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Scarab Sages

Madclaw wrote:
Butter was the first food product allowed by law to have artificial coloring. It is completely white in its natural state.

That...is oddly disturbing. Not sure why.

Grand Lodge

According to Bronystudy.

94.6% of bronies (and pegasisters) are single, 2.9% are married.
Really!

Scarab Sages

The first Burger King was opened in Miami, Florida in 1954.

Grand Lodge

Armadillos, opossums, and sloth's spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.


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Madclaw wrote:
Armadillos, opossums, and sloth's spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.

Lucky


Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:
Madclaw wrote:
Armadillos, opossums, and sloth's spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.
Lucky

I second the motion...

Ultradan


Former president of France (and Prince of Andorra), François Mitterrand met his wife, Danielle Gouze, during his time in the French Resistance.

Silver Crusade

Aberzombie wrote:

Honey is the only natural food which never goes off.

** spoiler omitted **

Somewhat untrue, it can be used as a component in an explosive


-The Vatican's main export good is postage stamps.

-Pope Formosus was put to trial after he died in the IX century, in what is known as the Synodus Horrenda, or Cadaver Synod, by his succesor Pope Stephen VII, on charges of transmigration of eclesiastical sees. His corpse had to be exhumated, dressed in pontifical garments, and set in the throne of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, where the trial was held in front of the Consistory. Since the accused was, well, dead, Pope Formosus had to be represented by a monk who spoke in his favour. After being found guilty, Stephen VII had his clothes torn appart, his benediction fingers cut off, buried, then dug back up, tied to weights, and finally thrown into the Tiber river. The corpse shored up some time later, and was attributed miraculous powers. Stephen VII was eventually deposed, incarcerated, and murdered, while Popes Theodore II and John IX declared eventually declared the trial void, reburied Formosus back beneath Saint Peter's Basilica, and henceforth prohibited trials on dead people.

-Contrary to popular belief, only about 4% of all trials related to the Spanish Inquisition resulted in death penalties. Of those, the largest part were effigy excecutions; that's it, the destruction (usually by fire) of an item (such as a painting or piece of clothing) representing the accused. The Inquisition was, in fact, created to stop the people of recently-reclaimed southern Spain from murdering Jews left and right.

-The Vatican has the highest crime rate in the world (160%), although that is mainly because it also has the highest number of tourists per capita (8,739, in contrasts to France's 1.26).

Scarab Sages

All insects have 6 legs.


Red pine are all nearly genetically identical. The glaciers left them in one isolated pocket of habitat 10,000 years ago and they interbred to the point of being neigh indistinguishable.

Scarab Sages

The croissant was invented in Austria.


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-French Fries were invented in Spain, more particularly, in the region of Extremadura.

-Chocolate (which comes from the Aztec "Chocolatl") was originally a bitter, spicy drink used originally by mezoamerican priests. The chocolate we know today was invented by merchants in Sevilla, southern Spain, as the sweet version was much more agreeable with the palate of Spanish nobility. For a time, in fact, drinking chocolate became more common than tea or coffee among the Spanish gentry.

-Japanese Tempura is not originally Japanese. It was brought to the island in the 1600's by Portuguese merchants.


Van Halen's original name for the band was Mammoth. Gene Simmons of KISS financed their original demo recording.

Grand Lodge

DungeonmasterCal wrote:
Van Halen's original name for the band was Mammoth. Gene Simmons of KISS financed their original demo recording.

In a similar vein of thought the GooGoo Dolls original name was the Sex Maggots.

Scarab Sages

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Martin Luther was one of Hitler's biggest inspiration.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

A nibble is a legitimate unit of data in computer science, representing 4 bits or half a byte.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

More people speak Klingon than speak Esperanto.

Silver Crusade

A bit is a unit of currency in the US equal to 1/8 of a dollar, or 12.5 cents. No such coin was ever minted by the US; it dates back to the use of Spanish currency, when the real was worth 1/8 of a dollar.

