# Latest **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=205 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 206 --- ## [(Old) Gunpowder, Treason and Plot in the MMP](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-gunpowder-treason-and-plot-in-the-mmp/1024524)
**Author:** [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Replies:** 317\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-gunpowder-treason-and-plot-in-the-mmp/1024524 "2025-11-10T06:23:21Z")
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 12c/53f with a predicted high of 14c/57f and cloudy. Weather app says “Stratus clouds are known for producing light rain or snow. They’re also knobjockey twatfaces.” Over here this we… --- ## [I’m going to pit this man who assaulted the Mexican President and all men like him](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-going-to-pit-this-man-who-assaulted-the-mexican-president-and-all-men-like-him/1024631)
**Author:** [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-going-to-pit-this-man-who-assaulted-the-mexican-president-and-all-men-like-him/1024631 "2025-11-10T03:39:21Z")
This video just makes me physically ill. --- ## [Amateur successfully landing a commercial jetliner?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-successfully-landing-a-commercial-jetliner/1024681)
**Author:** [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-successfully-landing-a-commercial-jetliner/1024681 "2025-11-10T02:15:30Z")
Has it ever happened that an amateur successfully landed a commercial jetliner (with or without the help of ground control)? By amateur I mean at most this person has flown a two seater prop, at worst gotten lucky with … --- ## [Songs with the same name as the band themselves](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-the-same-name-as-the-band-themselves/1024646)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-the-same-name-as-the-band-themselves/1024646 "2025-11-10T01:21:47Z")
The only two that come to mind are Living in a Box, by … Living in a Box, from their hit album … Living in a Box. They were a one-hit wonder with a minor hit, but the other song that comes to mind with the thread title i… --- ## [Foton Pearled Candle--anyone actually tried it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foton-pearled-candle-anyone-actually-tried-it/1024712)
**Author:** [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foton-pearled-candle-anyone-actually-tried-it/1024712 "2025-11-09T22:47:03Z")
This candle company looks like a good gift for someone on my list, but I no longer trust online reviews. Has anyone tried their products? https://fotoncandle.com/ Here’s an example: … --- ## [Speaker Trump?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-trump/1024518)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaker-trump/1024518 "2025-11-09T22:43:41Z")
Assuming the Pubs have the House on January 3, 2029, How likely is it that they would elect Trump as Speaker of the House, not as an end-around the 22nd Amendment but more as a sinecure? --- ## [What is community service?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-community-service/1024623)
**Author:** [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-community-service/1024623 "2025-11-09T22:23:26Z")
When a person is sentenced to community service by a court what are they being told to do? Is it unpaid labor? Maybe cleaning roadsides. If you are supposed to do something for others, like serving in a soup kitchen h… --- ## [Bogus trivia list](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bogus-trivia-list/92014)
**Author:** [@Ironikinit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ironikinit)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bogus-trivia-list/92014 "2025-11-09T20:53:58Z")
A user posted the following list on a message board I often read. I’m pretty sure it’s not copyrighted. Actually, it’s all over the web. Cecil’s columns, among other sources, such as snopes, have been handy in debunking … --- ## [Mystery of San Francisco's sinking tower](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-of-san-franciscos-sinking-tower/1024643)
**Author:** [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-of-san-franciscos-sinking-tower/1024643 "2025-11-09T19:22:41Z")
Supposedly the west corner of the Millennium Tower (corner of Mission and Fremont in SF) has sunk 20 inches since the building was new. No question the building has tilted – if you hang a plumb bob from the west corner o… --- ## [Grand Theft Auto VI pushed back another six months to November 19, 2026](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-theft-auto-vi-pushed-back-another-six-months-to-november-19-2026/1024697)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-theft-auto-vi-pushed-back-another-six-months-to-november-19-2026/1024697 "2025-11-09T17:16:02Z")
That’s right. The next NBA season will have started before we get GTA6. https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/tech/grand-theft-auto-vi-release-delayed-nov-2026/ --- ## [How many of your fingers would you be willing to sell?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-your-fingers-would-you-be-willing-to-sell/689941)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 75\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-your-fingers-would-you-be-willing-to-sell/689941 "2025-11-09T16:29:58Z")
