices that used 12 steps (standards) consisting of 4 absolutes, 4 spiritual practices and 5 Cs.

In related news, the 5 Cs are confidence, confession, conviction, conversion, and continuance.

Also in related news, the 4 absolutes are honesty, purity, unselfishness, love.

Narconon is Scientology based recovery and run by Association for Better Living and Education, which is owned by the Church of Scientology.

The plane DB Cooper hijacked was later sold several times and eventually was part of the ‘Janet Fleet’ that flew between Nellis and Tonapah NV.  The fleet that carries people to and from ‘Area 51’, but not area 52 because that is secret.

In related news his name was never given as DB, that was a miss report by a newspaper.  He reported his name was Dan.

In related news to that, Jack the Ripper never called himself that.  He wrote the newspapers letters but never signed them.  One letter after the story had gone cold was signed that but was later proven to have been written by a reporter and thus fake.

Magnetic north is called north because it is in the north. Magnetically it is actually a south pole.

In related news, the poles do reverse sometimes, on average every 450,000 years.

In related news to that, it would not effect life on earth other than through technology.

Moths can be colorful and flitter from flower to flower in the daytime.  Butterflies can be drab and dark colored and be more active in the evening than day.  The only reliable and simple way to tell them apart is their antennae.  Butterflies tend to have thick ends to their antennae and moth’s come to a feathery point.

The dry erase board is a most remarkable invention.

In related news, badoom-cha.

Emus and ostriches are related to one another and have similar appearance but differ significantly.  Emus grow to be about 90lbs, while ostriches grow to be 260.  Emus are largely brown, where ostriches vary in color.  Emus can run to speeds of about 30mph and Ostriches about 45.

In related news, ostriches are more aggressive towards humans, but they can both easily kill a human.

Look up Emu Wars of Western Australia.  You’re welcome.

Lizards are more closely related to humans than salamanders.

In related news, many salamanders lack internal lungs and essentially breath through their skin.

Although both are spiny, hedgehogs and porcupines are not related.  They developed their natural spines independent of one another.

In related news, there are two types of porcupines that developed their spines independent of one another as well.

Although both are spotted, Jaguars and Leopards can be distinguished from one another by Jaguars having clusters of different size spots and Leopards having more uniform spots like a Dalmatian.

In related news, dalmations have no uniformity whatsoever so that is a horrible example.

Also in related news, Dalmatians are associated with firehouses due to the early years when horses pulled pumpers.  Dalmatians would run out front of the horses, clearing a path for them.   Dalmatians and horses are very comfortable with one another.

In related news to that, Dalmatians were also great watchdogs for the horses that were sometimes stolen.  The dogs become very attached and protective.

Dolphins that have a dorsal fin, have a curved or hooked one.  They also have a long-pointed face and mouth as well as a lean body.

Porpoises have a triangular dorsal fin, a blunt round face and a more rotund body.

In related news, they are very similar but of different species.

Alligators tend to live in fresh water, have U shaped broader snouts and show few teeth.

Crocodiles tend to live in salt water, have more pointy snouts and have a toothy grin.

In related news, they will both gladly kill you if they feel the need.

The Raines sandwich was a sandwich that was handed from one person to another in a bar, and was uneaten for weeks.  It was in response to the Raines Law that prohibited alcohol being served on Sunday, unless with a meal.

The sperm whale is the loudest animal on earth.  It can reach 230 Db, which is twice as loud as a jet taking off. (unspecified which kinda jet in what weather conditions)

Prudential Insurance stopped using the slogan “Own a Piece of the Rock” after Rock Hudson’s death, to disassociate with AIDS.  He was the first actor to identify with AIDS.

In related news, he graduated from the same High School as  Ann-Margret, Charlton Heston, Ralph Belamy, Bruce Dern, Virginia Madsen and Liz Phair.

Also in related news, it was not in Hollywood, but in Winnetka, IL.

What the hell is in the water there??

In common roots related news, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James graduated from the same High School.

Also, in roots related news, Lenny Kravitz, Nicolas Cage, and Slash all went to HS together.

The word ‘Queue’ essentially has 4 silent letters.

In smart ass related news, the first two letters in ‘Why’, are silent.

Also in related news, effectively either the S or the C in ‘Scent’ could be silent but the words would effectively have different meanings.

Breaking a mirror as bad luck comes from the early idea that a mirror could capture a person’s soul.

There is no known explanation of the 7 years of bad luck.

A loophole originally was a relatively small hole in a castle wall that arrows could be shot from and was almost impossible to attack.

Cashews are related to poison ivy and their shells contain one of the chemicals responsible for the reactions poison ivy gives most people.

Taste is a combination of flavor, scent and texture.

Many mirrors in clothing stores are slightly bent to make your reflection slightly slimmer.

The earth is moving at 30Km per second around the sun that is orbiting the center of the galaxy at 250Km per second which is moving through the universe at 600km per second.  While reading this, we have all moved about 3,000Km.

In related news, escalators give you motion sickness?

If you want a rare stone, don’t ask for a diamond, ask for an emerald.  Or better yet, ask for a tanzanite, which is 1,000 times rarer than diamonds.

In related news, diamonds are kept rare by Debeers to keep the price high, they control almost all of the world’s diamonds that are for sale.

Nestle sells over 50 brands of bottled water.

In related news, most are tap water.

E is the most used letter in the English language.  (it appeared 8 times in that sentence)(and 6 times in that one)(and 2 times in that one) (…)

Superman couldn’t fly until the 1940, and only because animators didn’t always want to draw him bending his knees.

Colin Pitchfork was the first person ever convicted by the use of DNA, in Jan. 1988.

Tommie Lee Andrews, a murderer in Florida was the first American to be convicted by DNA in Feb. 1988.

First person to be exonerated by DNA was Gary Dotson in August 1989.

Brit, Philip Noel-Baker is the only person to win an Olympic medal and a Nobel prize (peace).

Strippers are contributing to the demise of marine life, due to glitter being a significant source or micro plastics in the ocean.

Sawdust is man glitter.

Breakfast being the most important meal of the day is actually a marketing campaign from Grape Nuts.

Like pasta, ice cream was invented in China.  Unlike pasta, ice cream is just an excuse for hot fudge.

Squirrels often fake burying nuts.

In related news, that’s what she said.

Worldwide, birds eat approximately 20,000,000,000,000,000 bugs a year.

In related news, THANK GOD.

Qian Xuesen was a Chinese mathematician who helped the US build the atomic bomb in WWII.  Under McCarthyism, he was accused of being a communist, so he went to China and helped them build their atomic bomb.

In related news, the downstream damage of McCarthyism is massive.

New Jersey has a law PROTECTING card counters.

Walmart used to hold life insurance policies on their employees and collected on them when one died without benefiting the family.

The Lithuanian basketball team participated in the 1992 Olympics only because they were funded by the Grateful Dead.

REMOVED BECAUSE WAS FOUND TO BE UNTRUE.

The USS Seahawk Carrier often referenced in movies and TV shows is fictional and usually filmed on the USS Enterprise, CVN-65.

Admiral Ackbar, was a puppet.

George Clooney was the voice of Sparky the Gay dog in South Park.

There is such a thing as ‘strategic incompetence’, deliberately appearing to be bad at something to avoid doing it.

There is computers designed for the Amish, with no internet, no music and no video capabilities.

The Holy Grail is not referenced in the Bible.

In related news, the Holy Grail is purely a King Arthur creation, not a Christian artifact.

Also in related news, even the Arthur Story didn’t introduce the concept of a ‘Holy Grail’ until 1190.

In related news, the Arthur Story, is one of what would be considered fan fiction today, an original story added onto by many authors.

Also in related news, none of this story was known by or translated into English until 1485.

A cur dog is a term to identify what someone considers to be the lowest form of dog (of which there is none) usually a mixed breed, and often a stray or beggar dog.

NEW AS OF 4/8/20 (Age of Corona)

Century, or sentry plants do not grow for a century, but they do grow big.  They also don’t always die right after blooming, but likely soon after.  They can be 10 feet wide and the shoot they eventually send up to flower can reach 30 feet.  They live 10-30 years, blooming once.  They are part of the agave family.

In related news, ixtle is removed from their fibrous leaves, as well as other agave and Yucca plants and used for lariats, rope, brushes and even was used for the ‘boning’ in corsets

The Blue Angel’s real name is United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.

A wooden cutting board should not be used for meat.  A plastic cutting board should not be used for surfing.

An itch as a noun is a place of skin irritation that causes the desire to scratch.  Itch can also be a verb when describing a place that is actively causing the need to scratch, but itching is NOT the act of scratching.

Rinsing a coffee mug is not that same as washing one.  In some circles, washing a coffee  mug is highly offensive.

My house is one of those places.

Rice in a rice cooker is measured differently, a cup of rice is less than a usual cup.

In related news that is because rice cookers are based on final volume of cooked rice, which expands.

The largest conch shells can be up to 2 feet in size and house the second largest snail in the world, largest in North America.

The largest shells belong to Tridacna gigas, or giant clams.  The shells can be 2 meters wide and weigh 200kg.  They can live to around 100 years old.

The largest type of fish is the Whale Shark, maxing out at about 41 feet long.

In contrast, the smallest known fish is the Paedocypris, at 8mm in length.

The Bleroit XI is thought to be the oldest flyable aircraft in the world, with two operational examples. They were made in 1909.

In related news, the KC-135R Stratotanker tail number 57-1419 is the oldest flying aircraft in the US military as of 3/2020.  Its job is to refuel B-52s.

In related news, the oldest B-52 still in service is around 60 years old.

Also also in related news, Brig. Gen Jimmy Stewart flew his final combat mission in a B-52 over Vietnam.  He also flew in B-17s over Europe in WWII, AFTER becoming a movie star.

Also, also, also, the B-52 is the largest aircraft credited with an air to air kill, 3 times in Vietnam.

François Eugène Vidocq was a French thief who was hired by Napoleaon to find the stolen Josephine emeralds.  His methods, learned from a life of crime, established much of the foundation of modern police work, forensics, profiling, deductive reasoning and notes for investigation.  He found the jewels in 4 days after being missing for months.

In related news after he was released from the police force after 20 years, he founded the first recognized private detective agency.

Also in related news, he is said to be part of the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, although it is unclear if inspiration for detectives or thieves.

The plural of fish can be fish, or fishes.

Singular of Do is … Do.  The plural of said word is Dos, or Do’s

Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it is or means, like oink, or squeak

I have mentioned the Hope diamond before, but it has many stories connected to it.  It is one of the most stolen gems in history and has been cut down several times.  What is now seen in The Smithsonian, is a fraction of what it was long ago, and to be honest, not impressive.

In oddly related news, Saudi Arabia and Thailand today are not on good terms.  This stems from the crown (for lack of a better term) jewels of a Saudi Prince that were stolen by a Thai thief and taken back to Thailand.  When returned, all the jewels had been replaced by fakes.  Thailand has never accepted they were fake, Saudi Arabia has never backed off their claim.

I have said this in a different way before, but organic does not mean chemical, poop, heavy metal, or pesticide free.  https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/organic-standards.

In similar logic, Tic Tacs contain no sugar according to their label, but are 94.5% sugar.  It is a matter of minimums and standards for labeling, NOT clear lines of definition or value.

No organic foods are chemical free.  Whater is a chemical.  So is the food made up of many chemicals.

Water is NOT organic.

Zugzwang is a word that means many choices all being bad.

A meteorwrong is a rock thought to be a meteor but is terrestrial in origin.

The 6th largest pyramid in the world is in Memphis Tennessee.  It’s a Bass Pro Shops.

The sound of the jungle as heard in many movies, the animal call, is the Kookaburra, which is only found in Australia and New Guinea.

The earth doesn’t rise or set on the moon.

In somewhat related news, the first earthy probe to land on another planet was on Venus in 1966, sent by Russia.

A flight had to return to Brussles, due to the pilot being attacked by a cat.  (pre 9/11)

At 5 books a day, it would take 80,000 years to read all the books in the British Library.

The modern salute, there have been many over time, is thought to have originated from French Knights.

For the most magical woman I know, the whole Harry Potter series contains 199 chapters, 4,224 pages and 1,090,739 words.

In related news, she will never read them all again.

If 15% of Twitter accounts are actually bots as many studies have said, there are about 48,000,000 fake accounts.

The EWG, ‘Environmental working Group’ label available for Sunscreen to say it is ‘safe for use’, is a bought and paid for label, based on no science or any study and purely for profit.

Frankenstien’s monster wanted to be named Adam.

The Izod Lacoste crocodile is the first designer logo ever.

Infantry comes from infant, they often being the youngest and least experienced.

In the theme of the Corona Virus, it takes about 27,000 trees to make the TP used in one day.  Panic consumed much, much …. much more.

The French Revolution was largely flamed by rumors and inuendo regarding Marie Antoinette.  Still doubt the power of the press and the ability to run off with a story for effect?

The highest body count in movie history is 836 in LoTR, Return on the King.

Every Pixar movie has an easter egg of the next movie.  (and many from the past)

Red Pandas have no direct relative species.

Bookworms are a real thing, and they do eat books.

Russia has more satellites then the US, by far.

1089 x 9 = 9801

The man who gave the order to ground all the planes on 9/11, it was his first day on the job.

Men combing the beach in Florida cruising for women, are called Land Sharks.

In related news, Jimmy Buffett sings about them.

The shower curtain blowing in during a shower is called the shower curtain effect.  SCIENCE.

A 26 sided shape is known as a rhombicuboctahedron.  Now ya know.

The Mona Lisa was stolen from The Louvre in 1911.  The empty space drew more crowd than the painting before.

In related news, Vincenzo Peruggia was the thief, who just walked out with it, besides the frame.  It was returned in 1913.

Also in related news, Honda has been the maker of the most stolen model of cars most years since 1990.

A guide dog named Roselle guided her human down the stairs of the World Trade Center on 9/11, successfully.

When fat metabolizes one of the components is Carbon dioxide, which you exhale.

‘Happy DoDah’ is an expression of unknown origin.

Kimono roughly means, ‘a thing to wear’.

In trivia related facts, Snapple cap facts are pretty out of date, unlike myself.

Physicist William Higinbotham, worked on both the first nuclear bomb and helped develop the first video game.  The jury is out on which has been more destructive.

Dumdum bullets were invented by the DumDum Arsenal in India.

Ironically, these are often used by police but illegal in war, just like the aforementioned teargas.

Although the Bowie family did make knives, they were not one type or style.

In related news, there is no evidence that Jim Bowie carried one at the Alamo.

In related news, David Bowie changed his name to Bowie to not sound like Davie Jones, since David Bowie was named Jones.

Also in related news, he was childhood or teenage friends with Peter Frampton and Elton John.

Texas as an independent state/nation, was very pro slavery and had far more draconian laws enacting it than any/other US state ever did.

Davy Crocket’s coon skin cap is a post lifetime invention from stage shows, even though the hats were popular at the time.

Although arguments are made both ways, there is no more than 1 bridge currently that crosses the Amazon.  The river is 4,000 miles long.

Piss poor is a reference to collecting urine in a pot to sell to hide tanners, thus raising a pittance of money via piss.

‘Not a pot to piss in’ means you cannot even do that.

In related news, a pittance is a wage so low it is not enough to live on.

June weddings came about because flowers were available, both for beauty and scent.  Weddings were usually held outside.

Canopy beds were not invented to keep the ‘things’ falling from thatched roofs, onto the bed.  Thatch roofs that did often contain bugs were not synonymous with canopy beds.  Canopy beds were expensive, and the frame is meant to hold curtains, and a canopy was easy to add.  It offered privacy and warmth, to the wealthy, not the poor.

Saturday Night Live has banned 15 people or groups from the show for various reasons including but not limited to Martin Lawrence, Sinead O’Connor, Andy Kauffman, Robert Blake, and Steven Segal.  The last for not being funny.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is a list of 5 time hosts, although Paul Simon is in the club with 4 since he also has performed musically many times.  Hosts far and away in the lead are Steve Martin (15) and Alec Balwin (17)(Likely not again).

In related laugh news, there is one sketch that didn’t draw a single laugh which was Gilbert Godfried walking around flashing people.  Godfried has been banned from many shows.

Thurl Ravenscroft voiced both Tony the Tiger and The Grinch.

A lawn mullet us when it is clean and maintained in the front and very not in the rear.

The Procrastinator’s newsletter is called ‘Last Month’s News.’

Running around in the dark in a ditch hunting frogs and trying not to get bit by water moccasin sounds like A GOOD TIME!  GIGGITY.

ZZ Top has the longest running stable band line-up.  50 years thus far.(this has now ended)

There is a myth that saved by the bell, the phrase not the TV show, was a reference to being buried alive and the devices invented to save them, no.  It is from boxing.

Sharks vomit their guts out, literally.  Then ‘suck’ them back in.

The oldest evidence of human/dog companionship is in a cave in France, going back 26,000 years, or 3,714 in dog years (which is a myth).

In 1960, Russia paid for Pepsi with Vodka.  As mentioned previously, All Russian Vodka is state owned, so the government paid for the nation to have Pepsi.

In related and bizarre news, during the late 80s, Russia wanted more but they didn’t have the money to pay for 3 BILLION dollars’ worth of Pepsi, so Russia traded 17 submarines, 1 frigate, 1 cruiser and 1 destroyer.

In a bizarre perspective, until they sold the fleet for scrap, Pepsi had the 6th largest fleet in the world.  TAKE THAT COKE!

In related news, sorta, cocaine is a schedule 2 drug, not schedule 1.

Also in related news, anosmia is the loss of smell, that can be caused by snorting cocaine.

It would take 1.2 million mosquitoes sucking at the same time to drain the average human of blood.

A woman once jumped from an observation deck on the Empire State building and survived.  She landed on a 3 foot ledge below.

The reason music is listed as the top 40 on radio play, is that juke boxes held 40 records and the list told owners what to buy to have the most popular music.

Aibohphobia is a palindrome.  It is a noun meaning the fear of palindromes.

Cheetahs don’t stop running because they are tired, they stop because they overheat.

Giraffes are not born with horns, because they don’t have horns, but they do have ossicones, which is cartilage.  But yes, they are born with them.

The i, in ipod and iphone stands for internet and debuted in the internet optimized imac computer released in 1998.

Your toilet water, hose water and drinking water are all the same water.

In related news, your toilet water is cleaner than most of the world’s drinking water.

The food pyramid is a term that originated in Egypt when they stored food in the pyramids. (Yes that’s a joke)

In related news, not all jokes are good.

Blue MnMs (hello Apex who loved them) replaced tan MnMs in 1996.

US Space force.  Enough said.

Although … they do operate the US GPS system.

In related news, for a long time the US owned all the GPS system but today there are many developing or in service.  The US could turn off access or degrade the accuracy at will and did deny access to the Indian Army once.

6 out of 7 dwarfs are not happy.

The Mexican Constitution was the first to state that everyone has a right to education.

The world’s largest Banyan tree, in India of course, covers 4.67 acres of land and is still growing.

The most attended event known in history is the Hindi ritual The Kumbh Mela (The Grand Pitcher Festival) in India.  It was attended by 60,000,000 people in 2012.

The tittle is the dot in a lower case i and j.

In related news, a titter is a short half suppressed laugh, often following an odd sounding word being used.

‘Butthead’ originally meant the bottom end of something.

Petricor is the wonderful smell after a rain.

Bill Murray likely originated but definitely popularized the term “You’re Toast” in the movie Ghost Busters.

Unadulterated Food Products is the original name for Snapple.

Parathesia is the numb sensation you get when your foot is asleep.

In related news, Parasaling is not the sale of numb body parts.

Ben Stein’s economics lecture in Ferris Beuller, Beuller, Beuller … was improvised.  He was an economics professor.

Lunules are the white cresent shape part of your fingernails.

In related news a singlelune is another term for giving someone the finger.

The TOPGUN school, yes it is real, fines you $5 each time to quote or reference the movie.  Rumor has it they fine you $50 if you act like Tom Cruise.

And yes, it is spelled TOPGUN, as one word and all caps.

Also, it’s real name is United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program.

The Air Force has one as well, called RED FLAG, whose real name is High-Intensity Air-to-Air Combat Exercise.

Sandwich Islands was the original name given to Hawaii by James Cook.

In related news, the USDA defines a sandwich has at least 35% meat and not more than 50% bread, by volume.

DON’T HIDE YOUR WEENIS!  It is just the loose skin on your elbow.  (insert titter here)

The philtrum is the divot above your lip, below your nose not usually put there by a golf club.

A dingbat is a term used for symbols @*~ used to replace a foul word.

In related news these can also be called grawlix or the more direct profanitype.

The Cosmic Crisp apple can stay fresh for up to 10 months in the fridge.

Fairy Floss was the original name of Cotton Candy, which as mentioned before was invented by a dentist.

“Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide web” was the original name for Yahoo.

In related news, ‘Of Mice and Men’ was originally titled ‘Something that Happened’.

Also in related news, Pepsi was originally called Brad’s Drink.

If you don’t belive me look up Brad’s Drink on Jerry and Dave’s Guide.

Also, also in related news, the frozen waffles Eggos, were named Froffles originally.

Ferrules are the metal band that connect the eraser to the pencil, among other things.

In kinda related news, the aglet is the band on the end of a shoelace.

In vaguely related news the oldest person to hit the UK singles charts is Louis Armstrong at age 66

In kinda related news if hyped up on enough coffee, the cardboard ring around a coffee cup, say the ones you paid 4 times too much for, is called a zarf.

To defenstrate someone is to throw them through a window.

In related news, my parties were never that good.

In today’s ‘DON’T LABEL ME’ society the gender-neutral label for nieces and nephews is nibling, or the more slang cool sibkid.

In related news, Chibling is gender neutral label for siblings.

So that would mean in polite society nowadays, your Chibling has 3 niblings … CAUSE THAT’S BETTER.

Griffonage is bad handwriting.  No word on how the kids of Gryffindor feel about this.

Nurdle is a small plastic pellet.

In odd, related news, it is also the name for toothpaste on a brush.

A punt is the depression in the bottom of a wine bottle.

Dayton Dry Goods Company was the original name for Target.

Candy Corn used to come with little candy pumpkins in the bags.

The Corythosurus or ‘duck billed’ dinosaur has been displayed as a rear leg walker like a T-Rex but this is wrong, they are four walkers.

In related news, this has been known for 30ish years (in 2020) and yet many museums still display it on hind legs.

Also in related news, even the T-Rex has been depicted often as a tail dragger but it was not.

Also, also in related news, these types of issues are not uncommon among many dinosaurs displays.

Owen J Baggett once shot down a Japanese plane with a 45cal handgun, while parachuting.

A suit of armor and a sword doesn’t make you a Knight.

The original game of poker used 4 players and 20 cards.

The rest of the 52 were introduced around 1835.

The Church Lady’s real character name Enid Strict

Antibiotics do not work on viruses because viruses are not alive.

Colorado has an active volcano, Dotsero.  It has not erupted since the pyramids were built though.

Iceland doesn’t have a railway system.

Pizzly-Bear is a grizzly bear and Polar bear hybrid.

Seafood is an all-inclusive term meaning freshwater edible aquatic food as well as ocean water.

Frissons, a French word meaning shiver sensation, goosebumps. (had this!  didn’t know there was a word for it)

Vatican City has the highest crime rate of any nation.

Supposedly, the most universally understood word across the world is ‘Taxi”.

I think it is, ‘OK’.

ie: is an abbreviation for ‘id est’ , which is Latin for ‘that is’.

Starfish have mouths in the center of their bodies.  Think about that next time you see a cartoon mermaid wearing starfish as a bikini top …

In related news, Starfish have no blood, only cloudy looking watery substance.  Think about that in reference to the cartoon bikini.

Also in related news, you cannot make this stuff up.

Reagan and Gorbachev signed the short/intermediate nuclear missile treaty on June 1, 1988.

In related news Trump withdrew from it on August 2, 2019.

Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America.

Happy Birthday is the first Earth song to be played on a foreign planet.  Curiosity rover on Mars played it for itself.

In related news, as far as we know Mars is the only known planet to be entirely populated by robots.

A buttload is an actual form of measurement.  It is defined as two hogsheads.

In related news, a hogshead is 63 gallons, so a buttload is 126 gallons.  Now ya know.

The modern detective story was defined by Edgar Allen Poe, in stories about C Auguste Dupin.

In related news, the Mystery Writers of America refer to the award for the genre, ‘The Edgar”.

Women didn’t start shaving their arm pits until about 1910 due to fashion, due to increasing occurrences of sleeveless dresses.

In related news, arm pit hair also helps store odor.

Creole generally means a mix of African American, Colonial French and Native American ancestry.

Cajun means ‘from Arcadia’ meaning French Canada and some New England, usually today seen in Louisiana, also settled by the French.

Cajun cooking tends to be ‘off the land’ based and uses more spices.

Percentages are reversible, 25% of 50 is the same as 50% of 25.

Baby platypus, look it up.  You’re welcome.

The holy trinity is not what ya think, it is onions, celery and bell pepper … at least in the Cajun of south.

A knife is cutlery.  There is no word on why a spoon is not called scooplery or fork is called poklery.

Ethyl formate is a compound that gives Captain Morgan it’s taste, raspberries their smell partially and can be found in ants and bee stingers.

Broccoli is a form of cabbage.  It is related to Cauliflower, brusslesprouts, kohlrabi and kale.

In related news, there is no word on if the inventor has been indicted for WMD proliferation.

Portuguese Man-o-war are not jellyfish.

In related news, they are also siphonophore, which means it is actually not one animal but a colony of animals, each having a specific role.

Also in related news, THAT IS FREAKIN COOL! Annnnnd kinda creepy.

The average human would have to consume about 460 bananas to OD on potassium.

In 2011 the US became a net exporter of oil.

In related news, in 2013 the US became the largest oil producer in the world.

Also, in related news Russia has fallen to third, as production there slows. (2020)

Also, also in related news, Canada is expected to move to #1 in the next 10 years.

Louisiana doesn’t have counties, they have parishes.

Technically, people who live there may be called parishioners.

This is an evolution of Napoleonic law as written 4 years before Louisiana became state.

Outside of a Buster Keaton movie, there are no Shepherds in Shepherd’s Pie.

The correct phrase is, “You cannot eat your cake and have it too”. The other way around is possible, the correct way is not.

Drinking from a straw or not is really just a bottom down or off the top question.

Noah also selected a pair of termites?

Mary (as Maryam) is mentioned more often in the Qur’an than in the Bible.

Anyone who watches TV or movies knows that the 555 prefix is a ‘dummy’ prefix that negates most phone numbers.  It was set up by Bell Telephone long ago not specifically for Hollywood, but they are the most frequent users of it.  They also set up the area code 311.  It too is a fake area code, but most often used for LA, since California also has 310 as an area code.  555 negates any phone number including those with valid area codes so often real area codes are used.

Before Julius Caesar, Rome’s Highest Priest would change the length of the calendar when his allies (those who paid him) were in office and reduced all other times.  This was called intercalation and is still seen today in effect.

In related news, the Gregorian calendar is the one that introduced the leap year to keep in step with the moon and seasons.  It also moved Easter, something still not stable in its location.

Also in related news, the Julian calendar (no leap year) and Gregorian calendar (Leap year included at no additional cost) currently differs by 13 days, accumulated over time.

In Easter related news, the term Passover is Jewish in origin and celebrates the end of Jewish slavery in Egypt (exodus) and no it had nothing to do with building the pyramids.

Also in related news, this is another example of Catholic holidays simply being co-opted holidays from other religions, often Pagan.

Similarly in related news, the whole bunny and eggs thing is an evolution from the 19th century.  Easter had been a drinking festival (of course) and the 19th century introduced childhood as a time when children should be children, not small workers.  The industrial revolution kinda challenged that.

AD does not mean ‘after death’ but means Anno Domini, meaning in the year of our lord

In Kennedy’s famous anti-communism speech in Berlin, he made a statement in German at the end of the speech many like to say translated to “I am a donut”, no.  The statement was ‘Ich bin eine Berliner’  An ‘Eine Berliner’ is a type of donut, but the statement translates to I am a Berliner.  It was also respectfully said, adding the ‘eine’ to not use the local form implying he was born in Berlin.  There was no noted confusion in the day in Germany.

Sushi translates to sour rice, accurate.

In related news I look forward to this fad ending when people finally realize that rolling raw fish in sticky (under cooked) rice should not cost so much, nor does it taste good without the sauces and as usually served in the US is really Sashimi.

