1 Boy Survives Alone for Years
A 9-year-old boy in Nersac, France, lived alone for two years (2020-2022) after his mother, Alexandra, abandoned him to live with her partner 5 kilometers away. She only visited occasionally. He survived on cake and canned goods, without hot water or heating. Despite these challenges, he continued attending school and remained a good student.
2. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) do not wash or dry their clothes. Instead, they wear them until they are too dirty or smelly. Then, they place them in a capsule that burns up during re-entry into the atmosphere.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t drink alcohol. In July 2008, he successfully sued the Daily Mirror for libel after they falsely reported that he was drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury.
4. The human brain uses just 12 watts to think, whereas an AI system performing the same processing could require 2.7 billion watts (as of June 2025).
5. After starring as the “Childlike Empress” in The NeverEnding Story at age 11, Tami Stronach received marriage proposals from adult men and offers of inappropriate nude film roles, prompting her to step away from cinema and take a hiatus from acting until she reached adulthood.
6 Drunk Driver Sues Concert Organizers
In 2019, Daniela Leis crashed her car into a home after a Marilyn Manson concert, causing an explosion that destroyed four homes, injured seven people, and resulted in $10-15 million in damages. She later sued the concert organizers for serving her alcohol while she was intoxicated.
7. In 1997, Guo Gangtang’s son, Xinzhen, was abducted by a child trafficker. Guo spent 24 years, his life savings, and 10 motorbikes searching across China. They reunited in 2021, and his efforts helped Chinese authorities locate over 100 more abducted children.
8. A teenager in Kent, England-16-year-old Thomas Townsend-died in 2015 from an accidental overdose after excessive use of spray-on deodorant. His mother revealed he avoided showers, instead using half a can of deodorant and aftershave to mask body odor. Authorities found 42 cans of deodorant, hair spray, and other products in his room.
9. Margaret Atwood based “The Handmaid’s Tale” entirely on real historical events. Every element of oppression depicted in the book has already occurred somewhere in history.
10. Of the 85 known drugs that interact with grapefruit, 43 can cause serious side effects, including sudden death, acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, and bone marrow suppression, especially in people with weakened immune systems.
11 Friendship Wins Powerball Promise
In 1992, friends Thomas Cook and Joseph Feeney shook hands and promised to split the Powerball jackpot if one of them won. In 2020, Cook honored their 28-year-old agreement after winning $22 million. They both chose the cash option, taking home $5.7 million each.
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower prepared an alternate speech in case the D-Day invasion failed. In it, he took full responsibility, calling the decision to attack “my decision” and stating, “If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.”
13. Alleged spy Mata Hari, a famous exotic dancer, never appeared fully nude onstage. Although she stripped off most of her clothes, her jeweled breastplate remained because she was self-conscious about her small breasts.
14. In 2020, the residents of the Pothakudi village in Southern India decided not to turn on their streetlights for 35 days because an Oriental Magpie Robin had made the switch box her home. The villagers chose not to disturb the bird, which laid three tiny eggs, two of which hatched.
15. In 9th-century China, a palace servant named Zhang Shao, prompted by a prophecy from fortune-teller Su Xuanming, stormed the Tang imperial palace in Chang’an, claiming he would dine on the emperor’s food while seated on the throne. After finishing the emperor’s meal, he lost direction and was killed on the spot.
16 Austrian Nun’s Martyrdom in WWII
Maria Restituta Kafka, an Austrian nun, was beheaded by the Germans in 1943 during World War II. She refused to remove crucifixes from her hospital and spoke out against the ruling party’s oppression. Despite being offered freedom if she left her convent, she chose to stay and was killed.
17. Producer Christopher Nolan initially opposed director Zack Snyder and writer David Goyer’s idea for Superman to kill Zod in “Man of Steel.” He told them, “There’s no way you can do this.” However, Goyer convinced him with a scene where Superman’s action saves a family.
18. Roman Emperor Nero participated in the Olympics in AD 67 after bribing organizers to postpone the games for a year. He won every contest he entered. However, after his death a year later, officials removed his name from the list of winners.
19. The nation of Ghana offers a Right of Abode, granting anyone from the African diaspora the right to move to and live in Ghana indefinitely.
20. The Barkley Marathon, a 100-mile ultramarathon in Tennessee with a 60-hour time limit, requires applicants to send an essay explaining why they deserve to participate, along with a $1.60 entrance fee.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Sony’s Casting Concerns in 2014
Sony Pictures did not adapt Michael Lewis’ best-selling book “Flash Boys” into a movie due to their apprehension about casting an Asian lead actor. This was revealed in private emails leaked during the 2014 Sony Pictures hack.
22. Researchers found that Coca-Cola alone effectively removed a type of bowel obstruction called phytobezoars (indigestible plant fibers) in about 50% of cases studied. When combined with additional endoscopic methods, the success rate approaches 90%.
23. The M6D Pistol in the game “Halo: Combat Evolved” was unusually powerful because Bungie co-founder Jason Jones secretly added code to “change a single number on the pistol” when each game map was loaded.
24. After Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle’s Doolittle Raid on Japan resulted in the loss of all aircraft, he feared court-martial. Instead, he received the Medal of Honor and a promotion to brigadier general.
25. In 2004, the Library of Congress added “Spy Kids” (2001) to the National Film Registry, recognizing it as a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” movie.
RE: Fact #11 (Friendship Wins Powerball Promise) – Thomas Cook – that name! You’d expect him to have been on the very first flight to the Caribbean.
RE: Fact #13 (Mata Hari’s Modesty on Stage) – Most people think Mata Hari was a pretty small-time spy, and her trial was totally unfair—France just needed someone to blame for their screw-ups. But hey, she did invent the whole femme fatale thing.
RE: Fact #43 (Tom Selleck Nearly Played Indiana Jones) – We totally lucked out!
He would’ve been great, a mix of his Magnum PI, High Road to China, and Three Men and a Baby characters. He could totally pull off Indiana Jones. It would’ve been a different take, but I think it would have been awesome.
RE: Fact #13 (Mata Hari’s Modesty on Stage) – Wow, that’s wild! Apparently, her head was in a Paris museum, but vanished sometime around 1954 – museum staff only realised it was gone in 2000 when they moved everything. It’s still missing!
RE: Fact #11 (Friendship Wins Powerball Promise) – 11m divided by two is 5.7m.
Taxes, man.
Lottery jackpots? They only give you about half the advertised amount in cash.
Whoa, they tax gambling winnings in the US?!
RE: Fact #32 (Vestal Virgins’ Unique Roman Privileges) – After 30 years of service, Vestal Virgins got a pension and could get married. Most lived long enough to retire, around their late 30s or early 40s. They didn’t have to worry about dying in childbirth unless they married after retirement. Some women today can have kids at that age, so it was possible for them too.