The usual \[del\]eccentric\[/del\] sadistic billionaire is offering you a small fortune for each of your fingers. If you accept, whichever fingers you sell will be amputated by a qualified surgical team; you will be anesthes… --- ## [Have you ever been personally affected by a federal government shutdown?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-personally-affected-by-a-federal-government-shutdown/1023572)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 121\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-personally-affected-by-a-federal-government-shutdown/1023572 "2025-11-09T16:28:05Z")
For me twice. Once when visiting Seattle, I wanted to take my family to see Ballard Locks and the salmon running. Nope! It is run by the US Army Corps of Engineers so no visitors. I don’t know if the boats and fish w… --- ## [How long before AI-powered robots take away the trade jobs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-ai-powered-robots-take-away-the-trade-jobs/1024152)
**Author:** [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-ai-powered-robots-take-away-the-trade-jobs/1024152 "2025-11-09T15:26:02Z")
I saw a commercial the other day for a training school for careers in the trades-- plumbing, HVAC, electrical, etc. It showed various people saying things like “‘ChatGPT, fix my plumbing’…‘Sorry, I cannot do that’”. “‘Si… --- ## [Can a modern jet liner land without the tailplane?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-modern-jet-liner-land-without-the-tailplane/1024686)
**Author:** [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-modern-jet-liner-land-without-the-tailplane/1024686 "2025-11-09T15:09:58Z")
Can something like an Airbus A320 or a Boeing 737 be flown at all, in the absence of the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces? Not just failure of the control surfaces, but removal of the tail. Let’s assume the least-… --- ## [Why do we develop immunity to viruses but not bacteria?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-develop-immunity-to-viruses-but-not-bacteria/1023672)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-develop-immunity-to-viruses-but-not-bacteria/1023672 "2025-11-09T12:31:18Z")
I asked a few questions in another thread from 2003, and parts of my questions were answered but not the one in my subject line here. There are some vaccines against bacterial infections, like TB, but not for things lik… --- ## [Animal Feud](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-feud/1022546)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-feud/1022546 "2025-11-09T10:51:20Z")
DO NOT READ THIS THREAD BEFORE YOU POST YOUR ANSWERS Object of the game: Give the most popular answer for each category. You want to match the other people in the game. Rules: As stated above, do not read the other p… --- ## [What do thieves do with stolen art?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thieves-do-with-stolen-art/721116)
**Author:** [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thieves-do-with-stolen-art/721116 "2025-11-09T09:26:14Z")
Thieves steal for their own gain, usually financial gain. If they don’t steal cash, they they need a buyer (fence). Who would buy a stolen Mona Lisa? They can’t display it and there are no other uses for art. Do they… --- ## [Abbott says he's going to impose 100% tariffs on people moving to Texas from New York](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbott-says-hes-going-to-impose-100-tariffs-on-people-moving-to-texas-from-new-york/1024607)
**Author:** [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbott-says-hes-going-to-impose-100-tariffs-on-people-moving-to-texas-from-new-york/1024607 "2025-11-09T05:21:56Z")
How do you impose tariffs on an individual? Feel free to bash on Abbott all you want. I know I will. I’m just genuinely trying to make sense out of what he said. It’s just total nonsense right? --- ## [MLB: 2025 Postseason](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2025-postseason/1023478)
**Author:** [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Replies:** 1191\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2025-postseason/1023478 "2025-11-09T00:20:26Z")
Opening a new thread for the playoffs, which start on Tuesday the 30th when all four wild card series get underway. Here are the odds for winning the world series, according to Draft Kings. The positive number by each t… --- ## [Okay, seriously, how significant are Tuesday’s results?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-seriously-how-significant-are-tuesday-s-results/1024652)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-seriously-how-significant-are-tuesday-s-results/1024652 "2025-11-09T00:11:09Z")
Not that they are anything but good news\*, but previous experience has taught me to be skeptical of taking any single event, or even series of events, as some kind of national bellwether. But, of course, I do want to be… --- ## [I have a Sony Hi8 Video camera and I want to transfer my tapes to my Windows computer. How?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-sony-hi8-video-camera-and-i-want-to-transfer-my-tapes-to-my-windows-computer-how/1024694)