Sherlock Holmes never said, “Elementary my dear Watson” in any of the books.

The insult ‘pussy’ should be spelled pusi, since the insult derives from the word pusillanimous which means cowardly.

Ever notice we use the term chicken to denote someone without courage, but chickens can be mean as f ….

Lagniappe is a French/Cajun word that means bonus or extra, ‘a little sumpin sumpin’.

You actually bite up.

Crap does not come from the inventor of indoor plumbing, it comes from Latin meaning chaff, or wasted part of grain.

A laboratory is called that because it is a place of work, labor.

Los Angeles Angels is redundant.

David Bowie turned down a Knighthood in 2003.

In related news, since 1233 it has been illegal to do so.

In China it is legal for someone to hire a body double to stand trial for you and serve in prison.

A hamlet is any village without stocks, thus legal means to enforce laws.

Togas were not merely a type of clothing; they were only legally to be worn by Roman citizens, so it was a status thing … like all fashion.

Prostitutes were known to wear them.

In related news, you are not typicalaly naked under them.

Also in related news, in 1400s Venice all prostitutes had to wear yellow.

Daylight robbery doesn’t mean a bold act, it is a reflection of King William in the 1700s who taxed homes based on the number of windows it had, so people referred to the tax as a robbery due to daylight.

Theoretically the reason for so many UFO sightings in the US and UK, is that it is illegal to land one in France, since 1954.

Goodbye is an abbreviation of ‘God be with ye’

As something to think about regarding the 10th Commandment, until 1974 it was illegal to milk your neighbor’s cow in Texas. (cause Texas)

In related news, the 10th does not just say thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.  It also includes slaves, house, ox, ass or anything that belongs to him.  So don’t covet your neighbor’s ass …

Guy Fawkes was actually named Guido.

In related news Guy Fawkes Day started as a royal mandate.  The king demanded that the Gunpowder Plot be celebrated since it failed, thus supporting the crown.  That order kinda backfired.

Since 1334, any whale, porpoise or sturgeon that washed up on a UK shore, were property of the king.

In related news, this also applies to wild swans anywhere in the UK.

Halloween is more about giving than Christmas.

Dinosaurs truly did live on the other side of the galaxy.  This is a different way of reflecting that the galaxy spins like the solar system and thus that long ago, the earth was on the other side of the spinning galaxy.

White vinegar, the kind available in clear containers at the supermarket is made of water and sugar or cheap grain alcohols or even vodka, and acetic acid.  It isn’t distilled down from any food.

In French Lick Springs Indiana, (that name should be illegal) it is legally required for black cats to wear a bell on Friday 13, a myth that has no known basis.

ALL earth problems are third world problems (think about it)

The US has declared war 5 times in its history, not counting the Revolution.  However, the US President has used military force at least 126 times without declaring war in the history of the nation.

Officially, the Vietnam War (never declared thus a police action) lasted 20 years, 1955-75.  There was officially 58,220 US deaths as of 1/1/2020.

In comparison, US involvement in WWII (last time the US declared war) lasted 3 years, 9 months.  There were officially 416,800 deaths in that time.

Also in comparison, The Iraq War, (again never declared thus a police action) was active from March 2003- December 2011. As of 1/1/2020 there were officially 4,424 US deaths in the war.

In 2019 US dollars the following wars cost the US: WWII – $4,000,000,000. Vietnam – $1,000,000,000.  Iraq – $2,400,000,000.

In alternate numbers, Vietnam cost $4.16 billion and 243 deaths per month.  WWII cost $89 billion and 9,262 deaths per month.  Iraq cost $25.8 billion and 48 deaths per month.

The Hague Convention of 1899 formalized and revised the process of declaring war.  The formation of the UN has largely superseded the act of formal declarations of war.

It IS legal to marry a dead person in France.  It is a solution to illegitimate children becoming legitimized.

In related news, it is called necromany and it must be approved by the deceased’ family.

Ski masks have a lot more to do with burglary.

Everyone who can speak, can talk to animals.

The Witchcraft act of 1736 England made it illegal to pretend to be a witch.  It was legal to actually be one though.

Background checks are not like in movies.  They require more than a name to run one and they are labor intensive.  There is no central database and no simple search.  Experienced people can do one efficiently, but they are still labor intensive.

In related news, the checker would need to know everywhere the person has lived for the time frame requested and poll or ‘query’ those jurisdictions.  Some jurisdictions are still on paper.  There is NO central database.

In related news, this means the background check for guns purchases is as silly as well think it is and it sounds like.

Estadio Milton Correa is a stadium in Brazil that is said to be bisected by the equator.

Draco was an Athenian lawyer who crafted many laws for the city.  They were brutal, thus the term ‘Draconian’.

What has four letters.

Punxsutawney Phil has been predicting Spring’s arrival since 1887.  In that time, he has predicted more winter 103 times, early spring 19 times.  Tested against what really happened, he (they, there have been many including females) has had a success rate of 37%.

In related news, that sucks.

Also in related news, don’t blame the groundhog, the whole thing is scripted including the outcome.

Your belly button is just an old mouth still hanging around.

Since the 1800s, France passed a law stating that unless on a bike or horse, a woman cannot dress like a man.  Due to social progress that France is known for, that law was repealed in 2013.

In related news as referenced in other trivia here, high heels were originally male, and dresses were universal.  Confusing …

Enormity means something bad, not enormous.

Connais is French/Cajun for mischievous.

A $5 bill is just a coupon that is valid anywhere.

Middle age’s archers who were on foot never had a quiver on their back, always on their hip.

Will Smith’s character’s name in Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire, was Will Smith.

All of us can jump higher than a house.

The “You’ve got mail” voice was Elwood Edwards, recorded in his living room.  Now ya know.

The cornea is the only part of the human body that does not use blood.  It gets oxygen directly from the air.

In related news, this is why safety goggles have air vents.

Regardless of handedness, most people bend their heads to the right, to kiss.  Those who do not are a headache.

Your lips are far more sensitive than your fingertips so brail should be read with ones lips.  Go ahead, try it.  I’ll watch.

In related news, women’s breasts were designed for babies, but used far more often by adults.

A device was invented that allows you to breath the air in your sewer line if your house is on-fire while you wait for help.

In related news, that would stink to have to use it.

In related news there was also an invention that would birth a human baby through centripetal force.

In southern parlance, ‘passed me eyes’ means someone gave you a bad look.

Both octopus and squids have eight arms, not technically called tentacles.  Some can be referred to as legs.

In related news, Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants is neither.

Also in related news, that is the ONLY inaccuracy in the cartoon…

Mata Hari, a famous WWI female spy was not really a spy.  She grew fame for being killed by Germans for suspicion of being a spy, a rare event for a woman.  She never functioned or trained as a spy and produced no intelligence.

” Be’swith ” is a southern term that means, the one are ‘with’.  Now ya know.

Sound can influence taste.

Known as the continent that is trying to kill you, the three deadliest animals in Australia (non-human) in order are Horses, Cows and dogs … yeah.

It is said that volcanoes are a major contributor to global warming through CO2.  Volcanoes annually put about 100 million tons of CO2.  By comparison, humans are responsible for 10 billion tons.  So, let’s have no more of, “The Volcano did it” round here.

The Antarctic midge is a fly … that cannot fly.  ironic.

Pepper mills became big because people stole them.

Only 22 modern countries can claim to NOT have been invaded or occupied by England: Andorra, Belarus, Bolivia, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, Guatemala, Ivory coast, Kyrgyzstan, Lichtenstein, Mali, Marshal Islands, Monaco, Mongolia, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Princpie, Sweden, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Vatican City for some reason.

KEVINISMUS is a uniquely German condition used to describe when Germans name their children distinctly American names.

In unique related news, former East German residents may have a condition known as OSTALGIE, which is a longing for the old ways, namely pre-unification of German way of life.

Although humans have been on earth about 50,000 years (not seeking a religious battle here) about 7% of all humans that have ever lived, live now.

Due to the young average death age in Africa, the average age of humans in the world is about 29 years old.

Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is thought to be the most stolen and recovered painting in history, 7 times.

In related news, Picasso is the most stolen painter, at over 1,100 thefts of his work.

Violets have a chemical smell that reactivates smell receptors, so they constantly have a strong scent.

There was a temp of -144F in the Antarctic in 2011.  I was here, and warmer.

The Ibex went extinct, twice.  Once it was hunted to extinction, the second time one was cloned but only lived a few days and thus the species went extinct again.

The trend of women having children at older ages has pushed up the number of twins being born.

Dwarf willows only grow to be about 6 inches tall full grown.  They are trees.

Green rump parrots have individual names that are assigned by the birds that raised them.

The word breakfast is literal, to break your overnight fast; the longest period of non-eating in a normal day.

Most underwater species have existed longer than man.

Most of the planet is water, 71%, and only 5% of the oceans has been explored.

In related news, that means most of the planet in unexplored.

With this in mind, the Grand Canyon is a mere scratch in the realm of canyons on earth.

In WWII the Destroyer USS O’Bannon once attacked a Japanese submarine with potatoes, successfully.

In related news, ya can’t make this shit up.

The Moon smells like spent gun powder.

In related news, there are no gun laws there.

The Maroon Bells in Colorado are not real bells.

Exactly an ironic number of conceptions have occurred on pull-out sofas.

Due to there always being pregnant women, the average number of human skeletons in each human body, is always above 1 (depending on your definition of life and all that riffraff).

Redhead women CAN make their own vitamin D, and often but not always have higher pain threshold.

In related news, they are also more sensitive to temperature changes (this explains a few things).

Guinness Book is the most often stolen book from stores and libraries.

Rhnull is the rarest blood type.

There are no wild horses in the US.  All the ‘free roaming’ horses in the US are actually decedents of domesticated horses and therefore considered Ferrel.

There is no official time zone in Antarctica.  There are numerous science stations that use their own time zone, usually synchronized with their ‘base’ in mainland.  As a default, New Zealand time zone is used.

The tip of South America, is the closest landmass to Antarctica.

There is no such thing as ‘double jointed’.

Lactose intolerance is not the same as lactose allergy.

“Alpha male” is a wolf term and actually reflects the parent.  There is also alpha female, usually a parent.  This pattern is not transferable to humans.

Men get breast cancer as well.

In related news, in 2019 about 2,670 men got it and about 500 died.

2020 and 1992 have the same calendar.

Glen Campbell had 26 top 10 hits and 5 #1 songs.

In related news, he couldn’t read music.

The body volume of a toucan, is 50% of its beak.

In related news, they regulate heat by the capillaries in their beak.

Also in related news, baby toucans … look em up.  You’re welcome.

The Statue of Liberty was copper colored (it is copper after all) for 20 years after it was erected in 1886.  By the time color photos were invented, it was already green.

Goldfish do not grow in relation to the size of their tank.  They are however big poop producers, so they need big tanks and great filters.

Koala fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from humans.  No word on if there are any who have the same actual prints as humans.  I blame my past and all evidence supporting it on a rogue gang of koalas in Northern Virginia.

I have a past I wish had not occured, but it made me who I am so I accept it.

In related news, that was rue, look it up.

Horse pupils, (rectangular) rotate so when their head is down so they still have a panoramic view.

Birds have no poop control so no, they are not targeting you …

Cougars may stalk their pray for days before attacking.

In related news, cougars are also called pumas, mountain lion and panther.  All the same animals.

In related news, human cougars have been known to stalk for months, or attack pool boys and delivery men in mere seconds …

Alternate names for human cougars are numerous but common names include Karen, Rachel or Sharon.

NEW AS OF 12/12/19

Owls have about a 270deg range of motion in their neck, in each direction.

Parrots used to be three feet tall.  It was like 17,000,000 years ago so don’t panic.

In related news, Penguins used to be close to six feet tall.

Fossils have to be at least 10,000 years old.

In related news, ‘fossil’ used to mean, dug up.

Also in not related news, fossils have no relation to the movie Jurassic Park.

NASA used the movie Armageddon in training where people are told to identify how many errors there are in the movie.

In related news, the number of wrong things is one of the only known infinity quantities found in nature.

Winter solstice has a precise time of day, not just date.  It is the point in time where the north pole is tilted the most away from the sun, and the sun is perpendicular to the tropic of Capricorn (the place, not the book).

In related news, the exact moment for the entire planet this year (2019) is Dec 21 9:19pm RMT.

Also in related news, remember the title of this page, I don’t do Eastern Time.

Also, also in related news it is said that Stonehenge is set to the winter solstice.  This is likely true, but I’ll say it yet again, Stonehenge was dismantled over 100 years ago and put back as the engineers saw fit, so who’s to say it was intended to.

The Washington Monument opened on October 9, 1888.

In related news, it was the tallest structure in the world for about 6 months, surpassed by the Eiffel tower.

The one-year sales record for a model of a car is 1965, for the Chevy Impala.

There are currently (2019) 264 million cars registered in the United States.

The term, ‘A bridge too far’ is a reference to Operation Market Garden in WWII.

The 2011 Crown Victoria was the last car in the US produced with a cassette player.

A dashboard was originally invented as a mud splatter guard.

The gym in the movie Breakfast Club, where John Bender is kinda playing basketball, is the interior of the home, in Home Alone.  They built the set in the same abandoned High School.

In related news, Warner Brothers cut production on Home Alone over $1.2 million in cost projections, and literally minutes later Fox picked it up.

Also in related news, it is the highest grossing comedy of all time.

In movie related news, the house next to the Griswold’s in Christmas Vacation is the house the Glovers lived in in Lethal Weapon.

In related news to that, the old footage Clark watched while locked in the attic shows his house as a child, which happens to be the same house used in Bewitched.

Also in related news, in the original and European Vaca, Rusty is the oldest child.  In Christmas Vaca he is magically younger.

In Christmas related news, A Wonderful Life was a flop.  The only reason it became a Christmas staple is that the copyright expired in 1974 and became open domain and thus a free Christmas story to show, and it was, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, +10,000,000.

In related news, the movie sucks fish balls.

One light year is about 5,903,026,326,000 miles.

In related news, dresses were not exclusively female away from work until horses became common.

As mentioned in a previous post, High Heels were originally male.

In related news, redheads are not allowed in hell.

Iron Maidens are a myth, other than the band, ROCK ON, GARTH!

In related news, yes, I know it is party on Garth/Wayne, but work with me here, geeze.

There was a Fort Benedict Arnold.  It was renamed West Point for some reason…

An acronym is a new word formed with the letters of others to essentially be an abbreviation.

In related news, a backronym is a descriptive phrase created to fit a known and pre-existing word.

Roman Gladiators were not slaves or prisoners, but athletes and celebrities.

In related news they worked for promoters, and emperors never determined if they lived.

Also in related news, they never fought to death, it was a show.

The decriminalization of pot has led to the first decline in prison populations in 30 years.

In related news, the Spanish word esposa has two meanings, wife and handcuffs.

Crossing Nebraska today is much easier than in 1912, for more reasons than roads.  In 1912, law stated that you had to stop every 150 yards to shoot off a flair, when traveling at night.

Montpelier, VT is the largest US city without a McDonald’s.

Every state claim that their school test scores are above average.

In related news, high scores in math would tell you that is impossible.

Possums don’t ‘play’ possum.  They pass out.

There are no bulimic horses.  They cannot vomit.

Kotex first manufactured bandages.

Chickens are a food we eat both before they are born, and after death.

The term sidetrack means to be diverted from the main line of conversation and has its origin in the railroad.

In related news, ‘making the grade’ means to measure up, such as being able to top a hill while towing a train.

Also in related news, ‘gravy train’ was a short easy to tow train or one that had to be hauled a short distance thus easy pay to be earned.

The North Platte River has it’s headwaters in about Walden, CO.  In more general terms, the North Platte origins are in North Park, CO.

Related, the South Platte River starts close to Fairplay, CO which is in South Park.

Yes that South Park.

The term Rocky Mountains is a local native term.

Billy and nanny are out of favor in the goat world, because they feel the words are derogatory.

Instead, they call a castrated male a wether, (good to single them out that way), and female is a doe and immature regardless of gender is a kid.

In defense of Arthur Carlson, manager of WKRP, some turkey’s can fly and most used to be able to but breeding for desirable eating characteristics (large breasts and legs) has rendered many unable to.

In related news, pilgrims did not discover turkeys, they had already been introduced by the Spanish from their North American expeditions.

Also in related news, it is very unlikely turkey was the fowl at the first Thanksgiving.

Also, also in related news, Franklin never suggested the turkey be our national bird, he felt the Bald Eagle was so ugly he would rather have a turkey as the national bird, even though he felt it too was butt ass ugly. (There is no word on if we would be eating bald eagle on Thanksgiving if the turkey was made the national bird)

Also, also, also in related news, the mascot of Virginia Tech is not a Hokie (fictional non-thing that rhymed in their fight song).  They are the Fighting Gobblers.  No word on who was fired for this choice.

And finally, much like humans, old Tom’s taste better than young ones and young hens taste better then old ones.

Narcolepsy does not mean you suddenly fall asleep.  It means you are very often drowsy, and it is a chemical disorder.

In related news, catatonia is similar and can result in sudden sleep.

Stomach flu in not actually a thing, more a slang term for gastroenteritis which can mean a great deal of things.

The myth that adult humans need to drink 64 ounces of water per day came from a single article in 1945 and also states that you will get most of that from the food you eat.

In related news, no two spider webs are alike which is why there are so few spider crimes.

Apple pie’s lineage goes back to England, but the recipe changed here reflecting the native ingredients.  It wasn’t popular in the states until the mid-1800s.

China has one time zone.

Brown eggs have no nutritional difference, only cost.  The hens that lay brown eggs eat more so brown eggs cost more.

The adult generation who first experienced electronic monitoring by their government were also the first to be listened to on baby monitors.

Many Vegans breast feed their own children.

Cartwheels are called that because your arms and legs look like spokes on a wheel when doing one.

Expiration dates on bottled water are for the seal, not the water.

You are receiving more radiation living near a coal plant than a nuclear plant due the fly ash.

In related news, the ash is bad for you even if not making radiation.

Also in related news, fly ash is the ash that exits the chimney, even if unseen, and bottom ash is the ash that falls to the bottom of the chimney.

Bar codes are the white spaces, not the black.

All disposable diapers still sit in a land fill somewhere, taking 100s of years to decompose.

Stickers on fruit are edible.

Hamsters are also found in the wild.  No one knows why they exist anywhere … no one.

Malaysia flight 370 is sitting on the ocean floor somewhere likely with its passengers sitting in the chairs.

Madonna tried to remake Casablanca in the mid 2000s with her playing Ingrid Bergman’s role and Ashton Kutcher playing Humphrey Bogart’s.

In related news she was universally told to stuff it.

Also in related news, THANK GOD.

A harem is a place, not a group of women. The Harem was part of the sultan’s palace where women lived, largely with no option to leave.

Most were kidnapped from far lands, educated, presented for approval or not, then started their role as breeder.  Little is known what happened to the rejected ones, but may have been turned into concubines for other men of power or outright killed.

The purpose of a harem was to provide the sultan with male heirs, not sexual concubines.

In related news, concubine does not mean the woman only, it is either of a sexual pairing that is in an ongoing relationship that cannot lead to marriage.

Orgy does not have the historical meaning we usually use today.  It meant a drunken party of singing and dancing.  Much like mine in HS.

In related news, I had no idea I was hosting a historical orgy.

Also in related news, contrary to rumor in the day the cops never broke it up.

The Band of Brothers was criticized in the UK for not showing enough British soldiers. (it follows a US company of soldiers)

In related news they need to grow a pair and film their own if they want British soldiers.

Also in related news, they are. (filming one, not sure about growing a pair)

Forests are large tracts of land covered with dense forest with game that can be hunted.

In related news, woods are smaller tracts with dense trees that are not large enough to sustain game.

Also, in related news there is no true definition for jungle since they are actually tropical forests.

Shock paddles are usually miss-used in movies.  Sopranos is one of the few times they were used correctly.

IHS are the first three letters for Jesus, in Greek.  Latin and Greek often get interchanged and IHS could be found as IHC.  Until the 17th Century, Latin didn’t distinguish between I and J.  Thus, this became JHC.  People assumed the Christogram was Jesus H Christ, thus Jesus’s middle initial must be H.  This is not accurate.

In related news, H is said to stand for Horacio.

Teen pregnancy drops off dramatically at age 20.

In related news, Juvenile offenses drop off dramatically at age 18.

Also in related news, elderly age 85 and older tend to live longer than those who died before 85.

Maine, then Kansas banned alcohol before Prohibition

In related news, the US banned alcohol during WWI to preserve grain.

Also in related news, prohibition brought with it the vote for women, the 19th amendment came 7 months later.

The 18th amendment didn’t actually make consumption of alcohol illegal, it made manufacture, transport and distribution illegal.

Prohibition enforcement was very race and class based.

Prohibition did work, with drinking only reaching 70% of non-prohibition levels.

In related news, it gave us modern organized crime and the Kennedy’s.

In related news, that was not a political comment, merely fact.

There are 18,000,000 people who still live in dry counties.

The American Revolution was not about taxation, we were already taxing our own residents.  It was about taxation without representation.

The first new tax after we won the revolution was on alcohol.

The youngest person ever sentenced to life was Lionel Tate, at 13.

In related news Lionel Trains was founded in 1900.

Sign language has accents.

There are currently (2019) 34 buildings in Denver that are taller than Florida.

In related news, the Manitou Incline (stairs) near Colorado Springs is 1,656 feet taller than Florida.

Also, in related news the Stairmaster was invented in Oklahoma.

Many in hard and soft medicine, (its all soft to be honest) were taught that intelligence is not the size of the brain alone but the number of neural connections in the brain.  Humans have about 100 billion neurons in the brain.

In related news, the most intelligent species of Chimp has about 31 billion.

In ironic news, Elephants have about 265 billion.

Humans have been wearing shoes for about 40,000 years.

In related news I have not been.

Also in related news, Nike was founded in 1964.

Also, also in related news, the thumb and big toe are almost identical from a bone perspective.

Also, also, also in related news women started wearing high heels to appear more masculine.

Won Ton usually weighs considerably less.

Humans are not at the top of the food chain.  They are at the top of the tool chain.

In more specific terms, without weapons, humans are in the middle of the food chain.

In related news, Polar bears, Orca whales, saltwater crocodiles, lions, gray wolf … are all alpha predators with no natural predators.

Also in related news, polar bears are such good swimmers they can swim for a couple days.

Also in related news, mosquitoes are the most prolific human killer; even more than other humans.

The term ‘man and wife’ in wedding vows is not as sexist as it is out of time.  Wife used to mean woman.

Quick means alive, or dynamic.  As in quicksand or quicksilver which refers to mercury.

In related news, quicksand is very hard to die in even if you are named Gilligan.

Most humans can determine if water is cold or hot, by sight.

There is one insect that has legs synchronized by gears.  They are the only gears found in nature.

Moose do have predators, although only in rare conditions.  Orca whales have been known to kill them while they swim (The moose.  Although the Orcas are swimming too but you know …) between islands in the Pacific Northwest.

There is such a thing as injecting oxygen directly into the blood stream, circumventing breathing.

New as of 10/7/19

You are more likely to be bitten by a Texan, than a shark.  Jus sayin…

In related news, I have been bitten by one of those.

Pluto has not even come close to completing one orbit since it was discovered in 1930.

Twins most common forms are identical and fraternal.  There is also identical mirror twins, where all aspects of the twins are reversed from one another, most prominently the body internals all being on the wrong side.  Conjoined twins that are always identical.  Parasitic twins where conjoined is actually limited body parts dependent on the host or embedded.  There is semi-identical twins where two sperm fertilize one egg and the egg thus splits.  Identical boy/girl twins where the female has turner syndrome as a result due to the loss of the Y chromosome.  And last but oddly, twins where a second egg is released later in the same menstrual cycle which could mean two babies, one pregnancy, different gestation and possibly different fathers.

‘was it a car or a cat i saw’ is a palindrome.

The metal Gallium melts in your hand.

In related news, it would also melt in your mouth but don’t.

In related news, if you honestly try that and die, it would be silly for you to sue me.  Mostly because you would be dead.

In a survey of industrialized nations, The US came in third, in a poll of nations who liked The US.

Sahara is Arabic for desert.  So, Sahara Desert is a bit redundant, in two languages.

One human heart is shaped like half of a drawn heart.

There used to be a job that the alarm clock replaced, called a knocker-up.

In possibly related news, there is no information about this being the origin of pregnancies.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost the US, $1,335,000,000,000.

For about two seconds after you were born, you were likely the youngest person in the world.

In related news, for about 4 seconds, you will eventually be the most recent person to pass away.

The word verb, is a noun.

There are FAR, FAR more words that do not follow the i before e rule, than do.

Farming is the origin of ideas for navigation canals such as Suez and Panama.

Damns were originated by, beavers.

The concept of water being a barrier is only a modern perspective based on auto travel.  Historically, water has been a superhighway.

Vegan is VERY hard to adhere to.  Most condiments are not vegan, many fruit juices, most wines and beers are not vegan.  Most white sugar and even salt are often not vegan.  In related news, anything with sugar added, is suspect.  Most soaps are not vegan, even drier sheets.  Vegetable soup is not vegan if bought commercially, most veggie burgers are not vegan, margarine as well, and in related use, many breads.  Coffee is safe but not non-dairy creamer.  Even store bought fresh fruit, can be coated in bees wax or shellac.  If you don’t know what shellac is, look it up.  Most Vegans know you must use vegan tattoo ink as well.

If that’s hard to take, most distilled liquors ARE vegan.

Most of Egyptian history was written well after the rein of the era written about.  As in 100s to 1,000+ years later.

In Bangladesh, many farmers raise ducks instead of chickens, due to frequent flooding.

There is a place called Inaccessible Island.

In related news, it’s accessible.

In Japan, green is considered a shade of blue.

The world’s largest Muslim population is in Indonesia.  A nation we seem to have no issue with, and they us.

Utopia means both ‘good place’ as well as ‘nowhere’.  So in essence it means good place, no place.

Clothing sizes were product of mass production which is a relatively new thing.  The sizing large, medium and small were the general sizes manufactured.  This was during the US Civil War.

In related news, the sizing then in men’s clothing would be extra small, small and medium today.

Also in related news, that is due to height, not mass.

Chai in Hindi, its most frequent credited origin, means tea.  So chai tea means tea tea.

England put a bounty on cobras when they ruled India to get rid of the cobras.  As a consequence, Indians bred more cobras and became cobra hunters.

Dysthanasia is a term meaning bad death.  It is used to describe the artificial delay of death such as life support.

Knights were more often captured than killed.  Armor was expensive which meant that their family was wealthy.

The difference in poisonous and venomous is that if you bite it and you die, it is poisonous.  If it bites you and you die, it is venomous.

People often hate being tickled because the resulting laughter is a state of panic.

More oxygen is generated by the ocean, than trees.

The Pentagon is heralded by many for their abundance of bathrooms.  They have twice as many as needed because it was built during segregation.

The word electrocute is a combination of electric and execute.

In related news, if you died, you were electrocuted, if you didn’t, you were shocked.

There is as much evidence that acupuncture doesn’t work, as does.

In related news, almost every study that compared results of acupuncture to otherwise identical relaxation and atmosphere techniques, had same results.

The best evidence is that acupuncture is maybe 300 years old, not 3,000.

Uno Pizza chain invented deep dish pizza.

In related news, Hawaiian pizza was invented by a Greek living in Canada.

More people summited Everest in the year 2000, than between 1950 and 1980.

A little over 4,000 people have summited Everest.

In related news, May 10, 1993 witnessed 40 different climbers summit the insurmountable mountain.

The first continental European explorer to set foot on the North American continent was Italian John Cabot in 1497.  He landed in Newfoundland.

In related news, Columbus landed on the continent in Central America in 1498.

Also in related news by comparison, Norse settlement of Greenland started around 1000.

Also also in related news, there is an encampment in northern Newfoundland from the same time.

Understanding horseshoe crabs DNA, they would be more accurately named horseshoe spiders.

There is one city in China that produces about three in every four socks warn.  There is no clear reason why every other pair has one sock from some other city.

In related news, mixed marriages have rarely been an issue in sockdom.

History and prehistory differ by when records were invented and we can you know, find them.

Trees are omnivores.

A Spencer rifle cost about $35 in 1865.

