# Latest **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1368 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 1369 --- ## [Amanda Knox](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amanda-knox/654007)
**Author:** [@LisaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LisaB)\ **Replies:** 196\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amanda-knox/654007 "2021-08-14T19:09:07Z")
Trying Amanda again proves to me just how dumb the Italian government is. It is so obvious that the criminal who was convicted, Rudy, is the only guilty party involved. Why would they have reduced his original sentence?… --- ## [Kurt H. Debus Director of NASA's Launch Operations Center](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurt-h-debus-director-of-nasas-launch-operations-center/948528)
**Author:** [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Replies:** 77\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurt-h-debus-director-of-nasas-launch-operations-center/948528 "2021-08-14T18:27:03Z")
I’ve been reading a lot of FOIA (freedom of information act) documents and frankly I’m amazed at the depths of depravity within the US government and the lies the public had been fed and no doubt still being fed. I unde… --- ## [Could the goverment force movie studios out of the streaming business like they did movie theaters?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-goverment-force-movie-studios-out-of-the-streaming-business-like-they-did-movie-theaters/948483)
**Author:** [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-goverment-force-movie-studios-out-of-the-streaming-business-like-they-did-movie-theaters/948483 "2021-08-14T18:19:38Z")
I was watching a news report about scarlet johannsen suing marvel/disney for putting black widow on Disney+ because she says its a workaround for paying her a contract bonus based on theatre performance And someone c… --- ## [For musicians: Recommendations for Custom-fitted In Ear Monitors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-musicians-recommendations-for-custom-fitted-in-ear-monitors/948622)
**Author:** [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-musicians-recommendations-for-custom-fitted-in-ear-monitors/948622 "2021-08-14T17:59:03Z")
Or, I guess they don’t have to be custom fitted, so long as they provide adequate hearing protection. Ideally, an IEM + transmitter / receiver set that accommodates multiple users, protects hearing, and permits differen… --- ## [Dream Lady Never Replied To My Email](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-lady-never-replied-to-my-email/948613)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-lady-never-replied-to-my-email/948613 "2021-08-14T17:53:33Z")
Now just to be clear, this lady doctor at Harvard was soliciting emails about people’s dreams. And I thought I was being nice enough to give her some input along these lines. But she never replied. Why? Here, in any eve… --- ## [How do you counter this? (vaccination hold-off)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-counter-this-vaccination-hold-off/941536)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 119\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-counter-this-vaccination-hold-off/941536 "2021-08-14T17:06:53Z")
So on Reddit, someone made a dumb-assed comment about how most people are fine either way(getting vaccinated or not) because the death rate is only like 2%. I replied that I didn’t understand the argument against gettin… --- ## [How Long Does It Take to Die from Burning at the Stake?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-to-die-from-burning-at-the-stake/630163)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-to-die-from-burning-at-the-stake/630163 "2013-01-11T21:42:33Z")
I can’t imagine the agony of dying in such a way. But I also imagine the carbon monoxide fumes will kill you in pretty short order, as in, ~5 minutes. Anyone got the scoop? --- ## [Indigenous Peoples and vax or infection numbers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-and-vax-or-infection-numbers/948647)
**Author:** [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-and-vax-or-infection-numbers/948647 "2021-08-14T14:03:42Z")
I just thought it would be nice to see the numbers for those who are quarantined \*uh, sick/died… crud I forget where/what I was thinking of but it was a thread I just read… 45 minutes ago? pretty much because we (well, n… --- ## [Who is he to me? (Genealogy help)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-he-to-me-genealogy-help/948599)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-he-to-me-genealogy-help/948599 "2021-08-14T13:57:34Z")
A genealogist contracted to help the United States Army contacted me today, looking to get information about a relative of mine who was MIA in Luxembourg during World War 2, in 1944. I’d never heard of him before, and i… --- ## [Can you fake a busy signal like in the movie Blow Out?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fake-a-busy-signal-like-in-the-movie-blow-out/948586)