Maybe a good gig for someone who wasn’t interested in sex.
The Vestalia festival happened June 7-15. Interesting timing, huh?
RE: Fact #39 (Silver Loan in Manhattan Project) – They were building huge machines to separate uranium isotopes – the U-235 from the U-238 stuff. No one knew which method would work best, so they tried a bunch at once. The plan was to make uranium tetrachloride gas, run it through strong magnets, and use the tiny mass difference to separate the isotopes. They’d collect the separated stuff, run it through the machines again and again until it was enriched enough. The uranium they made ended up in the Hiroshima bomb.
My grandpa was a shift supervisor at the gas plant—he never really talked about it. But Mom and Dad found a picture of him in Oak Ridge getting an award, and his name’s actually listed now! We even have an old company org chart with him on it. Pretty neat, huh?
I’ve got a buddy who’s spent, like, 15-20 years making sure the K25 plant up there was safely taken apart and gotten rid of.
Spectrometer? I think you mean cyclotron.
I’m not sure what you mean. They used calutrons, not cyclotrons, to separate the isotopes. A calutron’s basically a type of mass spectrometer.
RE: Fact #1 (Boy Survives Alone for Years) – That nine-year-old kid lived alone for two years, but still made it to school every day. Those winters were rough though – no heat in his apartment because the gas was off, so he slept under three blankets. He had electricity, so he watched TV and played video games a lot. He never had friends over, maybe to keep his secret safe. He’d run around and jump on his bed, which really annoyed the neighbors. That’s how someone found out he was alone. A neighbor yelled at him about the noise, and he just said he lived by himself. Eventually, he was put into care with a foster family. His mom only visited twice, and he doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore. He seems okay now, actually – his teacher says he’s really mature and tough. His mom said she’s not a great mom, but he’s still her son. The judge didn’t buy it, saying she totally abandoned him and sentenced her for 18 months, but she only has to do six months at home.
Are you the little boy?
RE: Fact #21 (Sony’s Casting Concerns in 2014) – Couldn’t they just get John Krasinski?
RE: Fact #31 (Amtrak: Independent U.S. Agency) – Those train lines did great until the 60s, when cheaper flights started hurting them. Lots of towns still depend on trains, so the US government stepped in and bought them. Even though it’s Amtrak now, the lines kept their old names.
And Amtrak? They let you bring a ton of luggage, and you can even have a drink on board.
Luggage is way better than people give it credit for. Plus, sipping a beer while enjoying the view totally wipes out those cramped airplane seats.
It’s great being able to get up and move around to stretch. Planes are different; you’re always in someone’s way if you get up.
Man, it takes ten times longer on the train! What a steal!
Those seats are gigantic! I’m practically swimming in them, unlike on planes.
I saw these two people, right across from me, chugging a giant bottle of vodka—like, a Costco-sized one!—for the whole Seattle-to-Chicago flight. They were pretty rough by the time we landed, but they kept it cool, so I bet the flight attendants just let it slide.
RE: Fact #20 (Barkley Marathon’s Unique Application) – The Barkley Marathons date’s a secret—keeps the crowds down and protects Frozen Head State Park. It’s usually the first weekend of April, but sometimes it’s in March, like this year. Runners know the date ahead of time, but not the exact starting time, sometime between midnight and noon. Race director Cantrell decides, blowing a conch shell an hour before the start. Then, when everyone’s at the yellow gate, he lights a cigarette, and they’re off!
Netflix has a cool documentary about this. I went to Frozen Head a while back – it’s a gorgeous park. It’s less a race and more a crazy survival thing. This quirky guy puts it on, and the whole thing’s got a wild history. Anyone interested should totally check out the doc.
It’s based on some guy who busted out of a super high-security prison and ran into the hills. Didn’t last long in the woods before they nabbed him, though. It’s super hilly. You drive right past the prison to get to the park, which is kinda weird. That prison looks seriously tough.
So, this escaped prisoner, James Earl Ray—the guy who shot MLK—only got 8 miles away from the prison after 54 hours on the lam.
I really love quirky traditions! This race my camp started way back in the 90s with just five friends – they’d yell “3, 2, 1, uhhh, go!” Now, in 2025, we have close to 200 people signing up, and they still use that same “3, 2, 1, uhhh, go!”
RE: Fact #33 (Wild Pandas: Thriving Breeders) – So they just get totally bummed out being stuck there?
They need just the right environment to breed, and zoos and breeding centers couldn’t copy it.
I’m only a little way into Darwin’s *Origin of Species*, and he’s already mentioned captive animals not breeding a ton of times.
Or at least the urge to have kids.
RE: Fact #37 (Central Park’s Size in NYC) – Yeah, but those parks are way more central, so they feel like real getaways. They’re mainly there for people who live nearby. While you’re there, check out the botanical gardens – it’s not just the cherry blossoms, the whole place is amazing. It’s very carefully planned, but still incredibly beautiful if you like plants.
I lived on 5th Avenue and 110th, right by Central Park. Those Conservatory Gardens? Best spot in NYC, hands down! Definitely check them out if you’re ever visiting.
RE: Fact #16 (Austrian Nun’s Martyrdom in WWII) – Ash Wednesday, 1942, Kafka got busted by the Gestapo right after surgery.
On October 29th, 1942, she got a death sentence—the guillotine—from the Volksgerichtshof for helping the enemy and plotting treason. They offered to let her go if she left the convent, but she said no.
When someone asked Martin Bormann to pardon her…he said her execution would scare other people into not resisting.
RE: Fact #2 (ISS Astronauts Burn Dirty Clothes) – That’s pretty efficient, but also, ew, it smells! How many days straight can you wear the same underwear?
Around four days. Don’t ask.
RE: Fact #33 (Wild Pandas: Thriving Breeders) – Reminds me of that Mad Magazine joke about pandas—they won’t mate because everyone’s always watching.
RE: Fact #6 (Drunk Driver Sues Concert Organizers) – They’re always worded badly. Her insurance company is suing the concert organizer’s insurance company because they’re dodging the payout.
RE: Fact #3 (Cristiano Ronaldo Sues for Libel) – Nah, that body doesn’t scream “weekend beer drinker” to me.
RE: Fact #50 (Hitobashira: Ancient Japanese Ritual) – Legend says Matsue Castle was built on the grave of a beautiful young dancer. They say she was sacrificed, but nobody knows her name or much else about her, except that she liked to dance. After the castle went up, they banned girls from dancing in Matsue because apparently, the hill and the castle would shake every time they did. Humans are weird.
