# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=103 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 104 --- ## [Tax Question. Foreign Earned Income Exclusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-question-foreign-earned-income-exclusion/996885)
**Author:** [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-question-foreign-earned-income-exclusion/996885 "2024-02-01T04:46:04Z")
Turbotax says I am due a refund, but I don’t trust it. I can’t find the answer to my specific situation. I’m trying to confirm this is not a bug before I continue. Married, Filing Jointly. Both people live together ove… --- ## [If a cow jumped over the moon, how fast would it be going when it got back and hit earth's atmosphere?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-cow-jumped-over-the-moon-how-fast-would-it-be-going-when-it-got-back-and-hit-earths-atmosphere/996737)
**Author:** [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-cow-jumped-over-the-moon-how-fast-would-it-be-going-when-it-got-back-and-hit-earths-atmosphere/996737 "2024-01-31T20:56:32Z")
According to the nursery rhyme, the cow jumped over the moon. But coming back, man, that would not be good. Let’s assume the cow’s trajectory takes it in a free return trip around the Moon, a la Apollo 13. (Apollo 8 s… --- ## [Impeaching Cabinet members](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-cabinet-members/996701)
**Author:** [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-cabinet-members/996701 "2024-01-31T19:01:47Z")
I just read on CNN that the House Speaker is threatening to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary. Congress can impeach the President’s Cabinet? --- ## [Permutations for six arms of six segments with 5 positions each](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/permutations-for-six-arms-of-six-segments-with-5-positions-each/996740)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/permutations-for-six-arms-of-six-segments-with-5-positions-each/996740 "2024-01-31T18:11:00Z")
Teaching my grandson about combinations. He has the following “Morphing Fidget Spinner”. Each of the six arms has six knuckles, each with 5 positions. So for each arm it is 5 to the sixth power = 15,625. So for the entir… --- ## [Machine gun parts legality](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machine-gun-parts-legality/996835)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machine-gun-parts-legality/996835 "2024-01-31T17:28:26Z")
This ‘funny’ came across in my Facebook feed. It’s a picture of a handful of M-16 automatic sears, and the caption reads ‘Found a bunch of these Mousetrap parts in my crazy uncle’s garage by his drill press…’ I remembe… --- ## [What can a person say in defending themself and denying a crime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-person-say-in-defending-themself-and-denying-a-crime/996717)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-person-say-in-defending-themself-and-denying-a-crime/996717 "2024-01-31T01:37:26Z")
The recent Trump verdicit raised this question. Please don’t focus on the person. I’m asking about legal guidelines. What can someone say in defending themself against an accusation? Hypothetically, a public person is a… --- ## [So, a question about the TOR browser](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-question-about-the-tor-browser/996853)
**Author:** [@Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dodgy_Dude)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-question-about-the-tor-browser/996853 "2024-01-30T22:02:04Z")
Earlier today I downloaded something from rapidgator using Firefox. When you download something for free from rapidgator, you have to wait at least two hours before the next download. Thirty-five minutes later, I tried… --- ## [What does a Supreme Court clerk do?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-supreme-court-clerk-do/626730)
**Author:** [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-supreme-court-clerk-do/626730 "2024-01-30T17:44:28Z")
Clerking for a Supreme Court justice is apparently a very prestigious thing to have on one’s law resume. What exactly do these clerks do? How many clerks does each justice have at any one time? How long do clerks typi… --- ## [What Nazi official announced the March 1936 march into the Rhineland (video link included)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nazi-official-announced-the-march-1936-march-into-the-rhineland-video-link-included/996785)
**Author:** [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nazi-official-announced-the-march-1936-march-into-the-rhineland-video-link-included/996785 "2024-01-30T15:56:08Z")
Link to documentary. You can see the announcement starting at about 15:19. I couldn’t find where the speaker was identified. --- ## [LIGO: The Next Generation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ligo-the-next-generation/996574)
