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Old August 2nd, 2012 #1
Alex Linder
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Default I DID Not Know That

This thread is for things you did not know.

Was filing away paper scutwork, and came across some guide to China and the Yangtze River. It says:

In the West, offering a cup of tea impiles an invitation to linger and socialize. In China, tea drinking traditionally signifies the end of a social or business encounter. When a guest arrives, the host serves tea. The business is conducted and only then does the host drink his tea, indicating the closure of the meeting.

And also this:

In Confucian thought, the cold steel of a knife and fork represents weapons and violence. Chopsticks are considered benevolent and non-threatening. Since a meal is meant to be almost a ceremony of peace and hostility, the Chinese choose chopsticks.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #2
Bardamu
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Then they are drinking room temperature tea, which isn't very good.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #3
varg
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Not sure if it's Pets-mart or Pet-smart. Still looking for answers.

Edit: Oh it's Pet-Smart. Apparently their website says. Well, that was embarrassing.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #4
Bardamu
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I was working around frogs today and trying to help one to safety it squeaked loudly. I didn't know they did that.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #5
Donald E. Pauly
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Smile Frogs Squeaking

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Originally Posted by Bardamu View Post
I was working around frogs today and trying to help one to safety it squeaked loudly. I didn't know they did that.
Are these two legged ones? If so I have corresponded with several of them on this Forum. Mine have not squeaked yet but they are Nazis.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #6
Lord Arthas
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I found out that Russia has a population of 143 million. I thought it was much higher, like close to 300 million
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #7
Bardamu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donald E. Pauly View Post
Are these two legged ones? If so I have corresponded with several of them on this Forum. Mine have not squeaked yet but they are Nazis.
No, the amphibians.
 
Old October 9th, 2012 #8
Mr A.Anderson
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An average of 155,000 people die worldwide each day.
 
Old October 10th, 2012 #9
DeanSanders
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A.Anderson View Post
An average of 155,000 people die worldwide each day.
That is not nearly enough. We need another massive worldwide influenza epidemic.
 
Old October 29th, 2012 #10
Alex Linder
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A.Anderson View Post
An average of 155,000 people die worldwide each day.
That's good. But we can do better.
 
Old October 29th, 2012 #11
Alex Linder
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New word, don't recall ever seeing this mentioned in all the lit i've read or medical stuff i've come across.

Proprioception — from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own," and perception — is one of the human senses. There are between nine and 21 in all, depending on which sense researcher you ask. Rather than sensing external reality, proprioception is the sense of the orientation of one's limbs in space. This is distinct from the sense of balance, which derives from the fluids in the inner ear, and is called equilibrioception. Proprioception is what police officers test when they pull someone over and suspect drunkenness. Without proprioception, we'd need to consciously watch our feet to make sure that we stay upright while walking.

Proprioception doesn't come from any specific organ, but from the nervous system as a whole. Its input comes from sensory receptors distinct from tactile receptors — nerves from inside the body rather than on the surface. Proprioceptive ability can be trained, as can any motor activity.

Without proprioception, drivers would be unable to keep their eyes on the road while driving, as they would need to pay attention to the position of their arms and legs while working the pedals and steering wheel. And I would not be able to type this article without staring at the keys. If you happen to be snacking while reading this article, you would be unable to put food into your mouth without taking breaks to judge the position and orientation of your hands.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-proprioception.htm

Last edited by Alex Linder; September 22nd, 2013 at 09:55 AM.
 
Old November 28th, 2012 #12
Alex Linder
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Fresno is called "Scream City." Is that true? Never heard that before.
 
Old November 29th, 2012 #13
Hans Norling
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Do all major cities in the US have one of those colourful, alternative names? I am familiar with some of them but I have no idea if large cities commonly get slapped with an alt.
 
Old March 9th, 2013 #14
Mr A.Anderson
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Life has traditionally been seen as driven by energy from the sun, but deep-sea organisms have no access to sunlight, so they must depend on nutrients found in the dusty chemical deposits and hydrothermal fluids in which they live. Previously, benthic oceanographers assumed that vent organisms were dependent on marine snow, as deep-sea organisms are. This would leave them dependent on plant life and thus the sun. Some hydrothermal vent organisms do consume this "rain", but with only such a system, life forms would be very sparse. Compared to the surrounding sea floor, however, hydrothermal vent zones have a density of organisms 10,000 to 100,000 times greater.

Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food. The water from the hydrothermal vent is rich in dissolved minerals and supports a large population of chemoautotrophic bacteria. These bacteria use sulfur compounds, particularly hydrogen sulfide, a chemical highly toxic to most known organisms, to produce organic material through the process of chemosynthesis.

