TIL: Today I Learned

[Zkribbler]

Which is exactly why we, as a society, need to find some other way to deal with criminals other than just locking them away for a set period of time. Everything about prison seems to be designed to create career criminals rather than reform them.

When Jerry Brown left office after his first time as Governor of California, the recidivism rate was down 18%.

Decades later, when he was again elected, he took office with a recidivism rate of 84%.

So, take a look at the prison policies between the two times Brown was governor, and do the exact opposite.

 

[dutchfire]

TIL John Nance Garner at some point won a US House election with exactly one vote against him.

Do you know other cases of elections where someone got only a single vote?

(also, that district has been Democrat since it creation in 1920, has had 6 Representatives in total, 2 of whom were on the Democratic Vice-Presidential Ticket)

 

[Kyriakos]

TIL John Nance Garner at some point won a US House election with exactly one vote against him.

Do you know other cases of elections where someone got only a single vote?

(also, that district has been Democrat since it creation in 1920, has had 6 Representatives in total, 2 of whom were on the Democratic Vice-Presidential Ticket)

So the other candidate voted for himself?

Would have been nice if he did not...

 

[Lohrenswald]

Turns out that the word meme was invented by Richard Dawkins

interesting idea, really

Here's an article about it that I haven't read

 

[Atticus]

I still remember when the word meant what it originally meant.

It's funny how the concept applies to itself: Dawkin's theory wasn't fit enough to survive and the word degraded to mean (a specific type of) crap.

 

[Kyriakos]

I still remember when the word meant what it originally meant.

It's funny how the concept applies to itself: Dawkin's theory wasn't fit enough to survive and the word degraded to mean (a specific type of) crap.

Although, imo, 'meme' is a stupid and/or cacophonous neologic abbreviation of mimesis anyway, so no new term applied there in the first place.

Re Dawkins, at least he became a meme too

 

[Flying Pig]

TIL John Nance Garner at some point won a US House election with exactly one vote against him.

Do you know other cases of elections where someone got only a single vote?

(also, that district has been Democrat since it creation in 1920, has had 6 Representatives in total, 2 of whom were on the Democratic Vice-Presidential Ticket)

A couple of counties in Indiana gave single votes to candidates who had dropped out - for some reason, the ghost of Ben Carson was remarkably popular - but obviously none of those won. However, a few counties did have a total turnout in the double figures, so if the weather had been awful, you never know.

Today I learned that more Americans are dying from drug overdoses - mostly prescription painkillers - than from motor accidents.

 

[Agent327]

Yes, the War on Drugs is going splendidly. A pity the demand keeps going up.

 

[Commodore]

TIL: Angry Joe knows absolutely nothing about World War I.

 

[Civ'ed]

TIL: Angry Joe knows absolutely nothing about World War I.

World War I is one of those wars with an incredibly complex history that spanned three continents.

Or it's a pop-history slog through mass wave tactics and a complete disregard for anything east of bloody Luxembourg.

 

[Commodore]

World War I is one of those wars with an incredibly complex history that spanned three continents.

Or it's a pop-history slog through mass wave tactics and a complete disregard for anything east of bloody Luxembourg.

I knew he knew absolutely nothing though when he said tanks would be unbeatable in Battlefield 1 because there weren't any anti-tank weapons back then so he's worried they will be overpowered in gameplay. Apparently he never read about anti-tank rifles.

 

[Tee Kay]

I knew he knew absolutely nothing though when he said tanks would be unbeatable in Battlefield 1 because there weren't any anti-tank weapons back then so he's worried they will be overpowered in gameplay. Apparently he never read about anti-tank rifles.

Or mud.

 

[Kaitzilla]

TIL that from 1995 to 2000, all the big prizes in the McDonald's Monopoly game were stolen!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_Monopoly

Fraud

In 2000, the US promotion was halted after fraud was uncovered. A subcontracting company called Simon Marketing (a then-subsidiary of Cyrk), which had been hired by McDonald's to organize and promote the game, failed to recognize a flaw in its procedures. Chief of security Jerome P. Jacobson[4] was able to remove the most expensive game pieces, which he then passed to associates who would redeem them and share the proceeds. The associates won almost all of the top prizes between 1995 and 2000, including McDonald's giveaways that did not have the Monopoly theme. The associates netted over $24 million. While the fraud appeared to have been perpetrated by only one key employee of the promotion company, and not by the company's management, eight people were originally arrested, leading to a total of 21 indicted individuals.[5] The relationship between McDonald's and Simon Marketing broke down in a pair of lawsuits over breach of contract, eventually settled out of court, with McDonald's' claim being thrown out and Simon receiving $16.6 million.[6] Due to a constitutional violation, four of those convicted of the fraud were later released as they were not initially charged with the offense.[7]

In 1995, St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee received an anonymous letter postmarked Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning game piece. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and made its last $50,000 annual payment in 2014.[8] Investigations later indicated that Jacobson had admitted to sending the winning piece to the hospital.[9]

The chief of security stole everything!


Also, an easy way to remember the rare pieces that win you stuff:

Note that the rare piece is alphabetically the last property in each group, except for Boardwalk.

Alphabetically last except for Boardwalk, got it!
So the winning Railroad piece would be Short Line.

 

[Kennigit]

I learned blue jays will eat other birds' eggs

 

[Samson]

Although, imo, 'meme' is a stupid and/or cacophonous neologic abbreviation of mimesis anyway, so no new term applied there in the first place.

Meme:

A meme (/ˈmiːm/ meem) is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture".

Mimesis:

In ancient Greece, mimesis was an idea that governed the creation of works of art, in particular, with correspondence to the physical world understood as a model for beauty, truth, and the good. Plato contrasted mimesis, or imitation, with diegesis, or narrative.

I do not see the similarity, am I missing something?

 

[Flying Pig]

Wiki says that 'meme' is a shortening of mīmēma ('a thing that is imitated'), which itself comes from the verb mimeisthai ('to imitate'). The noun mīmēsis ('imitation') is similarly derived from the same verb.

 

[Samson]

Wiki says that 'meme' is a shortening of mīmēma ('a thing that is imitated'), which itself comes from the verb mimeisthai ('to imitate'). The noun mīmēsis ('imitation') is similarly derived from the same verb.

That makes sense to me, thanks.

 

[Agent327]

It's interesting that the word 'meme' itself is also a meme - and not a very good one.

 

[gay_Aleks]

But when you think about it, it's fitting, isn't it? MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME is the original meme. It is the meme in which all memes are shaped after. All memes are derivative from it at its basic structure - the repetition, the senselessness. And so on and so on oh my god what am I doing with my life.

 

[Kyriakos]

Wiki says that 'meme' is a shortening of mīmēma ('a thing that is imitated'), which itself comes from the verb mimeisthai ('to imitate'). The noun mīmēsis ('imitation') is similarly derived from the same verb.

Thanks

@Sam(p)son: spent too much time with Dalida lately?