Korea’s got a bell like this, called the Emile Bell—both in Korean and English. “Emile,” pronounced em-ee-leh, means “mommy” in ancient Silla. Legend says the first casting was silent, and it got recast tons of times, no luck. The king who ordered it died, his son took over with the queen’s help…still no sound. Then a monk has this dream—toss a kid in the melt, and boom, it’ll ring. So he does, and it did! The inscription at the museum was wild. They play the sound, too, and honestly, it’s not that amazing—not worth a life, you know?
RE: Fact #43 (Tom Selleck Nearly Played Indiana Jones) – The same thing happened to Pierce Brosnan when he first played James Bond, during the filming of Remington Steele.
I’ve heard that story a bunch of times, but I only just found out this week they kept him on the show *because* of the Bond offer – they had to up his pay to keep him around. So, yeah, he totally won.
RE: Fact #14 (Indian Village Protects Nesting Bird) – It’d be awesome if the world followed India’s lead on animal appreciation.
RE: Fact #13 (Mata Hari’s Modesty on Stage) – It’s one thing to be insecure about your body, but to have people still gossiping about it eighty years later? Wow.
We only hear about her because of her amazing work.
Primarily for spying for the Germans, not her acting.
RE: Fact #14 (Indian Village Protects Nesting Bird) – Village head Arsunan said he was surprised when a boy asked him to cut the power for a bird. He went to check it out and saw the bird had finished a really nice nest, all cozy with leaves and grass. Remembering how tough lockdown was for people without homes, he didn’t want the bird to end up the same way, so he cut the power line.
I just love how supportive guys can be.
In a country with 1.5 billion people, you’ll find amazing people and, well, some real stinkers. It’s just the odds – some of the best are Indian, but unfortunately, some of the worst are too. Let’s hope the good guys win out.
I should also add: I’m Indian, born and raised here, and I’m not going anywhere! Some folks are getting the wrong idea.
RE: Fact #9 (Handmaid’s Tale Mirrors History) – Things like forced births, dress codes, and book bans? All ripped straight from history – Puritan America, Nazi Germany, 20th-century religious dictatorships, the whole shebang. She even said it’s just a little tweak on reality, not sci-fi.
She got ideas from Iran, Afghanistan, and even Canada, actually.
So, why skip the Iranian revolution? That was a huge influence on her—she talks about it all the time! She was warning the West it could happen here. But Nazi Germany? I’ve read the book and her stuff over the years, and I don’t remember her ever mentioning that as an example.
Wow, Iran! They went from being almost as modern as the West—ballet and all!—to having women stripped of their rights in just a few short years. It’s crazy.
Ursula Le Guin had a cool point: sci-fi is all about showing us reality. It’s not about guessing the future, it’s about looking at the now. The science stuff is just a way to make certain ideas really stand out, to show how much they matter.
That’s exactly what I was thinking! Sci-fi’s always been awesome at showing us who we really are.
Great sci-fi starts with a cool new invention and wonders, “What would life be like then? How would society change?” It’s not just about the gadgets; it’s about big human and philosophical questions, all set against a backdrop of something that would totally change our world. That’s why *Star Trek* is sci-fi and *Star Wars* isn’t.
RE: Fact #39 (Silver Loan in Manhattan Project) – They used to make silver wire for the Oak Ridge calutrons.
Fun fact: The uranium for the first two atomic bombs came from Africa.
Pin the blame on Africa.
A Belgian businessman had a boatload of stuff in New York and just went to the government about it.
RE: Fact #30 (Einstein’s Nobel Prize Settlement) – It’s like what people said about Feynman and Ramanujan – totally absorbed in their work, barely connecting with their wives, hardly any intimacy, and then the marriages fell apart. Especially after they hit their 30s, when their brains were fully “eccentric.” It makes you wonder if some people just aren’t wired for relationships, no matter what, and their whole life is just their work. But is that depressing or a relief?
I think Feynman’s relationship with his second wife was probably affected by the fact that she was his second wife. His first wife died of TB, and you can really see in his writings how much he loved her—she was the love of his life. He may not have felt the same way about his second wife because he never got over his first. He poured his energy into his science instead. But his devotion to his first wife is clear in everything he wrote.
Yeah, I think it was Arlene. Seems like geniuses like Feynman get really into their work after they turn 20, it’s around then that Nash got schizophrenia, and Beethoven apparently let himself go, too.
RE: Fact #30 (Einstein’s Nobel Prize Settlement) – Einstein’s divorce deal with Marić said he’d give her his Nobel Prize money if he won it, which he did two years later.
That’s why he hustled so hard for the prize—he really, *really* wanted to get away from her. He got the terms worked out first, then made it happen once she said yes.
So, there’s another side to the story. His first wife, Mileva Maric, was a brilliant mathematician and a pioneering woman scientist—unlike him. There’s a good chance she, not him, was the real brains behind the theory. It was tough for a woman to put forward such a revolutionary idea back then. People in Novi Sad were already talking about it, even before the internet, especially in scientific communities. Food for thought.
I thought I heard he didn’t give it to her, so I looked into it, and wow, it’s complicated.
RE: Fact #2 (ISS Astronauts Burn Dirty Clothes) – As a kid, I really wanted to be an astronaut, but learning about what their lives are actually like? Glad I didn’t go for it. Plus, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.
I ran the science part of our local geeky convention, and I got to work with NASA to get an astronaut to speak. Seriously, working with them made me feel like a total couch potato. These people are amazing – not just super smart space scientists, but also incredible speakers who totally wowed the crowd.
Here’s a tip: You can totally get an astronaut to speak at your own event! If they’re still working for NASA, they don’t charge a speaking fee—just their travel costs from Houston. So if your event’s in Houston, it’s free!
It’s gotta be related to space, NASA, or their work, right? I doubt they’d just show up for my aunt’s wedding to chat, haha.
Don’t be so hard on yourself! Katy Perry’s success story is pretty wild, even involved a giant vibrator.
RE: Fact #42 (Helen Hulick Beebe’s Courtroom Defiance) – She finally got to wear pants.
The next day, she wore pants to court, and the judge sent her to jail for five days!
After jail guards made her change into a prison dress, she was let go. Her lawyer got her out, saying he’d appeal.
Tons of people wrote angry letters. The higher court said the judge was wrong, and she could wear pants to court.
A few months later, she went back to court—wearing a dress this time, because she’d proven her point.
RE: Fact #18 (Nero’s Olympic Manipulation in AD 67) – Aladeen’s blown away.
RE: Fact #29 (Tarasoff Case’s Legal Impact) – That’s weird, the doctor spilled the beans even though there’s no rule saying they had to. I thought this would be about a doctor who kept quiet about the risks.
So, another doctor, a director, even, ordered all the patient notes and the warning letter to campus police destroyed.
