# Latest **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1394 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 1395 --- ## [How do you use a stick of butter in the butter dish? Scrape or slice](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-a-stick-of-butter-in-the-butter-dish-scrape-or-slice/946665)
**Author:** [@ajmakria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajmakria)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-a-stick-of-butter-in-the-butter-dish-scrape-or-slice/946665 "2021-07-18T18:06:13Z")
This discussion is one that is inspired by a previous one that I read/responded to on here. That discussion was an older one and didn’t seem to be attracting a lot of attention anymore but I found it intriguing so I want… --- ## [Bad, bad, bad!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad/946622)
**Author:** [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad/946622 "2021-07-18T17:36:51Z")
Well. Shit! I may have undone a multitude of lifetime memories. Seems like a lifetime. I may have unfixed realities. I compromised my only real link to anyplace other than here in my house. I crossed a line. Now. Wh… --- ## [valmorphanize!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valmorphanize/306873)
**Author:** [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valmorphanize/306873 "2005-06-04T13:44:04Z")
Just watching Team America on DVD. Whence comes the word “valmorphanize?” Is it simply a jab at all those kooky kids’ shows/action movies that have such cheesy terms for their vehicles’ super jets/etc.? Or does it have s… --- ## [How do police officers safely pull over "wrong-way" drivers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-police-officers-safely-pull-over-wrong-way-drivers/946656)
**Author:** [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-police-officers-safely-pull-over-wrong-way-drivers/946656 "2021-07-18T16:44:34Z")
Last night, I was driving on a controlled-access highway when I was passed by a pickup truck going in the wrong direction. I was travelling east and the truck was going west, yet we were both on the eastbound side of th… --- ## [What compels humans and animals to have fun?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-compels-humans-and-animals-to-have-fun/946677)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-compels-humans-and-animals-to-have-fun/946677 "2021-07-18T16:27:32Z")
Something that humans and animals share in common, at many differing levels of intelligence, is their need to have fun. Humans, of course, do this in all number of ways, to the point where doing enough work to earn our … --- ## [Why Argentine use of US-furnished material in the Falklands will hurt its case of purchasing US arms in Congress?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-argentine-use-of-us-furnished-material-in-the-falklands-will-hurt-its-case-of-purchasing-us-arms-in-congress/946600)
**Author:** [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-argentine-use-of-us-furnished-material-in-the-falklands-will-hurt-its-case-of-purchasing-us-arms-in-congress/946600 "2021-07-18T13:08:03Z")
Congress imposed a certification requirement on human rights and related matters in 1981 when it repealed the ban on security assistance and military exports to Argentina and Chile. If the political structure in Argentin… --- ## [I need an interior designer. I think. Do I?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-an-interior-designer-i-think-do-i/946708)
**Author:** [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-an-interior-designer-i-think-do-i/946708 "2021-07-18T10:33:55Z")
Has anyone used an interior designer? How did you use them, or how did they help you? Was the cost worth the outcome? I like my house, but I’m tired of living with a style that I call 1980’s college house. I’ve been pic… --- ## [The Open 2021](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-2021/946649)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-2021/946649 "2021-07-18T07:23:05Z")
I was idly watching golf at a local bar and wondered where the action was taking place. It looks really desolate, like a golf course in a prairie. I didn’t see a single tree. Every golf course near Cleveland looks more s… --- ## [Biz Markie - dead at age 57](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biz-markie-dead-at-age-57/946689)
**Author:** [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biz-markie-dead-at-age-57/946689 "2021-07-18T06:26:42Z")
--- ## [What are the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-mahabharata-and-ramayana-epics/946599)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-mahabharata-and-ramayana-epics/946599 "2021-07-18T02:50:11Z")
Off shoot from the other thread. What are these two epics about? Are they easily accessible for someone who knows nothing of Hindu culture? --- ## [How are emergency services able to get to highway crashes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-emergency-services-able-to-get-to-highway-crashes/946678)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-emergency-services-able-to-get-to-highway-crashes/946678 "2021-07-18T02:24:09Z")
In some countries, it’s actually a law that if there’s a crash that stops traffic, everyone clears off to the side to create a center lane for police, fire, and ambulances to get through to the crash site. That’s not th… --- ## [A Writer I Must Share With You](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-writer-i-must-share-with-you/946521)
**Author:** [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-writer-i-must-share-with-you/946521 "2021-07-18T02:18:10Z")
Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer and author. She was the recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards and in 1995 the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Octavia … --- ## [Why won't google let me sign in to my gmail?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-google-let-me-sign-in-to-my-gmail/946175)
**Author:** [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-google-let-me-sign-in-to-my-gmail/946175 "2021-07-18T01:13:36Z")
I tried to open my gmail from a computer at my local library. I used the right password, but it asked me for a verification code which it sent to my alternate yahoo email (which I could open) and the answer to a securit… --- ## [Have you ever been cut from a movie?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-cut-from-a-movie/946408)
**Author:** [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-cut-from-a-movie/946408 "2021-07-18T01:12:58Z")
Have you, or someone you know, ever had the opportunity to be in a movie, only to have the scene(s) edited out? And is the deleted scene available or is it lost forever? --- ## [How about exit interview “invitations,” teeming internetizens?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-exit-interview-invitations-teeming-internetizens/946492)
**Author:** [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-exit-interview-invitations-teeming-internetizens/946492 "2021-07-17T23:57:28Z")
The best response I’ve found: “Thank you for your best wishes in my future endeavors. In fact, focused on them as you must understand me to be, I do not have much to offer to your admirable commitment to solicit views o… --- ## [The Guardian's Kremlin leak: Too good to be true?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guardians-kremlin-leak-too-good-to-be-true/946632)
