As Syndromes Go, I Have A Good One Today. Enjoy The Facts.

July 7, 2015June 26, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual 16 Psyche, Andes Mountains, around the world, asteroid belt, awakened, banned, Brannock Device, bullet made of ice, buying spare parts, CIA, circumnavigate the globe, Connecticut Board of Education, country, dipped in shellfish toxin, disclosures, discovered, dry your car, ebay, education, Entertainment, Erden Eruc, estimate, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, falling asleep in class, first solo person, Greek mythological figure Psyche, headaches, hearing loss, heart attack gun, heart attack guns, human power, identified, illegal, Incan citadel, induces a heart attack, information, intellectual, iron-nickel composition, Japanese, Japanese embassy in France, Jupiter, largest metal asteroids, Machu Picchu, marine species, Mars, McDonald's, measure your foot, metal asteroids, mountains, nasa, nausea, Nicolae Ceausescu, oceans, outdated, Paris, Paris Syndrome, Peru, Psyche, psychological syndrome, Random, Romanian President, rowed, San Francisco, scientists, Scrabble, shoe store, Space Shuttle electronics, special hotline, subversive evil, sue, Symptoms, syndromes, teacher, tourists, Turkey, underwater marine species, used underwear, walked, water, websites

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

There seems to be syndromes for just about anything these days/

Maybe that would make a good post on its own.

For today however you will have to be content with just one, mixed in with a lot of other facts too.

Apparently in San Francisco

it is illegal to dry your car

with used underwear.

Since the Space Shuttle electronics were

so outdated and nobody made them anymore,

NASA actually resorted to buying spare parts

on websites like eBay

Only about 226,000 underwater marine species

have been identified and scientists estimate that

there could be up to 25 million marine species

living in the oceans.

This means less than 1% of all underwater

marine life has been discovered.

Machu Picchu, the Incan citadel set high

in the Andes Mountains in Peru,

was so high in the mountains that it

wasn’t discovered until 1911.

If it were a country,

McDonald’s would be the 90th richest

country on Earth.

In the 80’s Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu

had the game of scrabble banned and described it

as “overly intellectual” and a “subversive evil”.

Discovered in 1852 and named after

the Greek mythological figure Psyche,

16 Psyche is a one of the largest metal asteroids

in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Unlike most of other metal asteroids,

Psyche shows no sign of the presence of water

and is believed to have a purely iron-nickel composition.

After falling asleep in class and being awakened

by a teacher smacking her palm down on his desk,

a 16 year old’s parents decided to sue the

Connecticut Board of Education

for the hearing loss he suffered.

The thing that is always used

to measure your foot at the shoe store

is called a Brannock Device.

Heart attack guns exist.

According to disclosures by the CIA in 1975,

there is such a thing as a ‘heart attack gun’.

It fires a bullet made of ice, dipped in shellfish toxin

that immediately induces a heart attack.

The first solo person to circumnavigate the globe

using only human power

was Erden Eruc of Turkey who

walked and rowed right around the world!

Paris Syndrome is a real psychological syndrome

that affects mostly Japanese people when they realize

that Paris isn’t as great a place as they thought it would be.

The Japanese embassy in France even has a

special hotline that tourists can call.

Symptoms include nausea and headaches.

====================================

Disappearing Beaches And Dead Fish – It’s Fact Day.

April 7, 2015April 5, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual 19th century Ireland, abstaining, Alexander Rukshin, almonds, animal rights group, antioxidant, ATBIP, Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power, awards, bacteria, Baghdad, banned, beach, body, brain, British land agent, buying, Caribbean location, Caribbean Sea, Charles Cunningham Boycott, Chevrolet C/K, Chevrolet Silverado, coastal town, conger-cuddling, Constantinople, Cornwall, country, daily recommended value, dead eel, dealing, deaths, destroyed, disappeared, Disney, disrespectful to the dead fish, dog, dog’s Victoria Cross, drink, dry roasted almonds, education, England, Entertainment, eyes, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, fasab facts, Father of All Bombs, first book bought on Amazon, Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought, FOAB, freak tide, General Motors, German city, Hamburg, hazelnuts, heroic act, high tide, immune system, information, inner city, kill, leeward coast, local bureaucrats, local community, London, Lyme Regis, main island, married, Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, medieval period, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, MOAB, money, most powerful weapon, nicknamed, Nuts, official languages, optic nerve, organization, original state, ostracized, Paris, peanuts, person, pickup truck, Pirates of the Caribbean, police reports, political or social protest, Porthleven, property, re-deposited, reconstruct, rescuing people from the sea, residents, Russi Taylor, Russian-made, sand volume, sensitive, sharks, Silverados, snack, snakes, South Africa, St Vincent, Swansea Jack, synonymous, terrier dog, tradition, trivia, UK, using, vending machines, viruses, Vitamin E, Wales, Wallilabou Anchorage, Wallilabou Bay, Wayne Allwine, weapon, West Dorset

