# Your Personal Crazy/Irrational Theories **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743 "2006-04-29T15:54:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/141 "2006-05-19T23:42:33Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > What I want to know is in a non-christian area, say a nice jewish publication, do they have something similar? I’ve never seen those in my life, in publications secular, Jewish or Christian. > [@faithfool](#): > > 3.) I swear that if I no longer need something (like post breast reduction – then I had no trouble finding affordable, somewhat-fitting bras) Isn’t that the point? Weren’t you _supposed_ to be able to find fitting bras after your surgery? I would think that if you couldn’t, your surgeon would have obviously failed you. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/142 "2006-05-20T02:55:03Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Bit of a parallel with Greasy Grass there I believe - didn’t the cavalry have trouble with the Springfields’ ejectors tearing the cartridge case instead of pulling it out? The defeat at Little Bighorn does have a lot of parallels with Isandhlwana, doesn’t it? My understanding is that part of the reason the 7th Cavalry under Custer got so throughly smacked down (“pwned”, if you will) was that the Indians had lever-action rifles (capable of astonishing rates of fire, especially by the standards of the day) as well as a lot of guns- from Sharps Rifles to Muskets to handguns. (We’ll overlook the fact that Custer was a dickhead and the troops underfed and tired, and that the Indians were quite rightly pissed off about having their homes attacked!) There was a _Battlefield Detectives_ episode recently which posited that at least half- if not most- of the Indians at Little Bighorn had firearms, and whilst the Springfield (and the Martini-Henry) were excellent guns at long range, once things got up close and personal, they were largely useless- especially as they both jammed when they overheated. More tellingly, the Springfield didn’t have a cleaning rod with which to try and knock out the jammed round- the Martini-Henry had a cleaning rod stowed under the barrel which the soldiers could (and did!) use in emergencies to try and extract jammed cartridges. The original .45/70 Government cartridges (and the ones issued to the troops at Little Bighorn) used copper for the casing, which expanded terribly when it overheated. Once drawn brass cases were introduced, the jamming problems were more ore less eliminated (as they were for the British, too). I don’t think the Springfield’s extraction system worked as well as the Martini-Henry’s, either, but I have to admit I’m not an expert on 19th century American firearms… ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/143 "2006-05-20T11:42:44Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > … I have always suspected that when the classifieds either has a last minute cancellation, or, more likely did not sell all their space, they put these prayer things in there. Good for business overall. > What I want to know is in a non-christian area, say a nice jewish publication, do they have something similar? The Netherlands is generally atheist, and we certainly see bouts of these ads in the small, local papers every now and then. Not to St. Jude, but to St. Clara. St. Clara apparently has stopped being strictly Catholic and has made a cross-over to the New-Age pandemonium, right up there with seaweed, piramids and crystals. So **Shirley** , you might be right; they do tend to come in series. Often the first one will be spelled in full, with the full instructions: > [@](#): > > Noveen St. Clara; vraag alleen positieve dingen. Bid 9 dagen het weesgegroet bij een brandende kaars ook als u er geen zin in hebt > Vraag 2 dingen die bijna onmogelijk lijken om verhoord te worden en iets wat u heel erg ter harte gaat Laat de negende dag de kaars geheel opbranden en publiceer dit bericht. U krijgt wat u vroeg (Translation: _Novena St. Clara: ask only positive things. Pray the Hail Mary for nine days by a burning candle, even if you do’t feel like it. Ask two things that seem nearly impossible and one thing that you really care about. On the ninth day, let the canle burn up and put this ad up. You’ll get what you asked for._) Similar ads then will spring up like mushrooms for a few months. Then the stream will slow down to a trickle, with abbreviated versions like: " Novena finished. Signed C. A from M." ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/144 "2006-05-20T20:28:14Z")
Douglas Adams got it wrong. The answer to "life, the universe and everything is **not** 42 but 3. I’m still working on the question part myself but I’m sure that 3 is the answer. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/145 "2006-05-21T16:16:31Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Isn’t that the point? Weren’t you _supposed_ to be able to find fitting bras after your surgery? I would think that if you couldn’t, your surgeon would have obviously failed you. Argh. I knew that didn’t come out sounding right. What I meant, but apparently my phantom boobs got in the way, was that post-surgery I could finally then find the sizes that I would have needed pre-cutting. Before, I had to traverse hell, high water and Lane Bryant. After, you find 87ZZZZZ on sale at Wal\*Mart for $2.97 (and that’s before the roll back!), in every fashion, color and fabric one might imagine. That sort of thing is enough to drive ya crazy… Oh. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/146 "2006-05-21T22:23:36Z")
I suspect that a _lot_ of religious and cultural rituals worldwide—especially those involving cleanliness or ritual purity—are actually archaic holdovers from holy men or cultural leaders who had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, who rationalized (or simply covered up) their compulsions in a “spiritual” context. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/147 "2006-05-21T23:05:08Z")
I believe- honestly, truly believe- that the reason that there are no aliens is not, as some have proposed: a) we are the most advanced race is the universe ([Mrs. Krabappel]Hah![/Mrs. Krabappel]) b) that they are not interfering with us for reasons of the “Prime Directive”. c) that we are the only life the universe has ever produced (laws of averages) Oh no, it’s simply that every race that is motivated enough to develop technology is so insanely competitive that it will destroy itself long before it manages to leave its own Solar System. Considering that we are unlikely to buck a universe-wide trend, this Does Not Bode Well. Oh, and also, my cat is secretly super-intelligent and keeps me around as I might keep a mouse in a maze, to watch it scrabble amusingly at the walls. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/148 "2006-05-21T23:18:30Z")
> [@Happy Clam](#): > > Oh no, it’s simply that every race that is motivated enough to develop technology is so insanely competitive that it will destroy itself long before it manages to leave its own Solar System. Considering that we are unlikely to buck a universe-wide trend, this Does Not Bode Well. You’ve never heard of Enrico Fermi, have you? He was a physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. He had the same idea about aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743/149 "2006-05-25T05:43:41Z")
I dunno how crazy or irrational this one is, but…I have the idea that the U.S. knows where Osama is, to within some square miles. (Say, within an area the size of the San Francisco peninsula.) The trouble is, he’s in Northern Pakistan, in a populated area (plenty of witnesses/human shields). The only way to get him would be to a) nuke, gas, or carpet bomb the whole place, or b) invade the area. If we do that, we’ll cause a massive international incident, a Pakistani civilian uprising against the evil U.S., and Musharraf’s government either falling to a non level-headed dictator, or having to turn against the U.S. in order to remain in power. Thus, Osama is basically under “house arrest.” And if we try to publicly announce what’s going on, Osama’ll run, and/or there’ll be such a domestic uproar that we _have_ to attack the target area, which even if it does kill or capture Osama, will still lead, as above, to a massive Islamist uprising and some psycho getting ahold of Pakistan’s nukes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-crazy-irrational-theories/354743.md?page=7)