In related news, a farmer made about $15-$35 per month at that time.

Most states in the US, require a condemned inmate to go through a physical before execution.

You can grill water melon.

There was once a medical treatment of literally blowing smoke up one’s … arse.  It was discredited, and thus reduced to a far more effective slang term.

Adam Rainer was classified as a dwarf, measuring 3-9 at age 19 but at age 22, he started growing again eventually peaking at 7-8, likely due to a pituitary tumor.

A woman lived in a man’s closet in Japan undetected for over a year.

NYC is the most destroyed city in Hollywood.  It eeks out Tokyo.  London is trailing, as is LA.

In related news, who the hell figures these things out?

It is legal to drink and drive in Mississippi, as long as your Blood Alcohol Content remains below the legal level.

In related news, Mississippi only ratified the 13 amendment (abolishing slavery) in 1995.

Also in related news the Persians did not decide anything important until they decided the same thing, both drunk and sober.

The technical term for a boomerang that does not return is ‘stick’.

A myriad is 10,000 of anything.

Decimate is  term originating with Roman soldiers where they would force prisoners to kill 1 in 10 of their own, as a way of projecting power.

All photosynthesizing leafs have the same internal temperature, no matter where they are in the world.

Connecticut has laws governing how high a pickle must bounce to be considered a pickle.

The original boy scout motto was “Always be prepared to die for your country.”

Male cats tend to be left … pawed.

Caffeine is extracted from coffee to make decaf.  The caffeine is then sold to coka-cola and Pepsico.

In 1971, three humans died outside the Earth’s atmosphere.  They were three Russian Soyuz 11 astronuats.

In related news, they are the only humans to die outside the atmosphere, as far has been reported.

The tooth ferry is a relatively new employee of American mythology with a first appearance around 1908

There are four known family trees in the world that have adermatoglyphia. A condition that precludes them from having finger prints.

Smokers are 100% more successful in quitting smoking than non-smokers.

Since a lawyer would not like me saying what I’d say here … check FDA research about their opinion of expiration dates on medications.

The very real increasing need to go to the bathroom, the closer you get to a bathroom is a great example of classical conditioning.

Magellan GPS units are poorly named.  Magellan died on his journey around the world, never completing the journey.

A grizzly bear is not its own species but a subset of brown bears which also lives in Europe and Asia.

In related news, black bears also come in brown, or more specifically, a fetching shade of hazel.

A grocery list is not a new thing, as a honey do list or a list to remember what you need to buy, they used to be a list you handed your grocer in the Grocery Store, and he/she collected the items for you as you waited, or for you to pick up.

In related news, a Grocery store carries essentially food and basic household goods and is often locally or regionally owned, even if a national name.  Supermarkets carry food as well as many other things more akin to COSTCO.  Most places we buy food are grocery stores.

Alarm clocks work not by waking you like a person does, it triggers your panic reflex.

In related news, that’s why you hate the alarm.

Also in related news it is why we develop the skill to wake up before your alarm.

The black box data recorder, started life as the black box voice recorder.  It was named the black box, because it holds all the information you want, like a little black book.

In related news, they are orange and always have been.

The L.A. Dodgers used to be the Brooklyn Dodgers and the name came from a slang term for people crossing streets in those days, who were called Trolley Dodgers.

In both baseball and odd name origin related news, the Pittsburgh Pirates name came from when they joined the league, they stole a player from the Philadelphia Athletics, which sports writers described as Pirating the player away.  The name stuck.

Also in related news, the San Diego Padres got their name because San Diego was a Spanish Mission (think about it).

Also, also in related news, some teams have shorter names only due to Sports Writers saving room in headlines.

The top of Mt. Everest is made of marine limestone.

Palm trees are actually a form of grass.

There have been more Nuclear disasters and even more oopses than we are aware of.  There was the Kysthym Disaster in 1957.  This took place in what is now called Siberia so it was not known but it was bigger than Chernobyl, and killed far more.

In related news, Three Mile Island was not a disaster.  It may have influenced some cancer cases years later in the region but there were no direct deaths or injuries and the reactor did exactly what it was designed to do.

There is significant evidence that Gustove Albin (Whitehead) flew a heavier than air aircraft in August of 1901, in controlled powered flight for a half mile, at approximately 50 feet of elevation.  This is two years before the Wright Brothers.  There is a newspaper article, letters, journal entry and eye witness accounts over the next 3 years of numerous flights.  This took place in Connecticut.

In related news, the Smithsonian Museum has a contract with Orville Wright that the Smithsonian Museum can display the Wright Flier as long as it claims it was the first heavier than air plane in flight.  If it ever disputes that, the Wright Estate will remove the Wright Flier from the Smithsonian.  The Smithsonian has denied the contract exists, but the contract has been made public and thus proven to exist.

Also in related news, The Smithsonian did not credit the Wrights as the first fliers until the late 40s, when the Wright Flier appeared in the Smithsonian.

Either gingerbread men and women are made of building material, lets hope … or their houses are made of flesh; eeew.

This may very well become an individual post but, Mother Theresa was NOT a healer or missionary aimed at helping people escape poverty or recover from illness as we so often represent her.  She proselytized and converted people to Christianity in their suffering, organizing nothing to relive it medically or socially.

In related news, she never claimed to be doing anything other than what she did.

Also in related news, about 93% of the money donated to her charity goes into the Vatican Bank to do with as they wish.

There is no need to keep a cell caller on the line long enough to triangulate the location.  Cell towers have you logged in real time, anytime you are in range of one.

The first weather satellite, named tyros, was for tracking hurricanes.

The scientific process of determining the age of the earth, also led to the discovery what leaded gas had done to the environment.

The 2016 sonic weapon issue in Cuba was a mass (more group) psychogenic event.

The most popular day for downloading porn is most Sundays.  The least?  Thanksgiving.

Charles Manson was interviewed for 150 hours, although by his cell mate, regarding admission into Scientology.  Manson decided Scientology was too crazy for him.

Michael Phelps has won more Gold Medals than 80% of the nations who have competed in the Olympics.

Tim Curry was rejected for a role in Who Framed Roger Rabbit for being, too scary.

The modern English word phoenix derives from the Middle English word phenix, which itself was derived from the Old English fenix, which was borrowed from Medieval Latin phenix, which is derived from Classic Latin phoenix.

“Moving Day’ the term, comes from leases for apartments in NYC all expired on the same day, which meant many renters moved all on the same day.

Cleaning for a Reason is a non profit that cleans homes of people being treated for cancer, so they can focus on healing.

There is a belief in Iceland that large stones in a meadow are frozen trolls.

The area code for Cape Canaveral was deliberately set at 321.  Think about it …

Sydharb is an approximate volume of water equal to Sydney Harbor at high tide.

Nutella has very little hazel nut in it but … it is 58% sugar and 32% fat!  Heathfoodnationbaby …

Melanism is the opposite of Albino but almost unheard of in humans.

Albinos are not sterile.

In related news, they do often have vision problems due to lack of pigment in their eyes and this can lead to a perception of mental development problems, but in reality is simply lack of education access.

Also in related news, they DO synthesize vitamin D, very well.  However they also have extreme likelihood of skin cancer.

The water in a rice ‘field’ is not because that is how rice has to grow, it is how it can grow, and weeds cannot.

Barns were painted red because red was the cheapest paint because the red come from iron which is very common.

‘Genuine Leather’ is the second lowest and the lowest usable commercial grade of leather for production, out of four.

Due to Gunter Schabowski miss speaking on live TV, the Berlin wall fell.  He was supposed to announce relaxed policies for visas to pass through the wall but only read part of it announcing that the government now authorizes travel freedom.  Crowds gathered at the check points, where the guards knew nothing of it and opened gates to save their own lives.  Still doubt the power of the press?

The US is the third most populated nation.  If its population was increased by 1,000,000,000 it would still be the third most populous nation.

The land that makes up Central Park, cost more to buy than purchasing Alaska.

In related news, it was partially a black freed slave slum.

Also in related news, there are fewer bear attacks in Central Park.

When the half penny was discontinued in 1857 because it had so little purchasing power, it had more purchasing power than today’s dime.

Several Beach Boys concerts on the mall in DC were more attended than Woodstock.

In related news there have been 51 touring band members over the years for the Beach Boys as of 2019.

In Singapore, organ donation is an opt out action.

In related news, if you are an opt out person in need of donation, you wait behind those that opt in.

Also in related news, I like how Singapore thinks.

In Japan, many schools to do not have janitors.  This is the responsibility of the students.

In related news, I like how they think.

Alice Cooper was originally a band name, not a person.  Alice Cooper the man, has to pay royalties to Alice Cooper the former band to be known as Alice Cooper the man.

Vicodin is six times more effective than codeine.  That is how the name came about, VI signifies 6, codin for codeine.

According to Steven King, Annie Wilkes in the story Misery, is cocaine, his number one fan.  The movie was written about his 8 year cocaine addiction.

In 2012 Swaziland passed a law prohibiting witches from flying above 150 meters.

An F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet has shot down a satellite.

Vu JaDe is the feeling you have never been there before.

Scales and feathers have been proven to be the common skin covering of many dinosaurs.

Much of the residential flooding in Houston was a result of residential permits for construction being permitted in flood plane reservoirs.  The tax value was too much to dismiss.  The eventual cost outstripped the tax value by 100s of millions.

In related news, they are rebuilding in the same areas proving that the human species will go extinct by our own hand.

Although this seems creepy, your credit rating is a very accurate predictor of your likelihood to file an insurance claim.  The lower the score, the more likely a claim.

The Catholic Church has accepted Darwinian Evolution as compatible with Creationism since 1950.

Your right to an attorney wasn’t established until 1961, thanks to Clarence Gideon who was tried and convicted of theft of $5.

Lenny Montana really was an enforcer for the Colombo Crime family, which the movie The Godfather was based on.  He played Luca Brasi in the movie, an enforcer.

James Barry was a renown surgeon with over 50 years in the profession who died in 1865.  Upon preparation for burial, it was discovered she was a woman, later identified as Margaret Ann Bulkley.

In related news, in those 50 years she had also been pregnant and given birth.

The plural of Prius is Priss.

Zero ‘0’ is plural as well as singular.

There was a camera on a gun marketed in 1938.  Makes one wonder …

Overmorrow is a word meaning the day after tomorrow.

In related news, spell check doesn’t know that.

The multi-part harmony in the start of Bohemian Rhapsody was actually all sung by Mercury.

James Brooks played in the NFL and graduated from Auburn University.  He was illiterate.

In related news, the average Apple iphone End User License Agreement would take over 32 hours to read.

The pension for Presidents was initiated for Harry S Truman who was broke after serving as President.

There is a Russian version of LOTR which tells the story from the other side: A industrializing nation on the verge of economic independence being undermined by the nations that ran the world economy.

The KKK applied to sponsor a section of highway near St Louis Missouri.  Federal court said they could not be denied so Missouri then named the road after Rosa Parks.

Red Delicious apples are not bred for taste, but beauty.  Like many dates, they look better than they taste.

About 95% of all surgeries in the Civil War was done under general anesthesia in the form of chloroform.  Like use of a defibrillator, biting the bullet is a Hollywood product.

Professor X and Magneto from the X-Men were modeled after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X respectively.

Prince’s first album ‘For You’ was produced 100% by him.  He played every instrument, was his own back up vocals, wrote all songs and recorded them all.

If your honey bees are making rather red honey, it could be because they are pollinating pot plants.

Simultaneously loving and hating attention, is called the hedgehog dilemma.

In related news, urchin is a synonym for hedgehog.

Knights and guns overlapped in history.

Speaking of that, many tapestries of the day depict knights fighting snails.  No one knows why.  Or if anyone does, they haven’t emailed me.  (hint, hint…)

Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden killed 5 and wounded 10 others in a school shooting in 1998.  They were 13 and 11 at the time.  They were each released on their 21st birthday.

Point Roberts Washington is a likely location for people in the witness protection program since you can only get there via Canada, and need a passport.

If you live there, maybe claim you live in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Frankie Muniz (Malcolm) doesn’t remember playing Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle, due to an estimated 9 concussions.

One of the first non Russians to hear of Stalin’s death was Johnny Cash.  He was a US military code breaker in Germany at the time.

Macbeth has been miss-quoted, the quote is “Double, double toil and trouble.”  Disney likely helped the miss quote but in the original Shakespeare, the witches are calling for double the pain

In related news, it is “Out damn spot, out.”

It is also, “Lay on Macduff”, not lead on.

Salt used as currency was the reason for trade wars and wars and had managed production to maintain scarcity and value.

In related news, it is also relatively new to most of the population of the earth and acts as a stimulant.

Also in related news, it can be addictive.

Also, also in related news, so can Benadryl.

Everything happens for a reason is a Voodoo religion tenant meaning, we bring on our own results.

Mt. Rushmore is named for a New York lawyer who was in the region and a tour guide named the monument after him as a joke during a tour, and the name stuck.

Theodor Roosevelt Jr fought in WWII and was among the first soldiers ashore on Utah Beach.  He was 56 and walked with a cane.  He was the only General to go ashore that day and the oldest to land on the beaches that day.  He was decisive on Utah Beach and was never expected to live the day.  He stood in direct fire most of the day directing troops and artillery as they came ashore, the entire time in direct enemy sight.  He survived the day but died a month later from a heart attack.

In related news, he was promoted to 2 star general on the day he died, never knowing of the promotion.

Also in related news, his pallbearers were all Generals:  Patton, Bradley, Barton, Heubner, Hodges and Collins.

He received the Medal of Honor posthumously and was buried among his enlisted soldiers in Normandy.

There have been two times that father and son have been US Presidents; Adams and Bush.

William Henry Harrison served as 9th US President.  His grandson Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd US President.

FDR was related to Teddy Roosevelt, Washington, both Adams (Adams’?) Madison, Van Buren, both Harrisons, Taylor, Grant and Taft. As well as Winston Churchill.

Frances Cleveland was the youngest first lady at 21 years old and married to her previous legal guardian.

Bushusuru is a newly coined Japanese term that means to throw up in public.

In related news it is named after President Bush.

Garfield was shot as President but likely died from the numerous attempts to remove the bullet over the next 11 weeks.

For many years, the State of the Union was a delivered document read to congress by a clerk.

In related news, the poor viewership of the state of the union is not a sign of flagging patriotism, but good taste.

James Monroe ran unopposed for president.  The only other time this happened was George Washington.

In related news, Monroe, Adams and Jefferson all died on 4th of July.

Old Kinderhook is a nickname for President Van Buren.  While he was running for office supports held up signs that simply read, “OK”.  This is generally seen as the origin for the term OK.

In related news, this is proof that the term is spelled OK and not Okay, or some other form.

John Tyler was the first VP to assume the office of President.  It was not clear that that time if he could or what powers he would have so this also brought about the 25th Amendment.

In related news, he is generally seen as the most hated President in history.  All but one of his cabinet resigned, his own party cast him out, his obituaries in major papers generally insulted him, and Lincoln refused to fly flags at half mast upon his death.

The division symbol is literally, a line with a dot above and below to represent the numbers in a fraction; numerator and denominator.

Name entomology is the study of names of people who bug you.

Alphabet, is an abbreviation for Alpha Beta, Greek terms for the first two letters of the alphabet.

Canola oil is vegetable oil that comes from Canada.

The laws governing building heights in Washington DC is not to preserve views of the Washington Monument.  They are in response to The Cairo apartment building that was generally hated for being too tall.

In the three dimensional real world, coyotes are faster than roadrunners.

In related news, Coyotes rarely eat birds.

Fortnight is short for Fourteen Nights.

It is referred in The Brady Bunch series (ok, A Very Brady Sequil), that Carol’s former husband is The Professor, from Gilligan’s Island.

In related news, apparently Jeannie from I dream of … was Mike’s first wife.

Also in related news, Mike fucked up …

Ray Ban sunglasses, literally, ban sun rays.

Landing a bare knuckle punch correctly hurts like hell.

In related news, landing one poorly hurts worse.

105 people die the world over, each minute.  That’s 6,316 per hour and 55,300,000 per year.

In related news, there are 250 births the world over per minute.  That’s 15,000 births per hour.

There are over 40 WWII sunken vessels missing from the ocean floor around Malaysia.  There are laws that kinda prevent this but the salvage value far exceeds the risk.

Soap does not kill bacteria, it literally makes it slippery so it falls off.

New as of, 7/14/2019

Romans had war chariots towed by two horses. Their track width was set by the width of two horse asses.  Other wagons in the Roman empire matched the width.  As Romans conquered much of the world and left tracks from their wagons, which in some regions was the leading technology, they matched the width of the tracks and ruts.  In time, this also became the width of railroad tracks.  The width of train tracks dictates the width of tunnels.  The width of tunnels is a limit set for solid rocket boosters and shipping containers.  These in turn help determine rocket and ship design.  So ships and rockets dimensions are influenced by the width of two horses asses.

At the time of his death, John Denver was the most successful solo artist in music history.

John Denver didn’t change his name due to a love of the city or state, it came because he was appearing with a band and his name was too long to fit on the marquee.  Their hit song at the time was called Denver.  His former name was Deutschenorf.

In related news, Rocky Mountain High was written at Williams Lake in the Aspen area, during the Perseids Meteor shower (raining fire in the sky) in August.

Annie’s Song was written in his head as he rode up the Bell Mountain Chair Lift at Aspen.  It is a love letter to his wife.

He was also partly responsible for popularizing the term Far Out.

In 1967, The Monkees outsold both the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, combined.

There were 647,925 WWII Jeeps built.  This does not include 12,778 amphibious Jeeps.

Ford built 277,896 of the Jeeps and their military designation was GPW which stood for General Purpose Wheeled.  They were universally called GPs.

Carbrook Golf Club in Australia (of course) has bull sharks in one of their water hazards.  They weren’t placed there, they came in naturally via a flood.  Eventually, the water hazard will fill from unrecoverable golf balls.

Contrary to popular belief, the Ford Pinto was not the subject of a losing lawsuit, Ford won it.  The exposure from the lawsuit killed the car though.

In related news, they made/make great racecars.

Also in related news, no known pinto bean has exploded from being rear ended.

The Statue of Liberty is in Jersey City, NJ.

In related news, NYC is bigger than 40 of the 50 states, population wise.

Also in related news, NYC has the oldest Pizzeria, Lambardis, started in 1905.

NYC is losing population overall.  The biggest influx is coming from legal immigrants.

The city of San Francisco only contains 3 cemeteries.  In 1937 they passed a law outlawing them within the city because land was too valuable.

California’s state bear, has not been present in California since 1922.

Pensacola FL, is the oldest city in the nation, settled in 1559.

This is disputed though, with St Augustine claiming it as well.

In related news, Florida is now the third largest state in terms of population.  It is not known how many are named Chad.

Salmon P Chase preceded George Washington. He was the first person on the $1 bill in 1862.

Washington DC was not the Capitol of the nation until 1790.

It is sometimes said that it is ironic that Lincoln signed approval for the Secret Service the day he was assassinated, as if it could have saved his life.  Nope, the Secret Service back then was commissioned only to combat counterfeiting.

In related news, it wasn’t until 1901, after the assassination of President McKinley that the secret service was asked to protect The President.

Also in related news, Nixon is the only president to release his Secret Service protection, in the 90s.

Also, also in related news, Carter never relinquished his, although he uses very little and makes ample use of his allotment to former Presidents for travel and office management expenses.

The Giant Slippery Frog is the biggest frog in the world.  They can exceed 7lbs.

318mph is the world speed record on water.  It was set by Spirit of Australia in 1978.  I’m assuming they don’t count John Stapp and his rocket sled being slowed down by water.

The lowest point in the US is Badwater Basin, California.  279 feet below sea level.

In related news, the Dead Sea basin is the lowest area of dry land on earth, approximately 1355 feet below sea level

A coffin is a 6 sided box similar to a sarcophagus.  A casket is four sided and usually preferred.

There was a stage version of Road House called, “Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic The Last Dragon (1985) Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig”.

In related news, the term mijo uttered by Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot sir) is a contraction for ‘mi hijo’ which means ‘my son’.

The US supported Mao in China.  He was communist.

The Soviet Union was still landing rovers on the moon after we were done landing people on the moon.  There have been 5(Feb 2020) landings on the moon, unmanned, since we last landed men on the moon.

In related news, “Tranquility Base” was never planned as the name for where the Lunar Lander on Apollo 11 mission landed.

Also in related news, Eagle lander didn’t land where it was planned to.

Once again related, the flag on the moon set by Apollo 11, came from Sears.

Anthony Pratt invented the game Clue during the blackouts in London in WWII.

In related news, Mrs. White was killed off permanently in 2016.  No motive or weapon has been established.

A burglar steals through stealth and deception.  A robber uses force or threat of force to steal.

Sex on a wedding night is rare.  Sleep is the order of the day well over 90% of the time.

Perfume was invented by the Egyptians around 2000BC.

It took approximately 400,000 people to make Apollo 11 a success.

There is no rule or law about one phone call when arrested.  Different states, counties and cities have different rules but calls are a privilege in most, not a right.

Grace Kelly never smoked on screen (or in real) although she held an unlit cigarette and put one out, in Rear Window.

Although there is belief that the pyramids were built as burial chambers, no mummy has ever been found in one.  There have been many mummies found in Egypt but nothing more than a tomb has been found in any pyramid.

In related news, there have been many theories on how they were built but no strong theory or proof leaning one way or another.

The term ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ is a reference to an 8 year old English girl who was killed and dismembered.  Over time it became a replacement for the term ‘Fuck All’, which is a way of saying nothing.

There is no known explanation of how a steak restaurant in Colorado got to be named, ‘Sweet Fanny Adams.

In related news, it’s closed.

Ninja were never called that, they were called Shinobi No Jutsu, or just Shinobi.

In related news, all that we know about ninjas, black outfits, throwing stars, dramatic fight scenes … all Hollywood; mostly from James Bond’s, You Only Live Twice.

Also in related news, Shinobi were taught to blend in, be invisible in broad daylight, dress as commoners where they were do do their act and contrary to the idea a female Ninja is a Kill Bill type invention, Shinobi were also female all the way back.

Lastly in this related line of news, think of Shinobi like spies, trained in the skills languages and cultural normalcies of their tasks in order to fit in, very much like a spy.

Those rubber tubes stretched across the roads measure traffic flow.  The dual tubes can tell speed, direction, vehicle type generally and if speed limits and traffic management is being adhered to.

There is no such thing as a silencer, only suppressors.  Even suppressors can be as loud as 100db.

After considerable research, I still don’t know if it is legal or not to sell the Medal of Honor.

Gummy candies, are not vegetarian, since they are made from some of the left over pieces while processing meat.

In related news, depending how you define animal products, chapstick is not vegetarian either.

Also in related news, white sugar has animal bone in it.  Vanilla ice cream has beaver butt secretion, as previously mentioned.  Heart Healthy OJ has fish extract added.  The spray to keep bananas yellow on the shelf, is made from shellfish; good to know for shell fish allergies.  Major bagel makers add ground up duck feathers to the dough.  Red candies use ground up beetles, as well as red wine.  Salted peanuts have gelatin on them, as well as Lucky Charms.  BBQ chips have chicken fat on them.  Pesto has calf stomachs in it.

Just over 1% of the entire US budget for WWII was spent on the Manhattan Project.

Pulling a grenade pin out with your teeth would likely result in broken teeth.

There have been 122 lunar missions as of 6/2019 among 5 successful nations, the European Union and a failed attempt by a private Israeli company.  Approximately half of the missions met their objectives.

Soviet Union was the first to impact the moon in Sept 12, 1959, Luna 2.  The US did this in July 28, 1964, Ranger 7.

The first lander on the moon was the Soviet Union Luna 9 in Jan. 1, 1966.  We followed with Surveyor 1, 4 months later.

The latest is a Chinese rover named Yutu-4, Dec.7, 2018.  There are 8 more planned for the next 5 years, among US, India and European Space Agency.

In 2024, the US plans a return manned trip to the surface of the moon. These have been planned before but are usually canceled during the next change in Presidency.  Space exploration has been politicized and partisan.  Usually the Dems propose/plan and Reps repeal, but not always.

Nothing in fine print is good news.

It can easily be said that the Vietnam war was a direct result of French colonialism starting in the 1800s.  The roots of that war are easily tied to the French re-entering Vietnam in 1949 after Japan withdrew.

In related news, the US started involvement in Vietnam in 1954.

The Gulf of Tonkin officially started US involvement in Vietnam but it is well known that the August 2 attack on US ships was real and the August 4th attack was faked to bolster approval for military action in Vietnam.

As of 2008, there are 91 US men considered missing and presumed dead, in Vietnam.

The longest continuous sea voyage lasted 1,152 days.

In related news, part of why the voyage was over 1,000 days was that is the estimated time for travel to Mars and he was paid to study the effects.

On classified documents, the term ‘noforn’ means that the document and it’s information cannot be shown to any non US citizen, meaning not even our allies.

The USS Constitution is the oldest ship in service of any navy in the world.  It was launched in October, 1797.

In related news, the crew that serve onboard, are all active serving Navy members.

The first US ship was the USS United States, launched in May, 1797.

The oldest existing Commissioned ship in the world is the HMS Victory launched in 1765 but it has been in dry dock since 1922.

Juan de Onate, a Spaniard, is the first known European to be in what is now Colorado, 1598.

Duryea was the first American car maker, 1893.

It is possible that Hansen Gregory was the inventor of the holed donut, in 1847.  He did not invent the category of donuts.

Approximately 9 billion chickens are killed each year in the US.

It’s a Wonderful Life, Wizard of Oz, Fight Club, Psycho, The Shining, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, Home Alone, The Exorcist, Vertigo and Apocalypse Now were pretty universally disliked by critics yet … well, you know.

In related news, ET was in the theaters for over a year.  Star Wars was in theaters for 44 weeks.  Back to the Future was there for 37 weeks.  Beverly Hills Cop was there for 30 weeks and these are the longest runs in theater, minus one.

In answer to that one, Rocky Horror Picture Show has been in theaters continuously since 1975.

In 1984, the movie Purple Rain, album Purple Rain and the single ‘When Doves Cry’, were all #1 at the same time.  That was the first time that one artist had that happen.

Eminem did it again in 2002.

Staff Sergeant Albert Ireland holds the record for most times awarded the purple heart at nine.

Major General Robert Frederick was awarded eight purple hearts in WWII.

Three soldiers earned eight purple hearts in Vietnam.

One horse, ‘Sergeant Reckless’, earned two in Korea.

In related news, a purple heart is awarded for being wounded, killed or died from wounds from a hostile enemy including peace keeping missions as well as being captured or taken prisoner or any wounds in service that required medical treatment.

Forest Gump didn’t turn a profit until it was released on DVD.

Cosmonauts were issued shotguns for their space capsules in the early days.  This was in case the capsule landed in Siberia and they had to fend off bears.

Kansas and Arkansas are spelled similar, for no reason.  Kansas is named for the native Indian tribe, Kansa, which has a plural form, Kansas.  Arkansas is named for another tribe called Akansa, which was spelled by the French, Arcansas.  It took a court ruling to decide how it was pronounced and as predicted, the decision made it distinctly different than Kansas.

The US had no National Anthem until 1931, only after a public petition was started due to a post by Ripley’s Believe it or Not, that discovered the nation had no anthem.

Volkswagen is not the only manufacturer caught cheating US emissions, Chrysler and Cummins also got caught.

In related news, in Europe, Volkswagen passes and many others do not.

Also in related news, the software update decreased mileage and increased CO2 production.

Also, also in related news, that is likely information released by Volkswagen with no independent confirmation.

In the 1930s, Finland issued ‘new baby kits’ which included the box it was packaged in that could be, and often was used as a cradle.

Innsbruck Austria has towel day every year, in honor of Hitchhiker’s Guide.

John Stapp made 29 runs on a rocket sled as a live test dummy.  His highest speed attained was 632mph.

In related news, the sudden stop from that speed broke all the blood vessels in his eyes and blinded him with blood for weeks, never fully recovering.  He also lost a filling.

Dinner is a term meaning the biggest meal of the day.

In related news, supper is evening soup, or light meal.

The difference between vanilla and french vanilla is an egg.

General anesthesia is not actually understood.

Van Gogh’s paintings are not as he painted them.  He made his own pigments as many did in his time, but his reds and blues faded, some completely.

In related news, there is no clear evidence regarding why Van Gogh cut off his ear or how much of his ear he cut off.