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Two of the facts today do indeed relate to disappearing beaches and dead fish.

Rather surprisingly though, the two facts are not related.

Find out for yourself below.

And enjoy.

The optic nerve,

which connects the eyes to the brain,

is too sensitive to successfully reconstruct.

The most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) weapon

in the world is the

Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP),

nicknamed “Father of All Bombs” or “FOAB’,

a Russian-made air-delivered/land-activated

thermobaric weapon whose destructive power,

according to Russian deputy chief of the general staff

Alexander Rukshin was such that,

“all that is alive merely evaporates.”

The bomb is reportedly four times as powerful as the

US military’s Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb or “MOAB”

mentioned in last week’s fasab facts.

South Africa has eleven official languages,

the highest number of any country in the world.

Swansea Jack was a black retriever dog from Wales

with a big heart and lots of courage that became

famous in the 1930s for rescuing people from the sea.

He saved twenty-seven people and won many

awards for his heroic acts.

Swansea Jack is the only dog to have been

awarded two bronze medals

(‘the canine Victoria Cross’)

by the National Canine Defence League

(now known as Dogs Trust).

Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant in the body

and supports the immune system in

fighting off bacteria and viruses.

Almonds, as well as other nuts like peanuts

and hazelnuts are high sources of vitamin E.

One ounce of dry roasted almonds

contains 6.8 mg of vitamin A,

which is 34% of the daily recommended value.

The first book bought on Amazon was called

‘Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies:

Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought.’

Charles Cunningham Boycott was a British

land agent living in 19th century Ireland,

who was ostracized by his local community after

he refused his tenants´ demands for reduction in rates.

His name lives on and is synonymous with acts of

political or social protest by voluntarily abstaining from

using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country.

At Porthleven in Cornwall (UK) the entire sand

volume mysteriously disappeared due to a freak tide,

but after a second high tide a few hours later,

the entire sand volume was re-deposited on the beach,

returning it to its original state.

A case of now you don’t see it, now you do!

(David Copperfield was not around at the time.)

The Chevrolet Silverado is a mega-selling full-size

and heavy-duty pickup truck manufactured

by General Motors and introduced in 1999

as the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K line.

In 2014 Cheverolet sold 529,755 Silverados,

or almost 1 every minute.

During the medieval period, London and Paris

each had no more than forty thousand residents.

In contrast cities, such as Constantinople and Baghdad,

had about a million people each.

The voices of Mickey & Minnie Mouse,

Wayne Allwine & Russi Taylor,

married each other in real life, too.

Vending machines kill more people per year

than sharks and snakes combined.

According to the available police reports

the deaths usually happen when the vending machine

steals somebody’s snack, drink, or money,

and they decide to hit it a bit too hard causing

the vending machine to fall on them.

In the German city of Hamburg in 1842,

about a quarter of the inner city was destroyed

and an estimated twenty thousand lost their property.

Surprisingly only fifty-one people lost their lives.

In Lyme Regis, a little coastal town

in West Dorset, England,

slapping people with a dead eel is prohibited.

There had been a tradition known as

“the conger-cuddling”, in which people swung

dead eels at each other but in 2006,

the game was banned by local bureaucrats not

because it might have injured the people taking

part in this activity but because

– wait for it –

an animal rights group claimed

it was disrespectful to the dead fish.

Wallilabou Anchorage, situated at Wallilabou Bay

on the west or leeward coast of the main island

of St Vincent on the Caribbean Sea,

was the principal Caribbean location for

Disney’s 2003 blockbuster ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

It is still home to many of the props,

including replicas of cannons.

