# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=867 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 868 --- ## [Ad Homeniem help](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-homeniem-help/761157)
**Author:** [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-homeniem-help/761157 "2016-08-01T02:33:07Z")
https://forbiddentruthblog.com/2015/06/17/cage-lock-and-the-matrix-of-freedom-illusion/ So someone sent me the above link and I’m not sure what to make of it. I want to write it (along with severa other things on the sa… --- ## [Has there been a skunk population crash?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-been-a-skunk-population-crash/761241)
**Author:** [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-been-a-skunk-population-crash/761241 "2016-08-01T02:23:29Z")
Got to talking the other night, and someone pointed out that they hadn’t smelled a single skunk the last two years. I don’t know about two years, but I certainly haven’t smelled any this year, and haven’t seen any squa… --- ## [Corruption in the construction industry](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-the-construction-industry/761408)
**Author:** [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-the-construction-industry/761408 "2016-07-31T23:57:21Z")
Is/was the construction industry particularly prone to corruption of various sorts? If so, what factors make it so? Is/was corruption more prominent for private or public construction? Is/was it more prominent for vari… --- ## [Do simple suction cups work better in wet or dry conditions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-simple-suction-cups-work-better-in-wet-or-dry-conditions/761167)
**Author:** [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-simple-suction-cups-work-better-in-wet-or-dry-conditions/761167 "2016-07-31T21:59:14Z")
I’m thinking specifically about the type used to stick things on a shower wall or car window. How does one get a link that is a. strong and b. long lasting? Why is this the case? --- ## [Matthew Brady Studios NY ca 1869](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matthew-brady-studios-ny-ca-1869/761295)
**Author:** [@Collect47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Collect47)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matthew-brady-studios-ny-ca-1869/761295 "2016-07-31T21:47:53Z")
Background: I have a second edition of the Scott “Postage Stamp Album” issued in 1870, copyright 1869. Mr. Scott, of Nassau St. in NYC, had a sheet of small labels showing notable world leaders printed, including hims… --- ## [How to take photos on a darkroom?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-take-photos-on-a-darkroom/761256)
**Author:** [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-take-photos-on-a-darkroom/761256 "2016-07-31T21:36:04Z")
I was wondering - how would you take a photo on a darkroom with a film camera - not a dark room, but the room that has the red light, used to develop photos? Would that even be possible? I mean, the safe light should not… --- ## [French foundry mark?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-foundry-mark/761296)
**Author:** [@Collect47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Collect47)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-foundry-mark/761296 "2016-07-31T21:35:28Z")
I have a pair of small bronze busts looking like a really incredibly ugly Napoleon/Josephine pair with an “Espie Paris” foundry mark. The artist is “JB” “Beauvais” which one person identified as “Jacques Beauvais” who w… --- ## [Louis Mattar's 1952 San Diego to New York road trip - with mobile phone service!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louis-mattars-1952-san-diego-to-new-york-road-trip-with-mobile-phone-service/761314)
**Author:** [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louis-mattars-1952-san-diego-to-new-york-road-trip-with-mobile-phone-service/761314 "2016-07-31T19:45:17Z")
Supposedly the car went 6000 or so miles without ever stopping. Anyway. . . Mattar had a phone installed so that he could call ahead if he had any issues. Presumably this would have been the old mobile networks where y… --- ## [How can I validate a claim to be a Dr (non medical)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-validate-a-claim-to-be-a-dr-non-medical/761064)
**Author:** [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-validate-a-claim-to-be-a-dr-non-medical/761064 "2016-07-31T19:42:38Z")
Someone I know claims to be a D(???) but I think that he either made it up, or bought it on the internet. I have no idea which university his so called doctorate would come from. How can I check his claim? If I decide … --- ## [Marine Dog Tags stuck between teeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marine-dog-tags-stuck-between-teeth/628731)
**Author:** [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marine-dog-tags-stuck-between-teeth/628731 "2016-07-31T19:32:40Z")
In a half-remembered episode of NCIS, Gibbs is exhuming a Marine from Iwo Jima for evidence of a murder by a Medal of Honor recipient. It is noted that the remains has the dog tag jammed between the teeth. Gibbs inform… --- ## [Ham radio conversations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ham-radio-conversations/761027)
**Author:** [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ham-radio-conversations/761027 "2016-07-31T15:30:34Z")
What do ham radio operators most frequently talk about with each other? In theory, I’m sure the answer could be ‘anything and everything’, but something tells me the gender, age, and personality type of the individuals … --- ## [legal restrictions on email distribution lists](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-restrictions-on-email-distribution-lists/761242)
**Author:** [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-restrictions-on-email-distribution-lists/761242 "2016-07-31T14:25:52Z")
This has nothing to do with current controversies regarding email and email servers! It is about any legal restrictions on who can be in an email distribution list (the list of all emails that a post goes to) of a compa… --- ## [Has someone hacked one of my accounts?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-hacked-one-of-my-accounts/761126)
**Author:** [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-hacked-one-of-my-accounts/761126 "2016-07-31T03:27:37Z")
I just got an e-mail welcoming me to Instagram, but I haven’t tried to join Instagram. Naturally, I clicked on the link in the message that said, “if you didn’t sign up,” and Instagram said they removed my e-mail address… --- ## [Electric generator not giving resistance](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-generator-not-giving-resistance/761252)
**Author:** [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-generator-not-giving-resistance/761252 "2016-07-31T01:41:24Z")
This is related to my previous thread. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=796952 I want to experience the effect of a generator being harder to turn when a load is placed on it. So I snagged a battery… --- ## [Residential plumbing-pressure regulator](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/residential-plumbing-pressure-regulator/759518)
