BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 15 Apr 10 - 10:33 AM

Ladyjean suggested:

I have been told that the Hebrews circumcised their sons, because men went into battle in the buff. Hebrews were circumcised so that they could distinguish themselves from their adversaries, who were also nude.

Sounds suspiciously like Urban Legend to me, Ladyjean. Sort of similar to the "pluck yew" story for why we have the insulting middle finger signal.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 15 Apr 10 - 03:04 AM

"one of the most common cancers in the uncircumcised"

Very rare in Europe, where circumcision is also very rare. Any medical intervention will carry a risk of adverse side effects. We're still waiting for sources to back up your assertions, beeliner, some of which are denonstrably untrue.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: LadyJean
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 08:46 PM

Now there's one of those bits of trivia I picked up that may or may not be true.
I have been told that the Hebrews circumcised their sons, because men went into battle in the buff. Hebrews were circumcised so that they could distinguish themselves from their adversaries, who were also nude.
I don't know if that's true. I don't think I'd have the mental wherewithal to check out willies in the heat of battle. But I heard it somewhere.

I worked for a little paper, published by a British company. The publisher, who was British, liked us to write up christenings. Which is practical in a nation where most people belong to the same church, and NOT practical in a nation where there's a Catholic Church a Swedenborgen Church and a Methodist church within walking distance of a Conservative synagogue. I asked the editor (American, but not brainy.) if she wanted me to write up brises too. After a long pause, she said "I guess they had baptisms back in Bible times too." A bris, for those of you who didn't grow up in a Jewish neighborhood, is the Jewish circumcision ritual.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 07:18 PM

Sarah Dunn, The Independent, 13 April 2010.

The problem appears to be related to personal hygiene, and the practice of safe sex decreases the risk.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 06:54 PM

"Around 400 men are diagnosed with penile cancer each year in the UK, compared with the 35,000 cases of prostate cancer. Risk factors include:......smoking;......circumcision......"

Surely they mean 'lack of circumcision'.

If not, what is the source? Anybody wanna bet that it's an anti-circumcision website?

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Rowan
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 06:38 PM

gnu and frogprince;
It took a while for the shoes to drop, but thanks.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 06:20 PM

"Around 400 men are diagnosed with penile cancer each year in the UK, compared with the 35,000 cases of prostate cancer.

.......

Risk factors include:......smoking;......circumcision......"

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: frogprince
Date: 03 Apr 10 - 02:08 PM

Or a bust in the mouth.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: gnu
Date: 02 Apr 10 - 08:05 PM

Rowan... "Perhaps now is not the time to remember the adage "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Sometimes the beholder gets a beauty in the eye.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 02 Apr 10 - 07:52 PM

Try again...

BTW, did you know that The Brazilan Women's Beach Volleyball Team have on the rear of their Bikini Top of their playing suits the word BRA...

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 02 Apr 10 - 07:46 PM

The Women's Beach Volleyball Team have on the rear of their Bikini Top of their playing suits the word BRA...

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: jonm
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 01:34 PM

My favourite anagram pair is "woman Hitler" and "mother-in-law."

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 10:27 AM

And,

What does the Free Church of Scotland stand for?


Prayers!

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 09:51 AM

Contrived to my mind, rather than having the natural perfection of my example. Nobody set out to construct that one; except, as I say, the Almighty himself!

OK, as long as we're bringing the Almighty into it, how about "Presbyterians = Best in Prayers"?

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 03:45 AM

"...the fact that schoolmaster is a perfect anagram of the classroom is one of the very few facts that make me think that perhaps there is a God after all."

How about "Washington Crossing the Delaware" = "A Hard, Howling, Tossing Water Scene".
===
Contrived to my mind, rather than having the natural perfection of my example. Nobody set out to construct that one; except, as I say, the Almighty himself!

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Gurney
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 03:28 AM

There was a time, some 30 years ago, when I had a trick question.
"Which country has the best record in the Olympic Games?"


