Did You Know? – Another Factoid Feast.

May 27, 2014May 23, 2014 fasab Factoids, Unusual 10000, A-1 Steak Sauce, Ace, Admiral, Alabama, Albatross, amir al bahr, Arabic phrase, atomic bomb, birthplace, born in Los Alamos, burn their houses down, Cathedral Caverns, Chinese ideogram, clans, contraction, crappy name, crespucular rays, Did You Know, education, Entertainment, expression, fact, factoid, factoid feast, factoids, facts, friends, Goliath, Grant, hole-in-one, hole-in-one insurance, Holland, IBM compatible computer, information, interesting, Jamie Farr, Japan, Japanese golfers, Japanese term, Klinger, Korean War, largest stalagmite, largest stalagmite forest, listed, lord of the sea, M*A*S*H, Manhattan Project, member of the cast, Microsoft's Flight Simulator, Mount Vernon, naval rank, New Mexico, orange peel, original name, picture cell, picture element, pixel, post office box in Albequerque, price, raisins, Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lifshitz, Random, samba, sending gifts, served as a soldier, share one's good luck, shining down, sunbeams, symbolizes, through the clouds, to get fired, to rub navels together, traditional, trivia, trouble, tulips, two women living under one roof, unusual selection, unwanted people, Washington, word, world's largest cave opening

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Indeed, it’s time for another factoid feast.

I would say that this is an unusual selection, but the truth is they are usually unusual, if you see what I mean.

I try to make the whole thing as random as possible so there is at least one or two things that you find interesting.

So here goes this week’s offering.

Many Japanese golfers carry “hole-in-one” insurance,

because it is traditional in Japan to share one’s good luck

by sending gifts to all your friends when you get an “ace.”

The price for what the Japanese term an “albatross”

can often reach $10,000.

Those sunbeams that you see shining down

through the clouds are called ‘crespucular rays’.

A-1 Steak Sauce contains

both orange peel and raisins.

The Chinese ideogram for ‘trouble’ symbolizes

‘two women living under one roof’.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of

their unwanted people without killing them

use to burn their houses down

– hence the expression “to get fired.”

The naval rank of “Admiral” is derived from

the Arabic phrase “amir al bahr”,

which means “lord of the sea”.

Mt. Vernon Washington grows more tulips

than the entire country of Holland.

Jamie Farr (who played Klinger on M*A*S*H)

was the only member of the cast who

actually served as a soldier in the Korean war.

Little known Cathedral Caverns near Grant, Alabama

has the world’s largest cave opening, the largest stalagmite (Goliath),

and the largest stalagmite forest in the World.

The word ‘pixel’ is a contraction of

either ‘picture cell’ or ‘picture element.’

Back in the mid to late 80’s, an IBM compatible computer

wasn’t considered a hundred percent compatible

unless it could run Microsoft’s Flight Simulator.

If you were born in Los Alamos, New Mexico

during the Manhattan project (where they made the atomic bomb),

your birthplace was listed as a post office box in Albequerque.

Ralph Lauren’s original name was Ralph Lifshitz.

(I can’t say I’m surprised he changed a crappy name like that.)

The word “samba” means “to rub navels together.”

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Gosh, It’s A Two Post Sunday!

December 9, 2012 fasab Investing, Politics, Rants, Uncategorized, Unusual adult Americans, American citizens, americans, banking, beyond reasonable doubt, bureaucracy-ridden, bureaucrats, buy and sell, China, clamping down, commodities, commodity options, commodity options contracts, condemn, congress, currency, Current Events, defend the nation, exchange, exemption, faceless, fools, freedom, gold, government, government with limited powers, hedge funds, high horses, home of the brave, idiots, illegal, in harm's way, individual choice, inefficient, internet, Intrade, investment banks, Ireland, land of the free, last century, learn nothing from their mistakes, legally exempt, liberals, make up my own mind, manipulating, markets, Megaupload, MF Global, Misc, Miscellaneous, money, morons, Musings, nanny state, New Zealand, north korea, offshore jurisdiction, oil, online gambling, Opinion, options contracts, Personal Writing, perversion, platinum, politically, politics, popular, pork bellies, power, price, public interest, rant, Rants, reading blogs, regulate, restrict, ridicule, scandal, sensitive, speculate, speculating, stupid people, stupid rules, stupidity, the great, thought police, tomorrow, upholding principles, US citizens, Volstead Act, Washington, wealthy, web site, well connected, young people, your own protection

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

I haven’t had a rant for a while, so one is long overdue. Here it is.

I’m sure hardly anybody noticed, but last week the bureaucrats in Washington effectively shut down the web site Intrade for US citizens. Intrade was the popular web site that any adult, including Americans, could use to wager on the future price of certain commodities, like gold or oil.

Effectively the bureaucrats have now made it illegal to solicit Americans to buy and sell commodity options contracts unless they are listed on an exchange registered with them or on one designated as legally exempt by them, and they have taken upon themselves the power to regulate nearly any commodity-related activity unless Congress provides a specific exemption.

Of course the politically well connected investment banks and hedge funds into which the great and the wealthy put their money can carry on as before speculating on the price of everything from pork bellies to platinum and manipulating gold, currency, oil and other markets. The recent MF Global scandal really puts that beyond reasonable doubt.

Intrade is just the latest move by the bureaucrats and the thought police to restrict the freedom of American citizens. Not so long ago it was the online gambling websites, then New Zealand based Megaupload was targeted, then banking in any offshore jurisdiction, now the Ireland based Intrade, and tomorrow, well, who knows.

Maybe the ever sensitive morons in the thought police will try to stop you reading blogs critical of their asinine bureaucracy? Oh, oh, gulp!

The way they are acting is nothing short of a complete perversion of the concept of a government with limited powers. But are the liberals, who should be in the forefront of upholding such principles, falling over themselves to defend the ordinary people?

Not likely.

If and when this type of interference happens in China or North Korea or somewhere similar, they are rushing to get on to their high horses to condemn and ridicule.

But back in Washington they are busy trying to create an inefficient and bureaucracy-ridden nanny state that they know will necessitate clamping down on individual choice and freedom, if it is to even stand a chance of making it look as if it is working.

To add insult to injury the bureaucrats make their usual claim that they are taking these steps for “your own protection”.

Why is it that the steps the bureaucrats take in the ”public interest” never seem to turn out to be in my interest or in the interest of anyone I know?

By the way, in case you are wondering, I have never used Intrade, it’s not my kind of thing and I don’t know enough about that field to speculate with any consistent degree of success.

But I would appreciate the freedom to make up my own mind on the subject, instead of having the faceless and less intelligent bureaucratic thought police dictate the decision for me.

We all know how successful the Volstead Act was at the beginning of the last century, but the bureaucrats learn nothing from their mistakes. And they never will, because their desire is not to do what is right or just or even sensible, their desire is to create an ever growing bureaucracy which they control.

Home of the brave? No doubt about that when you see the young people who are willingly putting themselves in harm’s way to help to defend the nation.

But land of the free? No siree, not no mo!