Many fans visit it annually.

===============================

Poor Oliver Buckworth!

September 24, 2014September 23, 2014 fasab Current Events, Rants, travel 9/11 attacks, airline, airline idiots, airports, antisocial behaviour, Australia, Australian Federal Police, background check, banned, Belts off, body scan or grope, bored, carrier, chandelier, common sense, crime, Current Events, doing nothing, doing something, doodle, doodling, Doodling with intent, enforced, fearful of terrorism, flight, fluffy bears, fools, government, government bureaucrats, handed over, idiotic security measures, idiots, impression, inappropriate, ineffective, interior designer, laptops out, melting ice-cream, morons, note pad, Oliver, Oliver Buckworth, Oliver's doodle, Osama Bin Laden, pass the time, passing the time, pen, police, Rants, reality, sandy feet, security farce, security morons, sense of humor, shoes off, stupid, stupid people, stupid rules, stupider people, stupidity, terror, terrorism, terrorist, threat to no one, thrown off the plane, Tiger Airways, travelled by air, uncovered, useless, victim, visual pun, you know the drill, zero tolerance policy

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Anyone who has traveled by air anywhere in the world since the 9/11 attacks has been the victim of the idiotic security measures at airports.

Belts off, shoes off, laptops out, body scan or grope – you know the drill. All useless and ineffective and there, like a lot of other stuff, to give the impression that the government is doing something when in reality it is doing nothing.

And as always the stupid rules are enforced by even stupider people.

So, who is poor Oliver Buckworth?

He’s a 28-year-old Melbourne-based interior designer, a threat to no one, and a victim of the security morons that infest air travel these days.

You see Oliver was on a flight in Australia, on a carrier called Tiger Airways. To pass the time he started doodling in a note pad he had with him.

The doodle said “In a land of melting ice-cream, sandy feet and fluffy bears, how could anybody be fearful of terrorism?” and along with it was a visual pun with the word “terrorismadeup” picked out in different colors to suggest that “terror is made up”. Being an interior designer he also drew a chandelier on the same page.

Now you are probably asking, what exactly was his crime?

Doodling with intent to do what?

Not taking the air travel security farce seriously enough?

Having a sense of humor?

Or just getting bored and passing the time with his note pad and pen?

A busybody passenger sitting near Buckworth reported his doodle to the airline staff, who, instead of telling the other passenger to wise up, took the whole thing seriously. Yes, they were as stupid as the busybody passenger.

Apparently Tiger Airways have a “zero tolerance” policy “towards inappropriate and antisocial behavior” which seemed to include Oliver’s doodle. He said he was writing a sentence about the absurdity of recent fear-mongering statements about the threat of possible terrorist attacks, but it was enough to have him thrown off the plane and handed over to the Australian Federal Police.

To be fair to the police, after doing a background check on Oliver they realized that the airline idiots hadn’t uncovered the next Osama Bin Laden and they didn’t take any further action.

But, choosing not to involve themselves with common sense, Tiger Airways banned him from using the airline again, not that he’d probably want to now anyway.

Well done Tiger Airways, you done Australia proud – I think not!

Here’s Oliver’s doodle, make up your own mind.

===========================================

Did You Know? It’s The Fasab Fact Show!

November 12, 2013 fasab Factoids, Unusual acronym, advertising revenue, Allies, alphabet, America's first Air Force, America’s war effort, American tradition, Amiens, army, atomic symbol for any element, bad eyesight, banned, Barcolo Manufacturing Company, bark continuously, Basketball, bikini wax, boost morale, buffalo, California, canine vocal cords, chain's founder, civil war, communicate, Confederate States of America, David Filo, dogs, education, educational, employees, Enterprise, Entertainment, eye chart, fact, facts, farting, fifty servicemen, France, free coffee, Fruit Smack, Greenland, Harry Truman, herring, hobby, hot-air balloons, humans, information, informative, Interesting Facts, invented, irritated, J, Jefferson Finis Davis, Jerry Yang, Kmart, Kool-Aid, Kresge, largest national park in the world, laryngitis, lead, letter, logo, Massachusetts, memorized, mercury, middle-east, Misc, Miscellaneous, most successful fighter, Muslim brides-to-be, Name, new york, North Africa, North-East Greenland Park, office coffee break, Palo Alto, Pepsi, President, red white and blue, René Fonck, Rittmeister von Richthofen, Sebastian S Kresge, soldier, Sri Lanka, Star of India, star sapphire, star trek, starship, statesman, television, tobacco ads, trailer, trivia, tungsten, Uganda, United States, volleyball, WWI, WWI pilot, Yahoo, Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle, YMCA, Yorktown, youth capital of the world

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Yes folks, the fasab fact show is on the road again.