**Author:** [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/residential-plumbing-pressure-regulator/759518 "2016-07-31T00:07:17Z")
95 PSI inside the house; blew of the hose that feeds the hot water heater. The plumber dug down four feet next to the meter trying to find the pipe that feeds the house without finding it. The house is on a slope. Livi… --- ## [Who, if anyone, was Michelle Obama's most recent ancestor who was a slave](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-was-michelle-obamas-most-recent-ancestor-who-was-a-slave/761163)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [July 29, 2016, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-was-michelle-obamas-most-recent-ancestor-who-was-a-slave/761163 "2016-07-29T09:29:32Z")
Does Barack Obama have any black US slave ancestors? I’d doubt it since his black father is from Kenya. He may have had some removed cousins. My question is about Michelle Obama, does anyone know how far back you’d have… --- ## [Is permission required from musicians for political rallies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-permission-required-from-musicians-for-political-rallies/760968)
**Author:** [@Alzarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alzarian)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-permission-required-from-musicians-for-political-rallies/760968 "2016-07-30T19:51:11Z")
It seems that whenever a political campaign plays music at a rally, you hear from the artist seeking that it stop, particularly if the views of the politician are not shared by the artist. While I get the desire for an … --- ## ["Only person in this conference" call?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-person-in-this-conference-call/761313)
**Author:** [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-person-in-this-conference-call/761313 "2016-07-30T18:36:56Z")
I have two landlines – one for my business and one personal. Despite having listed it on the Do Not Call registry, I get a lot of junk calls on the business line. I just got a call on my business line from a local numb… --- ## [Uncertain about Heisenburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncertain-about-heisenburg/761112)
**Author:** [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncertain-about-heisenburg/761112 "2016-07-30T18:09:48Z")
Is the Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle a theory or a fact? Is it possible to prove? If it’s just a theory that’s impossible to prove why is it so important? --- ## [Computer problem: .pdf document printing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213)
**Author:** [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213 "2016-07-30T17:53:04Z")
I have a situation which at first I thought was caused by my lack of a .pdf reader, but I’m not so sure now–since now I seem to have one. I had attempted to print a .pdf document, specifically a California Judicial Coun… --- ## [If water can't expand, will it still freeze?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-water-cant-expand-will-it-still-freeze/760845)
**Author:** [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-water-cant-expand-will-it-still-freeze/760845 "2016-07-30T17:46:19Z")
Water expands as it freezes. If we placed it in a container made of hypothetical steel where the water has zero room to expand at its freezing point, would it still freeze? In other words, a perfect gallon of water is i… --- ## ["We pay Property Taxes" companies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-pay-property-taxes-companies/760808)
**Author:** [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-pay-property-taxes-companies/760808 "2016-07-30T16:53:32Z")
Anyone here use this service or familiar with how they work? I am in a bind because I have not been able to pay the property taxes on my house due to, well, a lot of other stuff that has taken all my funds. I have alrea… --- ## [Are political concessions as quid pro quo for candidate dropping out possible/used in US primaries?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-political-concessions-as-quid-pro-quo-for-candidate-dropping-out-possible-used-in-us-primaries/761289)
**Author:** [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-political-concessions-as-quid-pro-quo-for-candidate-dropping-out-possible-used-in-us-primaries/761289 "2016-07-30T16:00:31Z")
This is a factual question but specfically about elections, and answers will involve opinions - so, if it’s not in the correct forum here, please move. Some candidacies in US presidential primaries obviously don’t expec… --- ## [Quantum of sentence - Canadian law](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quantum-of-sentence-canadian-law/761193)
**Author:** [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quantum-of-sentence-canadian-law/761193 "2016-07-30T14:43:03Z")
I was reading the judge’s verdict in the Sammy Yatim case - http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/3000801/3376-001.pdf where the judge lays out their thinking around sentencing a police office for attempted murder when I… --- ## [Turning the Eiffel tower into a building](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-the-eiffel-tower-into-a-building/761068)
**Author:** [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-the-eiffel-tower-into-a-building/761068 "2016-07-30T13:31:11Z")
Can the Eiffel tower be converted into a commercial and/or residential tower? I’d imagine that putting up cladding and floors might be technically possible, but I don’t understand high rise construction well enough to kn… --- ## [Easy question, re: Pearl Harbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-question-re-pearl-harbor/287362)
**Author:** [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-question-re-pearl-harbor/287362 "2016-07-30T13:21:51Z")
What does “Tora Tora Tora” mean? All I’m finding are links to the movie. Thanks. --- ## [Chain Gangs in America](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-gangs-in-america/760752)
**Author:** [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-gangs-in-america/760752 "2016-07-30T11:59:15Z")
Are there any Chain Gangs operating in America? I’m asking about convicts that are physically chained together and performing some menial task like breaking rocks or picking up litter. I know such gangs exist to work t… --- ## [Concorde Blues](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concorde-blues/760316)
**Author:** [@bobohula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobohula)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concorde-blues/760316 "2016-07-30T11:25:10Z")
I really wanted to fly in the Concorde. But now it is extinct–all because one of them hit a piece of debris on the runway and crashed. Couldn’t that happen to any plane? There have been umpteen causes of airplane crashes… --- ## [Presented to the Monarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presented-to-the-monarch/761217)
**Author:** [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presented-to-the-monarch/761217 "2016-07-30T10:05:00Z")
In Downton abbey and a lot of other literature about British society life being presented to the King/Queen is a right of passage for the aristocracy and for the new vo riche to establish themselves. What are the requir… --- ## [Ground Moths](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ground-moths/761232)
**Author:** [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2016, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ground-moths/761232 "2016-07-30T07:37:24Z")
Walking through Montreal today, I saw close to 20 moths all fluttering furiously into the ground. They were flapping their wings but not flying at all, scraping their thoraxes into the dirt and occasionally bouncing a fe… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=866) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=868)