The line "Shave and a haircut, two bits," is advertising barber services for 25 cents.


And that Spanish 1/8 of a dollar is, of course, a piece of eight.


So named because you could literally slice the gold coin into 8 pieces.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Jedism is a legally recognised religion in Englad.

Grand Lodge

The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.

<Insert jokes about how size doesn't matter here>

Scarab Sages

Speaking of England.....Queen Elizabeth started the 4-day celebration today of her Diamond Jubilee - 60 years on the throne. What a cool old chick.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Aberzombie wrote:
Speaking of England.....Queen Elizabeth started the 4-day celebration today of her Diamond Jubilee - 60 years on the throne. What a cool old chick.

Yes... Chuck is going to die of old age himself..... still the crown prince.

The Exchange

LazarX wrote:
Jedism is a legally recognised religion in Englad.

It's official: "Jedi Knight" is ON the list of religions for the 2001 UK census.

A campaign to get people to write the entry on their census forms has succeeded in the term being included on the list of religions, alongside Church of England, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu.

Sufficient numbers of people wrote the entry in for it to be allocated its own code for the census processing team to use.

[b]But officials from the Office of National Statistics are keen to point out that just because Jedi Knight has been given its own code, that does not confer on it the status of official recognition.[\b]


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Theos Imarion wrote:

The Americas were not discovered by Columbias but instead by the vikings.

Julius Ceaser's last word were not Et tu Brute? (You to Brutus?) He cowered in the corner as he bled out.
Hercules should be spelled Herakles when refering to him in greek myths.

There is some archaeological evidence that the Americas were discovered by the Egyptians, Paleo-hebrew people, the Phoenicians, and the Chinese long before the vikings, but you won't find that in your history books as its mostly been suppressed.

Also, Roman coins have been found in several places in the Americas, leading some to believe that there may have been trade between American Natives and the Roman Empire.

I'm just reporting.


4 people marked this as a favorite.

Ten unusual, disturbing, or baffling archaeological artifacts:

1) The Grooved Spheres of South Africa
These are spheres of metal roughly an inch in diameter, some etched with three grooves along the equator. There are two different types, composed of different materials. What's unusual about them? They were found embedded in Precambrian stone, and have been dated to 2.8 billion years in age.

2) The Ica Stones of Peru
Dated between 500 and 1000 years ago, many of these stones are etched with dinosaurs: triceratops, stegosaurus, and pterodactyls... many of them show natives riding or interacting with the dinosaurs.

3) The Antikythera Mechanism
This was found in an undersea expedition near the isle of Crete, estimated to be approximately 2000 years old. It is one of the most complex system of differential gears known to have ever been created, and its purpose is somewhat a mystery. There are theories, however, that the device is a complete astrological computer.

4) The Baghdad Battery
Sometime between 248 BC and 226 AD this device was created: a small clay vessel holds a copper cylinder in place by asphalt, inside of which is an oxidized iron rod. Experts have concluded that the vessel only had to be filled with acid or an alkaline liquid to produce an electric charge.

5) The Coso Artifact
This geode was discovered in California, and broken open by gem hunters. It contained a strange object of porcelain, which when it was broken open contained a device that most who have seen it agreed was a 1930s spark plug. The geode, however, was dated at 500,000 years old before it was opened. The Coso Artifact has disappeared, preventing future study.

6) Ancient Model Aircraft
Models have been found in Egyptian and Mesoamerican tombs, made of both wood and gold. Both models exhibit correct aerodynamic mathematics. These items must be at least 1000 years old.

7) Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica
These objects are obviously hand-carved, however what is alarming is the sheer size and weight of some of the stone balls, and the fact that many are perfectly spherical. The largest of these is 8 ft wide and weighs 16 tons.