Rod Strohl, a member of EZ Company, played himself in Band of Brothers.  He played himself in war at the age of 22, when he was 78.

Every era with substantial written record, keeping in mind most early writing was religious, has had predictions of the end of the world in that era.

In related news, they have all been wrong.

The Amber Room was lost when Königsberg Castle was destroyed in the latter weeks of WWII.

In related news, amber burns like wood.

Step ladders are often overlooked in divorce and not treated the same.

That’s a joke, think about it.

There was never nuclear warheads in the missiles in Cuba.  They were to be delivered later if the placement worked.  We were told this, but was not verified till the 1990s.

In related news, there was never a nuclear missile gap, us behind Russia.  Russia has never been close to our arsenal.  They have more actual missals but we have more power and actual warheads.

Also in related news, in firepower, we have more nuclear warhead explosive power than the rest of the world combined.

Area codes are kinda complex … they used to only be able to have 0s or 1s in the middle.  The biggest cities had the fastest to dial area codes on a rotary phone. This only works for area codes with 1s and 0s in the middle but if you add up the digits, use 10 for 0, the lower the total number the bigger the city when assigned.

In related news, the original area code for NYC is 212.

Voyager 1 launched about the same time as Star Wars.  In that time, traveling at about 38,000 mph, it has only gone .001 light years away.

In related news, the closest star is 4.367 light years away.

Also in related news, it will take a whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile for us to travel to the next closest star system.

If Columbus had not found the unexpected land (Haiti) in his way to India, he and his crew would have starved to death and never been heard of again.

There is some good evidence that knights would pass one another right hand to right hand, thus putting weapon hands to the other person and thus, ‘safe’.  This evolving into driving in the left side of the road, passing right to right.  There is another theory that Napoleon changed this as he conquered nations so as to generate respect for himself, but he never conquered England so the tradition remained.

In related news, it is said that the colonies cast off the passing on the right tradition to cast off old England.

The aliens in the video game Aliens, didn’t move faster by design as the screen progressed, they moved faster because the CPU could process fewer aliens, faster.

While ordering parts manufactured for his model Ts, Ford dictated the size, shape and location of holes in crates for parts that were shipped to them.  They too were used as interior panels in the cars, or on the bed of a pick-up.

There is some evidence that Dr. Pepper tried to be classified as a food in WWII to become distributed to the troops, but I cannot find actual proof of that.

In the Victorian Era, hysteria was not understood, and taken advantage of.  It was seen as a predominantly female issue and stemmed from the woman not having orgasms.  There were doctors who specialized in ‘relieving’ hysteria.

Albert Einstein never said, The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  It was originated by Narcotics Anonymous.

In related news, it is also wrong.

Shire is old English for town.  Reeve means town guard.  They, when combined, made a new word that started out as Shreeve, which evolved to Sheriff.

The government tested many, many, oh so many nuclear weapons in most imaginable ways including underground.  They built a bunker and sealed it with a 2 ton manhole cover.  The cover was blown off at 41 miles per second.  Given the rate of travel, and companion information such as no one’s house being pancaked, the manhole cover made it to space.

In related news, this make it unofficially the fastest man made object in the earth’s atmosphere.

All pet rocks still exist or have divided into ‘kids’.

Somewhere in the world, right now, there is a toilet seat with a record number of bums that have sat on it…

Human’s outer layer of skin is dead.

In related news, were all dead on the outside.

Central Park is larger the Monaco.

Superfetation is when a mammal has two separate pregnancies in one birth, spanning as much as 3 weeks difference between conceptions.

Tiffany is actually an old name dating back to 12th century.

NEW AS OF 6/5/19

Hell, Norway freezes every winter.

Fruitloops are multinational Cheerios.

The study that subliminal advertising was all built on, was made up entirely.  No study ever took place and all subsequent studies have failed to produce any proof it works.

Assapnic means flying squirrel.

The USS Eldridge of The Philadelphia Experiment fame, was nowhere near Philadelphia at the claimed time of the experiment and the myth is just that, never happened.

In weirdly related news, assart is an area in a forest cleared for the purpose of farming.

Also in weirdly related news, Bumfiddler means to pollute or spoil.

The novel Gadsby is 50,000 words long but none of them contain the letter ‘E’.

Secretariat’s Triple Crown win at The Belmont in 1973, had over 5,000 winning bets not turned in, due to low pay out and the value of the souvenir being of greater perceived value.

In related news, the horse’s winning times in all three races of the triple crown still stand today.  The winning time and margin at The Belmont has never been approached.

Also in related news, it is true that an autopsy on Secretariat did reveal his heart was 2.5 times bigger than normal.

Also, also in related news, there is a motorsport triple crown as well, three distinctly different racing types in three different formats; Indy 500, 24 Hours of  Le Mans and Monoco.  Only one driver has ever won the motorsports triple crown, Graham Hill.

At Point Nemo in South Pacific, if the ISS is overhead, they are closer than any humans on land.

Severed body parts should not be put on ice, but instead kept cool without contact with ice.

Most lip balms dry out lips encouraging more need and further sales.

In more specific detail, Phenol, menthol salicylic acid and camphor all mildly burn your lips.

In related news, even some organics have some of these ingredients.

It would take 6 days and 1 hour to binge watch all of Family Guy.

Although there is no state law, there is an umbrella federal law that would make it illegal to fish for whale in the Great Salt Lake.

Arguably the first ‘motor race’ was in 1867 when two motor carriages meant for pulling heavy equipment, were raced against one another over 8 miles.

Les Trois Tetons was the original name for the region as named by french trappers.  The direct translation from the French is ‘The Three Nipples’.  The Name, Grand Tetons National Park means, Large Nipples National Park.  Now ya know …

The first reference to a firewall in cinematic history, was in War Games.

One woman’s name appears on many US Declarations of Independence.  Mary Katharine Goddard was a Baltimore based printer who was asked by Congress to print the fully signed copies of the Declaration and distribute them to the colonies.  She put her name on the bottom of the document, as its printer.

In related news, ANY name on that document would be seen an admission of treason had The Colonies lost.  Remind me again of courage…

Graphology, handwriting analysis, is Hooey.

In related news, Graphonomy is not the same thing.

Also in related news, Hooey did not sing with the blowfish.

There are approximately 300 bodies (or heads) in cryogenic freeze in the US.

No word on if any are named Philip J. Fry.

It is not proven that two wrongs don’t make a right.

In related news, three rights can make a left.

Also in related news, that was not political.

‘Earmark’ is a term of cutting cattle’s ears as a way or marking ownership like a brand.

It is true that testify comes from the Latin word testi, the word that is the origin for testicle, however, that same word also means witness.  I don’t have to guess to know that the word testify comes from the witness meaning, not testicle.

It is not proven and highly unlikely that women speak more in a day than men.

Maverick in cowboy parlance actually started as a reference to wild, ungathered and unbranded … cows.

This is how the term came to mean a free, unfettered and unencumbered man.

Papal election results being indicated by smoke started in 1870, but the black/white smoke didn’t start until 1914.  Neither is an old tradition of Christendom.

Tequila never has a worm in it, only Mezcal may.  This is not an old thing, starting in the 1950s as a way of Mezcal differentiating itself from Tequila.  It didn’t work, and Mezcal rarely has one today and good stuff never does and Mezcal often markets itself as Tequila.

SMS messages are limited to 160 characters because … Friedham Hillebrand decided so, not due to technology.

Mortician is not a professional term, or at least not with professional origin.  It was the product of a poll in Embalmers Monthly, when they wanted to replace the term ‘undertaker’.

Elephants cannot jump, but they are not the only ones that cannot.  Hippos and Rhinos as well as giraffes and more.  Oh my …

Birds don’t care if you touch there young, so to speak, but the myth likely came about because birds do kick babies out of the nest, thus we sometimes put them back and they will do it again.

The cowboy term ‘dogie’ means a calf with no mother.

A cell phone has never been proven to cause a gas station fire.

‘Rock and Roll’ came from terms for having one’s status quo disturbed, ‘Rock’ and ‘Roll’ as a slang term for sex, reflecting the way the music was danced to.  It was popularized by the Alan Freed radio show in Cleveland who is credited with popularizing the music and the term.

The Clinton impeachment was a distraction to go along with the discrediting of Gary Webb to cover the exposure of the CIA involvement in the cocaine trafficking into the US. Yes, the government facilitated drug trafficking in the 80s.

In related news, this was proven to have been real in the release of 800 pages of documents during the height of the impeachment hearings.

Also in related news, the police ruled the death of Gary Webb from gunshot wound to the head as a suicide.  He was shot in the head twice; both fatal shots.

Also, also in related news, that is impossible.

‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ is a term that has been used in sailing ships but also and more historically represented by the glow that can exist over a wet heard in a lightning storm.

Lemmings don’t run off cliffs, unless Disney is filming a documentary and chase them off the cliff; which is where the myth came from.

In 650,000 miles of the Pony Express, only one mail bag was ever lost.

In related news, those miles were covered in 18 months by 200 different riders.

Also in related news, only one rider was killed.

Also, also in related news, many more station operators were killed by Indians.

Also, also, also in related news, during its operation it lost $475,000.

Embalming was not common or generally accepted until Lincoln’s body had to be embalmed for its cross country journey.

Cheetahs are the fastest LAND animal.  Peregrine Falcons are the fastest animal, by far.

Honey bees are the only bees that die after stinging.  There are 8 species of honey bee, among about 20,000 different species of bee.

A ‘Prairie Schooner’ is a wagon like a Conestoga wagon, but smaller.

The marines have no medics, they are all Navy.

The Comstock Load was named for T.P. Comstock who had the right initials since he was not a minor as much as a flimflam artist who told many lies to gain ownership or partial partnerships with miners.

Comstock died broke and never made it rich from the mine.

There is no evidence that birds are harmed by eating rice and they do so in the wild when it is available.

Owls are not particularly smart.

Koalas are marsupials, not bears.

Maine has a chocolatier that has a 1700 lb milk chocolate moose, named Lenny.

A man has been found to have had a fir tree growing in his lung.

In related news, no known comment on how fresh his breath was.

The Manhattan Project (developing the atomic bomb) was not a solely American endeavor.  We built off of already developed British science and developed the bomb in conjunction with Canada and the UK.  Thus, those nations entered the atomic era together, not just the US.

At the moment, Japan and Russia are still in a state of war, from WWII.

In related news, the battleship Missouri was present at the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  The Japanese and Allied (except Russia) peace treaty was signed on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor.

Also present at both was the USS West Virginia and USS Detroit.

Is it unclear what the largest military amphibious landing in history was.  If you count by men landed in the operation, where do you say the landing is over?  General numbers for this indicate Okinawa was largest, but they do not indicate this clearly or how many landed on the first day, compared to D-Day.  As far as ships involved, it was D-day.  As far as aircraft involved, was again D-Day.  Suffice it to say, these are the two biggest.

T-shirts were originally marketed to bachelors, since they required no sewing of lost buttons.

The patent for the fire hydrant was lost in a fire.

Almost every Banana you see in a store, is a clone.

Tic Tacs claim to have 0 sugar.  In fact they are 98% sugar but since each serving is .49grams of sugar, and the FDA only requires sugar to be declared if .5 grams or more is present, they can claim 0.  In other words, they are allowed to round down.

The CDC has a website dedicated to preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

MI6 hacked Al-Queda’s website once, replacing the bomb recipes with ones for cupcakes.  Specifically ‘the best cupcakes in America’ recipes from Ellen DeGeneres.

I know I have said this before in here but I keep seeing it, no, footballs are not made of pig skin.  They are cow leather.

The American Colonies were the first destination for British criminals, before it became Australia.  The change came after the American Revolution.

In related news, the best estimates are that 53,000 criminals were sent here, resulting in approximately 9% of modern Americans being direct decedents of them.

Crocodiles can climb trees, although poorly.

Opossums have 13 nipples.

In related news, generally a species has double the number of nipples as an average litter.

The 100 hours war between Honduras and El Salvador was caused by a soccer game.

A $1 is called a buck because in the early days of Michigan Territory, a deer carcass could be used as money, valued at $1.

Venus has no seasons.  Nor any Herbs. (joke related to KFC’s twitter account alternately referenced here)

Anatidaephobia is the fear that somewhere in the world, there is a duck watching you.  And there is one watching you.  I know it …  You know it … We all know.

“Banger” is British for sausage cause they increased the water content during the war, to stretch food supplies, so they usually burst when cooked, making a ‘bang’ sound.

In Norway, ‘Texas’ is slang for crazy.

Grindage is an idiom for food.

The first man made object to orbit the earth was the Russian made Sputnik.

In related news, the first man in space and first to orbit the earth was Russian Yuri Gagarin.

Also in related news, the first woman in space was Russian Valentina Tereshkova.

Also, also in related news the first object to orbit the Moon was Russian probe Luna 10.  The first probe to land on the moon was Luna 9.

The first men to orbit the Moon was the American men of Apollo 8.

The first space station was the Russian Salyut 1.

The Russians won most of the important landmarks of space exploration.  The space race was actually the race against the end of the decade and the Kennedy challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of it, not to see who would land there first.

The first telecommunications satellite and spy satellite were American.

The most TV episodes in history is held by the German Television show, Unser Sandmännchen, at over 20,000 episodes.

In related news, US soap operas hold 7 of the top 11 places on the list.

Bruce Springsteen has never had a #1 song.

In related news Springsteen by Eric church did reach #1.

Also in related news, it’s special to me.

In related news, Alfred Hitchcock never won a competitive Oscar.  (he won an honorary one when the academy realized they screwed up)

In related news, when Hitchcock’s film, North by Northwest was edited, they cut out 8 feet of film only;  5 seconds.

Also in Oscar related news and proof all is not wrong in the universe, Tom Cruise has never won an Oscar

‘Snuf one’s Glim’ and ‘Hop the Twig’ are both former slang terms for ‘kickin the bucket’.

In related news, the average human, creates 3-8 lbs of ashes when cremated.

Also in related news, the standard of 6 feet for a burial is from the 1665 plague in England, as a measure to stop the spread of the disease.

Not to mention, contrary to popular belief and internet hype, it is not illegal to die in Longyearbyen, Norway.  They simply have little capacity to help the elderly so people go to bigger cities as they age.

YKK on your zipper is a Japanese company founded in 1934 and has over half the world’s market of zippers.

Camel humps do not store water.  They store fat.

In related news, they have three eyelids.

Toyota Camry is the most manufactured single named car in world history.

In related news, all of them are now and have been for many years manufactured in the US.

Also in related news, Cessna 172 is the most produced plane in history.

A related interesting fact, the German WWII fighter Messerschmidt Bf 109 is third on the production list even though it was last manufactured in 1945.

In related news, an aircraft is any machine capable of flight.  An airplane is powered,  has fixed wings (non helicopter), and heavier than air (no balloons, blimps of dirigibles).

Jack the ripper, never went by that name.  He wrote the paper and police but he never used that name.  The letters written to the police and papers using that signature was written by a reporter who hated the flagging sales after a gap in letters so when you refer to Jack the Ripper, you are referring to a journalist, not a murderer.

In related news, Abominable Snowman is a poor translation of  Metoh-Kangmi.  A much more accurate translation is Man-Bear Snowman.

Also in related news, Sasquatch does not translate to Bigfoot.  Sasquatch means wildman.

Gone With the Wind was written using only 26 different letters.

British find it funny that Americans think 100 years is a long time.

In related news, Americans find it amusing that the British think 100 miles is a long ways.

Also in related news, most Americans have no clue how far 100 Kilometers is.

There is a town in Wales, named Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.  It means cave, obviously.

In related news, there are 9 towns in Scandinavia named A, although this website wont let me put the circle above the A.  It means small river or brook.

James Avery was Uncle Phil on Fresh Prince, and also the voice of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Shredder.

Shaggy’s real name is Norville Rogers.

Telegraphs had codes to shorten transmissions.  In telegraph code LOL meant ‘loss of life’.

When NASA launches its SLS rocket, it will become the most powerful vehicle ever built, surpassing the space shuttle and the Saturn V.

Winston Churchill’s mother was an American by birth.

Jim Cummings calls kids in hospitals to cheer them up.  He is the voice of Winnie the Pooh.

The number 40 appears in the Bible and amazing number of times.  40 used to be similar to infinity, or, ‘more than you’d wanna count’, not an actual number to mean what we know as 40.

In related news, the letters that spell 40, are in alphabetical order.

‘Ad hominem’ is the act of attacking the person, rather than the argument.  It is an easily recognizable expression of weakness.

The ‘n’ in the 7 ELEVEn sign is in lower case letters.

Water surrounding an island, is called isntland.

Gasoline is FUEL derived from BIOlogical origins and fits the technical definition of recycling.

Aladdin is actually a Chinese story written by a Frenchman, and added to One Thousand and One Nights.

In related news, it has been called ‘One Thousand and One Arabian Nights’ but this is wrong.

The oldest building in the world is in Brittany France.  Barnenez is 6870 years old.

There is no evidence to support that the right side of your brain has more to do with creativity than your left.

In related news, logic, math and reading are not specific in one hemisphere.

Arguably, the first analog computers were firing computers on naval gun ships around 1910, that required you to enter distance, humidity, temperature, rotation drift, lateral speed of firing gun, and lateral speed of target ship, rotation of the earth and anticipation from calculation time to firing time.  This data in, calculated mechanically, gave a ‘firing solution’.

Amethyst gets its name from the Greek word for sober.

Back to a recurring theme: words and phrases that originated in sailing.  ‘Going great guns’ means that all the biggest guns are firing.

‘Heavy Metal’, was a term to describe the biggest guns on a ship or in a Navy.

‘The bitter end’, is said to be a reference to the very end of an anchor cable, chain or rope.  The Bitt is the knob on the deck of the ship the very end is connected to.

‘Taken aback’, originally was a term to mean a sudden change in wind direction that pushed the sails back against their masts and the ship would come to a sudden slow or stop.

‘By and Large’, is really two nautical terms combined.  Large means a broad wind over the stern and ‘favorable’.  By means to face into the wind, or within 6 deg of it.  So By and Large means .. around the entire compass.

‘Scuttlebutt’, is the sailor version of the water cooler.  A scuttlebutt is the fresh water barrel on the deck of a sailing ship and one of the few places sailors gathered, and talked.

Early beer was alcohol and water was mixed to keep the water from going bad.  This was called grog.  When you drink a higher concentration, or enough grog, you got lethargic … or ‘groggy’.

‘Slush Fund’, is a term meaning the fat run off from cooking anything with fat.  That runoff, coined ‘slush’, was sold while in port so it was extra income.

‘Three sheets to the wind’ is really an evolution of ‘Three sheets IN the wind’.  This sounds like sheets meaning sails.  Wrong.  Sheets in sailing are ropes and the angle of a square sail is held by three ropes, or sails.  If they come loose, the three sheets are IN the wind and the sail will not hold trim and lurch.  If we are ‘three sheets to the wind’ were lurching and losing power.

The first vending machine, invented in the first century, sold holy water as a way of limiting how much water people were taking.

The fax machine was invented in 1843.

In related news, the phone was invented approximately 6 years later.

Also in related news, Bell likely did not invent the telephone.  Antonio Meucci, an Italian was likely the inventor.

There is no record of a bear attack reported on Mars.

Do you like the rich flavor of Vanilla ice cream?  See if there is Castoreum in the ingredients.  It may not be there, but may be there … as a flavor enhancer.

In related news, Castoreum is a secretion that smells like vanilla and often used in perfume as well.

Also in related news, it is beaver anal secretion.

Black and white film renders colors differently.  In order to get the tones photography directors wanted, The set for the Adams Family was actually Lime Green, Pink and Gold

Charlie Chaplain co-founded United Artists studio.

In related news, his paternity suit he lost in California reformed such cases due to the blood evidence proving he was innocent was not admissible at that time.

It is internetted that the Titanic was actually the Olympic which was previously damaged and thus the names were switched and the crash was deliberate to claim insurance on the damaged Olympic that was not covered by insurance.  Without going into the scores of photos of evidence to the contrary, the Titanic cost 7.5 million to build and was insured for 5 mil.  If they committed insurance fraud they sucked at it.  And that was before the inevitable law suits for loss of life.

Contrary to popular belief, the US does not produce most of the ocean waste, plastic and garbage.  We mismanage about 2% of our waste. (not all or even most of that going into the ocean)

In related news, Asia is responsible for most of it and China mismanages about 76% of their own waste.

The internet insists that ‘A DOG WILL LICK HIS BUTT BUT WONT EAT A PICKLE RD. is a real road name in Fountain, Colorado.  It isn’t.

In related news, 100 Year Party Ct, is.  It’s in Longmont CO, if you want to look it up.

Not to be outdone, Colorado Springs offers Leather Chaps Dr.  Now THERE is a party.

Alamosa, Colorado offers No Name Ln.

In related news, there is No Name Creek, No Name Canyon and No Name Tunnel all near Glenwood Springs, Colorado at exit 119 on I-70.

Kung Fu, taught to young children is called Kung Fu Yung.

Although some place the origin of Ice Hockey, as opposed to field hockey, in Europe. There is not much hard evidence to show this.  The modern game of Ice Hockey started in Montreal, March 3, 1879.

In related news, frozen cow manure was the first hockey pucks.

The airport whole body scanner is .01 microsleverts of radiation.  The max dose of a body scanner at full power is .25 .  Your daily dose of radiation just by living on the planet, which does not include days while flying on planes which ups your exposure, is 10 microslerverts.

In Florida, it is illegal for a single woman to skydive on Sunday. (wonder what insecure moron proposed this law, and who voted for it?)

A group of Unicorns is known as a blessing, but a group of frogs is known as an army.

Contrary to popular belief, a hunting license is not required to buy a mouse trap in California.

Cigarettes are the most littered object in the world and contain asbestos.

Steve Buscemi was a fireman for 4 years before becoming an actor.  For 4 days after 9/11, he returned to Engine 55 in NYC to help in the search for bodies.  He never let it become publicized and it only snuck out 10 years later, by the Engine Company itself.

Kangaroo words, are ones with synonyms within the spelling of the word itself.  ie: BLOssOM, cHickEN and hoNOuraBLE.

The defense, and subsequent surrender by Washington, of Fort Necessity in what is now Western PA. is seen by some as the first battle of the Seven Years War, which some historians call, World War 0.

In related news, Valley Forge is sometimes referenced by history tellers as a victory, like a battle.  It was a poorly planned winter stay that was not as bad as reported in the day, as evidenced by diaries by soldiers.  It was not starvation that was the issue, it was boredom and depression and thus desertion.

The most basic way to distinguish between a crocodile and an alligator, is that an alligator will see you later, whereas a crocodile will only be seen in a while.

Red Herring as a term, is a reference to using them to train dogs and horses in hunts, to not be fooled by strong alternate scents, rather than the one they are trained to seek.

The movie Heat  was sited as the inspiration for the North Hollywood bank robbery in 1997.

In related news, the shootout scene, and specifically Val Kilmer’s magazine changes on his machine gun, are used in training as the proper way to do so under rapid fire scenarios.

When Pandas give birth to twins, (often) the zoo keepers swap out the babies every coupe hours because the mom will only care for one.

Titan Red is named for 16th century Italian painter Tiziano Vecellio known as ‘Titan’ in English. Why red?  Cause he was known for so many of the women in his paintings being red heads.

In related news, Fuchsia is named for a flower.  The flower is named for 16th-century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.

In related news to that, Fuchs is German for Fox.

In related news to that, Todd is old English for Fox.

Lungs, if unfolded, would be about as big as a tennis court.

Black swan was a metaphor in England, for things that were only thought to exist.

In related news, they exist.

Also in related news, Operation Fish was when England moved 8 million ounces of gold to Canada during WWII, for safe keeping.  Not an ounce was lost.

The passed tense of snow, can be snew.

In related news, spell check doesn’t know that.

Taco Bell has twice tried to expand into Mexico.  They failed both times due to disdain for their food.

In Japan, a minor is anyone under the age of 20.

In related news, only one woman has been executed in Japan.

Also in related news, more people die on death row in the US, than we execute.

Although in the US, opossum and possum are synonyms, they are not the same animal.  Opossums are the only marsupial native to North America.  Possums are also marsupials but native to New Guinea, Australia and Indonesia.  They are similar but distinctly different animals. We have Opossums in the US, not possums.

Steve Martin is largely responsible for “air quotes”.  Especially “excessive” air quotes.  If you “know what I mean.”

The pool on the Titanic, is still full of water.

Nostradamus was an author of cookbooks written in 16th century French.

In related news, he was also an astrologist and wrote almanacs, that were famously wrong in his own day.

Also in related news, none of the original non-translated writings of his book of predictions, Les Propheties, exist.  There have been various translations in various orders: first finding similar meanings in modern French and then translating to English, either literally or figuratively; or performing direct word-to-word translations into English; or by interpreting probable meanings and then translating into English or paraphrasing into modern French.

Also, also in related news, his predictions have never predicted anything, before it happened.

Also, also, also in related news, almost all of the examples of his writings you see on TV or internet are edited for the show, and not seen in that form anywhere else.

New as of 3/12/19

In 2016, the city of Singapore with 5.6 million people, had 135 days of the year with no crimes at all.  They also have no guns.

There are no flag laws.  There are flag codes in title 18 of US code, which can be interpreted as a law, but the code provides no ability to enforce it or determine penalty for violation of it, so it cannot be enforced.

The first man to play John McClane was Frank Sinatra in the movie The Detective.  Die Hard was a sequel, based on the next book by the same author, Roderick Thorp.

In related news, There was a spec script for Die Hard 3 that placed McClane on a cruise ship, but the Steven Segal movie Under Siege was being filmed so the studio dropped it.  The script was re-written and became Speed 2, Cruise Control.  No public apology has been offered.

The Canadian victory against the US in the War of 1812, is celebrated there.

In related news, Zebulon Pike of Pikes Peak fame was killed in the battle of York.

Also in related news, The White House (and much of Washington at the time) was burned by the British in retaliation for the US burning and pillaging of York, Canada, which Pike was one of the leaders of.

There is actually a tech company named Lunatech … gotta love it!

The Hope diamond is not even close to the biggest in the world, but is likely the most famous.

In related news, the curse is 100% fake, a product of marketing the diamond for sale which was common at the time.

Also in related news, Louis Diamond Phillips is real, but his name is false.  Ironically, it is not the Diamond part that is.  He was born with the last name Upchurch.

The filming of the movie The Bridge at Remegen, was used as a pretext by Russia, to invade Czechoslovakia, claiming the actors were real soldiers and the army was real.

In related news, the real bridge at the real Remegen, was used by the US Army to invade Germany.  Ironically, the Bridge was built during WWI by Germany, so they could invade France.

Barry Manilow did not write his song, “I write the songs”.

In related news, he did write the jingles for State Farm ‘Like a good Neighbor’ and Band-Aid, ‘I’m stuck on Band-Aid’.

We currently use the Gregorian calendar.  Previous to 1582 we used the Julian calendar.  The reason for the change was that leap year every 4 years had moved Easter by ten days; totally unacceptable.  SO, we assume leap day is every four years but it does not happen on years divisible by 100, unless divisible by 400.  So now ya know, even if not understand …

In related news, this is the basis of the conspiracy theory of the dark ages never occurring.  Pope Gregory VIII felt that since Easter had drifted 10 days, but that it should have drifted 13 after doing the math, he decided 300ish years didn’t happen.  But he didn’t get that the calendar was set up to correct for the date of Easter set at the counsel of Nicaea, in year 325.

Also in related news, the counsel of Nicaea in year 325 was when the Bible was drafted, edited and written.  There were more gospels refused, than accepted.

Also, also in related news, sometimes not understanding makes more sense.

Predator was originally Rocky V.  Really … I wish I was kidding …

The movie footage we see often representing the first atomic explosion in war, Hiroshima, is not of Hiroshima.  The cameras didn’t work for that detonation.  The dark ground level explosion movie footage is of the test in New Mexico.  The real movies of the explosion, are Nagasaki.  The only photos of the Hiroshima explosion were taken casually by the tail gunner on the bomber.

In Japan, once the execution order is given, a person on death row will be executed within 5 days.  He will find when, only when he is being taken to be killed and family and the public will only be notified after the death.

Daddy Long Legs are not spiders.  They are much closer related to Scorpions.

In related news, they are not poisonous.  Not at all.  Not even a little bit.  Nor do they have fangs.