The doctor treating this really dangerous patient figured the girl was in serious trouble. He needed the boss psychiatrist’s okay to go to the police, but the boss was on vacation and ignoring his messages. So the doctor went to the cops because he felt he couldn’t wait. But when the boss got back, he made the doctor retract the complaint, destroy the files, and hand the patient off to someone else who said the patient was fine. He even suspended the doctor! After the girl was killed, everyone realized how messed up the laws were.
Did they do anything to the head shrink?
We usually ignore whistleblowers until their warnings come true, then we make laws to prevent it—if it’s bad enough and everyone knows about it. Still, I give that doctor a lot of credit.
RE: Fact #10 (Grapefruit’s Dangerous Drug Interactions) – My next YouTube video’s title: The deadliest fruit you can still buy at the grocery store.
Jackfruit is seriously dangerous. Those trees get huge—think 70 feet tall—and the fruit is massive, up to 120 pounds. Falling fruit kills a lot of people annually.
RE: Fact #12 (Eisenhower’s D-Day Contingency Speech) – A real president, a real leader!
RE: Fact #24 (Doolittle’s Unexpected Honor) – Jimmie’s grandnephew lives in my town, and get this—his great-grandniece was in the Air Force at the same base where Jimmie’s plane’s on display! The whole base went crazy when they found out a Doolittle was stationed there.
Sweet! She probably got free drinks the whole time she worked there.
I’m a history buff, and her mom’s been super cool about answering all my Doolittle Raid questions! She’s stationed in San Antonio, and she took her assignment seriously – her whole family was thrilled about the celebration!
RE: Fact #25 (Spy Kids Joins Film Registry) – Ever wonder if God hangs out in heaven because he’s a little scared of what he made down here?
That line’s way too awesome for a kids’ movie.
RE: Fact #8 (Deodorant Overdose Ruled Accidental) – Been there, as a doctor and someone who’s been through recovery. This sounds exactly like an addict who convinced their mom the aerosol cans were for something else. It’s a sad situation. It’s easy to blame the mom, but seriously, when I was addicted, I was amazing at lying.
So, how does half a can of deodorant fill a room with enough butane to kill someone? The report says he died from breathing in the butane, not from the deodorant itself. I agree. The coroner said he sprayed it everywhere and died from the gas, and a doctor confirmed it was butane inhalation that caused his circulatory system to fail. A news report covered the inquest.
RE: Fact #36 (Antarctica’s Unfreezable Salty Pool) – That’s where Philly fans are from.
RE: Fact #26 (Y Chromosome Loss in Aging) – Isn’t that just what happens as we get older? Live long enough, and you’ll probably get cancer – it’s basically cells making mistakes and not dying off.
It’s kinda like that, but most genetic mistakes are tiny—a single spot or a little area. Losing a whole chromosome is way bigger and much rarer; it only happens with sex chromosomes in people, otherwise the cell dies.
It’s also a tiny chromosome compared to the X or any of the others, so it’s easier to lose.
RE: Fact #43 (Tom Selleck Nearly Played Indiana Jones) – He might’ve been Chip *and* Dale, the Rescue Rangers.
RE: Fact #37 (Central Park’s Size in NYC) – Yeah, but the others aren’t right in the downtown area.
Lots of people who’ve never been to New York City think it’s just Manhattan, but actually, Manhattan’s the tiniest borough and only the third biggest by population.
I always crack up at that Seinfeld bit – Jerry invites Kramer to Queens, and Kramer’s like, “Yeah, love the country!” It’s funny because movies make NYC seem tiny, like it’s only rich folks in Manhattan and struggling folks in Brooklyn. People have no idea how huge the city really is.
Central Park isn’t really downtown either, it’s in the middle of Manhattan, but downtown’s the financial district. Still, your point’s spot on. Having a park that huge in such a crowded place shows how much they wanted green space, and that’s what makes it so great.
RE: Fact #46 (Luxor Hotel: A Gigantic Pyramid) – So, where’s that giant Bass Pro Shops pyramid thing located?
RE: Fact #9 (Handmaid’s Tale Mirrors History) – The Handmaid’s Tale pulls in real Bible verses that people have used to, like, back up slavery, controlling women, and religious bosses.
She really shows how they use those passages, with lots of scenes where Offred sees them leaving stuff out or changing things. Reminds me of those Christians who only pick and choose the Bible verses they like. I even wrote a paper about it back in high school.
It’s a real mess, you’re stuck picking and choosing what to believe. The Gospels contradict each other on Old Testament law—it wasn’t an accident, they totally copied each other sometimes, but still disagreed on stuff, so they made Jesus disagree with himself.
RE: Fact #27 (First Female Senator’s Legacy) – That white supremacist, slave-owning eugenicist? Her honorary gig lasted only a day.
RE: Fact #34 (Ants: Ancient Agricultural Pioneers) – Ants and aphids together are way tougher to deal with than aphids by themselves.
Those darn aphids wiped out my Carolina Reaper and habanero plants once.
RE: Fact #29 (Tarasoff Case’s Legal Impact) – My dad’s a psychologist – got his PhD in Texas, joined the National Guard there to save on tuition. On Guard duty, they didn’t really have anything for him to do, so they sent him to Darnall Army Medical Center to do psych evals. He assessed a new soldier and said he needed help for suicidal thoughts. Another Army psychiatrist had to check it, and said the guy wasn’t at risk, telling my dad to re-evaluate him using a different test. My dad did, still said the soldier was a danger to himself, and needed to be watched closely. But the Army shrink still disagreed, even suggesting my dad’s boss should get on him for maybe making things up to help soldiers get discharged. A week later, the soldier killed himself. Sometimes, you really shouldn’t ignore warnings, even from someone lower down the ranks.
Your dad’s a really great guy. I lost someone because of this; he was in the army, and they wouldn’t help him even after he tried to kill himself by crashing his car on the highway.
What happened to that jerk of an army psychologist?
They looked into it and cleared themselves.
No clue. Dad probably didn’t stay in touch. They never actually met, as far as I know. He bailed on the Guard the second he was done.
RE: Fact #25 (Spy Kids Joins Film Registry) – Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino are both really striking in that film.
RE: Fact #4 (AI’s Massive Energy Consumption) – So this is what it takes for them to even come close to matching our strength.
It’s kinda dishonest to compare human brains and computers directly, you know? Brains excel at things computers struggle with, and vice-versa. Computers breeze through tasks that would take us forever. We built computers to handle the stuff we’re bad at—it’s like expecting a car to walk on two legs!
So you’re saying we could easily teach computers to do what we do? Nah, not really. I mean, if nature could invent the wheel, don’t you think it would have by now? We’d be living in a crazy Cars-like world.