8) Several Impossible Fossils
Human handprint in limestone (dated to 110 million years old)
Fossilized human finger in Canadian Arctic (dated to 100 to 110 million years old)
Human footprint (possibly with sandal) in shale deposit (dated to 300 million to 600 million years old)

9) Out of Place Metal Objects (Fossil Record Anomalies)
In several places, objects of metal have been discovered where they should not have been (according to geological fossil record), some in chalk thought to be 65 million years old. A nail embedded in a piece of sandstone dated to the Mesozoic Era.

10) The Shoe Print Fossil (Another Fossil Anomaly)
A shoe print fossil was discovered in a coal seam in Pershing County, Nevada. The coal had been dated to 15 million years in age.


Madclaw wrote:
The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.

Additionally, most people of European descent have a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Heavy metal lords Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. and Alice Cooper are both practicing Christians. In fact, Lawless has apologized for some of the content of their older songs, ("Animal (F... Like a Beast" in particular) and has sworn to never perform them again.

Grand Lodge

7 people marked this as a favorite.

hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of long words. You cruel sick b@$^#%&*.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Klaus van der Kroft wrote:


-Contrary to popular belief, only about 4% of all trials related to the Spanish Inquisition resulted in death penalties. Of those, the largest part were effigy excecutions; that's it, the destruction (usually by fire) of an item (such as a painting or piece of clothing) representing the accused. The Inquisition was, in fact, created to stop the people of recently-reclaimed southern Spain from murdering Jews left and right.

This is patently false. The people killed by the Inquisition were Jews. The whole point of the Inquisition was to root out crypto-Jews, those who had converted to Christianity, but secretly maintained their Jewish faith. The courts used torture to obtain statements by the accused. Those who repented were often given a second chance. Those who didn't repent, or were caught a second time were killed. In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain. Of an approximate population of 80,000, half of them left, while half stayed. Those that stayed had to be baptized or be expelled as well.

Many Jews, particularly the wealthy, were allowed to confess, do Christian penance and continue living their normal lives, as long as they maintained the veneer of a Christian life. Torture was only used on those who would not confess.

The Exchange

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The Spanish Inquisition, was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval Inquisition which was under Papal control. The Inquisition was originally intended in large part to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam. This was intensified after the royal decrees were issued in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave. This body was under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy, and not abolished until 1834.

Like most governmental excesses it quite naturally got out of control.


Worf isn't really all that tough.

The Exchange

You know that was one of the big stupid mistakes they made in STNG they never ever show Worf being able to go toe to toe with anything.


Cromson Jester wrote:
You know that was one of the big stupid mistakes they made in STNG they never ever show Worf being able to go toe to toe with anything.

The writers of Justice League made the same mistake during the first season. Whenever they wanted a threat to look serious, they would have it hammer Superman, until someone mentioned that if they keep doing that, he isn't going to seem very super at all.

It's the same principle that makes movie writers think SWAT teams are another form of cannon fodder. We know the criminals are REALLY bad dudes because they just wiped out a SWAT unit like they were nothing.

Scarab Sages

In eastern Africa you can buy beer brewed from bananas.

Mmmmm.....beer.


Aberzombie, I thought you were supposed to say "Mmmmm..... brains." Ah well, maybe your second love is beer. Or perhaps beer-soaked brains. That sounds like a delicacy. Beer-soaked brains with pretzel sticks.


Irontruth wrote:


This is patently false. The people killed by the Inquisition were Jews. The whole point of the Inquisition was to root out crypto-Jews, those who had converted to Christianity, but secretly maintained their Jewish faith. The courts used torture to obtain statements by the accused. Those who repented were often given a second chance. Those who didn't repent, or were caught a second time were killed. In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain. Of an approximate population of 80,000, half of them left, while half stayed. Those that stayed had to be baptized or be expelled as well.

Many Jews, particularly the wealthy, were allowed to confess, do Christian penance and continue living their normal lives, as long as they maintained the veneer of a Christian life. Torture was only used on those who would not confess.

