Fun Fact: Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's official title as president was:
His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular
(the VC, DSO, MC and doctorate were all titles he gave himself - none were awarded from an external source).
Fun Fact: Judy, a purebred English Pointer, was the only animal ever officially listed as a POW during WW2; Prisoner of War 81A Gloergoer, Medan.
My dog taught me that.
Well, actually, I learned that from a magazine in the waiting room at the vet's yesterday. So, if it wasn't for my dog, I wouldn't have been there to read that.
Fun fact:
Psephology is the scientific study of elections.
"In order to effectively keep future warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the IPCC says carbon taxes would need to range from $135 to $5,500 per ton in 2030, $245 to $13,000 per ton in 2050, $420 to $17,000 per ton in 2070 and $690 to $27,000 per ton in 2100."
Since gasoline is about 333 gallons per ton, that works out to a range of around 40 cents to $17 per gallon.
Useful information...
"Goodenuff - your teacher just texted me, she needs you to return back to the Jr. High."
She was hot, but that's not happening.
FF: Jr. High was the worst 6 years of my life.
Fun Fact: in MLB history, there have been only 57 non-pitchers who batted right and threw left. By far the most famous of these is Rickey Henderson.
I only recently learned that this was rare, as someone who noted that I bat right and throw left. While I am a pitcher primarily (and certainly not MLB calibre) I'm capable as an outfielder or first baseman.
I filled in as shortstop for a few innings earlier this year, which was a bad idea.
Goodenuff - your teacher just texted me, she needs you to return back to the Jr. High.
FF: Made it all the way through National Taco Day and not a single person started a thread about their preference for hair on the taco.
Personally I prefer no hair on the taco; but that's just me.
... Another reason to visit Texas!
Every day is Taco Day down here. Lol
I'm relying on wikipedia for all of that. I didn't vet it. If you find out that any of it isn't true I'd be interested to know.
Somehow I want to believe that's not all true.
Once upon a time, the law required that a person enter a plea before they could be tried (they hadn't yet developed the concept of the court entering a plea on your behalf if you refused to do so yourself). This provided an opportunity for the accused to escape justice by avoiding trial.
In France, the response to this was "Peine forte et dure", in which the accused would be laid down with a board placed upon them, and heavier and heavier weights placed until they either capitulated and entered a plea, or died. In English law it became known as "pressing". It seems that our current use of the term "press", as in "press for information", stems from this practice of gradually applying pressure until the person finds it intolerable and provides an answer.
This method was used exactly once by an authoritative body in American history. One of the accused in the Salem Witch Trials, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea. Contrary to popular legend, the rest were all hung - none were burned to death.
Giles Corey was pressed over the course of twodays, at the age of 81. Each time he was asked to enter a plea, he responded with "more weight". Eventually his tongue began protruding from his mouth and the sheriff would use a cane to shove it back in.
When he eventually died, he did so in full possession of his estate, which would have been forfeited had he been convicted.
I said "supposedly" because I too thought with a big enough piece of paper they could do it. However, a "football sized piece of paper" would be rectangular, not square. Not sure if that would matter with a large enough piece of paper.
Even with a smaller piece, I think I could get at least 8 folds if I wanted to use a vise.
Google "Mythbusters folding paper." They got eleven folds.
Supposedly no square piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
"We subscribe to no mo robo on our landline and have nearly all scammer calls blocked that way. The phone rings one time here, then cuts them off."
we have that too. it's awesome!
As for calling them back - I use firertc on my computer and bullshit my phone number. They have no mechanism to know who I am.
"The autodialers they use will separate the calls where the owner answers, and especially if you call back."
I don't have a choice. We run a business and that means we always answer the phone, even for blocked or unknown caller numbers. I have had "UNKNOWN CALLER", been prepared to give them hell, only to answer and it's the personal cell phone of a US attorney or something.
"Also, NEVER say the word "yes" or any variant to a scammer"
You'll be relieved to know that that is an urban legend. People who have looked into this haven't confirmed even a single example of a case where this occurred. Every one of the "police are warning..." viral posts have originated from somewhere else.
We subscribe to no mo robo on our landline and have nearly all scammer calls blocked that way. The phone rings one time here, then cuts them off. Other calls that get through but we don't recognize aren't picked up. If they leave a message we want to respond to, we do.
I don't even answer the phone these days if I don't recognize the #. If it's someone I know but don't have the # in my phone then they'll leave a message.
"How many people check their phone bill details every month?"
raises hand cuz he knows better than to say "yes", "OK", or "I do"
I know that it's a lot of fun to fuck with the scam artists, but keep in mind that if you answer or call back, they can still make money from your call, even if they don't get you to pay them any money. The autodialers they use will separate the calls where the owner answers, and especially if you call back. They get saved into a list of numbers that are known to have a live person on the other end of the line. And that list gets sold off to other scammers for a premium over a random list of active phone numbers.
Also, NEVER say the word "yes" or any variant to a scammer, even if it's to answer an innocuous question like "am I speaking with John Doe?" They record you saying it, then splice together a recording of them asking if they can add a nominal charge to your phone bill for any number of "services". Then they use that to set up the monthly payment through your phone company. It doesn't show on your credit card except as a slight increase in the total from your phone bill, but if you look at your detailed phone bill, it'll show up there. How many people check their phone bill details every month?
Those phone scam fuckers are damned clever in squeezing a few dollars out of every work day.
Wait; what?!?
They expect people to believe that the "IRS" wants you to pay your tax bill with an iTunes card?
That was a serious question, I've never gotten past "This is the IRS, you will be arrested..." part.
Yeah! They've got a good line of shit. I like the part where your SSN will be suspended.