We built computers to handle the stuff we’re not so great at, but really, we just did what we could and made them do what we could get them to.
RE: Fact #44 (Jon Jones Evades Drug Test) – Jones is a real jerk in MMA. I don’t get the fans.
Before he went crazy, he was famous for being the youngest UFC champ ever, and he still holds the record for most title defenses. It’s not shocking a fighter that good is a little nuts, and it’s not a surprise he still has tons of fans. Some folks just don’t care about anything but how good you are at something.
Lots of awesome MMA champs stay out of trouble outside the ring, you know? George St-Pierre’s a perfect example. Being a badass MMA fighter doesn’t mean you have to be a crazy person; that JJ stuff is a whole other story.
People who lose often admire successful people.
Winners can be losers, especially.
RE: Fact #42 (Helen Hulick Beebe’s Courtroom Defiance) – So, this Judge Guerin, right? He was on this TV show, along with a famous psychiatrist, Dr. Hacker, who was a big deal with gay people and their legal cases. There was also a private eye on the panel. Guerin went off on this rant about how all gay men were seduced by sailors at age twelve or thirteen. Dr. Hacker disagreed, and bam! Guerin had a stroke, right there on TV. He hated being challenged, had a terrible temper. I think that temper, plus some health issues, caused a brain hemorrhage. I knew what was happening, so I signaled the host to cut away. He went to the hospital and died a few days later. Some people from the DA’s office even joked, “You killed him, Herb! Good job!” But obviously, I didn’t do anything like that.
Whoa, wait a minute. He thinks sailors *make* people gay? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
So you thought gay people made people become sailors?
She just didn’t have the fight left in her; no energy, no money for more appeals.
Meanwhile, lots of women were battling for the right to choose comfort and safety over being forced to put themselves on display.
During WWII, women wore pants to work, but faced harassment, strip searches, and STD tests if the wrong cop caught them.
Back in the sixties, college women were punished for wearing pants in snowstorms—seriously!
Across the country, girls and women had to wear skirts and dresses, even in freezing weather, because it was deemed “appropriate.”
And those sixties winters were brutally cold.
Girls and women weren’t excused from school for the cold; they just failed.
Think about missing a third of the school year because of a dress code.
RE: Fact #44 (Jon Jones Evades Drug Test) – He bailed after a car wreck he caused, leaving a pregnant woman hurt. Then he went back for his cash, ditched some drugs in the car, and ran off again. He’s just not accountable.
His abuse at home? Just another test from God, I guess.
RE: Fact #15 (9th Century Chinese Servant Rebellion) – A pretty small reason for a Chinese rebellion
Here are some other wannabes:
Chen Sheng and Wu Guang: Stuck leading troops, got delayed by bad weather, faced execution for being late, and said “screw it,” starting a rebellion.
Yuan Shu: Found the Imperial Jade Seal in the ashes of the capital, figured “why not?”, and crowned himself emperor.
Three feudatories: Offered to give up their lands as a trick, but the emperor took them up on it. So, they rebelled.
Dungan revolt: A fight over bamboo prices sparked ethnic tensions between Han and Muslims, and… boom, 20 million dead.
The penalty for being late was death, so they said “screw it” and revolted.
Valid point.
Honorable mention: The Taiping Rebellion—this guy claimed to be Jesus’s brother, called the emperor a phony, and, well, 20 to 30 million people died.
RE: Fact #47 (M&Ms Inspired by Spanish Civil War) – Growing up in Australia, Smarties were my go-to candy. I didn’t see M&Ms until the late 90s, at the movies. Now, the movies only have M&Ms—three kinds, to be exact.
RE: Fact #50 (Hitobashira: Ancient Japanese Ritual) – So, this was a big thing in Western Europe, too. Sabine Baring-Gould’s book, “Strange Survivals,” talks about how it changed over time: first, they buried people alive in buildings, then switched to animals around the Middle Ages—apparently, lots of bridges in places like Frankfurt were built with animals in them! Eventually, people started using eggs or candles instead of human sacrifices. It’s wild! He also explains why we smash bottles on ships and the history of coffins—lots of cool stuff. Definitely check it out if you’re interested.
So, I forgot to mention this: why bother with human sacrifice when building something? It’s like how people sacrificed before a sea voyage. Humans are trying to dominate something that isn’t theirs—they see a difference between temporary things like twig huts, which vanish, and these massive, permanent stone buildings that are a real statement on the earth.
RE: Fact #4 (AI’s Massive Energy Consumption) – My brain’s surprisingly good at its job.
Your brain’s a real energy hog! It’s only 1% of your body weight but uses 20% of your energy.
RE: Fact #33 (Wild Pandas: Thriving Breeders) – Black bears have bigger families and healthier cubs. Pandas, though, have the tiniest babies compared to their adult size—of any mammal that isn’t a marsupial. They often have twins, but can only manage one because their diet of bamboo doesn’t give them enough milk. It’s a good thing people care so much about them; otherwise, pandas would be even more of a “should they even exist?” kind of situation.
Female pandas have babies every two years, easily replacing any that die. Lots of animals have more than one kid, but only focus on raising a few or just one. Sharks even kill their brothers and sisters in the womb, and no one says God wants them dead.
RE: Fact #26 (Y Chromosome Loss in Aging) – Some podcaster’s probably gonna be selling a shake to get those Ys back soon.
It’s somewhere between 4% and 70%, which is basically anywhere from zero to one hundred percent.
RE: Fact #27 (First Female Senator’s Legacy) – American politics between the Gilded Age and the Great Depression was seriously crazy. You had progressives backing unions and women’s suffrage, but also pushing eugenics and opposing anti-lynching laws. And the segregationists? Wow, they were practically competing to see who could be the most racist.
As Jesse Owens once said, “Hitler didn’t ignore me, Roosevelt did. The president didn’t even wire me a message.”
So, Roosevelt made Owen and his wife use the side entrance because only white folks were allowed in the front during this fancy dinner.
I checked out this exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in DC about Black athletes at the ’36 Berlin Olympics—how they were celebrated there, but then faced Jim Crow when they got back home and went on tour.
Woodrow Wilson’s a great example: a hardcore progressive who held some seriously outdated views on race.
Back then, a lot of progressives were into eugenics and racism.
RE: Fact #21 (Sony’s Casting Concerns in 2014) – Scarlett Johansson was Paramount’s pick for Ghost in the Shell.
It’s kinda funny/sad how close they came! Making the Major conventionally attractive but still emphasizing how different she is could’ve totally worked. But, that would’ve taken way more skill and work than they were willing to put into the movie.