Another chance to load your brain up with obscure but hopefully interesting facts.

Enjoy.

In the 1940s,

Pepsi adopted a red, white, and blue logo

to support America’s war effort.

The American tradition of the office “coffee break” started in 1902

when the Barcolo Manufacturing Company of Buffalo, New York

offered free coffee to their employees in order to boost morale.

The largest national park in the world

is the North-East Greenland Park in Greenland,

covering more than 375,000 square miles.

Yahoo! is an acronym for

“Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.”

David Filo and Jerry Yang were in a trailer in Palo Alto, Calif.,

thinking of a name for their hobby!

(Bet you always wondered about that.)

Television lost about 20 percent of its advertising revenue

immediately after tobacco ads were banned in 1971.

Because he had bad eyesight,

Harry Truman memorized the letters on the eye chart

to get into the Army.

“J” is the only letter of the alphabet not used

as the atomic symbol for any element.

Dogs that bark continuously can get laryngitis, just like humans,

but not as quickly because canine vocal cords are thicker

and take longer to get irritated.

(Unlike the people who have to listen to them barking!)

Uganda is the youth capital of the world.

More than half the people living there

are under 15 years of age.

America’s first “Air Force” was equipped with

five hot-air balloons and fifty servicemen.

As of 2012, the service operates

5,484 aircraft, 450 ICBMs and 63 satellites.

It has a $140 billion budget with 332,854 active personnel,

185,522 civilian personnel, 71,400 reserve personnel,

and 106,700 air guard personnel.

The most successful fighter of WWI was

Rittmeister von Richthofen

who shot down 80 planes, more than any other WWI pilot.

He died after being shot down near Amiens.

France’s René Fonck

was the Allies’ most successful fighter pilot,

shooting down 75 enemy planes.

Kool-Aid

was originally marketed as

Fruit Smack.

Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889)

was a United States soldier and statesman, and

President of the Confederate States of America

during the entire Civil War which was fought from 1861 to 1865.

The original name for the starship in Star Trek

was “Yorktown,” not “Enterprise”.

The Star of India, the largest

star sapphire in the world (at 563.35 carats),

is actually from Sri Lanka.

The bikini wax has been around for hundreds of years.

Muslim brides-to-be in the Middle East and North Africa

remove all their body hair before the wedding night.

(Ouch!)

Basketball and volleyball were invented

in neighboring Massachusetts YMCAs,

the former in 1891 the latter four years later.

Lead will float in mercury,

but a lump of tungsten

will sink right to the bottom.

Researchers believe that herring communicate

with one another by farting.

(Maybe the message is in the bubbles?)

The “K” in Kmart stands for Kresge,

the chain’s founder is Sebastian S. Kresge.

==================================

Time To Test Those Brains Again – It’s Quiz Day!

October 21, 2013October 2, 2013 fasab Questions, Tests 1620, 1894, 18th March 1965, 1934, 1968, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, Alexi Leonov, American town, atlantic, bad guy, banned, best selling, black and white movie, book, books, Bridge of Sighs, Cannon, cemetery, character, city, common cold, convicted, country, cowboy, Devil's island, Doge's palace, Donald Duck, edible product, education, Entertainment, European country, famous personalities, film, first commercial jet airliner, French officer, fruit, general knowledge, Geography, history, John 'the cat' Robie, John Lennon, Jon Voight, knowledge, literature, Long March, Marilyn Monroe, Mark David Chapman, Misc, Miscellaneous, movie, movies, murder, music, orbits our sun, place of execution, Pluto, Portugese, Puritans, questions, quince, quiz, quizzes, Random, right to vote, Road To movies, science, ship, Spats Columbo, state prison, tax office, television, test, tests, The Space Odyssey, theory in physics, treason, Turkish bath house, TV series, Venice, virus, Winston Churchill, women

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Yes, time to test those brains again.