**Author:** [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fake-a-busy-signal-like-in-the-movie-blow-out/948586 "2021-08-14T12:18:17Z")
I just saw the movie Blow Out last night. I’ve got a question about a scene in which John Lithgow’s character tampers with the phone of John Travolta’s character. Stop reading now if you don’t want any spoilers for thi… --- ## [State Farm is a bunch of fucking crooks and liars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-is-a-bunch-of-fucking-crooks-and-liars/407140)
**Author:** [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-is-a-bunch-of-fucking-crooks-and-liars/407140 "2021-08-14T11:25:41Z")
I can’t believe I got tangled up with these assholes. I’ve had all my insurance with State Farm for 10 years, during which I’ve paid them thousands of dollars in premiums. In the last 10 years I had one claim, when som… --- ## [Indonesian Army ends "Two Finger" virginity test](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indonesian-army-ends-two-finger-virginity-test/948602)
**Author:** [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indonesian-army-ends-two-finger-virginity-test/948602 "2021-08-14T10:14:01Z")
Indonesian Army Ends ‘Two-Finger’ Virginity Tests on Female Recruits (newsweek.com) “Previously we looked at the abdomen, genitalia in detail with the examinations of the pelvis, vagina and cervix. Now, we have done awa… --- ## [Sound barriers on balconies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-barriers-on-balconies/948434)
**Author:** [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sound-barriers-on-balconies/948434 "2021-08-14T07:51:44Z")
Say you have two balconies close to each other, with a sound proof wall between them, will you be able to hear sound from the other side at all? Assume the building wall is completely straight, the balconies are square … --- ## [Who killed Cleopatra?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-cleopatra/948377)
**Author:** [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-cleopatra/948377 "2021-08-14T06:38:58Z")
Well some of the more obvious choices are: Herself. With a snake. Which has been doubted since antiquity. Getting a big ass cobra past the guards is going to be problematic and it is not a reliable way to die. Herself … --- ## [Why are sports recap announcers' voices so loud and shrill?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-sports-recap-announcers-voices-so-loud-and-shrill/948043)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-sports-recap-announcers-voices-so-loud-and-shrill/948043 "2021-08-14T05:05:18Z")
Announcers doing sports recaps talk too damn loudly! I wish they were a little less intense; who’s with me? --- ## [What actually happened to net neutrality](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actually-happened-to-net-neutrality/948481)
**Author:** [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actually-happened-to-net-neutrality/948481 "2021-08-14T04:27:18Z")
i was perusing through Cecil’s archives and found this : and I remember that was a big thing until dump got elected and it sort of was put on the back burner … was it ever resolved ? --- ## [Shooter in Plymouth, UK](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooter-in-plymouth-uk/948546)
**Author:** [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooter-in-plymouth-uk/948546 "2021-08-14T02:45:23Z")
Just not what you expect in the UK. This is my home town, and the incident was streets away from my sister’s house. I’ve talked to her, and she and hers are safe. If you believe the Facebook rumours, a 19 year old sho… --- ## [Shooting in Fairfield Township, NJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-fairfield-township-nj/942755)
**Author:** [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-fairfield-township-nj/942755 "2021-08-14T02:28:29Z")
Two dead, 12 injured at a house party in Fairfield Township: Pretty small town in South Jersey. @Loach, do you know anything about it? I think you’re a NJ police officer?? No arrests have been made. --- ## ["6+", albedo and glitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-albedo-and-glitter/948527)
**Author:** [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-albedo-and-glitter/948527 "2021-08-14T01:50:58Z")
In Heinlein’s story “The Man Who Sold the Moon,” one ploy Harriman tries is to scare various people into thinking that a moon rocket could be used to paint the moon with coal dust (or something else dark) with various sy… --- ## [What jobs can someone with only a high school diploma get that a high school dropout can't?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-can-someone-with-only-a-high-school-diploma-get-that-a-high-school-dropout-cant/947924)