Also in related news, Big Daddy Roth is not related to them.  He is an artist and custom car builder.

European people settling in the new world, introduced the new world to the flu.

The Americas gave Europe Siphilous. (was that ever a bad date)

BY FAR, the most common crime in the US is theft, nearly 60% of all crimes.

In related news, 5 of the top 6 crimes are the removal of property illegally, in some form.  The highest rate of any violent crime, is Assault at 5%.

4 nations with among the most restrictive gun laws in the world, have murder rates far, far lower than the US. FAR.

There is a town called Timbuktu, also spelled Tinbuktu, Timbuctoo and Timbuktoo, in Mali, Africa.

A mile’s final determined length was determined by combining the length of 8 furlongs.  The original mile was said to be 1,000 Roman paces which translates to 5,000 feet.  Roman feet were shorter than modern feet.  No word about the size of gloves.

Also in related news, a nautical mile is 6,076 feet.

As determined from above, Denver is the 8 furlong high city.

Most people know Coka-Cola originally had cocaine extract in it.  But 7up had Lithium in it until 1950.  Lithium is an anti-depressant.  Most soft drinks started out as ‘medicinal’.

I mentioned before, that Christmas is the least likely day to be born, even less so than Feb. 29th.  The date most likely to die, is Jan 1.

In related news, The day most likely for you to die, is Saturday.

Also in related news, the hour most likely to die is 11:00.

You are 14% more likely to die on your birthday.  You are 13% more likely to die right after you get paid.

SO, if New Years day is your birthday, and falls on a Saturday, and you get paid on Saturday just before 11, you are statistically dead.

An Acre is said to be the amount of land one man with one oxen can plow in one day.

Male eagles, and most birds of prey, are smaller than the females.

In related news, Bald Eagles can kinda swim.  They have been known to dive on a large fish they could not likely lift, so they may paddle it to shore.

Also related, no their talons do not lock.

A chain, as a measure of length, is 66 feet long.

A gallon, of course, is the weight of 8 troy ounces of wine. (cause that makes sense)

In related news, a troy ounce originated in Troyes, France.  One troy ounce is equal to 31.1034768 grams and is only used in measuring precious metals.

William Tainton was the first person broadcast on TV.  He was the test person for John Baird, who invented the TV.

Eastern most point of the United States is an uninhabited Aleutian Island called Semisopochnoi.  It is the most eastern because it is on the other side of the international date line.  Ironically, 71 miles to the EAST is the small island of Amatignak; the western most point of the United States.

A Charlie Brown Christmas killed the sales of aluminum Christmas trees.

Robert Liston was a surgeon who once had a 300% death rate in one surgery.  His assistant was cut in the surgery and later died of infection.  Someone watching the surgery had a fatal heart attack, and the patient died.

Lucile Ball financed the first Star Trek series and Mission: Impossible.

In related news, she is not a redhead.

NERF (as in footballs and many other projectiles, not counting your milk out your nose from a good joke) stands for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam.

House cats are in the same family as mountain lions and tigers and all other cats.

In related news, it is said that cats can either purr or roar but none can do both, this is wrong.

“No shirt, no shoes, no service” signs are said to have started in the 60s due to long hairs (hippies).  This is only partly true.  They existed before but only in coastal areas.  The signs gained popularity in the 60.

In related news, the often accompanying ‘By order of health dept’ is a lie.  NO state has laws governing what patrons in restaurants must wear, only employees.

Also in related news, the restaurants can enforce the rule, as long as they do so universally.

The Palace of Versailles is rumored to have no bathrooms, not really the case.  Bathrooms weren’t common then.  There were over 300 chamber pots.

Woodpecker tongues are connected to a muscle that wraps around their brain to prevent concussion.

As proof of effectiveness, there is no record of a woodpecker being treated for a concussion in any ER.

In related news, Woody Harrelson’s father was a convicted hitman.

The term “Possession is 9/10s of the law”, originated in legalese as “Possession is 9 points of the law.”

The term, ‘Going Haywire’ is meant to describe machinery gone wild, broken, flying apart.  In the machine age we didn’t have duct tape, we had bailing wire.  It was very often used to fix broken machines.  What was bailing wire used for?  Wrapping bails of hay …

‘The acid test’ was a test used to discern real gold from fake, using acid.

The proper Genus and species for Plains Bison (American Bison) is Bison Bison.

Research has shown that the 7 year itch, is really 10-11 years.  The leading cause for women to cheat, “he lost interest in me”.  Top reason for men, “the other person was there for me.”

Icarus didn’t fly too close to the sun, he just spent too much time there.

Assistants were inferior to their master.  Assistants held candles when additional light was needed.  You ‘cannot hold a candle’ means you are not even good enough to be an assistant.

The term Red Neck comes from the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, which was an armed dispute between mine company and the United Mine Workers.  Many people died.  The armed mine workers all put red handkerchiefs around their necks to distinguish themselves so as to not shoot one another.  They became called rednecks as a derogatory term.

Disco Inferno is a very often used song in movies.  It is sung by The Trammps.  It won a grammy.  Now you know …

The SR71 Blackbird plane is so fast that if you fly is around the equator flying west, even having to refuel, for the pilots, the sun would raise in the west and set in the east.

Syrup killed 21 people, all at once.  In a flood.

Stingrays migrate in packs of hundreds to thousands.

Alligators, rarely stay in water that freezes.  But when they are, they survive by putting their snout out of the water, and the water freezes around it.

The female term of ‘bloke’, is ‘bird’.

“Forever and a Day”, “Seen Better Days”, “Green Eyed Monster”, “Wild Goose Chase”, and “It’s Greek to Me” were all originated by Shakespeare.

No passport is needed to enter Disney Land.

Most of the 5 minute long car chase in The French Connection through the city streets of New York, was not permitted, and most city streets were not blocked off.  The woman with the baby carriage was fake.  The wreck was not.

In related news, this chase scene is usually ranked as the best in movie history.

There have been 15 Oscars awarded to people who have died.

Ironically, there has never been an Oscar awarded for playing dead.

Two American fighter squadrons flew British built Spitfires until 1944.

Also, all American night fighters in WWII until 1944 were the British Beaufighter or the British Mosquito.

In related news, the Buffalo wing is one of the few truly American foods. (ok, that relation was a reach)

Almost none of the 1% of the nations wealthiest, have also been among the 1% of this nation who have served in the military.

The plural of Octopus is Octopi.

In related news, the plural form of Octopus is Octopuses.

Also in related news, the plural form of Octopus is Octopodes.

It is said that the plural of Elvis, is Pelvises.  This cannot be confirmed.

The Capitol records building in Hollywood has a light on top, that blinks out Hollywood in Morse Code.

In related news, a person who transcribes written word into Morse code is a telegrapher.

Also in related news, a stenographer transcribes the spoken word into shorthand.

The longest word in English has 189,819 letters and takes 65kb of memory.  I wont quote it here.

In length related news, the longest train in history was an ore train in Australia in 2001 consisting of 682 cars weighing almost 100,000 tons and 4.6 miles long.

Georg Solti has won the most Grammy’s in history, 31.

There are clear crayons.

It is impossible to get altitude sickness while remaining in the Maldives.

The largest private estate in the US is not Bill Gates’ house.  It is still the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.  It encloses over 4 acres of floor space.  In spite of that, there is no gocart track inside, odd.

In related news, it is not an Ikea as rumored.

In the 1700s, Scotland’s highland games included a dead cow leg pulling-off, contest.  The prize was a live sheep.

There is mountains of evidence that the US claim that the government does not engage in assassination, is false.  There is CIA equipment in museums that served this purpose and showed that the preferred method was not bullets, but poisons in many forms.

In related news, most of the assassination methods the Secret Service guards against are ones that have been done, or attempted somewhere.

Also in related news, the State Dept has developed a DNA record of most foreign leaders.  This allows for a specifically targeted poison or disease to be directed towards one specific person.  Soup many eat can poison only one person.

Passenger Pigeons didn’t carry passengers.  But man did hunt them to extinction by 1918.

The former campaign of missing children on milk cartons had very little effect.  There were 6 children who were identified via the campaign of billions of milk cartons.  All cases where children were recovered, were custodial abductions.  Ironically, the three children who started the campaign, have never been found.

To date(3/19), there have been six times a candidate has won state or federal election while deceased.  This list includes 1 Federal Senator and 1 Federal member of the House.  The rest were mayors or state level house or senate.  In several cases, their spouses served for them.

The accepted reason why men’s and women’s shirts button backwards to one another is that in the Victorian and Renaissance eras, women who were the fashion trend setters were the wealthy.  They were dressed with a helper facing them, presumably right handed.  Men dressed themselves, most of who are right handed.

John Ratzenberger is a very experienced actor but best known for being the dolt bar fly on Cheers, Cliff Clavin.  He played this same character on several other shows, including Frasier, St. Elsewhere, The Tortellis, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, The Earth Day Special, and Wings.

In related news, the actor with the most acting credits is Kanneganti Brahmanandam of Bollywood, with close to 1,000 acting credits. 

Also in related news, the US record is held by Irving Bacon, with 521 credits mostly in the early days of Hollywood.

Also, also in related news, Eric Roberts has the most current credits for an active actor, with over 300 credits.

In extra credit news, Danny Trejo has 256 acting credits and almost all of them are as villains, bad guys or anti-heros.  He also served 11 years in jail where presumably, he did not act in any movies.

The largest earth moving project in history is the Panama Canal.  It moved 268 million cubic yards of earth.

In 2018, two women in Canada were arrested for practicing witchcraft for profit.

In 1958, the USAF accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb … on Mars Bluff, North Carolina.  The conventional explosives that set off the nuclear reaction did go off but since the bomb that was live, was not armed, the nuclear detonation didn’t go off.

In Carolina related news, in 1961 a B-52 bomber crashed in Goldsboro, North Carolina with 2 nuclear bombs on-board.

In Nuclear related news, in 1966  a bomber collided with a tanker while refueling.  The bomber crashed with 4 nuclear bombs on-board.  Two of them detonated the TNT portion of the bomb.  One was in-tact.  One was later found in-tact on the ocean floor after an extensive search.

Also in nuclear related news, In 1968 another US bomber crashed when it caught fire with Nuclear bombs on-board, in Greenland.  The bombs detonated but only conventionally.  Essentially causing a dirty bomb situation.

The state of Iowa has never had a hurricane.

Alaska is the state with the most seaports (58).  Maine has 44, Washington State has 42.  Colorado has 0.

In related news, Sea salt and table salt have the same nutritional value, other than table salt having added iodine usually.

Hamlet(1996) and How the West was Won(1962) are tied for the most Oscar winners in a single cast at 9.

Tarantulas migrate in packs … ok, hoards.  You can also hear them if it is quiet enough.  I have seen it and heard it, ewww.

Capgras syndrome is a physiological issue in your brain that disconnects the emotional processing center of your brain from your visual cortex so you do not recognize people you know, but you know they look like the person they are, like an imposter.

Prosopagnosia is the inability to recognize familiar faces.

Japan has lost an island!  Ok, so it’s not that weird.  Many smaller, and usually very low islands have disappeared. This is not only due to sea level rise, it happens regularly and often in storms but we are losing more and faster recently due to sea rise.

Winters, California has one (1) parking meter.  No ticket has ever been issues for not paying it.

21 of the worlds fastest 100m times have been overturned due to doping.

KFC’s twitter account follows the five spice girls accounts and 6 people named Herb, no more … (11 herbs and spices).  Ya can’t make this shit up.

Bears don’t attack to kill you typically, they are actually eating you.

Coffin birth is when a dead decomposing body building up gases pushed a fetus out.  (also dead)

In related news, mausoleums can be a little noisy at night if there are fresher bodies.  They fart.

There is no immune system inside your eye.

Charles Bonnet syndrome causes visual hallucination but has no link to mental illness.  It is only found in people who are aged and have declining sight due to cataracts, macular degeneration or visual organ damage.

In related news, Skilcraft US govt pens are entirely made by sight impaired people, as they have been for over 50 years.

There is strong evidence that if you have an ancestor who survived the plague, you are likely immune to HIV.  (doesn’t mean you cannot carry it and transmit it)

Pedro Alonzo Lopez is a south American serial killer rapist with over 300 known victims.  He served 18 years when caught.  He is free today.

France requires passports for all human bodies, dead or alive.

Pierre Brasseau was mostly praised as an artist.  He was a monkey.

Dogs react to human crying the same way they respond to pain in other dogs.

Mesothelioma and asbestos were linked as far back as 1932 and first noted in the 1880s.

In related news, there was almost as active a cover-up by the asbestos industry as there was in tobacco.  News was obscured and anytime a story ran about the health concerns of asbestos, the industry ran counter ‘research’.  We don’t know as much about this due to this being in the 1950-60s.

Also in related news, the asbestos lawsuits set the stage for the tobacco lawsuits.  The legal actions against asbestos laid the roadwork for tort law in big industry that all now follows.

Also, also in related news, the tobacco lawsuit is the model that is being followed to sue the NFL for their active suppression of research regarding concussions.  The outcome was different due to the lessons learned by the NFL to avoid the same legal pitfalls the tobacco industry identified, although the NFL payout settlements have been very big.

Also, also, also in related news, asbestos is not banned.  The EPA tried to ban all use of it in 1989 but federal court overturned it due to cost of implementation.  It is banned for ‘general’ use but can still be used in specialized applications and today it is found in brake pads on cars, clutches (which both turn to particles when used), fireproof clothing, roof shingles, insulation in your attic, vinyl floor tiles, cigarette filters (cause that makes sense), talcum powder, cosmetics and potting soils as well as anything where the total content does not exceed 1%.

Also, also, also, also in related news, talc is found and mined with asbestos.  This is the basis of the newer talc lawsuits related to cancer.  Talc is used in many cosmetics because it helps form smooth finish like for base and lipstick.

RMS in reference to British ships doesn’t means Royal Majesty Ship.  It stands for Royal Mail Ship.  This used to only be used on the fastest and most reliable British ships to carry mail.

In related news, there is strong evidence that the Titanic was found in the 60s, by accident.  A team was covertly searching for a downed Russian submarine to recover it in secret.  Due to the covert nature of the mission, the team was asked to not disclose the location of the titanic for 25 years, in theory.  Some evidence to support that the company knew exactly where to go when they were looking for the Titanic in the 90s, was that they had extensive coverage starting before they left to look, and they didn’t look that long, in-spite of the previously reported location of the titanic being wrong

Las Vegas has a list of all MIT local addresses and might consider you a risk as an ‘advantaged player’ if you list your address in that region when you visit and stay at any regional hotel or flight into Vegas.  This is due to the MIT corporation and their ability to count cards.

In related news, the MIT corporation is still running, always profiting.

Also in related news, consider that … The casinos have access to flight information (FAA is a federal agency and is not supposed to make the information available to the public) and pay for information from regional hotels …

Although over 100,000 people worked on the Manhattan Project (my grandfather included), only a couple dozen people actually knew for sure what they were working on (my grandfather was not one of those).

Iceland was not named that to keep people from going there by the Vikings.  It was named that by the first Nordic settler there who happened to stay one winter in an area that was almost entirely ice.

In ice related news, Iceland imports ice from EU, because Iceland is an export economy (alot of aluminum) so ships go there already so they load them with ice.

In related news, export economies mean that ships taking products from the nation, require that same ship to travel to the nation, partially empty.  The reverse is true for import economies.

Japan, both some of it’s powerful citizens and some government sanctioned actions, are trying to systematically re-write WWII history.  They teach that the US attacked them and Japan never attacked China but really defended itself.  They claim Japan never enslaved women of conquered nations and used them as sex slaves and Nanking (Nanjing) of course, never happened.

In news related to Japan, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated was built by the Soviet Union in 1961.  The first bomb ever detonated in war, was Little Boy dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It was 15 kilotons.  Big Ivan, as the Russians took to calling their biggest of all bombs, was 50 megatons.  In more modern parlance, compare 15 kilobytes of computer memory to 50 megabytes.

Staying in the Asian part of earth, the opening of the Three Gorges dam in China, raised the Yangtze River 300 feet and stored a humongous amount of water.  This concentration in mass slowed the earth’s rotation and made each day .00000006 seconds longer.  You now know who to blame.

In related news, yes humongous is a word.  It means huge, enormous.

Enornamous is a very very large Christmas tree decoration.

Ashcat is someone who sits close to a fire poking at the coals.  Now ya know …

It’s hard to know where exactly the werewolf myth originates but it is likely the combination of two realities, Rabies and hypertrichosis.  The first we know of but the second is the genetic mutation where someone is covered almost entirely in fur.  Rabies is transmitted by bite by an infected animal and the person then takes on the same symptoms as the biter, foaming at the mouth, agitation, erratic behavior.  It is terminal unless treated and the treatment didn’t exist before 20th century.  Pair that with the wolf like appearance of hypertrichosis and you likely have the myth.

In related and as mentioned news, rabies is one of the very few 100% terminal diseases, if not treated.

Also in related news, people with Hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome, were staples in side shows.  Some of these made poor livings and barely eked out a happy existence but contrary to what most think, many side show people or ‘freaks’ made very good livings.

In related news, eke is a word, meaning to work hard for only sustainable wages.

Blue Blood is a reference to being able to see the blood in one’s veins as a way of verifying the genetic purity of a person after the Moorish(Muslim) rule and breeding in medieval Spain, which would darken the formerly perceived purer local skin.

Pleased as punch is a reference to Punch, in Punch and Judy puppet show.  Punch killed everyone and was quite pleased about it!  It’s good to be pleased like Punch, eh?

Just so yas know … all the consumer DNA tests, are available for searching by law enforcement.  Keep in mind, you don’t have to be the donor for law enforcement to find you through DNA; third cousins narrow the search to a couple hundred people, typically.

In related news, the longest prison stay in the US was done by Paul Geidel Jr. when he was convicted of second degree murder and served 68 years-245 days.  He was convicted at age 17.

Also in related news, Thomas Silverstein has served the longest in solitary confinement having been there since 1983.  He is currently in ADX, and known as the most dangerous man in the US prison system.

Ironically, with that last name, he is former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood.  He is convicted of 3 murders.

In related news, two of the murders Silverstein was convicted of was one of two corrections officers murdered in a few hours, what followed was the longest lock down (all inmates must remain in their cells at all times) in history, 23 years.

A can opener was invented and designed to be used by turning the handle on-top, not the side.  It wasn’t used that way so the design evolved and now is optimized for vertical use.  I tried using a modern one in the flat position, I don’t recommend it.

The median age in most middle African nations is in the teens.  Middle east is early 20s. For comparison, US is 37.  Canada is 42.

The term, ‘spaghetti western’ means westerns filmed in Europe, usually by Italian directors.  One of the defining traits is that they are filmed without sound.  That way they could dub the films in different languages for each country they are released in.  It is also why music plays such a prominent role in the soundtrack.

In related news otherwise stated in this list, Spaghetti was invented in China, not Italy.

Also in related news, ‘A Fist Full of Dollars’ was not the first Spaghetti Western.  It was about the 25th, of well over 200.  It was the most successful to that date.

Also, also in related news, this is not the movie that made Eastwood. He was already a regular on the TV series Rawhide, also a western, but this defined his style from then on.  He had usually played a clean cut, plain spoken man.  This movie redefined him in westerns from then on, and changed westerns.

13.8% of our armed service members are Hispanic.  17.3% are black.  15% are women, with 18% of them, officers.

In related news, 80% of officers have a bachelors degree and 42% hold advanced degrees.  By comparison, 34% of Americans have a bachelors degree.

The following current companies did business in Nazi Germany after Germany declared war on the US:  Random House, Ford, IBM, Standard Oil (Exxon, BP, Chevron), Coke (as Fanta) and Kodak.  The following companies were German at the time without a presence in the US at the time of the war but directly worked in the Nazi regime or helped them directly:  Bayer (made the gas for the gas chambers), Chase Bank (helped freeze Jewish bank accounts for seizure), Volkswagon/Porsche (built for Hitler), Hugo Boss (designed and made the SS uniforms).

In related news, (ok, it’s a stretch) the word ‘boss’ comes from the Dutch word ‘base’ which came into fashion after the civil war since prior to that, we would call our boss, master.  Ironically, ‘base’ is Dutch for master.

The Great Sphinx is about 600 feet from Golden Dragon Palace Chinese food and 800 feet from a KFC.  (my mother waited all her life to see Egypt, and hated it because of this kind of issue)

The term deadline started as a reference in Civil War prisons, some of which lacked walls but had small fences or even a line in the ground.  If you crossed the line, you were shot dead.  The term was adopted in printing to denote the border edge where words would no longer be printed, then adopted in journalism to denote, “get it done by this time or the story dies”.

New as of 9/30/18

Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood.  She was also the inspiration for Wonder Woman.

In related news, Planned Parenthood performs the most vasectomies in the country.

Also in related news, a predicted due date for childbirth turns out to be the delivery date only about 7% of the time.  Plan to have your plan blown.

Also, also in related news, average western world male sperm count is 1/4 of where it was in 1900.

Also, also, also in related news, as of 2018 the US birth rate has gone down for 20 straight years.

I’ll say this again, no there was not white slaves in the US.  Indentured servants yes.  They are VERY different.  I am repeating this because I have received several messages accusing me of lies.

In related news, almost every nation has had legal slavery in its history, and it still goes on right now.

Also in related news, the Civil War WAS fought over, among several things, slavery.  We know this because almost every state that succeeded from the union sited slavery as a reason to leave.  They chose to leave due to the perception that Lincoln would try to end slavery.

Peter Ostrum (Charlie), from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie fame, has this as his only acting credit.

King Arthur’s last name is Pendragon.

The largest one day drop in the DOW (US Stock Market) took place in 2018.  Not 1929.

In related news, the Stock market crash of Black Monday on October 19, 1987 was bigger than the crash in 1929.

Also in related news, The 1929 crash was the longest market drop.

WWII didn’t start with Germany, Japan attacked China in 1937.  Even though not seen as such then, this was the first invasion of WWII.  The second was of modern day Ethiopia by Italy.  Our tilted view of history is because we diminish wars in Asia and Africa and that don’t directly involve us.

At the end of the Revolutionary war, Georgia was still under British rule as a colony.  They had to be legislated back into a state.

In related news, the black and white British loyalists in GA had to vacate or be put in prison so they first fled to Florida, but Spain ran them out and they ended up being much of the population of the Bahamas.

Native Americans also killed Buffalo for vanity and to excess.  But due to the population not going almost extinct as a result, it is not as considered the same way as the white man version.  Also, the natives were hunting a much larger species of Buffalo, which they did push to extinction.

One of the Original Oompa Loompas was a woman.

You cannot ‘change history’ as the saying goes, history is only what has already happened.  You can defy expectations though.  You can also discover the truth about the past.  But the past is the past.

The sun is not yellow.  The blue atmosphere of our planet changes the sun’s white color, to yellow.

The worst college football defeat was Georgia Tech over Cumberland, 220-0.  In a warm up game, Cumberland lost to Sewanee, 107-0.  These took place in 1915.

In related news, the score was revenge for the year before when Cumberland brought in semi-pro players to play on the baseball team and beat Tech, 22-0.  At that time, coaches coached many sports and the coaches shared baseball and football.

Also in related news, the Georgia Tech coach was John Heisman, of the trophy.

Poinsettias are not going to kill you or your pet, but they will make ya sick!

The ‘little boats’ of Dunkirk was relatively few and VERY rarely operated by their owners.  Most were ‘procured’ by Naval staff.

Honey has been regurgitated by Bees, 100s of times.  It is also this process that gives honey its antibacterial traits.

Desert is a term referencing moisture annually.  Antarctica is the world’s largest desert.

The moon does not make the ocean’s tides. The moon’s gravity is lower than the earth’s.  It is a combination of small forces from the Earth, moon and sun that makes them and it is more of a push than a pull.

Water is a poor conductor of electricity.  It is the impurities in the water that conduct well.  Distilled water is an even poorer conductor.

The official barrier of space is 62 miles above sea level.  There is still gravity there.

In related news, the SR-71 Blackhawk plane, could fly at 85,000 feet so they were technically space craft piloted by astronauts.

Most diamonds are not from Coal.  They form at very different depths in the crust.

Blondes and Redheads are not going extinct, genes don’t go extinct.  This is from a white supremacy agenda trying to claim the white race is going extinct.

Although it is impossible to know who the first victim of an auto accident was, especially since it is hard to know who/where/when the automobile was invented (https://5280nup.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/who-really-invented-the-automobile/), Mary Ward is recorded to have broken her back when thrown from a steam powered car in the 1869. She reportedly died.

Gene Roddenbarry’s wife, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, played a character on every Star Trek series.  Most famously she was Lwaxana Troi in Next Gen.  She was also the voice of the computer which is funny when ya consider that her voice as Lwaxana, normally made people cringe.

Not all space is cold.  It is a matter of light not atmosphere.  Astronauts near earth, while in sunlight, can be subjected to 250F.

In heat related news, there are 4 forms of matter, not 3.  Solid, liquid, gas and plasma.

BTW, There WERE camels in the old west, and they were ridden.  Many of them?  No.  But they were every well suited to the South West environment.

Tombstone’s highest annual murder rate was 5, during the period of the old west.  It was usually less than 1.

The, ‘The Gathering” photo of supposedly 1883 is fake as far as who is purported to be in it.  The photo itself is real, of real people, but not those usually named.

Tall buildings are shorter during the work day, due to the weight of the humans in it.

When Michael Jackson passed away in 2009, fans held a vigil at Jackson’s star on the walk of fame.  Unfortunately it was the wrong one.  The one they held vigil at was for the radio personality (a DJ).

Gene Autry is the only person to have stars on the walk of fame in all 5 categories.

Jessica Rabbit was inspired by Vikki Dougan.  Look her up.

The Manahatta tribe did not get swindled when they sold what is now Manhattan, to the Dutch.  They didn’t own the land in the first place, it belonged to the Wappinger.  So the dutch were sold a proverbial bridge.  Got an island to sell?

Safe Haven laws were intended to let women abandon a baby in a safe place, rather than dumpsters which was common at the time.  Many Safe Haven laws didn’t specify an age limit so even teenagers were being dropped off at hospitals and legally abandoned.

The candy bar Baby Ruth was not named for the baseball player.  It was named for Grover Cleveland’s daughter, Ruth.

The Girl From Ipanema’s real name is Heloísa Pinheiro.  She turned down the song writer’s marriage proposal which he offered when he first talked to her.

The Movie ‘Stripes’ when released in the Philippines, was named ‘Assboobs’ …

Colorado does not have a 420 mile marker.  It does have a 419.99 marker though.

Skittles are covered with shellac. Shellac is secreted by female beetles.

Bescumbered means to be splattered with feces.  Not really trivia, just never heard of the word so I thought I’d share.  Now you have that image in your head …

Crime is on the decline in the US, and has been for a long time.  Only mass shootings are on a rise.

Oranges is not named for the color, the color is named for the fruit.

Contrary to popular belief, Blue is not named for the color of my soul.

As mentioned in a previous entry, Pocahontas was about 10 when John Smith was ‘in town’.  There was no romance or rescue.  The story was not told by Smith until Pocahontas was about to visit England as a married adult and it was likely told so he could ride on the skirt tails of her arrival.  The story was edited by Smith himself, many times.  He told a similar story about a young woman in Turkey.  Either he made it up or he was often in need of rescue by 10 year olds.

As a matter of perspective, the US spends the most each year on its military.  China, the second biggest spender spends 1/4 of the US.  We spend more than the next 9 countries combined.

David Kunst is the first recorded person to have walked around the world, flying over water sections.  I admire him for his footitude.

We, the world, spends billions on anti-terrorism efforts, yet on average, less than 35,000 people die a year in terrorism world wide; 0.06% of the population.  By comparison, car accidents kill 1,340,000 a year.  Drug and alcohol addiction kill about 318,000 a year world wide.  The leader, this year and every, is heart disease, at 17,650,000 a year.

Removed when found inaccurate.

An average of estimates I can find says it would take about 33 Billion dollars a year to feed the hungry in the world.  (yes I know some would still not be fed)  The world spends 33 billion on military weapons every 10 days.

Ever wonder why they don’t have an index of gun rifling before the firearm is sold?  Who is stopping that idea?  And why?

The Continental Army was only poorly equipped early on.  By 1778, they were so well equipped they had to post guards at supply depots.  The ragtag image we see in history books was to paint us as even bigger underdogs.  I guess normal underdog was not impressive enough.