It is actually true. The Spanish Inquisition started after the newly appointed Bishop of Seville sent an urgent letter to the Catholic Kings noting how the civilian population had been accusing "Falsos Conversos "("False Converts", Jewish peopl who had converted to Catholicism but continued to practice their original religion in secret) left and right, both as part of a mass bloodlust that took over after the Reconquista, and because some people used it as a way to finish off rivals. The Bishop requested the Crown that in turn it requested Rome for the sanctioning of an official, state-controlled inquisition that would normalize the trials and put all the accusations through a judiciary system.

Yes, the Inquisition aimed at Jews (although technically it did not excecute them itself, as it did not have the authority. Those found guilty were passed over to the authorities who, then, determined the punishment. Let us remember that heresy and hereticism was punished by death in all of Europe more for political than religious reasons, as a united faith was often the main way to keep the realm from falling appart), but it actually stopped the mass-killing, as no longer could civilians openly accuse and excecute alleged falsos conversos.

I'm not saying by any means that the Inquisition was a good thing. I'm merely stating how it began.

The Exchange

Crimson Jester wrote:
You know that was one of the big stupid mistakes they made in STNG they never ever show Worf being able to go toe to toe with anything.

Which named a trope...

Liberty's Edge

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Arazni wrote:

1) The Grooved Spheres of South Africa

These are spheres of metal roughly an inch in diameter, some etched with three grooves along the equator. There are two different types, composed of different materials. What's unusual about them? They were found embedded in Precambrian stone, and have been dated to 2.8 billion years in age.

2) The Ica Stones of Peru
Dated between 500 and 1000 years ago, many of these stones are etched with dinosaurs: triceratops, stegosaurus, and pterodactyls... many of them show natives riding or interacting with the dinosaurs.

3) The Antikythera Mechanism
This was found in an undersea expedition near the isle of Crete, estimated to be approximately 2000 years old. It is one of the most complex system of differential gears known to have ever been created, and its purpose is somewhat a mystery. There are theories, however, that the device is a complete astrological computer.

4) The Baghdad Battery
Sometime between 248 BC and 226 AD this device was created: a small clay vessel holds a copper cylinder in place by asphalt, inside of which is an oxidized iron rod. Experts have concluded that the vessel only had to be filled with acid or an alkaline liquid to produce an electric charge.

5) The Coso Artifact
This geode was discovered in California, and broken open by gem hunters. It contained a strange object of porcelain, which when it was broken open contained a device that most who have seen it agreed was a 1930s spark plug. The geode, however, was dated at 500,000 years old before it was opened. The Coso Artifact has disappeared, preventing future study.

6) Ancient Model Aircraft
Models have been found in Egyptian and Mesoamerican tombs, made of both wood and gold. Both models exhibit correct aerodynamic mathematics. These items must be at least 1000 years old.

7) Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica
These objects are obviously hand-carved, however what is alarming is the sheer size and weight of some of the stone balls, and the fact that many are perfectly spherical. The largest of these is 8 ft wide and weighs 16 tons.

8) Several Impossible Fossils
Human handprint in limestone (dated to 110 million years old)
Fossilized human finger in Canadian Arctic (dated to 100 to 110 million years old)
Human footprint (possibly with sandal) in shale deposit (dated to 300 million to 600 million years old)

9) Out of Place Metal Objects (Fossil Record Anomalies)
In several places, objects of metal have been discovered where they should not have been (according to geological fossil record), some in chalk thought to be 65 million years old. A nail embedded in a piece of sandstone dated to the Mesozoic Era.

10) The Shoe Print Fossil (Another Fossil Anomaly)
A shoe print fossil was discovered in a coal seam in Pershing County, Nevada. The coal had been dated to 15 million years in age.

1. The Klerksdorp Spheres have been shown to be naturally formed geological concretions.

2. The Ica Stones are a confessed hoax perpetrated by black market antiquities dealers in South America.

3. The Antikythera Mechanism does indeed seem to have been used for astronomical calculations.

4. While there is some evidence that the Baghdad Battery was an early galvanic cell, there is also much evidence that it was merely a type of scroll case.