**Author:** [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ligo-the-next-generation/996574 "2024-01-29T22:39:32Z")
LIGO is a laser interferometer…essentially a gravity wave telescope. LIGO - Wikipedia I believe I’ve read (in Popular Science?) a future successor to this land-based system is to construct one in space…outside any poss… --- ## [A nonreligious question about the Greek of Matthew 18:22](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nonreligious-question-about-the-greek-of-matthew-18-22/996077)
**Author:** [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nonreligious-question-about-the-greek-of-matthew-18-22/996077 "2024-01-29T18:29:13Z")
This is the passage about forgiving ‘not up to seven times, but until \[some number\] of times’. I get that the upshot is that it’s meant to mean ‘a big, symbolically meaningful number’ like ‘a lucky jillion’, but what of… --- ## [Question about Philips commercial](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-philips-commercial/44822)
**Author:** [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-philips-commercial/44822 "2024-01-29T17:53:31Z")
You know the song from the Philips commercials? The one that goes, “I got to admit it’s getting better…getting better all the time.” Is that a full-length song? If so, who was the original artist? I swear I recognized N… --- ## [Casting Google Meet to my TV, from an IOS device](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-google-meet-to-my-tv-from-an-ios-device/996748)
**Author:** [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-google-meet-to-my-tv-from-an-ios-device/996748 "2024-01-29T16:15:50Z")
My wife and I do a fair amount of family chats using Google Meet. We tend to do these huddled around an iPad using the Google Meet web app. It would be nice to do these video calls on our big smart TV instead. The plan … --- ## [Amputation without anesthesia?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation-without-anesthesia/686451)
**Author:** [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amputation-without-anesthesia/686451 "2024-01-28T23:12:45Z")
On disaster movies sometimes we see people getting limbs stuck on places like buildings, rocks, derbies, etc etc etc, and the person ends up having to amputate the limb. Would it be possible to survive the humongous pain… --- ## [The Feynman Puzzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feynman-puzzle/6344)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feynman-puzzle/6344 "2024-01-27T22:50:41Z")
In one of the biographies of Richard Feynman, he told the story of trying to solve a thought problem by dint of actual experimentation. It was a funny story, but he never gave the answer! Here is the thought problem: P… --- ## [How are private phones handled with military members while on duty?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-private-phones-handled-with-military-members-while-on-duty/996636)
**Author:** [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-private-phones-handled-with-military-members-while-on-duty/996636 "2024-01-27T21:50:54Z")
Many people are practically welded to their phones these days, but I can imagine various ways in which you might not want soldiers to be freely reachable, or able to reach out to others at any time, for fear of critical … --- ## [“Hot” coffee cup](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-coffee-cup/996406)
**Author:** [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Replies:** 117\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-coffee-cup/996406 "2024-01-27T14:01:16Z")
In the 1950s, the public narrative by government and industry, “peaceful uses” of atomic power were going to make all of our lives easier. Dredging harbors, nuking the Moon, electricity “too cheap to meter”. None of that… --- ## [Did Henry VIII ever set up a military post in North America?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-henry-viii-ever-set-up-a-military-post-in-north-america/996718)
**Author:** [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-henry-viii-ever-set-up-a-military-post-in-north-america/996718 "2024-01-27T13:07:07Z")
I remember reading many years ago something to the effect that Henry VIII either had set up a military post in North America or was interested in doing so. I couldn’t find any reference online to Henry VIII’s interest in… --- ## [Origin on the brain sucker dad joke? "What's this brain sucker doing? Starving!"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-on-the-brain-sucker-dad-joke-whats-this-brain-sucker-doing-starving/996410)
**Author:** [@notmenotyou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notmenotyou)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-on-the-brain-sucker-dad-joke-whats-this-brain-sucker-doing-starving/996410 "2024-01-26T19:32:02Z")
Apparently everyone’s dad did this back in the 90s (and earlier??). Where did it come from? Maybe some TV show? --- ## [Programming Colossus (Cracking Enigma)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-colossus-cracking-enigma/178271)