The ecosystem so formed is reliant upon the continued existence of the hydrothermal vent field as the primary source of energy, which differs from most surface life on Earth, which is based on solar energy. However, although it is often said that these communities exist independently of the sun, some of the organisms are actually dependent upon oxygen produced by photosynthetic organisms. Others are anaerobic, as was the earliest life.

A species of phototrophic bacterium has been found living near a black smoker off the coast of Mexico at a depth of 2,500 m (8,200 ft). No sunlight penetrates that far into the waters. Instead, the bacteria, part of the Chlorobiaceae family, use the faint glow from the black smoker for photosynthesis. This is the first organism discovered in nature to exclusively use a light other than sunlight for photosynthesis.
 
Old May 21st, 2013 #15
Mr A.Anderson
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All circulating "Ike" dollars were made of copper-nickel and not silver, despite many myths and urban legends to the contrary. These coins have either no mint mark or a D above the date, and show a copper-colored edge.

40% silver versions were made during the years 1971-76. They all carry an S mint mark and were only sold in special packaging for purchase by collectors, not for circulation.

None of the Eisenhower dollar coins regardless of date or mintmark struck for general circulation have more than face value or have any silver in them. Only proof and uncirculated collectors coins sold from the Mint contain silver and that's only 40%.
 
Old May 21st, 2013 #16
littlefieldjohn
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Default Joseph Weydemeyer- friend of Karl Marx ,Union Military Commandant

Quote:
Joseph Arnold Weydemeyer (February 2, 1818, Münster – August 26, 1866, St. Louis, Missouri) was a military officer in the Kingdom of Prussia and the United States, as well as a journalist, politician and Marxist revolutionary.


Thanks to his background as a Prussian military officer and surveyor, he became a technical aide on the staff of General John C. Frémont, the commander of the department of the West. He superintended the erection of ten forts around St. Louis. After Frémont was removed from his command in November 1861, Weydemeyer was made a lieutenant colonel and given command of a Missouri volunteer artillery regiment which took the field against Confederate guerillas in southern Missouri in 1862. At the end of the year, he was hospitalized for a nervous disorder and transferred to garrison duty in St. Louis, which he left in September 1863.
Joseph_Weydemeyer Joseph_Weydemeyer


Marx to Joseph Weydemeyer
In New York

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx...s/52_03_05.htm
 
Old June 9th, 2013 #17
America First
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I have not had a problem with restricted unknown harassing phone call's, but if you have that problem, this might solve it.

http://www.trapcall.com/signup/now
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Isn't it strange that we talk least about the things we think about most?

We cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other peoples
to lead our country to destruction.

-Charles A. Lindbergh
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0495c.asp
 
Old June 9th, 2013 #18
Togar mah
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Linder View Post
In Confucian thought, the cold steel of a knife and fork represents weapons and violence. Chopsticks are considered benevolent and non-threatening. Since a meal is meant to be almost a ceremony of peace and hostility, the Chinese choose chopsticks.
I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. Any religion based on a single...frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system that has worked pretty well for twenty-five hundred years.
 
Old June 11th, 2013 #19
Mr A.Anderson
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A derecho (/dəˈreɪtʃoʊ/, də-ray-choh, from Spanish: derecho [deˈɾetʃo], "straight") is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms. Generally, derechos are convection-induced and take on a bow echo form of squall line, forming in an area of wind divergence in the upper levels of the troposphere, within a region of low-level warm air advection and rich low-level moisture. They travel quickly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (gust front), except that the wind is sustained and increases in strength behind the front, generally exceeding hurricane-force. A warm-weather phenomenon, derechos occur mostly in summer, especially during June and July in the Northern Hemisphere, within areas of moderately strong instability and moderately strong vertical wind shear. They may occur at any time of the year and occur as frequently at night as during the daylight hours.

Unlike other thunderstorms, which typically can be heard in the distance when approaching, a derecho seems to strike suddenly. Within minutes, extremely high winds can arise, strong enough to knock over highway signs and topple large trees. These winds are accompanied by spraying rain and frequent lightning from all directions. It is dangerous to drive under these conditions, especially at night, because of blowing debris and obstructed roadways. A derecho moves through quickly, but can do much damage in a short time.

 
Old June 11th, 2013 #20
The Bobster
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Two words that can easily be confused are derecho and derecha. Both words are distant cousins of the English words "right" and "direct," and that is the source of the confusion: Depending on the context and usage, these words can carry meanings such as "right" (the opposite of left), "right" (entitlement), "straight," "upright" and "directly."
 
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