RE: Fact #1 (Boy Survives Alone for Years) – That movie Nobody Knows, a Japanese film, totally reminded me of a true story. This mom left her four kids—the oldest was maybe twelve—to work, and eventually just disappeared, marrying someone else. The oldest kid looked after everyone, but things got rough, they even had to use park water when the utilities were cut off. It’s based on a real case from Tokyo in the 80s.
One of the kids died, and she was totally lost. She only registered the boy; the others were at home, unregistered. She confessed after seeing the news about them—what a terrible thing to do.
That Japanese movie, based on a true story, really messed me up. The mom ditched her kids to be with her boyfriend, then left them for days, and they died. It was brutal – no music, no fancy editing, just straight-up raw. It’s called *Sunk into the Womb*.
RE: Fact #17 (Nolan’s Opposition to Superman’s Kill) – Goyer said we gotta respect the story’s history, but also keep questioning it. Otherwise, these characters get boring and nobody cares anymore. He felt—and lots of others did too—that Superman was becoming irrelevant. So, instead of just tossing Zod into the Phantom Zone, Goyer’s idea was to have Superman kill him.
Snyder added that if it was a true origin story, Superman’s refusal to kill was never really explained. He wanted to show Superman facing a choice: watch Metropolis get destroyed, or do what he had to do.
Morrison thought Snyder’s logic was off: “My last big moral choice didn’t involve killing anyone. I get why some people want that, but I wonder why everyone assumes *they’d* kill Zod if they were Superman. Would they really?”
Waid, who wrote *Superman: Birthright*, totally hated the decision: “I was freaking out, whispering ‘Don’t do it!’, then Superman snapped Zod’s neck. I yelled, ‘That’s it! I’m done!’, and my girlfriend had to drag me back to my seat!”
We need to tweak the original stuff to make it work. It’s not like the original is what brought us here. Why do they keep thinking changing it will improve things?
Tweaking the original stuff isn’t bad, as long as it stays true to the character, or at least makes sense, right? People trash the “Iron Boy Jr.” thing in Spider-Man Homecoming, but it’s really about Peter learning responsibility.
Sure, Snyder only gets morality if it’s some made-up trolley problem. That totally makes sense.
The whole Superman thing is about putting him in a tough spot and seeing how he finds an amazing way out.
Seriously, that writing is still unbelievably bad, even after all these years. Nobody needs a reason to hate killing, especially someone raised like Clark Kent. And even if he did, what good did killing Zod do? He’s against it beforehand, so the story clearly doesn’t explain where his aversion comes from. And afterward? No consequences, no lesson learned. If anything, it implies killing *is* sometimes the answer – the opposite of Superman.
They totally screwed up Pa Kent from the start. Kevin Costner probably ran a butcher shop.
Snyder just didn’t get Superman. He’s just a regular guy from Kansas, superpowers and all. Not some distant alien god who’s clueless about people or thinks he’s the next Jesus.
Seriously, Pa Kent told Superman to let a busload of kids drown, so his whole “no killing” thing doesn’t really make sense, given his upbringing. Snyder’s words really reveal a lot about how he sees stories and the world.
RE: Fact #3 (Cristiano Ronaldo Sues for Libel) – He’s still playing great at his age, unlike, say, Wayne Rooney.
Wayne Rooney looks great for a 30-year-old Brit.
Thirty? Dude, you look fifty!
Wayne Rooney was 17, then he was 30. He’s British.
He’s a total health freak, like a bunch of other athletes. Remember the whole “agua” thing?
That’s awesome! He gets it—he’s got a huge audience, so he’s using his influence to push healthy habits.
Wow, Rooney looks like he’s had a rough one.
RE: Fact #9 (Handmaid’s Tale Mirrors History) – Back in 2003, I taught this book to English majors. One super left-leaning student asked me what made Atwood write this stuff. I was speechless – it took a minute to find a professorial response instead of just blurting out something rude.
RE: Fact #45 (Royalties for “House of the Rising Sun”) – So I figured out it probably wasn’t an accident…
Valentine: One day in ’65, Pricey just walked out. No warning. Chas figured he finally got his first royalty check. We were five mates from Newcastle, all close, and we started to realize we were getting screwed over by everyone. But getting ripped off by the *band*, our own crew – that really stung.
RE: Fact #47 (M&Ms Inspired by Spanish Civil War) – Smarties are better than M&Ms.
RE: Fact #31 (Amtrak: Independent U.S. Agency) – It’s kind of interesting that Amtrak and other federal railroad workers don’t pay into Social Security. They’ve got their own retirement plan that’s been around almost as long.
Back when they started SSDI, they saved some Social Security numbers specifically for railroad workers.
RE: Fact #19 (Ghana’s Right of Abode Offer) – Ghana was the first African nation to become independent from Britain.
Libya, six years prior. Egypt could claim it was thirty years earlier, but they really got full control in the 1950s, so it’s a close one.
Libya wasn’t actually a British colony. Both Britain and France briefly controlled it during and after WWII. Calling Libya a British colony is like saying the same about Germany.
RE: Fact #40 (Crocodilians’ Unique Heart Feature) – It’s crazy how fast stuff like this changes, huh? What were they doing before? Nibbling on tiny meals? Or just toughing it out for ages? A hundred years? A thousand? Ten thousand? No clue how evolution works, but it’s wild.
Chemistry’s totally confusing me, especially this carbon dioxide to stomach acid thing.
Our stomachs have special cells that make an enzyme. This enzyme turns carbonic acid into protons, which, along with chloride ions, create hydrochloric acid.
RE: Fact #22 (Coca-Cola’s Medical Efficacy) – Something in Coke really helps my migraines. Weird, huh? Pepsi and other colas don’t do a thing, but regular Coke, if I drink it soon enough, is better than my migraine meds.
Wow, those spinal headaches after my epidural were brutal! They kept suggesting caffeine, but coffee and tea just made me a jittery mess. Most pain relievers I liked didn’t touch it. I could barely move my neck or even look at a light; taking care of a newborn was impossible. So, I tried Coke – hate the stuff, normally – and it was the only thing that helped for those two weeks. Now I’m curious.
As a kid, I remember Mom getting Coca-Cola syrup for a quarter a bottle from the drugstore. She’d give it to us for tummy aches or when we felt sick to our stomachs.
My epidural went south during my son’s birth, and after my c-section, the anesthesiologist waltzed in with a Mt. Dew. I told him I hated it, and he said, “In a couple of hours, you won’t even notice.” He was right. Lol
RE: Fact #19 (Ghana’s Right of Abode Offer) – Conan and Sam Richardson went to Ghana a while back.
RE: Fact #16 (Austrian Nun’s Martyrdom in WWII) – Some Christians really get into their Bible, follow Jesus’s teachings, and try to live by them to get into heaven. Even if it means hardship or death.