5. After some scrutiny, the Coso Artifact was proved to be a 1920s-era spark plug encased in hardened clay, not a geode.

6. The Saqqara Bird seems to have been nothing more than a model bird, and would have been unable to fly without serious modifications.

7. The infamous Diquis Spheres are indeed an archaeological mystery, though the claim as to their being perfectly spherical is hard to prove, since many have been damaged over the years.

8. I'd really need to see links for articles on these. Evidence is always good.

9. See #8

10. The Fisher Canyon Footprint has been shown by geologists to be a natural formation that merely resembles a shoe print.

Liberty's Edge

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Arazni wrote:

There is some archaeological evidence that the Americas were discovered by the Egyptians, Paleo-hebrew people, the Phoenicians, and the Chinese long before the vikings, but you won't find that in your history books as its mostly been suppressed.

Also, Roman coins have been found in several places in the Americas, leading some to believe that there may have been trade between American Natives and the Roman Empire.

I'm just reporting.

Early Egyptian and Semitic peoples having had contact with America is highly unlikely due to their lack of seafaring technology (though both groups did build reed boats for river travel). There is, however, some small evidence as to Chinese and Phoenician contact with the Americas in pre-Columbian times. Also, the evidence was probably less 'suppressed' than overlooked for better and/or more mainstream hypotheses.

Though Roman coins have been occasionally found in the Americas, there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that they were actually left here by Romans (or natives that had had contact with Romans), as opposed to being left by enterprising 19th-century hoaxsters.


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The world is a lot less fun if you employ common sense and an empirical attitude to out-there claims.

Scarab Sages

African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words.


Kajehase wrote:
The world is a lot less fun if you employ common sense and an empirical attitude to out-there claims.

The world is just too darn small these days.


Aberzombie wrote:
African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words.

That's at the rather unimpressive end of what they can do, a trained african grey can easily go far, far beyond that. I've heard of parakeets with 100 word lists.


HarbinNick wrote:
Aberzombie wrote:
African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words.
That's at the rather unimpressive end of what they can do, a trained african grey can easily go far, far beyond that. I've heard of parakeets with 100 word lists.

Mrgh?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Aberzombie wrote:
African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words.

My African Grey's vocabulary is about that. Unfortunately, a good part of that vocabulary are curse words that he's picked up from me. Heh heh.

The Exchange

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Arazni wrote:

Ten unusual, disturbing, or baffling archaeological artifacts:

8) Several Impossible Fossils
Human handprint in limestone (dated to 110 million years old)
Fossilized human finger in Canadian Arctic (dated to 100 to 110 million years old)
Human footprint (possibly with sandal) in shale deposit (dated to 300 million to 600 million years old)

9) Out of Place Metal Objects (Fossil Record Anomalies)
In several places, objects of metal have been discovered where they should not have been (according to geological fossil record), some in chalk thought to be 65 million years old. A nail embedded in a piece of sandstone dated to the Mesozoic Era.

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:


8. I'd really need to see links for articles on these. Evidence is always good.

9. See #8

The "Burdick Track", a human footprint in Cretaceous rock. Glen J. Kuban and Geologist Gregg Wilkerson wrote that anatomic errors on it indicate that is was carved from limestone, similar to other tracks that were carved in Glen Rose.


The "Fossilized Human Finger", a finger where tissues appear to have been replaced by Cretaceous stone. There is doubt about its authenticity since it was not found in situ, and cannot be conclusively associated with Cretaceous formations.

The "Meister Print", two trilobites in slate that appear to be crushed in a sandal print. The print is "questionable on several accounts" such as the shallowness of the print, spall patterns, striding sequence, and similarities to the Wheeler formation

The London Hammer a hammer "found" from the Cretaceous time frame


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Garydee wrote:
Aberzombie wrote:
African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words.
My African Grey's vocabulary is about that. Unfortunately, a good part of that vocabulary are curse words that he's picked up from me. Heh heh.

Maybe for balance, you could teach him to speak droid.

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