**Author:** [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guardians-kremlin-leak-too-good-to-be-true/946632 "2021-07-17T23:45:51Z")
(I haven’t seen a thread about this, which surprises me somewhat, so if there already is one, please redirect me appropriately) Yesterday, the Guardian published an article on a supposed leaked document from the Kremlin… --- ## [Are there countries where you can buy early retirement?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-countries-where-you-can-buy-early-retirement/945961)
**Author:** [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-countries-where-you-can-buy-early-retirement/945961 "2021-07-17T20:59:42Z")
In my country of Serbia once you are 60 years old you can pay into the state social fund for any missing work years and for 5 years in the future and go into early retirement (even though it’s just 5 years early from sta… --- ## [Why is the SDMB membership declining, and what's the best way to add younger members?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208)
**Author:** [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Replies:** 613\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208 "2021-07-17T20:42:19Z")
Continuing the discussion from A modest proposal for the Straight Dope: Cecil\_Adams is proposing a plan to crowd source ideas for a new column. In the proposal, this is the problem he identifies. The current SDMB memb… --- ## [What was cartman saying in German in the latest southpark episode?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660 "2021-07-17T20:27:17Z")
http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season8/E804script.htm when I say “Es ist Zeit für sauberen,” you all chant back “Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten.” What does that mean? --- ## [I hate having to ask for OTC meds!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-having-to-ask-for-otc-meds/946520)
**Author:** [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-having-to-ask-for-otc-meds/946520 "2021-07-17T16:50:11Z")
My knees are shot. I can feel it. My masters here have heard them and seen the X-rays without cartilage. So why do I need to ask the CNA to ask the RN to give me some acetaminophen? And why does it need to be every s… --- ## [Another optical cable question - where did it fail?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-optical-cable-question-where-did-it-fail/946716)
**Author:** [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-optical-cable-question-where-did-it-fail/946716 "2021-07-17T16:06:25Z")
So I’m replacing an optical cable between my stereo system and the tv. (see previous thread). I apparently broke it while trying to attach it to the baseboard, since it worked before that DIY project but failed to work … --- ## [Self-represented defendants in custody; do they get any accommodation from the jail or prison for that?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-represented-defendants-in-custody-do-they-get-any-accommodation-from-the-jail-or-prison-for-that/946581)
**Author:** [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-represented-defendants-in-custody-do-they-get-any-accommodation-from-the-jail-or-prison-for-that/946581 "2021-07-17T15:11:24Z")
I’m listening just now to a podcast episode in which a murder defendant refused counsel and represented herself in court. Leaving aside all the questions this raises about the wisdom (or lack thereof) of doing so, this … --- ## [What do you want to do most when the pandemic is over?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-to-do-most-when-the-pandemic-is-over/927782)
**Author:** [@CorpusNeptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorpusNeptune)\ **Replies:** 125\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-to-do-most-when-the-pandemic-is-over/927782 "2021-07-17T15:07:02Z")
I used to go to Irish Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin every year, so I’d love to do that again. -Baleaf --- ## [Could we put humans on Mercury?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-put-humans-on-mercury/945937)
**Author:** [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-put-humans-on-mercury/945937 "2021-07-17T14:15:46Z")
Mars, whatever. What about Mercury? It’s only super hot on the part that faces the Sun. Is this doable? --- ## [Clueless white guy asks another race-related question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-white-guy-asks-another-race-related-question/945437)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale1)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-white-guy-asks-another-race-related-question/945437 "2021-07-17T14:03:05Z")
I ask this solely to improve other. my understanding of differently situated people, and how we perceive and act towards each other. I live in a suburb west of Chicago. A bike path runs east-west. My town is largely wh… --- ## [Covid vaccines can magnetize people!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-vaccines-can-magnetize-people/946509)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-vaccines-can-magnetize-people/946509 "2021-07-17T13:39:53Z")
Yessiree Bob. Cleveland area physician Dr. Sherri Tenpenny has said so. I see this article refers to some of her statements from June. Have we covered this before? Too much to quote, so here is the article. In it I note … --- ## [Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 launch with Richard Branson:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212)
**Author:** [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212 "2021-07-17T13:18:35Z")
Congratulations! Update for 10:58 a.m. EDT: The carrier plane VMS Eve and the VSS Unity space plane are currently cruising up to launch altitude. Unity drop and motor ignition is expected at 11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 GMT). S… --- ## [Why doesn't anybody record conversations with government officials?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-anybody-record-conversations-with-government-officials/946662)
**Author:** [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-anybody-record-conversations-with-government-officials/946662 "2021-07-17T12:54:32Z")
This will probably end up in IMHO, but I thought I would try here first, just in case we happen to have some secret service agents on the board. :smiley: I’m sure by now most of you have heard about General Milley and h… --- ## [The how's of ubiquitin (& proteasome)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hows-of-ubiquitin-proteasome/946543)
**Author:** [@longtry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longtry)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hows-of-ubiquitin-proteasome/946543 "2021-07-17T09:57:13Z")
I’ve just learned about ubiquitin, proteasome and their functions. As usual, wikipedia is useless with its hard words, so I resort to asking here. Can ubiquitin detect its own malfunction, or another ubi’s fault? T… --- ## [This image is crashing my browser](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-image-is-crashing-my-browser/942761)
**Author:** [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2021, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-image-is-crashing-my-browser/942761 "2021-07-17T07:39:02Z")
The circuit schematic. I can see it in IE11, But Edge is telling me: “This page is having a problem. Try coming back to it later.” I think it’s the image, not an ad, because I can see the ad break before it crashes, … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1393) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=1395)