**Author:** [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-sony-hi8-video-camera-and-i-want-to-transfer-my-tapes-to-my-windows-computer-how/1024694 "2025-11-08T23:38:06Z")
99.99% sure this has been asked before. Camera in question: Camera Outputs: S Video, A/V, RFU DC Computer Inputs: HDMI Need advice on cabling, adaptors, and software. Simpler the better. Thank you in advance, ever… --- ## [Literacy gap among the deaf?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literacy-gap-among-the-deaf/1024663)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literacy-gap-among-the-deaf/1024663 "2025-11-08T23:08:52Z")
This article: Judge: White House briefings must provide sign language for deaf Americans : NPR comments fairly far down that: According to the NAD, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. communicate mainly in AS… --- ## [Why does osteoarthritis pain wax and wane?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-osteoarthritis-pain-wax-and-wane/1024458)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-osteoarthritis-pain-wax-and-wane/1024458 "2025-11-08T22:24:41Z")
I’m posting this in GQ, hoping to get responses other than anecdotal. I have pretty severe arthritis in one hip. It varies from completely asymptomatic, to quite painful - causing a pronounced limp and feeling of insta… --- ## [Nancy Pelosi, first woman to serve as US House speaker, to retire from Congress](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627)
**Author:** [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-pelosi-first-woman-to-serve-as-us-house-speaker-to-retire-from-congress/1024627 "2025-11-08T20:21:11Z")
Nancy Pelosi, first woman to serve as US House speaker, to retire from Congress Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as the powerful Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Thursday that she will not ru… --- ## [Another iWoz question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-iwoz-question/1024609)
**Author:** [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-iwoz-question/1024609 "2025-11-08T18:44:15Z")
At the end of Chapter 3, starting when Wozniak was in high school (class of 1968) “I got manuals for minicomputers from Varian, Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment, Data General, and many more companies. Whenever I had a… --- ## [Will no-one think of the ostriches?!?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-think-of-the-ostriches/1024472)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-think-of-the-ostriches/1024472 "2025-11-08T14:17:04Z")
The Supreme Court of Canada may. Nearly a year ago, a federal agency order a cull of a domestic flock of ostriches at an ostrich ranch in BC, because of cases of avian flu. The ostrich ranchers have been fighting the c… --- ## [Another old radio show](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-radio-show/1024687)
**Author:** [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-radio-show/1024687 "2025-11-08T13:55:40Z")
This was probably late 70s and 80s. I’m pretty sure it was a college radio station. This was a serial. The protagonist was a woman who was maybe a detective. It was an absurdist comedy, set possibly in the near future. T… --- ## [Can I run a PowerPoint to a projector and broadcast a Zoom meeting simultaneously from the same laptop?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-run-a-powerpoint-to-a-projector-and-broadcast-a-zoom-meeting-simultaneously-from-the-same-laptop/1024504)
**Author:** [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-run-a-powerpoint-to-a-projector-and-broadcast-a-zoom-meeting-simultaneously-from-the-same-laptop/1024504 "2025-11-08T13:34:56Z")
I’ve done plenty of Zoom calls and PowerPoints separately, but never both at the same time. Can I, or do I need two PCs? The situation: an in-person meeting where we will show a PPT using a Dell laptop connected to a pr… --- ## [Silence of the Lambs question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969)
**Author:** [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969 "2025-11-08T12:04:31Z")
So I stumble across Special Agent Starling and Dr. Lecter the other night and see the scene: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” And then he makes that noise… --- ## ['Erection in a cravat' - verifying a possibly poorly remembered quote](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-in-a-cravat-verifying-a-possibly-poorly-remembered-quote/1024684)
**Author:** [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2025, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-in-a-cravat-verifying-a-possibly-poorly-remembered-quote/1024684 "2025-11-08T08:25:19Z")
For reasons that need not trouble any of you, I used a quote about someone looking like ‘an erection in a cravat’. I half-remember this as a line from a review or gloss of the appearance of Buddy Love, the ultra-smooth … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=204) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md?page=206)