TIL: Today I Learned

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Cutlass

The Man Who Wasn't There.
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This is a thread for interesting tidbits of fact that you may have learned today that you hadn't previously known.

TIL that Dr Ruth Westheimer, best known as a sex therapist and adviser was once trained to be a sniper.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/doctor/drruth.asp

Claim: Sexpert Dr. Ruth Westheimer served as a sniper in Israel.

Status: True.

Origins: Diminutive Dr. Ruth Westheimer (4'7") is the nation's most well-known sex
doctor. Though you wouldn't suspect it from the grandmotherly appearance of "Dr. Ruth," this psychosexual therapist has been dispensing frank sex advice since 1980. (Across that span of time, she says the language in which queries are phrased has become more explicit, but the questions themselves have remained the same.)

The odd juxtaposition of her appearance and professional calling is not the only surprise to Dr. Ruth: there is also the small matter of her having trained in her youth as a sniper with the Israeli Defense Force.
 
Now I can whore myself out for Reddit karma by copy pasting the front page headlines!

Oh, you mean there is no karma on CFC? Oh... :(
 
TIL that Peter Gabriel's 1986 Sledgehammer received a record 9 MTV Awards and is to this day the most aired song video in its history. :eek:
 
TIL that Peter Gabriel's 1986 Sledgehammer received a record 9 MTV Awards and is to this day the most aired song video in its history. :eek:

It was wayyyyy ahead of its time. Both in terms of music and visuals in the video. Personally I still think we havent cought up with it. The song is a brilliant piece of art.
 
I must agree. Yesterday I rediscovered Gabriel when looking for a CD to play and found his 1990 recopilatory Shaking The Tree, and man I can't take Solsbury Hill out of my head either.
 
It was wayyyyy ahead of its time. Both in terms of music and visuals in the video. Personally I still think we havent cought up with it. The song is a brilliant piece of art.


I first heard that song on the radio while in my car. I thought to myself, "I didn't know Peter Gabriel had a new album out, but that sure sounds like him."
 
@JoanK: thanks, I will check that out later tonight as I dont really know Peter Gabriel, just Sledgehammer. Which, in its own, compliments the song :)

@Cutlass: Heh, thats an amazing example. It remains avantgarde and timeless.

Btw this could turn out to be a great thread.

Anyway: TIL that Peter Gabriel was actually a part of Genesis :crazyeye:
 
TIL why a Mac would have a glass of wine on its taskbar. And apparently the taskbar is called a dock.
 
TIL that Peter Gabriel's 1986 Sledgehammer received a record 9 MTV Awards and is to this day the most aired song video in its history. :eek:

His former band, Genesis had the music video Land of Confusion the same year. It was also excellent.
 
Today I confirmed that the more history I read, the more sympathetic I become to Communist causes.
 
Today I confirmed that the more history I read, the more sympathetic I become to Communist causes.

The more CFC posts by diehard Communists I read, the less sympathetic I get. Not because I have anything against communism, but because they can't change their minds, won't change the subject, and get rude when they're questioned.

I'm reading Bowling Alone. It helped me learn more about the extent of the disappearance of American society, and that elderly retirees were largely responsible for most of the increase in volunteering in the '90s. Granted, it's 14 years old, but still useful.
 
Apparently Japan has private prisons. But only since the late 2000's. Cookie to anyone who guesses what game made me look that up.
 
SimCity? (Nope. That won't be it. I don't have a clue. I really don't know why I guessed.)
 
The more CFC posts by diehard Communists I read, the less sympathetic I get. Not because I have anything against communism, but because they can't change their minds, won't change the subject, and get rude when they're questioned.

Bingo. The main problem with "communists" and all purporters of liberal causes (republicanism, liberalism, etc.) are that they refuse to think out of the box. They are stubbornly stuck to their ways and refuse to think or investigate new modes of thought.

That's why I'm proud to be a conservative: free-thinker, defender of all that involves changing minds.
 
Bingo. The main problem with "communists" and all purporters of liberal causes (republicanism, liberalism, etc.) are that they refuse to think out of the box. They are stubbornly stuck to their ways and refuse to think or investigate new modes of thought.

That's why I'm proud to be a conservative: free-thinker, defender of all that involves changing minds.

If you say so. I can't stand most conservatives, though.
 
If you say so. I can't stand most conservatives, though.

At least conservatives change their minds and think outside the box, unlike dyed-in-the-wool stuck-in-their-ways "liberals."
 
At least conservatives change their minds and think outside the box, unlike dyed-in-the-wool stuck-in-their-ways "liberals."

Whatever you say, Mr. Colbert.
 
The truth hurts.
 
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