Why do we not launch rockets to space, in Colorado?  It is closer to space.  Better yet, why do we not launch them from under the wing of a lift plane from near space.

Manifest Destiny is in direct contradiction with the claim we have never waged a war for land.  We started many wars with the Native Americans to take their land.  We started a war with Mexico to take their land.  The Mexican War land grab is as big as any successful one in history.  President Grant referred to the war with Mexico as, “One of the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger nation against a weak one, simply for profit.”

Hand writing analysis has no repeatable value.  It is opinion and varies widely.  There is SOME value in hand writing comparison but again, not reliable enough for court.

The term ‘cold feet’ comes from the realization, soldiers that have cold feet in combat cannot run, therefore seem hesitant and reluctant.

John Paul (Jones) being named the father of the Navy is a massive stretch.  He did serve in the Continental Navy, as did many others.  But he was most noted for serving as an officer in the Russian Navy.  After serving in Russia he died in Paris in 1792.  The US Navy was created by Congress in 1794.  Someone really did the work to form the Navy, celebrate them.

In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to federal office.

Queen Victoria’s marriage in 1840 started the tradition of white wedding dresses.  Before that you just used your best dress, no matter the color. (guessing weddings didn’t cost 40k then)

Also, the garter belt and bouquet thing are not about what ya think.  The throwing of the bouquet was to distract everyone as the couple runs off to consummate the marriage.  Why the distraction?  Cause the consummation was to be witnessed.  The Garter belt was proof the deed was done.

Larry Newman (not related to Seinfeld or Paul) was the one who named The Battle of the Bulge.  He was a reporter.

In related news, The Battle of the Bulge was a war fought in Europe in WWII, not an effort to lose weight by watching infomercials while eating bonbons.

Also in related news, Patton’s officer core predicted the German attack and he already had a plan to attack Bastogne, before the battle even started.  That attack plan became a relief plan when the 101st Airborn held the city while surrounded.

“Me at the Zoo” was the first video posted to Youtube.  It has over 53 million views.

The Lincoln bedroom was not used by Lincoln as a bedroom.  It was an office for many Presidents.  If we wanna be technical, the room didn’t exist in Lincoln’s time since the White House was gutted in 1949 and rebuilt; much like Stone Henge, but I digress.  The room was not named for Lincoln until the Kennedy administration and even then, it was due to a portrait in the room as a point of reference.

CBS records was the first to release CDs to the public for sale in 1982.  The first album released on CD was Billy Joel, 52nd Street.

Most think that Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player in the majors.  Today, the distinction is made by people saying, he was the first to break the color barrier.  The reason for this term is that baseball was not originally segregated and MLB’s first black baseball player was Moses Walker, in 1884.  Before baseball segregated.

In 1859, Oregon became a state.  Many today remark it did so not as a slave state.  There was a reason for that.  They excluded blacks from living there.  It was in the state constitution.   They enforced it with the Lash Law.  Look it up if you dare …

Peter Panama, from The Corner Bar was the first openly gay TV character, in 1972.

In time related news, An American Family was the first reality show.  It aired in 1973.

In news related to ‘this isn’t as modern as you think’, the first electric car was put into service in 1890.

‘Balls to the wall’ is an aviation term where the throttles on a plane used to have balls on the top of the hand actuated lever, pushing them forward to the dash wall, was full throttle.

Robert Tappan was the first man convicted of computer hacking, in 1988.

“Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water”, is a term coming from households used to share bath water going from oldest to youngest.  Usually once a month.

Card games have always been suspect for being dishonest.  Dealers who shuffled the cards and kept their hands on the table at all times were said to be, ‘above board’;  Honest.

Black males are not the most likely sub-set to be killed in police action as a % of population.  That would be Native American males.  .9% of population, 1.3% of killings.

In related news, contrary to news outlet statements and Hollywood, police shootings (where officers shoot others) are down 60% over the last 20 years.  Police being shot is up about 300% over the same time frame.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was the first Disney Character.

New as of 6/12/18

No one HAS to talk about their trauma to get over their trauma.  Making someone do so is trauma in itself.  You are HURTING the person you are making talk about their trauma.  If they want to, need to … then just listen and be with them.  You don’t have to fix them, nor do they likely want you to.

Lucile Ball ( millennials look her up) was not a redhead.  Her natural hair color was brown.

In related news, when Lucile Ball was recovering from giving birth, her husband Desi Arnaz, wanted to give her time to rest so he chose to rerun some old episodes and thus, the rerun was born!

Depression is a chemical issue in your brain that yes can be helped by changing behaviors but the best treatment is talk therapy.  Cognitive distortions help reinforce a depressed outlook and chemicals reinforce that.

In a related issue, anti-depressants don’t cure depression.  They are intended to help someone engage in talk therapy to treat the depression.  There are applications where anti-depressants are used long term but they are MUCH more rare than doctors seem to believe.

Unless your doctor is a psychiatrist or consulting with one, they are practicing illegally if they are prescribing you psychiatric meds, such as anti-depressants.

When someone starts a statement with, “Not to be offensive but …”  they are about to say something that will likely offend who they are talking to, and that preface doesn’t excuse you.  You actually announce to all listening that you are about to say something offensive, and you know you are.

In related news, same goes for, “Not to be racist but … ”  You clearly know it is racist and choose to say it anyhow.  Thanks for waving that flag for us!

The most decorated military Regiment in history, was Japanese.  In a year and a half, the unit earned 9,486 purple hearts, 8 Presidential unit citations and 21 medals of honor and at least 53 Distinguished Service Crosses.  They were Japanese Americans who fought for the Allies but only permitted to fight in Europe.

A major portion of green house gasses on the planet, about 25%, are from cows.  This is solvable.  We started feeding beef cows corn because it allowed more cows per acre since grazing was the only way before.  Corn and soya are the sources of the methane in cows because they are not natural for the cows and don’t digest fully.

Men and women have the same number of ribs.  The idea women have one more is a bible/Sunday school myth.

It has been confirmed that flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile from a Russian launcher operated by Russian soldiers who were in Ukraine when they launched the missile.  This convicts the Russians on two issues, they WERE involved in a false flag operation in Ukraine at the time and they committed an act of terrorism. In the first they were trying to start a war, in the second they may have been trying to or could have accidentally.

The close door button on an elevator may not work, or at least not like you hope.  By law the door has to remain open for 3 seconds.  In some elevators, the button only works with the elevator key.

In related news, the crosswalk buttons often do not work and when they do it is often late at night.  Traffic lights work on a program based on time of day and sensors in the ground at the front of each lane.  Walk buttons during the day rarely change anything.  At night, they can work.  But a great deal of them are not wired to anything at all, and never were.

Thee are two primary reasons we wear a wedding ring on the 4th finger of the left hand.  The Egyptians thought there was a nerve that ran from that finger specifically, to the heart.  The Romans believed it was a vein.  Either way, the ring signified control of that lifeline.  It is also why men wearing a ring is a recent addition, men did the controlling.

The curly white wig that used to be warn is called a peruke.  They became popular in 1655 when the French king had to cover up his hair loss, due to syphilis.  The next King had to do the same.  Syphilis was rampant and symptoms included hair loss and open sores so wigs and long sleeves became the norm, then the ‘in style’ when the kings wore them.

In related wig news, as the above trend continued, the demand for wigs increased so prices did as well.  As prices increased so did demand for bigger and more stylish wigs.  The bigger and more complex the wig, the more money you spent on it so the style became the origin of the term ‘Bigwig’.  The French Revolution ended the trend.  Losing your head can do that.

Cleansing diets hardly do a thing.  Your bowls are clear as you want them most of the time.  Don’t believe me?  Watch your own colonoscopy.  The only significant benefit of cleansing diets, is that the ones selling the idea, make money off you.

Steve Martin was not a regular on Saturday Night Live, just seemed that way.  He was also on the Dating Game before he was famous.  He also popularized “air quotes”.

If you rip a hole in a net, it has fewer holes.

Nothing is on fire … fire is on other things.

The 2005 Ford GT broke the crushing machine testing it.

The sound in a seashell is not the ocean, depending where you are standing.  It is the sound of your surroundings resonating in the shell.  IF you are at the ocean, it may be the ocean you hear!  Or more likely, wind.

According to the calculation for Horse Power, one average horse has about .7 horse power.  So your average 150 HP compact car has the power of about 214 horses.

A building is referred to with a verb.

Most twins are absorbed by their other twin and will either disappear over time or become a soft mass.  They are often called a ‘vanishing twin’.

In spite of so many Americans fearing nuclear power, there have only ever been two failures in the technology; Chernobyl and Fukushima.  Chernobyl was a result of poorly trained and unqualified staff performing a dangerous test.  Fukushima was a poor choice of location and a natural disaster.  For those who are saying, no wait, Thee Mile Island was a disaster!  The plant did EXACTLY what it was designed to do.  No one died.  No deaths have been connected to the event.  The plant has functioned since, with no issues.  The facility and staff did as designed when an issue occured.

Super glue was invented twice by the same man.  He didn’t market or patent it the first time when he was trying to invent plastic rifle sight lenses.  He did the second time when he made it again trying to make jet canopies.  It was owned by the Eastman Company of Kodak fame.

Pregnancy tests are one of the most often shoplifted items.

In related news, a man can get a positive test result on a pregnancy test.

Also in related news, it doesn’t mean his wife, gf, mistress, concubine (of which he would be one as well) or tissue is pregnant.

For those who live in Colorado, James Purcell is the earliest known Yankee in Colorado.  This would have been about 1803.  There were Spaniards and French here before but they came through What is now Mexico.  Native Americans predate them all by 1,000s of years.

There was no disproportionate loss of black soldiers in Vietnam and they made up a small portion of the soldiers (12%).  Also, most soldiers were voluntary, not draftees.  Most draftees in that era didn’t serve in Vietnam.

If you look through press history, the US Government always identifies an enemy.  As soon as one enemy is vanquished, by either being beaten or becoming old news, the next enemy is almost immediately identified.

In related news, fear mongering is a very common governmental and social force.  We have blamed races and religions for all of our national woes in our history.  Puritans came here to make a more oppressive religious society, then settlers blamed the Native Indians for not conforming.  We blamed every new social group, or any pre-existing race/culture,  for any change.  The Irish were blamed for everything when they came here.  Then they formed the backbone of our police system we all celebrate today.  The Chinese were recruited for labor, from China when whites refused to work on railroads, then were deported after the railroads were done.  Now we blame Muslims.

Sorrell Booke, who played ‘Boss Hogg’, was educated at Yale and Columbia Universities.

SUVs have a higher accident rate than smaller cars and are equal in deaths per accident.  The argument that an SUV is safer is you buying the sales pitch for the most profitable vehicle on the lot, other than pick-ups.

“Thoughts and prayers” is so over used now and has become a symbol of disinterest, it is essentially an insult.  Of course now those so caring only type TnP!

Although there can be an argument that politicians were making calls in military matters in Vietnam, the military was hardly held back.  They dropped more bombs on Vietnam than the combined allies did in WWII on a country smaller than California.  There were many very questionable military calls that even politicians questioned.  It was a war of, and based on lies, so the lies are the definition of the war, then and now.

In Iceland, you can draw a map instead of write an address on your envelope, and it will likely get there!

Altitude sickness can happen at lower elevations, it is about altitude gain in a short time, not absolute height.

The second most famous painting in the world, The Scream, (second only to The Mona Lisa) is by a painter you have never heard of, Edvard Munch of Norway.

Double jeopardy exists in Scotland.

Toblerone chocolate is said to look like the Swiss Alps, but ironically is also the inspiration for the name of concrete block tanks trap lines protecting the border of Switzerland, the Toblerone Line

Dorthy was 11 or 12 in Oz.  Judy Garland was 16 when portraying her.

In related news, her slippers were silver in the book, were changed to Ruby due to the NEW color film technology, to show it off.

In related to related news, Toto was a girl and was paid more than the munchkins.

In 2004, the saying, “Kansas is flatter than a pancake” was proven accurate when they compared the topographic range of the surface of the state and an IHOP pancake.

Most Brazil nuts are from Bolivia.

The idea of a visiting alien looking somewhat like us, is pure emotional need and fabrication by us.  Statistically, VERY few animals in our own environment look remotely like us.  The next most intelligent animals on this planet, look nothing like us.  Remove the exact environment we grew up in, and there is no reason to think we would even recognize them as aliens, even if they were in our own garden…

In related news: Dolphins and humans have nearly identical genomes.  Yet look nothing alike and they cannot whistle.

The term “pidgin” as it applies to language means the mixing of two languages trying to bridge a language barrier when neither is fluent in both.

The average native English (or American, yes they are different) speaker knows about 30,000 words.  In order to be considered fluent in a foreign language you will likely need to know about 10,000 words.

There only about 7,000,000 scientists and assistants working world wide.  Think of how much comes from those few.

In a related note, the man who first theorized the big bang, Georges Lemaitre, was a scientist and catholic priest.

There is no link between immigration and crime, at least in an actual longitudinal study by a university not paid by a political party.  http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2017/02/020.html

A ‘riot’ is 12 or more people acting out in public against the pubic good.

In related news, the riot act was an act passed by King George I due to people assembling and speaking out against him.  The act had to be read aloud to the crowd, 12 or more people, as a warning that they had an hour to disperse or action would be taken.  The reading of the act first, permitted the police, or deputized civilians, to shoot the rioters without guilt.

All of our product anti-tampering measures stem from the Tylenol tampering case in Chicago in 1982.  The Tylenol was laced with potassium cyanide.  7 people died with additional losses in copycats.

In related news, the culprit was never found.  No one had been charged.

Also in related news, no one was ever arrested in the Anthrax poisoning.  They had a suspect and it is likely he was guilty but he doed before any arrest.

There is no left or right brain personality propensity.  This was the press running off with a scientific paper in the 70s that didn’t even say that reflecting that the news reported information from a source they clearly never even read.  Consider this while watching the news; this was not a lone example.

By German law it is illegal to deny the Holocaust.

Bigger brains do not equate to more intelligence.  Nor does ratio.  We aren’t king or queen of either.  We do have the most complex brain that we know of and intelligence seems to be about the number of neural connections in the brain.

Chinese launderers in San Francisco during the gold rush, worked almost for free because they washed gold dust out of the clothes of the miners and made far more than the miners.

More people were killed making V2 rockets, approximately 12,000 POWs, than were killed by them as weapons, approximately 9,000.

Boomerangs were not meant for hunting.  They are used to distract an animal so the hunter could strike.

Near Alice Springs, Australia there is the Todd River where they hold annual boat races even though it is usually dry.  The contestants cut holes in the bottom of the boats, pick them up and run.  If there is enough rain that the river flows, the event is canceled.

George Francis Train has an interesting legacy.  He once traveled around the world, spending 80 days of travel, although he was gone longer than that, spending a great deal of time in different locations.  He did this BEFORE the Jules Verne book and his 80 days of travel was well documented by the press.  He was the first to put a steam paddle wheel boat around Cape Horn.  He founded the Union Pacific Railroad and as you could guess, is the origin of the word ‘train’.

New as of 3/7/18

The NFL only started requiring the players to stand for the National Anthem in 2009 when the Defense Dept started paying the NFL to have them on the sideline.  This is also when they started most of the pre-game honors of veterans.  It is called ‘Paid Patriotism’.  The NFL’s fuss about the players not standing for the anthem was not about the anthem, it is about the contract they have been paid and the agreement to provide standing players.  This isn’t about patriotism, this is about money.

It is the only incident I know of where kneeling is seen as disrespect.

To graduate MIT, you are supposed to pass a swim test.

In the 1960s, the CIA ‘borrowed’ as Soviet Lunik satellite (it was on the ground) to see how they worked. They took it apart, photographed it and measured it and put it back together and returned it.  The Soviets never knew.

The Convair NB-36 and the Tupolex Tu-95 were nuclear powered aircraft.  They actually had nuclear reactors in them.

In related news, there are at least three times that a USAF plane carrying nuclear bombs has crashed.  Few of the bombs have been recovered.

It has been proven that the CIA did hep Central American cartels import cocaine into the US in the 80s.

There is evidence that the US Army sprayed zinc cadmium sulfide  from planes over parts of the US to assess for risk of chemical warfare.  This could be the basis of the chem-trails theory.  Not to mention it’s domestic terrorism.

President George W Bush, disclosed the names of most of our middle east spies while he was president.  Many never came home.  If a citizen did this it would be treason and punishable by death but since he was Republican, he is a hero.

Defendants considered attractive have lower conviction rates and shorter sentences and released earlier on parole.

Lou Diamond Phillips who has played many Latino and Native American characters in his career is neither.  He is Scott/Irish, English and Filipino.

The shroud of Turin is dated to the 14th century.  This isn’t a slight on Christianity, it is the same test used and trusted when it proves something associated with Christianity.  Also, one artifact not being as hoped does not prove or disprove anything about the faith.

The Berlin wall has now been down longer than it was up. (The city was divided much longer than it was walled)

Part of the test for citizenship in Great Britain is trivia pertaining to Monty Python.

The Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves, it made them legal to enter into military service.  The 13th Amendment abolished slavery.  A proclamation has no power of law except in times of war.  Once the Civil War ended, if the Union won, without the 13th, slavery would have continued and all freed slaves would have been returned to their owners.

Pythagoras didn’t invent any theorems.  The theorems accredited to him came several years after his death; likely by the Pythagoreans which was a math cult named after him.  Yes, a math cult … I can’t explain it either.

There is good evidence that William Tell didn’t exist.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost is responsible for what most of Catholicism defines as hell and Satan.  Paradise Lost was published in 1667

There are well over 250 bodies on Mt Everest.  They don’t bring them down; or even the badly injured, usually.  The mountain has an estimated 120 TONS of garbage on it from climbers as well as 26,000 LBS of shit EACH YEAR.  Rainbow Valley is so named because of the huge number of colorful clothing of the dead bodies laying there.  ‘Green boots’ is a dead body used as a climbing marker since 1998.  He has a name, Tsewang Paljor.  The mountain is named after a man who never climbed it, he surveyed it and he didn’t like it named for him.  I can’t imagine why.  In my opinion, most of Mt Everest is disgusting.

I will never diminish nor listen those who diminish the holocaust but … I do wonder why we choose to not forget that, yet ignore 1.5 million Amernians killed by the Turks in a genocide in 1915.  Or Canada taking 150,000 kids from Native families to “Christianize” them.  The Australians did the same to the Aboriginal to the tune of 100,000 children.  The Pakistanis killed up to 3,000,000 Bengalis to crush political opposition.  Belgium killed up to 15,000,000 Congolese in 1908.  The Chinese have killed 1,200,000 in Tibet.  Close to 1,000,000 German prisoners died in US captivity after WWII.  I mentioned before that the British invented the concentration camps in South Africa which is where the Nazis got the idea.  The British build and used concentration camps in WWII for Jews as well for three months before appologizing and lest we forget, the American extermination of the Native Indians.

The USS Maine was not attacked.  It blew up due to poor coal storage.

Contrary to common stories I have heard, John Walsh did not create America’s Most Wanted.  He was selected as a host among many who applied, and the show is a copy of a British show (like many others of ours) called Crimewatch.

The government poisoned some of the illegal alcohol supply during prohibition to help dissuade drinkers not deterred by the law.

Any reader of my blog knows my stance on guns, or should.  But here is some information to show there is no causation, EITHER WAY, between gun ownership and violent crime per state.  The State with the most guns per capita is Wyoming and has the 10th fewest violent crimes per capita.  The second most violent state, New Mexico, has the 4th most firearms.  Alaska is the most violent, and has the 10th most guns per capita.  Tennessee is the 4th most violent but 25th in guns.  Maine has the lowest occurrence of violent crimes but is the 36th most armed.  For my own locals, Colorado is 28th most violent and 20th most armed.

Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili changed his name to Josef Stalin.

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. changed his name to John Denver.

Leslie Lynch King Jr changed his name to Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.

Armadillos usually give birth to identical quadruplets.

The name Jennifer was originated in Shakespearean plays.

The lowest grossing film ever made, other than movies like The Day the Clown Cried which was completed but never released, is ZYZZYX ROAD, which brought in $30 in ticket sales in 2006.

The Spanish Flu is only called that because in WWI every major nation suppressed the news of the flu except Spain, so it appeared that Spain was the only one with the issue.  It killed 500 MILLION around the world.

Light can travel very slowly as well, as in under 1,000mph.  The standard speed of light only exists in a vacuum and under ideal conditions.

The NSA uses Tweets to send messages to it’s spies.

There is a white supremacy myth that the Irish were the first and forgotten slaves in the Americas.  Incorrect.  Some did come over in indentured servitude, as many did from many places to many places but if you want to use that as slavery, then you are discounting individual rights, freedom, safety, protection of law, common sense and you sound ignorant saying it.

In China there is a law that states children must salute cars as they drive by.  That forces them to see the traffic.  Anyone SEEN the traffic in China??

During a football game in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE, the Stadium is more populated than all but two cities in the state.

Until 2011, beer was classified as a soft drink in Russia.  No restrictions on sale.

“Don’t Mess With Texas” was originally an anti-littering campaign slogan.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a reference to distance traveled, not depth.

Hippos like to lick crocodiles.  Crocodiles let them…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Napoleon and Hitler made the same mistake, but it was not invading Russia.  They poorly planned their invasions, it was not the time, but the supplies and equipment.  Historically, Russia is VERY invadable and has been many times successfully.

In related news, Vikings were blonde not because they were Scandinavian, because they bleached their hair to kill lice.

“Keep Calm and Carry On”  was designed and printed in 1939 in Britain.  But it was never used until 2000 by a small book store and it caught on.  They were designed to be used IF Germany invaded successfully.  They were printed by the 1,000s and stored.

In related news, Operation Sea lion was the plan for Germany’s invasion of England.  Many historians claim the Battle of Britain prevented the invasion, only days away.  In reality, Germany was at least 2 years away from invasion.  They had less than 20 landing craft.  D-day used 1,000s.  Also, Germany’s Navy was among the smallest in WWII.  D-Day used 5 times more ships than Germany had.

There is no study that shows classical music will increase your baby’s IQ.  The idea was based on Mozart music helping with spacial reasoning [folding and cutting paper to achieve a desired shape] in adults.  As it turns out any music, or reading, can have the same effect.  AND all the studies the theory was based on were studies done on adults, not on babies.

A few facts about seat belts in airplanes.  They are not intended to do what they do in cars.  Your survival of a major plane crash has almost nothing to do with your seat belt.  The belt is a very old design.  There will not likely never be 3 point belts due to the lack of need and increase in weight of sturdy mounting points.  The belt has 3 primary jobs, to keep you in your seat during turbulence.  To keep you in your seat especially during landing deceleration.  To keep your body in your seat during a crash so it does not impact someone else.  There is another added benefit of the seat belt.  It helps rescue workers find and identify your body which is part of why you are not allowed to change seats.

In related news, the seat belt was patented in the US in 1885.  Before a car.  It was not mandated in cars until 1967.

Benedict Arnold was first a war hero from the French and Indian war, or 7 Years War.  He was a massive hero in the first years of the American Revolution.  IF he had not turned sides, after he essentially won the war already, HE would have been the hero of the Revolution.  His successes were claimed by General Lee and General Gates.  He chose to be a trader because of lack of recognition and getting in trouble for running a business while in command of an Army.  If he had remained with the Colonists, he could have been a major player in the early Government.

In related news, ONLY his (Benedict Arnold’s) twice wounded leg has been memorialized with a statue as an American War hero … I wish we did shit like that more often …

After Chernobyl, the Russian Government advised drinking Vodka to stave off thyroid cancer.

I have mentioned the Salem Witch Trials before but some additional things; they didn’t last very long, they weren’t original or very big compared to Europe’s, more men were killed than women, no one was burned and in reality, they are a small footnote in the evolution of a nation who’s birth was VERY bloody.

Captain Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch.

Most of what we know about Samurai was from a book written by a Japanese man who was living in America in 1899 called, Bushido.  Most was exaggerated and idealized.  90% of “The Last Samurai” was BS.

In related news, the martial arts shown in most movies is so wrong and not from any  one discipline, it is affectionately called ‘bullshitto’.

At 2.3 million employees, there are more people working for Walmart than the population of 15 different states: New Mexico, Nebraska, West Virginia, Idaho, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming.

In vaguely related news, there is enough barrels of aging Kentucky Whiskey in Kentucky, to give each resident one barrel and have 500,000 left over.

Marco Polo was not the first from Europe to reach China or the far East.  The Franciscan monk Giovanni da Pian del Carpini went there in the 1240s and about a decade later William of Rubruck went.  Many people in Polo’s time didn’t believe he made it there and back but he very likely did.

In related news, they didn’t bring pasta back from China, it had already arrived in Italy from Asia by land.  They did bring back the concept of paper money though.

The association between cops and doughnut shops used to be very real.  The night shift was a lonely thing so doughnut shops were often open and served coffee so an association was born.  Doughnut shops were very hospitable to them since it kept crime very low.

Many people know Ben Franklin invented the rocking chair.  Did you know he also invented the chair with a writing surface on one side like in school?

Lego makes more tires than any other company in the world.  A small accomplishment!

As I mentioned previously, Darwin did not originate the theory of evolution, but more interestingly, the word evolution never appeared in the first edition of his book.  However evolve was the last word in the reprinted book, used once.  The term survival of the fittest also does not appear in the book.

In related news, what he referred to was cell mutation which leads to change over time which is fact.  The book was not about humans either.  It was mostly about pigeons.

Per passenger, a Boeing 737 gets better mileage than a Prius.

Lie detectors don’t work and are never used in law enforcement since they are not admissible for evidence anywhere in the US.  Also, we suck at detecting lies no matter what the books may say.

Peacocks are male.  Peahens are female.  They are both peafowl.

The 1904 Olympics are rumored to have had rock throwing, mud slinging and greased pole climbing.  They didn’t.  Those were part of the Worlds Fair events held on the same grounds at the same time.  The Olympics did have the Tug of War though!

In related news, those same Olympics saw George Eyser win 6 medals in gymnastics, with a wooden leg.

‘Man’ crossed the ocean from Asia to Australia 65,000 years ago.

Suicide is twice as common as murder.

Bondage done the right way and setting can release endorphins which can make the person feel drunk for a time.

(Removed due to being found wrong)

David Hannum is the one that said that PT Barnum said, “there is a sucker born every minute”.  Barnum sued him for slander but Hannum won not because he proved he didn’t say it but you cannot slander a proven liar.

‘Roger’ at the end of a communication come from telegraph operators that used R to say ‘received’ but the military terminology for R is Roger … so now ya know.

The beautiful white Hawaiian beaches are made of ground up and pooped out shells.

1/5th of all people imprisoned in the world, are in the US.  Tell me again how were so far more advanced than anyone else?  If it helps, the second highest incarceration rate of a population is New Zealand, who make great claims of social harmony and cultural advancement.

In related news, we have a history in our great 20th century of imprisoning people just due to their race, nothing more.  German Americans during WWI and Japanese in WWII.  Most of these were American born citizens with the same rights as you and committed no crime.

The argument over birth control is hardly new.  The Comstock law of 1873, “Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use”.  It made the mailing of contraceptives, pornography and sexy toys federally illegal.  In 1909 they expanded the law to include rail delivery restrictions.

Wrangler jeans marketing successfully connected them to the American West but they were invented in 1947.  Levis were invented in 1850s for miners and workers in the west.  Levis are authentic western wear, Wranglers sponsor PBR.

The average slinky is over 80s feet long when stretched.  Go ahead, try it.  I’ll wait …

The average Football game has 11 minutes of play.  This stat has not changed even though games are longer.  The average baseball game has always had about 18 minutes of play, in spite of the game getting longer.  Basketball has 48 minutes of ‘ball in play’ time but the game takes 138 minutes to complete.  A hockey game lasting 60 minutes takes 140 minutes to complete.  A soccer game only has the ball in play for 58 minutes (that counts the mysterious undocumented extended time) for a theoretical 90 minute game.

Hershey bars when first offered with almonds was because almonds were cheaper than the chocolate they replaced.  This helped keep the cost of the bar at $.05.

On a related note … Chocolate was a medicine in the 1700s.

Soldiers in WWI actually spent less time in the trenches than is portrayed, usually 1 day in three and rarely more than 3 days in a  row.