**Author:** [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/programming-colossus-cracking-enigma/178271 "2024-01-26T12:22:06Z")
I suspect most of you are familiar with the efforts of Bletchley Park in cracking the Enigma codes during WWII. One of the keys to this process was the first digital computer, called Colossus, to help sort through the… --- ## [Why are pop filters used in the studio but not on stage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pop-filters-used-in-the-studio-but-not-on-stage/996658)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pop-filters-used-in-the-studio-but-not-on-stage/996658 "2024-01-26T04:55:50Z")
Pop filters are those circular screens that are placed in front of microphones. You often see these in recording studios and podcast studios. They disperse sudden puffs of air that are expelled from pronouncing certain p… --- ## [Is it possible to upgrade a Windows 7 computer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-upgrade-a-windows-7-computer/996235)
**Author:** [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-upgrade-a-windows-7-computer/996235 "2024-01-26T04:52:50Z")
I have a Window 7 computer. Some of the programs on it (most notably, Steam games) are starting to not work on it. I want to make them work. From what I understand, this means that I need to upgrade to Windows 10 (the… --- ## [Be leave you/us alone](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/be-leave-you-us-alone/996664)
**Author:** [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/be-leave-you-us-alone/996664 "2024-01-26T04:50:39Z")
I recently encountered a phrase in a site regarding Elizabeth Moon’s Pakesenarrion works (Paksworld:) that went Am he gone? Are he went? Have he left I all alone? This reminded me of a very similar statement that my Dad… --- ## [I don't understand why Western tankers would be safer if they sail south from the east coast of Africa?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-western-tankers-would-be-safer-if-they-sail-south-from-the-east-coast-of-africa/996430)
**Author:** [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-western-tankers-would-be-safer-if-they-sail-south-from-the-east-coast-of-africa/996430 "2024-01-26T03:41:38Z")
At the end of his book “Sovereignty in Dispute: the Falklands/Malvinas, 1493-1982,” Hoffmann said “Could it be that the U.S. Navy and the British Admiralty have decided that the islands are essential for protecting oil… --- ## [Don't Iceland volcanos have names?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-iceland-volcanos-have-names/996132)
**Author:** [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-iceland-volcanos-have-names/996132 "2024-01-26T00:29:28Z")
In the recent news articles about volcanoes in Iceland, they never refer to the volcano by name. Seems odd. Perhaps it’s because the last volcano to erupt, and spewed so much into the atmosphere that it disrupted air t… --- ## [Help me understand "Crungus" and "Loab"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-crungus-and-loab/971234)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-crungus-and-loab/971234 "2024-01-25T17:51:31Z")
As nearly as this 20th-century old geezer understands it, there has been a sort of feedback loop between internet memes, artificial intelligence and image trawling that some people are claiming has produced a self-emergi… --- ## [Why is this empty Phone running out of Space?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-empty-phone-running-out-of-space/996571)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-empty-phone-running-out-of-space/996571 "2024-01-25T17:10:28Z")
I’m using my Mom’s old 10GBb Android Phone to play music. Samsung Galaxy A01 We bought it for mom after 3G service was discontinued and her Flip phone didn’t work. It never had much installed. Solitaire and Amazon. It w… --- ## [Looking for maker of a particular musical instrument](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-maker-of-a-particular-musical-instrument/996299)
**Author:** [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-maker-of-a-particular-musical-instrument/996299 "2024-01-25T04:25:14Z")
I received a 35 key IRIN melodian/melodica for Christmas, and I can find any info about this company. Is there a link to this company? --- ## [Microsoft Outlook and interface for viewing attachments](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-outlook-and-interface-for-viewing-attachments/996597)
**Author:** [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2024, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-outlook-and-interface-for-viewing-attachments/996597 "2024-01-25T03:40:50Z")
This is a screenshot (slightly modified for the sake of anonymity) of the top of an email that actually has 38 attachments: As you can tell, I’m only seeing 2 1/2 file att… --- ## [Raising Pigeons For Food](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-pigeons-for-food/996446)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-pigeons-for-food/996446 "2024-01-24T20:38:52Z")
In a book I read a long time ago, a character is a gourmand who loves him some haute cuisine. One of the recipes he’s mentioned as enjoying is squabs with sauce printemps (\*Note: I could be wrong on the sauce). Squabs ar… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=102) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=104)