Another selection of twenty random questions to stimulate the mind and memory.

As usual the answers are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: What was the first commercial jet airliner?

Q. 2: In which American town or city was the TV series Cannon set?

Q. 3: ‘John ‘the cat’ Robie’ was the debonair central character in which popular movie?

Q. 4: In 1894, which French officer was convicted of treason and sent to Devil’s island?

Q. 5: The name of which edible product stems from the Portugese word for the quince fruit?

Q. 6: Spats Columbo is the bad guy in which popular black and white movie that starred Marilyn Monroe?

Q. 7: What ship conveyed 120 anti-Catholic Puritans across the Atlantic in 1620?

Q. 8: Pluto orbits our sun once every how many years?

a) 8 years

b) 16 years

c) 86 years

d) 248 years

Q. 9: In the 1968 movie when was ‘The Space Odyssey’?

Q. 10: In what country did the Long March of 1934 take place?

Q. 11: The common cold is what kind of virus? Five letters

Q. 12: The Bridge of Sighs in Venice connected the Doge’s palace to what?

a) a state prison and place of execution

b) a tax office

c) a cemetary

d) a Turkish bath house

Q. 13: What type of Cowboy was Jon Voight in the 1969 movie?

Q. 14: Which European country did not grant women the right to vote until 1971?

Q. 15: Which best selling and often banned book apparently inspired Mark David Chapman to murder John Lennon?

Q. 16: What did Winston Churchill describe as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”?

Q. 17: Who were the three famous personalities who starred in the popular ‘Road To’ movie series made during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s? (A point for each correct answer.)

Q. 18: On 18th March 1965 what was Alexi Leonov the first man to achieve?

Q. 19: What is Donald Duck’s middle (i.e. second) name?

Q. 20: Which of the following is a theory in physics?

a) Schrödinger’s dog

b) Schrödinger’s cat

c) Schrödinger’s butterfly

ANSWERS

Q. 1: What was the first commercial jet airliner?

A. 1: The Comet.

Q. 2: In which American town or city was the TV series Cannon set?

A. 2: Los Angeles.

Q. 3: ‘John ‘the cat’ Robie’ was the debonair central character in which popular movie?

A. 3: To Catch A Thief (Cary Grant played John Robie)

Q. 4: In 1894, which French officer was convicted of treason and sent to Devil’s island?

A. 4: Captain Alfred Dreyfus.

Q. 5: The name of which edible product stems from the Portugese word for the quince fruit?

A. 5: Marmalade (from marmelo).

Q. 6: Spats Columbo is the bad guy in which popular black and white movie that starred Marilyn Monroe?

A. 6: Some Like It Hot.

Q. 7: What ship conveyed 120 anti-Catholic Puritans across the Atlantic in 1620?

A. 7: The Mayflower.

Q. 8: Pluto orbits our sun once every how many years?

a) 8 years

b) 16 years

c) 86 years

d) 248 years

A. 8: d) 248 years

Q. 9: In the 1968 movie when was ‘The Space Odyssey’?

A. 9: 2001.

Q. 10: In what country did the Long March of 1934 take place?

A. 10: China.

Q. 11: The common cold is what kind of virus? Five letters

A. 11: Rhino.

Q. 12: The Bridge of Sighs in Venice connected the Doge’s palace to what?

a) a state prison and place of execution

b) a tax office

c) a cemetary

d) a Turkish bath house

A. 12: d) A state prison and place of execution

Q. 13: What type of Cowboy was Jon Voight in the 1969 movie?

A. 13: Midnight.

Q. 14: Which European country did not grant women the right to vote until 1971?

A. 14: Switzerland.

Q. 15: Which best selling and often banned book apparently inspired Mark David Chapman to murder John Lennon?

A. 15: The Catcher in the Rye, a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger, whose protagonist and antihero, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.

Q. 16: What did Winston Churchill describe as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”?

A. 16: Russia.

Q. 17: Who were the three famous personalities who starred in the popular ‘Road To’ movie series made during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 17: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby.