Dave Chappelle plays Prince on the cover of Prince’s album, Breakfast Can Wait.

Farm raised Salmon does not have pink meat.  It has to be dyed.  Same goes for zoo flamingos, they eat pink dye.

John Adams was the first President to occupy the White House.

If you feel that American teens are losing touch with reality, 55% of British teens think Sherlock Holmes is real and 20% of them think Churchill is fictional.

While hippos and rhinos also cannot jump, the elephant is the only animal on earth that cannot leave the ground.  Hippos and rhinos can have all four feet off the ground while running, FAST by the way.

In related news, the word ‘run’ has 645 meanings.

Today it is illegal to swim naked, but in the 1800s, you had to.  Wool, which was what swim suits were made of clogged public pool filters.

Thomas Jefferson wrote more than 19,000 letters but never wrote his wife.  However he did write John Adams’ wife Abigail many times!  Not that there is anything wrong with that …

The Brits, (those nuts) once tried to plant a hedge row across India.  Why?  To isolate the side with no salt mines from the side with, to tax the salt sold, of course …

Rorschach ink blot tests were designed for diagnosing Schizophrenia, not personality.

(removed due to being found wrong)

Approximately 20,000 people attended Thomas Jefferson’s funeral.

It took only 66 years to go from first powered flight to landing on the moon, but over 100 years have gone by and we have not driven to the moon yet.

4 nations have national anthems with no words.

In related news, it’s illegal in Michigan to dance to the national anthem.  Who was paid to write that law??

Magpies use tools, work in groups and show grief.

George Washington didn’t wear white powdered wigs, that was his real hair.

Speaking of lack of color, Washington died from being bled by a doctor due to a severe sore throat.  The doctor bled 5 pints of blood.  That’s more than 1/3 of all his blood.

The average cumulus cloud weighs over 1 million pounds.

Honey can’t spoil.  Unlike myself.

There are more potential moves in all games of chess than there are atoms in the known universe.

The cougar has the most alternate names, 87 known at this time.  Combine that with the word ‘run’ and we got a real mess.

The least common birthday in the US is December 25th.  The most common is September 9th.  Oddly, Feb 29th is not ranked last even though it only comes around every 4 years.  It ranks 347 out of 366 possible dates.

Sam Adams never brewed beer.  His father malted barely and sold it to beer makers.  Sam inherited the business but let it fail.

Operation Vegetarian was a British WWII plan to poison German milk with anthrax by dropping anthrax contaminated linseed cakes into fields where milk cows grazed.

The German’s didn’t have enough landing craft to invade England.  They abandoned the plan in 1941.  English leadership knew this.  So did the US leadership.

The USAF is the largest air force in the world.  The second largest air force belongs to the US Navy.  The third largest belongs to the US Army.

There is a town in Alabama named Burnt Corn.  And a town in Tennessee, named Nameless…

Officers going ashore on D-Day were given Michelin tour guides of France, for their maps.

Until 1996 it was not permitted for women to wear pants on the senate floor … comment Mr. Trump?

The worlds fastest KNOWN jet … is a Chinese fighter jet.

Subliminal advertising doesn’t work.  It can’t work.  Nothing subliminal enters our consciousness the right way to become a craving.  Craving is driven by need and familiarity.

Seconds are called that because it is the second layer of division of an hour.

Ben Franklin had 8 pseudonyms: Richard Saunders, Silence Dogood, Anthony Afterwit, Polly Baker, Alice Addertongue, Caelia Shortface, Benevolous and finally Busy Body.  Wonder if he owns a cougar that likes to run …

Movie trailers were called that because they originally followed the movie.

Walter Arnold was the first person to get a speeding ticket, for 8mph in a 2mph zone.  Considering the radar gun was not invented until after WWII, wonder how they knew he was doing 8mph?  Wonder if he was paced, meaning to walked beside.

In 1996 Edensburg, Pennsylvania finally stopped requiring communists passing through their town to register as one.  However fortune telling is still illegal in Pennsylvania.

Upper and lower case in letters refers to the printing presses and how they are stored.  Upper cases held the bigger letters, Capitals.  The lower case held the more often used, lower case letters

When you see movies depicting older times, say … pre 1820, they should not be saying hello.  The word didn’t exist then.  Nor did boss.

The 3 Musketeers bar was originally three separate bars but due to flavor shortening, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, in WWII, it became one larger one and remained.

Pinball was banned in many cities from the 1940s to 70s due to their connection to mobs and undocumented cash [coin] flow.

The treadmill was invented in 1808 as a tool to help reform convicts.

Pen ink has tags in it.  Much like explosives and stungun confetti, pen ink can be tracked to a type/manufacturer.

Similarly, printers and copiers also identify models and sometimes serial numbers in micro printing or watermarking anytime you print.

Germany was nowhere near close to getting the atomic bomb in WWII.  They made a critical wrong mathematical step early on that they never realized.  In 1945 they tried to set off a chain reaction, something that is an early step in the process we achieved in 1942, but they failed.  Also, it took a MASSIVE financial investment to build ours that Germany didn’t have.  2 billion dollars in that time money.  It is unknown if the mathematical error was deliberate by the scientists, but they easily should have seen the error.

Related to that, most of the war we thought we were in an arms race with Germany to develop the atomic bomb first.  The bombs were intended to be dropped on Germany but they surrendered first.

When the President of the US (POTUS) leaves the White House his route will usually be determined by trauma centers.  They try to never be more than 10 minutes away from one.  The caravan also carries his own blood for transfusions.  Air Force 1 has a trauma room in it.

Naval cooks travel with POTUS when he goes abroad and cook for him.  This is to prevent an assassination attempt.  If the president wants to order out, it will not be delivered to the White House, it will go somewhere innocuous and then forwarded by the Secret Service.

The cell phone was invented in 1902 by a farmer, Nathan Stubblefield.  It was the size of a trash can.

Contrary to myth, Stalin never tried to make ape/human hybrid soldiers.  A Russian scientist, Ivanhov, tried to inseminate apes with human sperm and humans with ape sperm.  It didn’t work.  Stalin never had any involvement in the project.  This was a myth started by creationists to help debunk evolution.

Updated 12/31/17

Ariel from Little Mermaid is 16.  Yeah …

Giacomo Casanova was a seducer … but he specialized in seducing young girls, including his own daughter who he got pregnant.  Maybe rethink using that as a compliment.

As proof that the moon landing was not a hoax, Nixon had a second speech prepared in-case it failed.

“I’m related to royalty”.  You need to do the math and define related.  By blood or marriage?  For example, on my father’s side, I have 18 great aunts and uncles by blood.  All but 2 got married.  If I connect myself to all of those 16 other families …. then in only two generations I already have 100’s of relatives.  Go back to a time when there were far more Royals, by then I’d have 1,000,000s to 100,000,000s of relatives.  Were all related to royalty.  Or Thomas Edison.  Or Sir Arthur Conan Doyal but not Watson as I heard a friend named Watson claim once … he was fictional.

New Years Eve is not the most dangerous day of the year to drive.  In order according to NTSB it is Thanksgiving and in fact the whole weekend, then 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, New Years Eve and Superbowl Sunday.  The difference between most is minimal.

This will confuse many, alchemy is not all pseudoscience.  One of the goals of alchemy is the idea of converting something valueless like lead into gold by stripping it of the required number protons.  In 1980 Glenn Seaborg converted bismuth into gold.  Why are we not making gold like scat?  Cause the process is so complex it would take trillions of dollars to make a single ounce of gold.  He only converted a few atoms.

1969’s Oscar winner ‘Oliver!’ was the last and only film to win best picture while rated G.  ‘Midnight Cowboy’ is the only movie to be rated X to win Best Picture.  Both of these were right after the modern rating system was put in place in 68.

The second largest and fastest growing religious classification in North America is agnostic.  It is the largest religious classification in Europe.  It is also the only major classification in the world that is growing.

Many of the Civil War photos we know so well of battle fields were staged.  The photographers moved bodies to make better composition or drama.  The massive deaths were not staged.

Wanna hear possibly the greatest one hit wonder?  We all have … Chopsticks was composed by a 16 year old girl named Euphemia Allen.  She published it under the name of Arthur De Lully in a time when women could not get equal consideration for work (that day still exists which is why JK Rolling, CS Lewis,  used initials).  Maybe we need to fix that someday!  Also, you are supposed to play it with two hands sideways so your fingers are facing each other waltzing together like two partners.  And yes, it is a waltz.

The tradition of giving away the bride comes from when a woman was often traded for, or bought.  I’ll trade a goat, 4 chickens and an acre of land for your lovely offspring there!  Deal, I’ll go get her … romance. (younger daughters also had more value … )

McDonald’s didn’t invent the Happy Meal.  Burger Chef didn’t name it a happy meal but they were the first fast food chain to sell children’s meals with toys inside the packaging.

Oskar Shindler joined the Nazi party in 1939 and became an intelligence officer in Poland in the roll up to invading Poland.

Ted Kaczynski, the unabomer, (yes that is spelled correctly, there was no ‘b’ on the end of bomb in the official name) was an unknowing victim of MKUltra.  This was a CIA project in this case being played out at Harvard to try to reprogram the human brain.

In related news, yes, MKUltra really existed and is not a myth like History channel would have you believe.  It ran for 20 years between 1953 and 73.  It ran at many major universities and some organizations and institutions. The subjects were not notified of their participation.  It attempted to figure out how to manipulate the human brain and soften its morals and rigid perspectives.  The Senate has since defended the project even though it was illegal on almost every level.  It also included MKDelta, MKSearch and MKOften which focused on animals ….

On another related topic, MKUltra was a CIA project.  The CIA is not supposed to legally operate on US soil.  That also is illegal.  PS. they still operate domestically and this was not the only time in the past.

Our Barbie Doll is a knock off of a German doll named Lilli that was on the market 6 years earlier.  Lilli was originally an adult novelty from a very sexually liberated comic strip woman of the day.  Barbie’s much maligned and almost impossible proportions are a copy of Lilli, an adult toy.

In related news, Barbie’s real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, born on March 9, 1959.  She is aging SO WELL!

The most remote inhabited location on earth is Tristan da Cunha, an island in the south Atlantic.  It is 2,000km from the next closest inhabited land and 2400km from the nearest continent, the southern tip of Africa. It has 262 residents and only other claim to fame is that in 2048 it will be in the direct path of a total solar eclipse.  Make your reservations now!

The term “Blockbuster” in regards to a movie came from Jaws.  The line for movie tickets stretched around the corner and was reported to go around the block.  The movie also measurably effected beach going tourism that year.

Coffee beans aren’t beans, they are seeds.

There has never been a real documented case of a feral child.  There have been kids abandoned usually due to what was likely autism and other’s having found them but none have been raised by animals.  That is myth we add to meet our needs for our children being nurtured … even though we abandoned them.

There are about 1,085,000 High School football players in the US, including about 1,500 young ladies.  There are 15,600 college seniors playing football any year.  There are 256 players drafted into the NFL each year.  The odds of any HS football player making it into the NFL is .0002%.

There has never been a proven case of Multiple Personality Disorder, or as it was renamed even though there has never been a diagnosis in the past, Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant, stealing it’s nutrients from the plant it binds to.  Wanna kiss?

White Castle is said to be the first fast food chain in the US starting in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas.

Tanya Head (Alicia Esteve Head) is a founding member of World Trade Center Survivors’ Network for those who survived the attacks from inside the World Trade Center.  She was interviewed many times on TV and live talking about her experience escaping the twin towers.  She lied.  Her husband was in the World Trade Center but she was not.

The great depression was not actually a result of the stock market crash.  Unemployment was decreasing rapidly soon after.  It was several economic measures, such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff act, stifled economic growth for years. ( Ferris Bueller flash back)

We don’t lose heat from our head more rapidly than any other exposed skin of equal size.  There are more nerve endings in the skin on our head though so it can feel cold intensely.

The tradition of the US not dipping it’s flag at the Olympics opening ceremony is not a tradition as it is part of flag code.  We refused to do it initially in the beginning of the century but the first official act was in the 1936 games in Berlin.  We were not the only nation not to do it at that time.  It then became flag code in the 40s.  Just to clarify, flag code is NOT law.  It is an agreed upon standard, with no enforcement.

SOS does not stand for Save Our Souls.  It was simply an easy to teach and remember signal in morse code.  …- – -… It could have been – – -…- – – but that takes longer so they chose the shorter to transmit version.  Why it was not made IMI, no clue.  (that’s .. – – ..)

Penguins aren’t monogamous.  They are dedicated through the mating season and rearing time but then scatter and end up in other places with other groups.

The “I cannot tell a lie” part, was a lie.  A biographer came up with it in 1806 to demonstrate Washington’s virtues.  That’s called fiction.  It’s ironic how often I run into this.

Robert Weston Smith was a mysterious character who’s real identity was sought as if it were a prize.  His real identity was shown, in the movie American Graffiti.  It is said until that point, no one knew that Robert Weston Smith was Wolfman Jack, and what he looked like.  He gained fame in Southern California broadcasting from an unregulated radio station in Tijuana.

There are still about 6,000,000 landmines in Cambodia.  That is 1 for every 3 people in the country.

Quick sand doesn’t suck you in like in Gilligan’s Island.  It is thicker than water and you can lay on it.  It will actually try to push you out if you give it enough surface area to do so.

Operation paperclip was an OSS (CIA) project that lured Nazi scientists to the US.   They were very successful.

Puritans were not looking for religious freedom.  They were seeking a place where they could impose their religion since Holland, where most of them came from,  was too religiously free and permitted any religion to be practiced.  The puritans wanted to make their own rules and impose their religion on new arrivals.

Operation washtub was an FBI plan to train citizens in Alaska in espionage in case of Russian invasion.  They trained over 80 people.

Common law marriages today are the traditional descendant of how marriage used to be as recently as early 1900s.  You simply declared yourself married.  Done.

Think Sunday was always about church?  Kinda … in 1363 King Edward III make archery compulsory.  Two hours of practice each Sunday under the supervision of clergy.

From the files of ‘wrong place/wrong time’, Violet Jessop was on the Olympic when it collided with the Hawke in 1911, was on the Titanic in 1912, and on the Britannic in 1916 when it sank.  She continued to work for White Star Line anyhow.  And Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima when the bomb dropped and then Nagasaki when the next bomb dropped there.

There is no evidence they ever met.

Close but no cigar is a reference to the prize at Carnivals that used to be cigars.

The first gold rush in the states was in North Carolina in 1799.

Slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1888.  In total they had imported 40% of all slaves from Africa to the Americas.

Rasputin was shot in the head, once.  And died.  His autopsy proved this.  Much of his life we know today is a myth or just a lie or what History Channel thinks you will buy, literally.

Bandwagons drew attention to a circus when they arrived in town.  Politicians would buy time ON the bandwagon to gain exposure and they would warn against jumping on another (opponents) band wagon.

William Howard Taft did not serve as President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the same time.  His terms were separated by 8 years.

Dropping a hat used to be the way horse races were started.  Off with a drop of a hat…

Nathan Hale’s final words were not as patriotic as the press would have you think.  The record shows that his last words before being executed was, “It is the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his commander in chief.”

Take it with a grain of salt used to mean to take salt with food to aid digestion.  It was thought to also treat poison.

In related news, they are both wrong.

Sentinel Island is populated by a primitive population that modern man has not made direct contact with(and survived).  I say this to offer perspective … imagine what a helicopter hovering over the island must seem like to them … like a UFO?

Mr. Guillotine who is often credited with inventing the guillotine, was not Guillotined.  Nor did he invent the Guillotine.

Catherine the Great did not die during equine sex, she had a stroke in bed and died soon after.  Most if the negative press came out after from male leaders who wanted to diminish a powerful woman.

It is said that the tradition of the Best Man started in case the Bride had to be abducted to protect her from his parents disapproving.  Wish the weddings I have been best man in were like that!  Originally the Maid of Honor dressed like the bride to confuse any evil spirits.

The Confederate flag is not what everyone thinks it is.  There was no confederate flag.  The one you all think is, is the flag of the army of northern VA and it was square not rectangular after it was modified from a mostly white flag.  It was never adopted in the war as the flag of the Confederacy.

Johnny Cash was in prison.  To perform. Not sentenced there.

Dylan Thomas wasn’t an alcoholic.  His brain and liver showed no signs of alcohol abuse.  Nor did he apparently die from drinking.

Chalkboard chalk is not chalk.  It is Gypsum.

Typically, Americans eat about 4000 calories in one meal on Thanksgiving.  THAT is why you get sleepy.  L-Tryptophan is higher in chicken and milk than Turkey.  30g of carbs will do more to put you to sleep.

Fanta was invented in Germany during WWII when the company that bottled Coke lost it’s supply.

On 11/16/17 in Lima Peru, soccer fans celebrating a goal set off a 1.0M seismic event.

Henry Ford is cited in Mein Kampf as Hitler’s inspiration.

‘Freedom Fries’ was not the first stupid renaming of food to avoid association with the latest nation Americans have decided are inferior. In WWII, hamburgers were called ‘Liberty steaks’, and that term was used by almost no one.  Like Liberty Fries.

And in reference to a comment a friend made, German Chocolate cake is not a reference to Europe’s Germany.  It is a reference to Sam German who invented it.  An American.

Canada declared war on Japan in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor on the evening of December 7th although it was not endorsed by the king until the next day.  The US declared war on December 8th.  Meaning Canada declared war due to the attack on the US, before the US did.

Holocaust if you take it back to Greek means “whole” and “burnt” or “burned”.

The swastika symbol is an ancient religious symbol.  It meant then, good fortune.

Nostradamus has never predicted anything.  To predict, you must be able to identify an event BEFORE it happens.  His writing is fortune telling where you provide enough vague information that with enough time, something close enough will happen and look like he knew it would.  (eg: in 2018, An event of national importance will happen in the kingdom of colonies that will change how power is regulated.)  Lets watch! (it occurred)

It is unclear who started the “Kilroy was here” graffiti in WWII and Korea.  Some took it to mean that US soldiers had been there.  Some took it to mean some had been there and cleaned it out [looted] already.  There are many theories about who he was, from a ship inspector to an Asimov reference.  Kilroy is not an extremely rare name so there will likely never be a clear explanation.

Nazi is said to be a Bavarian term for simple minded.  This is very possible.  But the origin of the word Nazi as it applied to the members of the National Socialist Workers Party comes from the simple abbreviation of the German word for the party, NAtionalsoZIalistische, Nazi.  The fact that Nazi has another meaning in another language is likely no more intended than Nova, an American car, meaning ‘no go’ in Spanish.

Updates 11/14/17

The term “Dude” originated as a term of insult referring to an overly trendy man in regards to dress such as a ‘dandy’.

There is a Toy Hall of Fame.  Hot Wheels are in there but Matchbox cars are not.  Stick is in there but bubble wrap is not.

There is no record of the word Viking existing in the age of Vikings.

Lets get away from the word kamikaze (divine wind) as a term and understand were talking about a person flying a plane as a weapon into another war machine.  The Japanese, Germans and Russians all did it on numerous occasions.

The documentary Blackfish is based almost entirely bad science or just lies.  It was designed to play on western guilt.  It worked.

Bananas are berries.

On April 18, 1930 the BBC reported no news.  They played music instead.  (anyone else jealous of life back then?)(ok, it was because the news ticker broke but still … )

According to a licking machine from Purdue ( get your mind outa there) it takes about 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

89 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of independents think global warming is occurring.  Most scientific studies over the last 50 years show humans are contributing to it.  So who are the Republicans representing when they are saying it is not happening?  BTW, at the time of this writing only the US and Syria have not signed the Paris Accord. [edit: Syria has now signed]

L Ron Hubbard lied about his military service.

Christians didn’t use crucifixion, neither did Jews.  Romans did.  Romans wrote the Bible to promote growth of the Christian religion and diminish the Jewish religion.

Jousters lances were measured before matches to ensure no one’s was too big …

The first literary reference to NERD is the Dr. Seuss’ book, If  I Ran The Zoo.

His name is not pronounced the way we all do, it is not Dr. Soos, it is Dr. Zoice, like voice.

The GW Bush white house used now proven forged documents to show WMDs in Iraq. Then press secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book about the Bush strategy of miss information and repetition to substantiate a war in Iraq that was not tied to 9/11.

The KKK was founded by 6 former Confederate officers who wanted to stop reconstruction of the south without slavery.  The KKK is considered a terrorist organization by the DOJ.

The word ‘antebellum’ means before a war as a reference of time or culture.  Usually it refers to the U.S. civil war.

Chiquita Brand, got help from the CIA to overthrow the newly elected Guzman in Guatemala due to his planned reforms that would limit Chiquita’s power.  They did this with the help of, Edward Bernays, a publicist…

Women’s right to smoke was tied to women’s liberation by American Tobacco’s marketing guy … Edward Bernays, to double the companies market.

And last but not least, Bernays also was the mastermind behind us all believing bacon is a healthy food.  It isn’t.

Virginia Tech’s Hokie mascot name has no meaning.  It rhymed in a chant.

The primary reason for segregated sports was so white spectators did not have to sit with black spectators.  It was not about the sport, it was about the fans.

A great deal of claimed American Made products do not follow the FTC rules for that claim.  When they have been found in violation, such as Stanley Tools, they are fined a minor amount so there is no incentive to follow the law.

Lake Mead is named after Elwood Mead.

There are photos showing Stonehenge being rebuilt in the first half of the 20th century. Odd that people today claim they can measure it and prove it was about astrological measurement when the stones have been moved and modified.

There are no bodies in the concrete of Hoover Dam.  All bodies were accounted for and they would have to remove a body as it would have structurally compromise the dam.

When we see those darling pictures of Giraffes embracing with their necks in a heart shape?  Yeah, they are fighting, they fight with their necks.

Guy Fawkes masks are owned or manufactured under permission of Time Warner which some would see as part of  ‘the establishment’.

The American Red Cross has failed miserably in recent decades and does a great deal of PR work to cover up that they are no longer prepared for disasters but instead depends on post disaster support which they often spend much of that on PR to cover up they were not prepared for disaster before hand.

“Sundown” towns were towns that did not allow blacks to live in them and thus had to leave by sundown.  These were not exclusive to the south, but existed in most states.

Cilantro and coriander are the same thing.

Diamonds are not rare.  Rubies are.

The book Dr. Zhivago was distributed by the CIA in Russia to help feed anti Communist sentiment.

The CIA operates small quiet planes over American cities collecting intelligence.  Again, it is illegal for the CIA to operate inside US borders …

Iranian flight 655 was shot down by the US Navy while the ship operating in Iranian waters.  We never apologized but did pay restitution to the families.  In other words, how we feel about middle east terrorists who bomb a plane with Americans on it, they feel about us for doing essentially the same thing.

Yertle the Turtle is a story based on Hitler.

US commanders and soldiers WERE responsible for the My Lai massacre, in spite of the trial that acquitted everyone involved.

Operation Northwoods was a CIA project to provoke a war on Cuba in 1962.  The project used U.S. operatives to commit terrorist attacks in US cities, hijack planes and the sinking of boats of Cuban refugees on the way to the states and blame them on on the Castro Regime.  The CIA did most of these acts against Americans.  Again, the CIA is not chartered or by law permitted to operate in the US.

“Third World” is a western cold war term.  Those who sided with the U.S. in the cold war were referred to as first world.  Those who sided with the USSR were second world nations.  Those who did not side with either were third world nations.

Joseph Stalin’s only two grandchildren, sons, were born in Wisconsin and eligible to run for President.

None of Hitlers relatives (5), no direct descendants, are having children in order to end his bloodline entirely.

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow didn’t start the Chicago fire.  Nor was there a Mrs. O’Leary [although odds are there had to be one].  There were many cows.  The reporter later stated he had made up the story for fun.

Tokyo Rose was an American in Japan. ( https://5280nup.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/the-real-tokyo-rose/ )

Most Native American tribes in North America were not violent or even hunters at the time of European discovery.  This story was fed to justify our killing of the natives which is ironic, since most natives died of disease.

Abner Doubleday didn’t invent baseball, nor was he in Cooperstown when it was invented nor was it invented there.  The rules as we know them today more or less formalized there though.  British Rounders evolved into Town Ball not played in small towns but most often in cities as we know stick-ball to a degree.  Baseball is the direct decedent of rounders, a British game.  The Abner Doubleday thing and Cooperstown were paid research to find a good story to make baseball uniquely American. It isn’t. It is largely British.

Persons with total blindness do not see black.  Black is a color sensed by the eye and processed by the brain and is not the absence of light.  They don’t see black, they see nothing. Which … we who can see interpret as black.

There is no historical evidence to support a Trojan Horse.  So maybe we need to rename the condoms.

There is also no historical evidence of the Arc of the Covenant ever existing.

There is no evidence of Atlantis ever existing.

Mr. and Mrs. have different origins than you may think.  Mr. is short for Master ( an outdated word that used to be used where we use ‘boss’).  Mrs. is short for Mistress.  Ms is actually not short for anything so there should not be a period after it.

We know that Xerox is a brand name as well as the product line it defines even when not a Xerox brand.  But names such as Post-it, Popsicle, Dumpster, Frizbee and Seeing Eye Dog are also brand names used to describe all products like them.

There are more pyramids in Sudan than Egypt.

Chastity belts are a myth.

There is very strong evidence that Shakespeare is a name used for multiple writers to publish under.  The life known associated with the Shakespeare we have identified in history as THE Shakespeare could not have taught him what he needed to know to write any of his plays, much less all of them.

The British used concentration camps long before the Germans did.  In the Boer war (1899-1902) in South Africa.  The men were shipped off as slaves and the women and children were put in concentration camps intended to starve them to death.  They did.

THE most exclusive University is not Harvard that lets in 6% of it’s applicants, or Stanford at 4%.  It is Birla Institute of Technology that only admits 1.5% of its 180,000 applicants each year.

Canned Pumpkin is actually butternut squash or Golden Delicious Squash.

Yes there has been planned obsolescence in the incandescent light bulb industry for a little under 100 years.  Only recently has the industry suddenly found longer lifespans in their dying technology.

UPDATED: 9/7/2017

The first patent for a jet engine was issued in 1914.

Amish experience dramatically lower rates of cyber bullying.

Thomas Selfridge was the first known person to die in a plane accident in 1908.

Two studies in 2009 and 2013 show that wind power kills very few birds, about 7,000 a year.  Meanwhile nuclear power plants kill about 327,000 and fossil fuel power plants about 14.5 million.  Your green claim should be yellow.

Your remote is usually the dirtiest thing in your house.  Even more so than those socks over there——->

Spotted Hyenas can digest bone.

All apes are ticklish, and laugh.

The highest wave ever recorded being surfed was 100 feet tall.  Take THAT Bodhi!

Post lunch time sleepiness is not due to eating or digestion, but a natural body temp drop at that time of day.

Astronaut is Greek for ‘Star Sailor’.  I love that term, we should use that instead.

Bobcats (cougars)  are the most common wild cats in North America.  I have only seen two.  Or the same one twice …

The Lone Ranger is said to be based on Bass Reeves but it is much more likely based on John Hughes who Zane Grey’s book, “The Lone Star Ranger” was dedicated to.

In 1974 North Korea bought 1,000 Volvo 144s from Sweden.  They ‘forgot’ to pay for them.  Today, with interest, North Korea owes approximately 3 Billion Krona to Sweden.  That is approximately 1/30th of North Korea’s annual GDP (before 2017 sanctions).  Most of those Volvos are still running and used as Taxis.

Currently (8/2017) there is no evidence that North Korea has weaponized any nuclear devices.  They have set off many nuclear detonations though. (probably)

General Grant owned one slave, William Jones, and controlled ones owned by his wife. Despite the claimed paradox of the civil war that claims Lee did not, Lee was also a slave holder.

Ferdinand Magellan was not the first to circumnavigate the earth, nor was he trying to.  Nor did he ever.  He died on his famous voyage.  Juan Sebastian Elcano was the captain of the Victoria, part of the Magellan voyage and the only ship to make the entire voyage and thus, he was the first.  But he was not a nice white boy so he cannot be famous.

The original patent for the toilet paper dispenser shows … the correct way to mount the paper is ‘over’.

Long Island is not considered an Island due to a 1985 Supreme Court ruling.  It is a peninsula with water between it and the mainland.  (uhhhh ….)

Walt Disney didn’t invent Mickey Mouse.  Ub Iwerks did.

