# Pit the Insanely Clueless about The World
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [June 24, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127 "2008-06-24T23:46:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/61 "2008-06-26T12:18:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa]
“women did this without doctors for thousands of years.”
[/QUOTE]
I wonder why no-one ever includes the second part of that sentence: “and died doing it”.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/62 "2008-06-26T13:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki]
Can I include all the NYS politicians and voters who seem to think that enacting a state-wide property tax cap will actually lead to controlling property tax rates?
[/QUOTE]
Just for the record, Florida recently enacted one, and property taxes _are_ down significantly - and now the state has no money and is going to ridiculous extremes to make up the budget shortfall. Most of the money is coming from the school system, which is now going to be almost totally dependent on the state lottery.
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### Author:  [@starryspice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starryspice)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/63 "2008-06-26T17:48:12Z")
[QUOTE=Hello Again]
Friend-of-a-friend’s wife is pregnant. (2nd child). They are planning a home birth, which of itself is fine. They have a midwife but based on comments I am not certain she is in actual attendance (wife said disdainfully, “we don’t need her.”)
Baby is more than 4 weeks over due. They won’t go to a hospital because (paraphrased) “hospitals don’t respect women and will hurt my baby.” Gentle suggestions from other parents that mom & baby-to-be should get checked out medically are met with defensiveness and hostility. They are so sure they are in control of the process and know better than anyone. It’ll be 5 weeks overdue on friday.
None of my business but ☹
[/QUOTE]
This may be a dumb question, but is 5 weeks overdue really bad, or are we just used to inducing labor? My friend is from Thailand, and her mother carried her for 11 months before giving birth. From what I understand, the Thailand medical establishment doesn’t induce birth unless something is wrong. My friend turned out fine.
(Not that your friends shouldn’t go to a doctor, at least just to check and see if everything is ok.)
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/64 "2008-06-26T19:08:35Z")
[QUOTE=starryspice]
This may be a dumb question, but is 5 weeks overdue really bad, or are we just used to inducing labor? My friend is from Thailand, and her mother carried her for 11 months before giving birth. From what I understand, the Thailand medical establishment doesn’t induce birth unless something is wrong. My friend turned out fine.
(Not that your friends shouldn’t go to a doctor, at least just to check and see if everything is ok.)
[/QUOTE]
Well, I think even real doctors when they give a due date give just an estimation of when it’s due since they really don’t know the conception date for certain and are going off the women’s last period and other factors.
If this lady has never even been to a doctor and was just doing the estimating of a “due date” herself who knows what she came up with.
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/65 "2008-06-26T19:25:29Z")
About once a year I find a co-worker who’s saving up aluminium pull-tabs so that “little Jimmy can have time on a dialisys machine”. They get angry and defensive when I explain it’s a rumor and not true so after the 3rd time I gave up.
Ignorance:1 Bmalion:0
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### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/66 "2008-06-26T19:34:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Bonus Points: Truly believed the strippers were totally into him.
This alone makes him the most idiotic person mentioned in this thread, of course.
My own submission, and I swear to Gd this is true: When I was young, and my brothers were newly married, they’d come over with their wives and we’d all have Sunday dinner together, with my parents. This happened every week, rain or shine, for years.
These gatherings were usually loud and chaotic, with much jokery, laughter, and discussion about whatever subject happened to be on our minds. History was a frequent subject.
One day, we were setting the table, and one of my brothers and I were talking about World War 2, and I said something about Hitler. I dunno, maybe, “Hitler was an idiot for trying to fight a war on two fronts.”
From across the table, my sister-in-law piped up, “Who?”
Thinking, of course, that she’d merely misunderstood me or something, I said “Hitler.”
“Who?”
No way. “Adolf Hitler. You know, nearly conquered Europe 40 years ago, killed 6 million or so Jews.”
Yes way.
“Really? Huh. Never heard of him.”
Cue vast, outraged explosions of “YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF ADOLF HITLER?!”
Poor girl. I’m afraid we embarrassed her that day, but sweet Jesus on the cross. Never heard of Adolf Hitler?
Oh, and to add the “insanely” part, rather than “merely dumb”, she had the bad sense to get all defensive about it. “Well, I guess I just don’t know as much about history as you guys. Hmph!”
:rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/67 "2008-06-26T19:47:53Z")
[QUOTE=starryspice]
This may be a dumb question, but is 5 weeks overdue really bad, or are we just used to inducing labor? My friend is from Thailand, and her mother carried her for 11 months before giving birth. From what I understand, the Thailand medical establishment doesn’t induce birth unless something is wrong. My friend turned out fine.
(Not that your friends shouldn’t go to a doctor, at least just to check and see if everything is ok.)
[/QUOTE]
There are a few concerns about going too far overdue: low amniotic fluid and placenta ceasing to function are the ones which immediately spring to mind.
I used midwives with both pregnancies (in hospital) and they would give someone until 42 weeks if she was otherwise healthy.
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### Author:  [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/68 "2008-06-26T20:00:07Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion]
About once a year I find a co-worker who’s saving up aluminium pull-tabs so that “little Jimmy can have time on a dialisys machine”. They get angry and defensive when I explain it’s a rumor and not true so after the 3rd time I gave up.
Ignorance:1 Bmalion:0
[/QUOTE]
What’s the rumour?
-FRL-
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/69 "2008-06-26T20:01:31Z")
I work in Rental Propery Management. One of our Section 8 tenants did not pay her portion of the rent. We took her to court for eviction.
Her defense? Well, I have a lawsuit going and when I win it, I will pay them the back rent and late fees.
The tenant had fallen in the street outside our building and was trying to sue us for causing the accident! She claimed that she fell because the streetlight was out and we should have notified the electric company to repair it!
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### Author:  [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/70 "2008-06-26T20:03:13Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock]
What’s the rumour?
-FRL-
[/QUOTE]
[Ah.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_077.html)
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### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/71 "2008-06-26T20:16:26Z")
[QUOTE=lorene]
There are a few concerns about going too far overdue: low amniotic fluid and placenta ceasing to function are the ones which immediately spring to mind.
I used midwives with both pregnancies (in hospital) and they would give someone until 42 weeks if she was otherwise healthy.
[/QUOTE]
40 weeks is “normal term” - and if you divide 40 weeks by 4 weeks in a month (as all pregnant women do at some point) you scream 10 MONTHS!!! I’M GOING TO BE PREGNANT TEN MONTHS!!! Five weeks past your due date would be 45 weeks. Eleven months - with some rounding in there - would be 42 weeks one day - which is when U.S. doctors would induce.
More than two weeks makes OBs really nervous. OBs get really nervous when their malpractice insurance rates are at risk for going up. There is a reason their malpractice rates go up after 42 weeks.
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/72 "2008-06-26T20:18:11Z")
[QUOTE=lorene]
There are a few concerns about going too far overdue: low amniotic fluid and placenta ceasing to function are the ones which immediately spring to mind.
[/QUOTE]
Fetal and maternal death rates increase after 42 weeks, complications are more common after 42 weeks (baby poops in the amniotic fluid; baby becomes too large to pass through pelvis).
And just to be clear, on friday it will be the end of the 45th week (or maybe the 44th, I kinda can’t count) Remaining convinced of your omiscience w/r/t your unborn child’s wellbeing at this stage, refusing any educated advice through sheer cussedness is… stupid.
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### Author:  [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/73 "2008-06-26T20:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre]
This alone makes him the most idiotic person mentioned in this thread, of course.
My own submission, and I swear to Gd this is true: When I was young, and my brothers were newly married, they’d come over with their wives and we’d all have Sunday dinner together, with my parents. This happened every week, rain or shine, for years.
These gatherings were usually loud and chaotic, with much jokery, laughter, and discussion about whatever subject happened to be on our minds. History was a frequent subject.
One day, we were setting the table, and one of my brothers and I were talking about World War 2, and I said something about Hitler. I dunno, maybe, “Hitler was an idiot for trying to fight a war on two fronts.”
From across the table, my sister-in-law piped up, “Who?”
Thinking, of course, that she’d merely misunderstood me or something, I said “Hitler.”
“Who?”
No way. “Adolf Hitler. You know, nearly conquered Europe 40 years ago, killed 6 million or so Jews.”
Yes way.
“Really? Huh. Never heard of him.”
Cue vast, outraged explosions of “YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF ADOLF HITLER?!”
Poor girl. I’m afraid we embarrassed her that day, but sweet Jesus on the cross. Never heard of Adolf Hitler?
Oh, and to add the “insanely” part, rather than “merely dumb”, she had the bad sense to get all defensive about it. “Well, I guess I just don’t know as much about history as you guys. Hmph!”
:rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]
You’ve posted this before, haven’t you? Like 5 years ago or so? Because I’ve seriously been cracking up over this story for that long, and I hope to god there’s not someone else out there with this story, because that would be too sad.
My tale of the dumb: it’s freshman year of college, and I’m talking to a junior. She asks about my plans for the evening. I mention that I’m going out to a gay club with my gay guy pal. She looks confused, and says, “He’s really gay?” Well, yeah. Either that or he’s been sucking a whole lot of cock for nothing. (I phrased this a bit more politely, as we were working). She says, “I didn’t know gay people were real. I thought that was just something people did on TV. He’s gay for real?” Well, yeah. See the aforementioned cocksucking, and throw in the anal just for kicks. She had no idea that homosexuality was a real practice. She had gone to a private Christian school, but was from a fairly large city. My eyebrows about leapt off of my face with this one.
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### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/74 "2008-06-26T20:32:23Z")
[QUOTE=bufftabby]
You’ve posted this before, haven’t you? Like 5 years ago or so? Because I’ve seriously been cracking up over this story for that long, and I hope to god there’s not someone else out there with this story, because that would be too sad.
My tale of the dumb: it’s freshman year of college, and I’m talking to a junior. She asks about my plans for the evening. I mention that I’m going out to a gay club with my gay guy pal. She looks confused, and says, “He’s really gay?” Well, yeah. Either that or he’s been sucking a whole lot of cock for nothing. (I phrased this a bit more politely, as we were working). She says, “I didn’t know gay people were real. I thought that was just something people did on TV. He’s gay for real?” Well, yeah. See the aforementioned cocksucking, and throw in the anal just for kicks. She had no idea that homosexuality was a real practice. She had gone to a private Christian school, but was from a fairly large city. My eyebrows about leapt off of my face with this one.
[/QUOTE]
😃 Yep, I posted it once before, in the infamous “Stupidest thing you’ve ever heard someone say” thread. I’m flattered you remember.
And wait…are you saying that gay people are REAL? Like, really real?
😉
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### Author:  [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/75 "2008-06-26T20:49:47Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre]
😃 Yep, I posted it once before, in the infamous “Stupidest thing you’ve ever heard someone say” thread. I’m flattered you remember.
And wait…are you saying that gay people are REAL? Like, really real?
😉
[/QUOTE]
I thought about telling her about my love for both the ladies and the gents, but I figured she’d probably pop a gasket over that one, so I left it alone. Sorry, I’m only halfway real. 😃
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### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/76 "2008-06-26T20:56:37Z")
[QUOTE=bufftabby]
I thought about telling her about my love for both the ladies and the gents, but I figured she’d probably pop a gasket over that one, so I left it alone. Sorry, I’m only halfway real. 😃
[/QUOTE]
By the way, howdy neighbor! I’m in Birmingham, and one of my dissertaion field sites is in Da Murf.
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### Author:  [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/77 "2008-06-26T21:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=bufftabby]
She had no idea that homosexuality was a real practice. She had gone to a private Christian school, but was from a fairly large city. My eyebrows about leapt off of my face with this one.
[/QUOTE]
I’m not real??? :eek:
_Suddenly vanishes as his existence is nullified by disbelief_
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### Author:  [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/78 "2008-06-26T21:18:18Z")
I used to think that Molly Hatchet was a tough girl singer like Joan Jett, but that was like five years ago, maybe longer.
So I’ll admit to being clueless, but not about that at least. 😛
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/79 "2008-06-26T21:22:21Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus]
I’m not real??? :eek:
_Suddenly vanishes as his existence is nullified by disbelief_
[/QUOTE]
Oh, no! Quick, everyone, clap your hands!
😃
---
### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-the-insanely-clueless-about-the-world/454127/80 "2008-06-26T21:36:09Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock]
[Ah.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_077.html)
[/QUOTE]
Our secretary at work insists on collecting these, as does a second grade teacher at my son’s school. She even had a school-wide drive (with prizes) for the students who could collect the most tabs “for those poor children who need our help.” She also posts stuff (or did when I used to be a substitute teacher) in the teacher’s lounge like the headlights flicking is a gang symbol–all the urban legend stuff. She is an idiot with tenure. :rolleyes:
Now, what about this Adolf guy? Did he invent that meat tenderizer? 😕
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