Q. 18: On 18th March 1965 what was Alexi Leonov the first man to achieve?

A. 18: Walk in Space.

Q. 19: What is Donald Duck’s middle (i.e. second) name?

A. 19: Fauntleroy.

Q. 20: Which of the following is a theory in physics?

a) Schrödinger’s dog

b) Schrödinger’s cat

c) Schrödinger’s butterfly

A. 20: b) Schrödinger’s cat which is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox in quantum mechanics. In the course of developing this experiment, Schrödinger coined the term Verschränkung (entanglement).

=========================================

More Random Samples From The Fasab Fact File

May 21, 2013May 20, 2013 fasab Factoids, Humour, Unusual 100 yard dash, 100 years or older class, 101, 3rd century AD, 5-cent bill, alcohol, America, American anthem, americans, amusing, Ancient Egyptian tombs, avoiding reality, Aztec emperor, banned, best-known western names, British pilots, bucket, burn their houses down, caffeine, Canadian anthem, Canadians, captured, chemically addictive, China, Churchill, clans, coffee, college, comics, company, competition, concentrated, cotton growers, Cuitlahac, dated, dinnerware, Donald Duck, drink, eat, eat your plate, education, Elvis Presley, Entertainment, escape, fact, factoid, facts, feed, filters, Finland, fish, gas masks, hemp farmers, Humor, Humour, husband, illegal, Indian, information, Jesus Christ, Kemo Sabe, ketchup, killer whales, killing, Kleenex tissues, knitted socks, knowledge, Lady Astor, Larry Lewis, little pecker, Marijuana, mass, medicine, Misc, Miscellaneous, money, Montezuma, mummy, Name, Navajo, nephew, new world's record, nicotine, orca, pants, paper, pill, playing cards, plenty of excrement, poison, ran, Random, revenge, Richard Nixon, runners, sense of touch, soaked in water, Soggy Shrub, solar system, spit out, sun, Taiwan, The Lone Ranger, to get fired, tons, Tonto, trivia, unfolded to reveal a map, unwanted people, US, wheat, wife, Winston Churchill, WWII

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

If its facts you want we have them!

So here is another selection.

If you can’t find something you don’t know in here then you know far too much.

Enjoy.

“Kemo Sabe”, the name Tonto called The Lone Ranger

means “Soggy Shrub” in Navajo Indian.

The Tonto in Spanish means “a fool”.

Ketchup was sold in the 1830’s as medicine.

Killer whales have such a good sense of touch

that if you dropped a pill into a bucket

and feed it to the orca

it would eat the fish and spit out the pill.

Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks.

Knitted socks discovered in Ancient Egyptian tombs

have been dated back as far as the 3rd century AD.

Oh mummy!

Larry Lewis ran the 100 yard dash in 17.9 seconds in 1969,

there by setting a new world’s record

for runners in the 100 years or older class.

He was 101.

5% of Canadians don’t know the first 7 words of the Canadian anthem,

but know the first 9 of the American anthem.

7% of Americans don’t know the first 9 words of the American anthem,

but know the first 7 of the Canadian anthem.

85,000,000 tons of paper are used each year in the U.S.

99% of the solar system’s mass is concentrated in the sun.

There is a company in Taiwan makes dinnerware

out of wheat, so you can eat your plate.

About 70% of Americans who go to college

do it just to make more money.

(The rest are just avoiding reality for four more years.)

America once issued a 5-cent bill.

The Aztec emperor Montezuma had a nephew named Cuitlahuac,

whose name meant “plenty of excrement.”

Now there’s revenge for you!

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of

their unwanted people without killing them

used to burn their houses down

– hence the expression “to get fired.”

Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland

because he doesn’t wear pants

– the little pecker!

Marijuana is not as chemically addictive

as is nicotine, alcohol, or caffeine.

One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today

is because in the 1930’s cotton growers lobbied against

hemp farmers whom they saw it as competition.

Special playing cards were issued to British pilots in WWII.

If captured, they could be soaked in water

and unfolded to reveal a map for escape.

The three best-known western names in China are

Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.

Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill,

‘If you were my husband, I would poison your coffee’.

To which Churchill replied,

‘If you were my wife, I would drink it’.

===================================