**Author:** [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-can-someone-with-only-a-high-school-diploma-get-that-a-high-school-dropout-cant/947924 "2021-08-14T01:49:05Z")
This question is specific only to North America. I graduated from high school in 1998. During my schooling, there was a lot in the media about “staying in school”, which was taken to mean that one should at least finish … --- ## [Hot-car deaths: Covered in the media before 1990?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-car-deaths-covered-in-the-media-before-1990/948572)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-car-deaths-covered-in-the-media-before-1990/948572 "2021-08-14T00:09:17Z")
There has been a great deal of media coverage of kids dying by being left in hot-cars since 2000 or so, but I can’t recall or find any coverage of such deaths before, say, 1990 or so, and not in the older eras like 1950s… --- ## [How did we get to the point where Americans fear members of the other party?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-to-the-point-where-americans-fear-members-of-the-other-party/947674)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-to-the-point-where-americans-fear-members-of-the-other-party/947674 "2021-08-13T23:00:07Z")
I’d sure like to wear a T-shirt with Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s picture on it, or put a bumper sticker on our car espousing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but I’m afraid a member of the “party of law and order” would shoot me in t… --- ## [Your Favorite Living Journalists?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-living-journalists/948634)
**Author:** [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-living-journalists/948634 "2021-08-13T22:42:42Z")
\-Glenn Greenwald -Whitney Webb -Seymour Hersh --- ## [I lost a friend to Qanon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-a-friend-to-qanon/919072)
**Author:** [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-a-friend-to-qanon/919072 "2021-08-13T21:51:53Z")
My friend’s posts on FB have ALWAYS been about hating all things Trump and anything associated with him. Now all she posts is "OMG! Save the children from the pedos! Joe B is a total pedo. See the pics (or him with chil… --- ## [Conversation length](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-length/948533)
**Author:** [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-length/948533 "2021-08-13T19:11:43Z")
Just saw an interesting psychology article about conversation length. Apparently, when two people talk, both parties are happy with the length of the conversation a mere 2% of the time. Both wish the conversation could… --- ## [The Watch hate-watch (all spoilers all the time.)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-watch-hate-watch-all-spoilers-all-the-time/929662)
**Author:** [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-watch-hate-watch-all-spoilers-all-the-time/929662 "2021-08-13T18:43:26Z")
I guess I can’t keep myself from hate-watching this, so here’s a thread. Spoilers after this post because of the mouseover thingy. --- ## [Six Million Dollar Man,,,specifically early episodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031)
**Author:** [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031 "2021-08-13T18:27:03Z")
My Box set arrived! I was tired of streaming poor quality edited episodes. Watched the second ep. That was a lot of fun! Its always fun watching for familiar faces and this had Character Actor Heavy William Smith…JoAnn … --- ## [Bronze medal Athlete fidgets and fusses during national anthem](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174)
**Author:** [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Replies:** 248\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bronze-medal-athlete-fidgets-and-fusses-during-national-anthem/945174 "2021-08-13T18:04:33Z")
Gwen Berry throws hammer, gets medal, feels disrespected when national anthem plays during podium ceremony. Is she a brat that shouldn’t go to the Olympics or should her disrespect be respected? --- ## [Odd Dichotomy here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-dichotomy-here/948607)
**Author:** [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-dichotomy-here/948607 "2021-08-13T17:50:26Z")
And that line was shut down by engineer\_comp\_geek , and quite properly as it would lead to a thread hijack. But he has a point. There is a group of members here that claim to be supportive of a kinder, gentler, more w… --- ## [Innocently-Derived Words That Sound 'Sinister'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocently-derived-words-that-sound-sinister/948115)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocently-derived-words-that-sound-sinister/948115 "2021-08-13T17:43:58Z")
‘Sinister’ being just one example. Sinister just means left in Latin. I don’t know how it got the other connotation. I don’t know about you. But the Emperor Caligula’s name sounds very sinister to me. But it just means … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1367) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1369)