I’m not saying heaven’s band played when she arrived, but those pearly gates sure opened wide for her.
RE: Fact #32 (Vestal Virgins’ Unique Roman Privileges) – So, there were a few downsides, but they were pretty uncommon. Trials for Vestal incest were super rare; most happened during times of war or religious upheaval. Some Vestals were probably just scapegoats – blamed for things like unrest, wars, famines, plagues…you name it, if it was bad, it was their fault. This was especially true during the messy transition from monarchy to republic; Rome was a pressure cooker of social tension and power struggles. For example, in 483 BC, during a huge fight between the rich and the poor, Vestal Oppia – maybe the first plebeian Vestal – was executed for incest based on bad omens and accusations of slacking off. And then in 337 BC, Minucia, another possible first plebeian Vestal, was also tried and killed for being too flashy and because of some slave’s testimony.
So, yeah, I was thinking the same thing. They sacrificed them to find a scapegoat—a virgin scapegoat, in this case.
I didn’t realize it was unusual. Or maybe the deaths just weren’t reported?
Rome kept pretty good records, thankfully. You’d need a really big deal to get a religious or political leader killed, right? Sure, some records probably got lost, and maybe a virgin *was* executed once in a while, but I bet it wasn’t very common for them to be executed just for being a virgin.
RE: Fact #5 (Tami Stronach Quits Due to Proposals) – The Olsen twins had the same problems – creepy guys always bothering them. And get this, paparazzi were waiting outside a restaurant after midnight on Emma Watson’s 18th birthday to take photos up her skirt. Before midnight, that would have been illegal, since she was still a minor.
RE: Fact #46 (Luxor Hotel: A Gigantic Pyramid) – The Great Pyramid’s a whopping 454 feet tall, Khafre’s is 448 feet, Luxor’s 350 feet, the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid are both around 344 feet, and the Memphis Pyramid clocks in at 321 feet. Someone also added the Bass Pro Shops pyramid, and I threw in the Red and Bent Pyramids for another person.
So, how much fishing stuff do they actually sell?
RE: Fact #16 (Austrian Nun’s Martyrdom in WWII) – Kafka was really against the new government, which started enforcing those awful Nuremberg Laws right away. She called Hitler a madman and said she couldn’t stay quiet.
It’s cool to see people who stand up for what’s right.
That’s what I told the kids while we watched “Horton Hears a Who!” earlier.
Hope they remember it.
Nah, it won’t. Keep piling it on for a while longer, haha.
She was incredibly brave, and it’s wild I’d never heard of her.
Her courage is pretty Kafkaesque, wouldn’t you say?
RE: Fact #35 (Eduard Einstein’s Tragic Life) – A genius’s kid struggles with schizophrenia—a stark reminder that mental illness can affect anyone.
RE: Fact #49 (British Gunner Survives 18,000-Foot Fall) – Another WWII airman, Alan Magee, survived an even higher fall—22,000 feet!—without a parachute. He crashed through a French train station roof and lived, though he was pretty banged up.
He probably didn’t get into the Caterpillar Club because he didn’t use a parachute.
RE: Fact #41 (M1911 Pistols Used for Decades) – I got to shoot the three new army pistols, and that Beretta was the best, no contest. The 1911’s a classic, and the big bullets are reassuring for a lot of people, though it’s not the easiest gun to handle. I heard the newer ones are more reliable. It felt a little awkward to me, hard to get a good sight picture. The Sig was okay, but that Beretta? Man, it was smooth. Really easy to aim and shoot, the sights were perfect. Even compared to some other pistols, including some Glocks with fancy red dots, the Beretta was the clear winner.
RE: Fact #19 (Ghana’s Right of Abode Offer) – It all started back in 2001, I wonder how many people actually took them up on that?
Stevie Wonder did it, and he’s a citizen of both the US and Ghana.
Wow, I didn’t expect that!
RE: Fact #22 (Coca-Cola’s Medical Efficacy) – Wait, are they actually drinking that?
RE: Fact #34 (Ants: Ancient Agricultural Pioneers) – So, there’s this cool idea that lichen came about when fungi figured out how to grow algae. It’s basically two or more types of fungi farming algae for food using photosynthesis.
Wow, this really makes me wonder what intelligence actually is, beyond just a label we stick on ourselves. It seems like we need a more physical explanation, I guess. I’m probably biased, since I’m not into the whole “humans are unique and have souls” idea.
Agriculture in the animal kingdom is pretty neat, but it’s way different than what humans do. Think about ants that grow fungi – it’s all instinct, not learned behavior. They can only grow the specific fungi they’ve evolved with; you can’t teach other ants to do it.
Real intelligence – the kind we understand – means learning, thinking abstractly, and planning ahead. That’s not what lichens or ants are doing when they’re farming.
RE: Fact #10 (Grapefruit’s Dangerous Drug Interactions) – Grapefruit and its juice have stuff in them that can stop your body from processing some medicines properly. This could lead to a dangerous overdose, even death. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist – seriously.
I was on methadone, and grapefruit was a no-go. I had a low-alcohol grapefruit drink once, and it made me really sick.
This is a really important thing I teach my new bartenders. Always ask if customers are on any meds that could react badly with grapefruit – it’s a must with any grapefruit cocktail. I heard they’re working on a grapefruit without the problem chemicals, but it’ll be ages before that’s ready.
Seriously, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Weird thing: A buddy of mine got a new prescription, and when she asked about grapefruit, her doctor had no clue it was a thing.
No disrespect to doctors, but there are good reasons for specializations. Pharmacists are pharmacology experts—that’s what they studied in school. They really know their stuff when it comes to how medicines work and interact.
RE: Fact #35 (Eduard Einstein’s Tragic Life) – Schizophrenia tends to run in families, right? Makes you wonder if Albert’s amazing creativity came from his genes.
People always say Einstein came up with “genius is one step from insanity,” but that’s not actually true. A lot of really creative, brilliant people are a little… off the wall, though. Like, the tech world is packed with furries, for example.
Wow, I had no idea how many weebs, furries, and incels were in IT until I started working there. One of our company’s group chats included all the Tier 1 and Tier 2 support staff from several states. Seriously, every profile picture was some kind of animal character, anime character, or a guy in a fedora doing that cheesy pose. I never looked at anything anyone shared in that chat, though.
Schizophrenia is a tough, ongoing illness that really messes you up. It doesn’t make you more creative; it’s more like dementia.
RE: Fact #12 (Eisenhower’s D-Day Contingency Speech) – I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, having to pull off something like D-Day with no guarantee of success. That must have been incredibly stressful.
He knew he was sending tons of guys from Kansas, Ontario, and Manchester to die. That would’ve crushed me.
Seriously, that’s the crazy part. They had all the death estimates and everything. You can’t teach the cold-heartedness needed to make a decision like that.