Most Medieval torture devices we know of were made up later.

Feminists were not all or mostly or even often burning their bras.  This was a fantasy of their opposition.

Mussolini’s trains didn’t run on-time either.

In 1932, Western Australian farmers waged war on Emus.  The animal.  “The machine-gunners’ dreams of point blank fire into serried masses of Emus were soon dissipated. The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic. A crestfallen field force therefore withdrew from the combat area after about a month.”  The Emus won.  I cannot make this shit up …

A glass ball will bounce higher than a rubber one, if it doesn’t shatter.

In 1913 it was legal to mail a child.

Before the mid 70s, unmarried women rarely could get a credit card.  Today you only need a pulse, or used to have one, or be a dog …

The north star is actually three stars.

China was using finger prints to identify people in various ways including crimes, in 300A.D.

The phrase, “Show Your True Colors” is a reference to pirates putting up their authentic flag as opposed to whatever flag they used to get close to the ship they were ‘attacking’.  They rarely attacked.  It made no sense for the other ship so the other ships usually allowed them to board.

There is no description of Satan in the Bible.

Confirmed kills in the Bible.  Satan 10.  God 2,476,633.  All of Satan’s kills, God permitted in a bet.

Robert E Lee, of General Lee Dukes of Hazard fame of course, was married to Mary Custis. She was the great grand daughter (through marriage) of George Washington and the heir to Mt Vernon.

In related news, Arlington Cemetery used to belong to Lee as Arlington House was the house of Custis and Lee.  The cemetery started as a way of pissing off Lee for taking a commission in the Confederate Army, rather than the one he was offered in the Union Army.  Originally it was a Union Cemetery.

The Bible doesn’t say “God helps those who helps themselves”, Ben Franklin did.

Grapes of Wrath (a movie based on John Stienbeck’s book in case you missed it on youtube) was not banned in Russia at first even though almost all American movies were.  The reason is that it showed American poverty under capitalism.  But Russians were still amazed and that poor American were so wealthy they could afford cars so it was eventually banned.

The debate about what race ancient Egyptians were is about race, not race.  They were a broad mix of pigments and characteristics not being defined by either black or white and the need to label them as one or the other is about race issues today, not then.

UPDATED 4/2017

Twain never said, “I have never killed a man but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”  That was Clarence Darrow, and he said it in a more long winded way.

Tarzan never said, “me Tarzan, you Jane.”

It was Speak softly and carry a big stick.”  Not walk softly …

It’s “Double double, toil and trouble.” Not bubble bubble.  Unless you fart n the tub then you are on your own.

The Bible doesn’t say, “Money is the root of all evil”.  It says “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.”

“Eastern Medicine” is not what was then or is now practiced in the Far East as medicine.  It is taken from a Chinese book on medicine and given as alternate treatments when there is no conventional medical practices available.  This is where the more modern term “alternative treatments” has come from.

The Jews did not build the pyramids.  Slaves or otherwise.  And it is not in the bible.   The earliest record of Jews in Egypt was in 664 BCE. Israel did not exist until 1100 BCE.  The Hebrew language appears at about the same time.  The last of the big pyramids was finished in 1750 BCE.  The builders were paid well, housed well and worked as long as they wanted or as short as three months at a time.  Herodotus never named them slaves or Jews and was not a historian.  There was no exodus.

UPDATED 11/2016

Anti-wrinkle cream is a mild acid that erodes the first layer of skin and forces it to tighten.  This damage is worse than sunburn and will hasten (hurry) the aging process and worsen it.

Tear Gas is forbidden by the Geneva Convention and is a war crime if used in warfare.  Most major US Police forces have it and use it on US civilians.

Although the British and the Yankees shared a common language not that long ago, we sound very different.  We did not change, the Brits did.  The British accent we know today was adopted by choice by the upper class in England in the 17th century. They made the accent to set themselves apart from the commoners, then the commoners adopted it to sound like the elite in England.  It didn’t make its way here.  That’s why Americans and Canadians sound so similar.

ORIGINAL POST

We do not use only 10% of our brain in spite of what Hollywood would have you think so about 5 movies costing millions of dollars outright lie.  (shame on you Morgan)  We use almost all of our brain.

The holidays do not have any more suicides than any other time of year.  There is no suicide season.  The times people choose are very personal.

This is probably the longest running lie in the media… The media is not liberal.  All but  NPR and PBS are owned by 6 conservative, or right wing conglomerates that own news, print, TV, and radio and many movie studios and sports channels with the rare exception of The Washington Post.  Sorry Rush, you lie lie lie lie ……

Yes technically addiction is a disease, “a particular quality, habit, or disposition regarded as adversely affecting a person or group of people.” But that does not change what it is, it is a pattern of behavior adopted by the addict by choice.  Few diseases are a result of knowledgeable free will.

[This one kills me]  The only major forms of motorsports that is faster today than 20 years ago, is Drag Racing and F1.  NASCAR is over 20mph SLOWER.  Indy has not yet matched its speeds from the late 90s.

The birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud, never kept birds at Alcatraz.  He did keep them while serving time at Leavenworth. He also wrote two books about birds based on his research and is credited with finding the cure for the hemorrhagic Septicemia family of diseases.

Jade Helm 15 was a normal everyday military exercise.  Texas Governor Abbott is a paranoid idiot.  Chuck Norris acted like a scared and paranoid fool.

Pure breed in animals does not mean authentic and is not natural.  “Pure Breed” dogs have changed dramatically over the 20th century, the age of ACA management.  They are not the way they are supposed to be.  Pure Breeds have many more health issues than mutts.  This tells you that is not how nature intended.

Most of what we have heard attributed to Mark Twain, he never said, or have no record of him saying it.  Also, like most things in life as a game of telephone, some he did say but not as we quote him. (which makes it not a quote)  For example; the quote about his death is, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” And there is NO record of him saying, “the only two certainties in life are death and taxes”, at all.

Pope Clement didn’t kill all the Knights Templar. Neither did King Philip IV of France.  King Phil did try to arrest all of them in France, on Friday October 13th but many were warned and resigned and left France, with their fortunes in tact.  Those who confessed heresy were also released, with their fortunes.  King Phil didn’t want the “Templar fortune”, he wanted the Pope’s representatives out of his court.   The remaining Knights Templar joined the Hospitallers Order, another Papal order and simply carried on as before.  Sorry Dan Brown and History Channel, try again.  I’m sure there is more history to make up…

Contrary to reputation, Charles Manson has never been proven to have killed anyone.  He did order murders and tried to murder Bernard  Crowe by shooting him, but Mr. Crowe survived.  Was he creepy, yes, should he have been in prison, yes.  But he may have been the only “serial murderer” that never killed anyone.  Also, the picture shown usually of him is from a long time ago.  Ironically, most of those who did the actual murders were paroled.

The Bermuda Triangle is not the most dangerous place on earth for planes or ships.  In fact, it doesn’t even make the top ten.  When you take into account frequency of travel, it is slightly above average for loss of planes and shipping.  This is fiction created by Charles Berlitz and continued by History Channel.

There is no record of Charlie Chaplain ever entering a Charlie Chaplain look alike contest.  Much less losing it.

Nicola Tesla [this pains me to say] didn’t pioneer much technology but did develop on existing ideas.  He did not invent AC power, he in invented the AC induction motor that runs on it. A court ruling did determine he and not Marconi, invented the radio.

Saudi Arabia imports camels from Australia.  But not why you think.  They eat them.

The Branch Davidians set fire to their own compound killing themselves.  The records and video shown in its entirety prove this.

Coins and currency are not that dirty.  Typically no more dirty than your hands.

Yes 80-90% of all US and Canadian bills have traces of Cocaine on them.  But no, it is not because they have been involved in the drug trade.  It is because cocaine is incredibly fine and transfers to anything around it, including counting machines, ATM apparatus, wallets and cash register drawers.

More people have driven on the moon [6] than have been to the depths of the ocean [3].  Twelve total have stood on the moon.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the 67th man to cross the Atlantic.  He was the first to do it alone.

In June of 1928 Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic but she did it as a passenger.  She was later the first woman to solo fly the Atlantic in May of 1932.  Lindbergh flew from New York  to France.  Amelia flew from Newfoundland to Ireland.  Also, there is no evidence of her landing on Gardner Island. The “artifacts” found on the island were likely left over from the 100s of people who have lived on the island since then and before the “discovery”.

Area 51 is … wait for it … a testing airfield for development of cutting edge aircraft.  <~~ that is a period.  It is not secret.  History channel has mentioned it in shows ranging from Hitler’s Secrets to Hedy Lamarr.  Google offers 103,000,000 hits for area 51.  An additional 482,000 for Groom Lake.  It’s official name, National Classified Test Facility gets 3,070,000 hits.  The government doesn’t and never has denied it’s existence.  It is the definition of NOT a secret.

There is no documented case of a wild west showdown style shoot out, ever.

Hydrox cookies predate Oreos, so they didn’t copy Oreo, it is the other way around.

Zima IS just as detectable by a breathalyzer as any other alcohol.  Still think marketing doesn’t work?

Red lobsters are not racist against blue ones.  [Yes they actually do exist]

Also, lobsters do die.  But they don’t stop growing.

Fruita, Colorado’s headless chicken was not really headless.  He lost the front of his face, upper beak and front of his head when he was almost killed with an ax.  He lived quite a while after that but had to be fed everyday with an eye dropper.

Arctic ice is not on the rise.  From 1979 to 2014 the Arctic ice shrank by 1  million square miles.  There was an increase from 2012 to 2013.  That increase is gone now, and much more.

Cowboy hats were not really a symbol of the west, when the west was being lived.  The cowboy hat went into production in 1865 in Philadelphia by John Stetson.  Stetson did invent it though before that when he was in the west and noticed most miners wore flea infested coon skin caps.  In other words, they were invented for miners, not cowboys.

The Black Knight satellite is not alien, it is a silver/black double sided insulation blanket that went adrift.

There is no Lost Dutchman treasure.  https://5280nup.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/lost-facts-about-the-lost-dutchman-mine/

Nor Oak Island treasure.  https://5280nup.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/deconstructing-oak-island-and-its-money-pit/

Model Ts, came in more than black.  12  million of the 15 million sold were black but they also came in Green, Blue and Maroon as well as other dealer made special order colors such as Yellow.

Yes Apollo 11 Astronauts filled out customs forms when they re-entered Hawaii after returning from the moon.  They declared moon rocks and moon dust.  The form states they left Cape Kennedy and arrived in Honolulu via the moon.

The cookie monster’s real  name is Sid.

Happy Birthday is no longer copy written because the copyright could not be defended in court.

Absinthe is nothing very different than any other alcohol.  It is made from green grapes typically and is green because it is distilled a second time with petite wormwood, hyssop, mint and chamomile.  If there are hallucinogens in it, it is because it was added after by someone else.  After first distillation, it is about 80% alcohol. after the second, about 68%.  It is just green alcohol.

Jack the Ripper is not real.  The murders are real but the name was from a fake letter written to the police by a reporter who saw declining paper sales due to the lack of murders.  The murderer never had a name, other than The Whitechapel murderer, who is real.

The History Channel is largely Pseudo Science and owned by Disney.  Ironic.

There are more people killed in the US from dog bites [35] each year than in  auto racing [22]. I’m not a dog hater, just pointing out perspective.    https://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-statistics/dog-bite-statistics     http://savannahnow.com/stories/111201/SPTracingdeaths.shtml#.Vz5ULb6TMWQ

450 Die every year in the US by falling out of bed!

The US Constitution was not written on hemp, so stop making that stupid connection.  Oh and 420 is not an L.A. Police code for Marijuana possession or possession of anything actually.  Or any other cities code for it.  (Their codes are not that specific)  420 in LA is code for Juvenile Disturbance … fitting.

Shrunken heads were an oddity and rare, when first presented to north Americans and Europeaners.  It was only after demand for them developed by the Americans and Europeaners that they were made more often.

Sybil was faked for a book deal.  The client, the therapist and the publisher set up “Sybil Inc.” before the treatment even started.  There is no valid basis for multiple personality disorder or dis-associative identity disorder and there has never been a proven case.

The “supermale” is a myth.  There are 1 in 1,000 males with an extra Y chromosome but very flawed studies in the 70s and 80s led to biased conclusions and TV, especially cop series have perpetuated this myth.

No, Castro never tried out for ANY American baseball team.

Red cars do not get more tickets than other colors.  Grey/silver cars actually lead the statistics.  This was likely a marketing ploy by Ferrari.

The Roswell UFO was one of several Project Mogul balloons used to monitor Soviet atomic tests but was top secret at the time so it was deemed a weather balloon.  The press made up the UFO story in the atmosphere of UFO mania at the time.

The Crystal Skulls are just white quartz. The Mitchell-Hedges skull was never brought back from Central America, it was bought from auction after the dig which was documented in a letter from the time.  Also, they do contain sanding and manufacturing marks regardless what Indiana Jones pitched …

The Beale Ciphers are fake.  It is easily seen on MANY levels.

Respect cannot be demanded.  Neither can fear.

Ho Chi Min was not Anti-American, he once tried to get the US to adopt Vietnam as a territory.

Al Gore never said he invented the internet. That was political game playing.

Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her front porch either!

The Tunguska Blast, was a meteor.

There was no way to know of the Pearl Harbor attack ahead of time due to having broken the Japanese Imperial Code.  The code was very complex and we could not just read it off until well into each new code cycle.  Also, the imperial code was not the same as the military code.  The only access the US woulda had was to intercepts to the Japanese Embassy and the Declaration of War didn’t come until late that morning.  Communication then was not remotely like it is now.

Mr Limbaugh is wrong.  The average temperature of the earth increased .9 deg F from 1997 to 2012.  That’s A LOT.

Global warming is not new to the scientific community, they predicted it in the 70s.  The press is the one that invented a new ice age, then avoided weather predicting for 20 years when they looked like idiots.  The list is growing.

There are  many foreign brand cars that are more American made than American cars.  Chevy and Ford trucks are assembled in Canada and  Mexico.  Kia and Toyota are made in Kentucky and Tennessee.  The most American made vehicle based on material origin and location and staff is the Toyota Camry.

Loud pipes don’t save lives.  Please research the Doppler effect. Also research causes of hearing loss.  Oh sorry, LOOK UP CAUSES OF HEARING LOSS!

Carl Sagan said Billions many times [not billions of times though] but never said Billions and Billions.  That was Johnny Carson who said that imitating Sagan.

Pool water stinging your eyes is not too much chlorine as often as too much pee …. yeah ….

NASA didn’t spend millions of dollars developing a space pen while the Russian just used a pencil.  They both started out using a pencil but Fisher Pens developed a pen that would work in space with their own money, and NASA purchased several.  At normal prices.

The transcontinental railroad did not meet at Promontory Point.  It was Promontory Summit.  Also, this was simply selected, the railroads passed one another building tracks parallel to one another because they were paid by the mile.

There is only record of two suicides on wall street in October 1929.  Churchill helped perpetuate the myth by saying he had to step over the bodies while walking on Wall Street.

The US founding fathers were not Christian and founding the nation on Christian values.  There were Deists, Unitarians and agnostics.  Washington was essentially a Naturalist.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, Paul Revere never said “The British are coming, the British are coming!”  He said very little, he was sneaking.  And they were all British.

There is no “machine gun season” in hunting season. Nor it is a reasonable or responsible weapon for home defense.

Most states spend more on the signs saying they use aircraft to help enforce speed limits than they do on aircraft to enforce speed limits, if they use any aircraft at all.  None currently use drones.  [2016]

Napoleon was not short.  He was very average for his day. That’s what his lovers all said (RIMSHOT)

There is no crisis regarding family owned farms or farm land in the US.  96.7% of farms in the US are family owned non-corporate farms.  They own 89% of all farm land in the US.

There is no such thing as a mid-life crisis.  This used to be what it was called when empty nesters changed their lives and sometimes lost one another.  We constantly change.  Change is not a crisis, not changing is.

Benjamin Franklin never proposed Daylight savings time.  Daylight Savings didn’t really get proposed until 100 years after he died and then about the same time in New Zealand and in England.

Sliced bread was first manufactured in 1928, so “older than sliced bread” is like, a while ago.    Betty White IS older than sliced bread.

Me looking twice cannot overcome you riding like a fool.  Nor will I  mourn your loss.  See Darwin Awards.

Vultures do not circle over the dead or dying, they are gliding in up drafts of heat.  They gang up on dead meat, not look at it while gliding overhead.  The myth was popularized in old movies set in deserts and the American West.

Crows can mimic the human voice better that other birds.  Also lawn mowers, cars, doors closing and yoyos

The Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4^th, 1776 by the whole gang in the painting.  Only John Hancock, Secretary of Congress.  Many of the others signed it on August 2^nd, 1776.  Still others signed it much later.  Oh and for those who have confused them, The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are NOT part of the same document.  The US Constitution was enacted in 1789.

Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary my dear Watson”

You cannot see the great wall of China from space.

Speaking of, there is sound in space, it is not a complete vacuum but the sound most common is electromagnetic in nature which we cannot hear.

Nelson Mandella never said “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”  That was Marianne Williamson.

Frankenstein’s assistant is named Fritz in first movie made from the book, not Igore.  There is no assistant in the book.

Contrary to people’s modern claim, the monster is not named Frankenstein, the monster has no name other than the monster himself saying he should be named Adam.  The creator is named Victor Frankenstein.  No Dr. in there.

Captain Kirk never said “Beam me up Scotty”

Quacks do echo.  (the duck voice not the doctor kind, who also echo)

Laurel Thatch Ulrich is actually the one who said, “Well behaved women seldom make history”.  Not Marylyn Monroe

Vader never said, “Luke I am your father”

Negative calorie foods, only barely exist. The theory goes that food like celery take more calories to digest than they contain.  This depends a lot on insulin resistance and metabolic rate.  People need differing amounts of energy to digest the same foods so the energy needed differs.  Ironically, thin lean people require more energy to digest food so if there are negative calorie situations, they likely only occur for lean thin people, who need it least.

A dog year is not 7 human years in any way.  Their development varies compared to ours, but average about 4 years. Except for the first year which is about 13-20 human years of development.

Water does not go down any drain the other way in Australia, (or New Zealand where a friend was recently).  It is the design of the sink or the toilet, not the Coriolis effect.

Confucius did not say, “the journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.” Lao Tzu did.

Rice does not hurt birds!

Interstates were never intended for use as emergency landing strips.  Within the Defense Highway Act there is funding for emergency landing strips near highways, but these never state that highways are to be used as landing strips.

5 hour energy drink, DOES have caffeine.  As do ALL energy drinks. As well as sugar.

The Amityville Horror was a real estate move not a haunting.  The Lutz family hired Jay Anson to write a book about their house being haunted based on the DeFeo murders that did take place in their home prior to the Lutzs buying the house.  It was not based on fact, with no evidence at all, it was created by Anson as the basis for the book to help the Lutz overcome the cost the home purchase when they were too creaped out to live in it anymore.

There is no continuous dark side of the moon.  We only see one side but when we cannot see the moon, it is because the opposite side is the side being illuminated.

Lincoln did not have a secretary named Kennedy.

Yes, Adolph Hitler was named man of the year by Time magazine in 1938.  And his nephew served in the US Navy in WWII.

Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds broadcast did not cause mass hysteria and was in fact not believed to be true by most listening and most in the nation, wasn’t listening.  It was presented as theater during a known dinner theater broadcast and only broadcast in a small percentage of markets.

Humans are born with more than 3oo bones, but by adult we have 206.

Sally Ride was not the first woman in space, she was the first American woman in space. Valentina Tereshkova was the first in 1963.

Hal 9000 never says, “Good Morning Dave.”

Marylyn Monroe did say, “If you cannot handle me at my worst you don’t deserve me at my best.” but she didn’t originate it.  It predates her by far.

The Blair Witch Project is not real, nor based on real.

There are more than 2 sexes.  XX and XY are what most people think.  But there are also XXX, XXY, XYY, XXXY, X and Y.  Not all that have a Y chromosome appear as a male.  Not all who have no Y, appear as female.  There is A LOT of information on this.    http://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html#XYY%20Males

Mr. Rogers was not a sniper, he never served in the military.  He was a priest and pacifist.  Captain Kangaroo was in the service but never left the states and was not a sniper. Dr Ruth did train as a sniper but never served as one.  Julia Child was not a spy, she did however work for the OSS during WWII.

Ghandi didn’t say, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”

The 18^th Amendment did not make alcohol illegal.  Private possession and consumption was still legal.  Home production was technically illegal, but not enforced.

Yes the horse head in the bed in The Godfather was real.

Black lawn Jockeys were not connected to the underground railroad.

There is no Autism Epidemic, epidemics are the spread of contagious diseases.  The rise in autism was only due to a change in the diagnostic criteria.  Jenny McCarthy is a fool as is anyone taking medical advice from an actor.

Alcohol does not help you feel warmer, it actually helps you lose feeling and encourages freezing by constricting blood vessels.

Scientifically, the term “organic food” is meaningless. It’s like saying a “human person”. All food is organic. All plants and animals are organic.  Plastic and coal are organic. There is very little difference between organic and non organic labeled foods. It is mostly a marketing ploy to charge more for similar or identical food.  Taste tests have consistently shown no ability to discern the difference or most preferences for non-organic foods.

Fracking is not putting methane in drinking water.  Water wells collect methane in some areas naturally and always have.  Fracking takes place about 1 mile to 5 miles underground.  The deepest water wells I have found was about 600 feet.  Geology prevents them from mixing easily.    Gasland is propaganda

You need 137% more ethanol [E85] to go the same distance as regular gas.  E85 has 15% gas in it.  It takes gas to make E85.  It cannot be piped, it has to be trucked in trucks that optimistically make 7mpg on diesel.    Lemme put it differently, after you use gas to make ethanol, ad gas to ethanol and truck ethanol to every gas station from every refinery, you will get 18mpg on ethanol or 25 mpg on gas.  51 cents of every gallon of ethanol is paid for by your taxes via the federal govt and ethanol is not taxed by the feds.  So when it costs more than regular gas which it has done for the last three years near me, it has been making the industry alot of money!   ETHANOL SAVES NOTHING and was a republican political ploy to appease farmers.  It worked, you bought it.

Darwin didn’t originate the term “Survival of the fittest.”  Nor was he the first to propose evolution.  He credits Herbert Spencer, “The Principles of Biology” in 1864.

No, there is no hanging Munchkin in the movie The Wizard of Oz.

There is no closure in grief.  Acceptance is the last stage.

John Glenn was not the first man or American in space, the first man to go to space AND RETURN ALIVE was Yuri Gagarin [we think], the first American was Alan Shepard.

There is some evidence that there were more Soviet launches before Yuri Gagarin but it is hard to prove.  Suffice it to say logic says there were some failings.  Radio broadcasts were heard by Italians and Czechs that seemed to indicate disasters in space as early as 1958.  Also there is some evidence that Yuri didn’t go to space, might have been faked after several failures.

DB Cooper was named Dan Cooper.  DB was a miss quote in a newspaper.  Still doubt the power of the press?

The Cardiff giant was a hoax.

So was Piltdown Man

No, the head of the Eagle on the Presidential seal does not turn the other way in times of war.  Not to mention the US has not declared war since WWII.  Also, the sound of the Eagle most have heard, it actually the sound of a red tailed Hawk.  Bald Eagles squeak.

Ginger Rodgers did not say, “I did everything Fred Astaire did but backwards and in high heels.”  That was from a comic strip.

Equinox in reference to seasons does not mean equal time of light and night (that should be a song lyric), it means the rotational axis of the earth is aligned equally with the sun.

Jim Lovell never said, “Houston we have a problem.”

George Washington was not the first President.  He was the first Constitutional President of the United States.  The first to use the term President was Peyton Randolph who was the first president of the Continental Congress, 1774. (14 different men held this title)  John Hanson was the first President of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, 1781. (8 men have held that position and title) That makes George the 23^rd “President” but 1^st Constitutional President of the United States.

This one is confusing and I have no idea how we got so far from fact … Yes the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4th, 1776.  The war started before that.  There were battles on June 28th, June 8th, Feb 27, 1776, Dec 30th, Dec. 11th, Nov 10th, June 17th, May 10, and April 19, 1775.  Paul Revere, William Dawes and Sam Prescott’s ride took place on April 18, 1775.  The war ended on Sept. 3rd, 1783.  So can someone explain to me why we have July 4, 1776 as our birthday?  We weren’t “born”, until the war was won, and July 4th is not when it started.

There is NO Pacific Ocean garbage patch. None.  Myth.. However, there IS a lot of trash in the pacific and in some places it is very visible but there is hardly a Texas sized “island”, or a Rhode Island sized one or any … most of the trash is from the fishing and cruise ship industries.

Edison invented, almost nothing.  He had many, many scientist working for him that did. Yes his lab improved the light bulb after he purchased one of many existing patents, but his patents, for which others did all the labor, was among the hundreds that came before him for the light bulb.

General Custer was not a General.  He was a Lt. Colonel.

Texas cannot leave the US anytime it wants.  It can however split into up to 5 smaller states.  Here’s hoping!

George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter.  The Aztecs did.  Carver did invent like 300 other things to do with peanuts though!

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise, as viewed from above.  Damn space rebels …

Yes Truman’s middle initial is “S”, and no, it does not stand for anything, just “S”!

The North Star is not the brightest star in our sky or even close.  THE SUN IS!  There are many stars brighter then Polaris.  Polaris is three stars, not one.

There are many more than 5 senses.

Columbus did not discover America.  The Vikings were here long before him and the Cherokee Indians that were numbering in the 100,000s in 1492 are of Eastern Mediterranean decent. (Columbus never even believed he didn’t land on islands off the Indian coast, thus the term American INDIANS )  Not to mention, you know, the millions of native Americans already here.

Lighting does strike the same place twice, in fact it can strike the same place thousands of times.  In the case of a few locations, they can be struck hundreds of times a night!

Brontosauruses never existed, that was a whoops by Paleontologists.

Gerald Ford was never elected to the office of Vice President, he was appointed after the election when Agnew resigned.  So Ford is the only president who held office of President but was never elected to a role to hold the office.

Psychopath is not the psychological term for crazy, it means diminished sense of empathy.  It is also not a diagnosis nor defined in the DSM IV TR.  ( this does mean I accurately can be a psychopath in regards to Boston sports fans)

Pot IS addictive, get over it.

California wont and cannot fall into the ocean during the next big earth quake.  No matter how much I wish …

Hawaii is the southern most state, so the term “Lower 48” is very wrong.

Copernicus was not the first to suggest the earth rotated around the sun. It was Aristarchus, Plato, Aristotle and Ptolemy…

Chemical imbalance does not exist in psychology, there is no standard level of brain chemicals, of which there are hundreds.

Columbus did not prove the earth was round. That was common knowledge by then and proven centuries before.  His voyage would also not have proven it anymore than the hundreds of other voyages before his.

Traffic accidents sharply rise in the aftermath of the home team losing the Super Bowl.

Chuck Yeager was not the first to break the sound barrier. George Welch, who I have written about, broke it first but they didn’t know what the sonic boom was or meant.  Even Yeager acknowledges this.

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence day.  It is the day that outnumbered Mexican fighters won a battle they should not have, building unity and national pride.  Independence Day for them is September 16. And it was Independence from the French.

St Patrick ’s Day is not about Irish independence, nor snakes.  It is a Catholic Holiday marking the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It marks the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick.  So we get plastered on green beer … YEAH RELIGION!

Speaking of, Xmas is not a modern slight to remove Christ from Christmas. The X is chi in Greek and has been used to symbolize Christ from almost the beginning of Xianity.

President Nixon was not impeached; he resigned before that could take place.

Being impeached does not mean you are no longer president.  It means indited, not convicted.  Two Presidents have been impeached.  Both were found innocent.

The defenders of The Alamo, were defying orders and died in vain.

Alcatraz was not escape proof.  There was a break out in 1937.  The two that broke out were never found, only presumed dead and thus the myth of escape proof was maintained.  In 1962 one inmate did reach the mainland, so it was proven possible.  Earlier in 1962 the Anglin Brothers and Frank Morris escaped and were never seen again, until recently when the Anglin brothers were confirmed to have been living in Brazil. (update: Frank Morris was proven to have died many years later in Canada after his escape)

And finally, an obvious but good one to remember, Alien Autopsy was a hoax put on by Fox News for ratings and things have gone down hill from there.