RE: Fact #36 (Antarctica’s Unfreezable Salty Pool) – That freezing water is part of what made the Titanic disaster so deadly. The salt in the ocean kept the water liquid at 28 degrees—even colder than the freezing point of fresh water! Hypothermia, not drowning, killed most of the victims.
RE: Fact #49 (British Gunner Survives 18,000-Foot Fall) – I’m pretty sure the gunner got messed up, too.
His pants were totally wrecked.
RE: Fact #50 (Hitobashira: Ancient Japanese Ritual) – Want ghosts? This is how it happens.
RE: Fact #5 (Tami Stronach Quits Due to Proposals) – Wow, back then, harassing someone took effort! They couldn’t just fire off a quick tweet; they had to track down her address, write a nasty letter, or even show up in person. Seriously, some people are messed up.
Remember when stalkers had to put in some effort? These days, kids have it too easy.
RE: Fact #7 (Father Finds Son After 24 Years) – Best dad ever.
For 24 years straight
He’ll be keeping that title for another 24 years—it’s not going anywhere until 2046.
RE: Fact #28 (Chewing Gum Reduces Appetite) – Two years ago, someone in my family had surgery to take out part of their colon. The first day after, they gave them gum to chew so that their body would think it was eating and get their digestive system going again.
RE: Fact #17 (Nolan’s Opposition to Superman’s Kill) – So, if it’s supposed to be a real origin story, why doesn’t it explain why he hates killing? Seems like most people don’t like killing, right?
It’s weird that he won’t kill anyone—we never find out why.
The real problem isn’t Superman, it’s Zod. Why would a guy so focused on rebuilding his world just go around murdering people to mess with Superman? Yeah, he’s fine with killing tons of people if it helps his mission. Maybe he’s got real estate issues for his kids—he can’t terraform the moon or Mars. Big responsibility, that kind of power.
But why kill a random family? That doesn’t even help his plan, which isn’t really about Superman anyway.
Zod’s a terrible villain. They try to give him deep reasons for doing bad stuff, but then they make him act like a total moron. Superman’s the only one who could stop him from saving his people, and Superman was totally cool with it! But then Zod screws it up by picking the one planet Superman would *never* let him use. The old Superman 2 Zod? His plan was just to take over Earth. Much simpler and easier to understand.
RE: Fact #8 (Deodorant Overdose Ruled Accidental) – The coroner said 16-year-old Thomas Townsend sprayed himself with butane and died from it. A doctor confirmed it was a circulation collapse due to inhaling the gas. The inquest this week showed he’d been in foster care for five years and had self-harmed before, but wasn’t suicidal or using drugs or alcohol. Tests showed no drugs or alcohol in his system, and his death was accidental.
RE: Fact #48 (Brain’s Random Scene Projection) – It’s a screensaver for downtime.
RE: Fact #20 (Barkley Marathon’s Unique Application) – Gary Cantrell, lives pretty close to me. Ran into him the other day, told him I loved that Barkley Marathons Netflix doc. He cracked up and asked if I wanted to *run* the Barkley. Nope, I just like watching! Turns out, he’s the guy who puts it on. Seems like a cool dude. He also organizes a race around here called the Strolling Jim; it’s way less intense than the Barkley, though.
That’s awesome you met the guy!
People around here don’t get how famous Barkley is worldwide – he’s practically invisible! I bet he laughed ’cause I’m one of the few locals who saw that Barkley Netflix doc and knew who he was.
RE: Fact #3 (Cristiano Ronaldo Sues for Libel) – His dad died from liver failure caused by long-term alcohol abuse.
Really? Wow, that’s rough. It also means he’s genetically prone to alcoholism, so it’s good he doesn’t drink. And honestly, is he missing out on much?
RE: Fact #29 (Tarasoff Case’s Legal Impact) – It’s not just about being believable; it’s a really high bar. The pro has to know it’s a serious, targeted threat that’s actually doable. And they need to take reasonable steps—they don’t always have to break confidentiality.
If people think you might hurt yourself, they can tell others and even get you admitted to a hospital, whether you want them to or not.
Back when I was a substance abuse counselor, we followed the 3 Ps: Person, Place/Time, and Plan. Two out of three was enough to trigger a report. So, if a kid mentioned a specific person, that was it, even without knowing the when or where. I’m not sure if it was official law, but it was definitely in our ethics guidelines. I only had to make one report in all my time. It was about an eighth-grader who was thinking about suicide and knew how she’d do it, although she didn’t say how or when. With her being a minor, I had to report it even if she’d just said, “I’m thinking about suicide.” Anyway, we helped her, and she’s doing really well, last I heard. 👍
RE: Fact #18 (Nero’s Olympic Manipulation in AD 67) – So, historians generally agree that tales of emperors being totally crazy and detached from reality were probably made up, right? Either by people who didn’t like them at the time, or later rulers trying to boost their own image.
Trump’s supposedly 6’3″, 189 lbs? Healthiest president ever? Gonna live to 200, the White House said? Winning at golf, too?
So yeah, historians today look at what Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio wrote as, like, biased stories. They only believe the stuff that lines up with other accounts, and they’re super doubtful about the rest. A lot of the crazy stuff is probably based on something real. Nero probably *did* go to Greece in 67 AD, compete in games, and use his power to win. But the amount of bribery, all those easy wins, and the whole “he beat chariots he never drove” thing? That’s probably just hype or made up later.
So, I heard he basically invented some events—like music and dancing—and the organizers were thrilled to make him the winner. He skipped the actual athletic stuff. The Greek judges and the townspeople were totally cool with it; he boosted their reputation, and, hey, all that extra cash didn’t hurt either.
RE: Fact #21 (Sony’s Casting Concerns in 2014) – Crazy how they still changed Bringing Down the House to make the characters white.
In the book, Johnny Rico is Filipino.
Dizzy Flores? Yeah, he’s just mentioned briefly, something about him dying.
I’d wipe out a whole planet of bugs to be with Dina Meyer!
They made the Asian character the group’s comic relief, which is pretty lame.
RE: Fact #37 (Central Park’s Size in NYC) – Kid Me: “Central Park’s gotta be the biggest city park ever! That’s why it’s always in movies.”
Teen Me: “Nah, it’s probably just the biggest in America. Some European parks totally dwarf it.”
Young Adult Me: “Dude, I went to San Francisco, and Golden Gate Park is, like, way bigger. Central Park’s just the biggest in New York, I guess.”
Today Me: “Well……shoot”
RE: Fact #37 (Central Park’s Size in NYC) – is it just me or isn’t the last one listed smaller than Central Park? It says central is 8 hundred and something and the last one listed is 7 hundred and something???