The Isle of Saint Vincent. One entry, one gold medal. Impossible to better.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 12:50 AM

The name Lucifer means "light bearer" (hence a match is known as a "lucifer"), and has none of the evil connotations of some of the devil's other names.

The 'evil connotation' is that it is used in the Bible (Isaish 14:12) to describe the king of Babylon, a devilish, though not supernatural, individual.

"...the fact that schoolmaster is a perfect anagram of the classroom is one of the very few facts that make me think that perhaps there is a God after all."

How about "Washington Crossing the Delaware" = "A Hard, Howling, Tossing Water Scene".

Anagrams (= "Ars Magna") might merit a separate thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 11:42 PM

In one year the average human heart circulates from 770,000 to 1.6 million gallons of blood through the body, enough fluid to fill 200 tank cars, each with a capacity of 8,000 gallons. That's 4000 gallons of blood each day. The heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet (9 m). Blood travels 60,000 miles (96,540 km) per day on its journey through the body.

If all the blood vessels in a single human body were stretched end to end, they would form a rope capable of going around the world or 60,000 miles of blood vessels.

The average adult has around 10 pints (1.25 gal) of blood in their body. The Ketchua Indians of the Andes Mountains in South America have 2 to 3 more quarts of blood in their bodies than people who live at lower elevations.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 11:36 PM

The name Lucifer means "light bearer" (hence a match is known as a "lucifer"), and has none of the evil connotations of some of the devil's other names. The planet Venus, when seen in the morning sky, is known to astronomers as Lucifer --that is, the star that heralds the coming light of day.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 11:33 PM

Contrary to popular belief, there are almost no Buddhists in India, nor have there been for about a thousand years. Though Buddhism was founded in India around 470 B.C. and developed there at an early date, it was uprooted from India between the seventh and twelfth centuries A.D. and today exists almost exclusively outside that country, primarily in Sri Lanka, Japan, and Indochina.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 11:32 PM

Arriazia - The complete absence of breasts.

Diphallic terata - The presence of more than one penis.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 11:26 PM

The giraffe's tongue is 18 inches long. It uses it's tongue to rip leaves off branches for consumption. It also uses it's tongue to clean it's nose when unwanted visitors like tree ants decide to visit. In comparison, if a human had such a tongue, one would be able to clean the top of one's head, one's nostrils and one's ears.

A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Rowan
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 10:48 PM

cruciverbalist
Somehow I got that confused with crucilexiphile, in a manner of speaking.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 10:25 PM

Getting off the topic of pricks & back to main theme of thread:

As a cruciverbalist, the fact that schoolmaster is a perfect anagram of the classroom is one of the very few facts that make me think that perhaps there is a God after all.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Rowan
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 08:09 PM

On the same theme, has anyone ever wondered how Michelangelo forgot that the original "David" was circumcised?

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 07:42 PM

My wife does not agree with you, unless she's been lying to me all these years.

Seriously, when I was a kid, maybe 10-11 years old, I swam nearly every day during the summer at the local YMCA. We all swam nude, and out of, oh I dunno, maybe 25 or 30 kids, there were maybe three or four who were uncircumsized.

Having led up to that point a rather sheltered life, I thought they were DEFORMED or somethin'.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: frogprince
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 07:04 PM

Ugly circumsized ones? Ugly uncircumcized ones? Let's face it; those things are ALL ugly as hell! How can you blame any woman for becoming a lesbian, and messing around with ATTRACTIVE things?

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Rowan
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 05:48 PM

Milligan never was circumspect, was he.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 02:48 AM

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, get it out with Optrex. [ Milligan ]

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 12:29 AM

"That circumcision lessens male sensitivity during the sex act is not in dispute."

Disputed!

All I'm going to say is that I don't NEED any MORE sensation..... :-P

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Rowan
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 07:29 PM

Add to that the fact that uncircumcised penises are ugly as hell ....

Perhaps now is not the time to remember the adage "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: michaelr
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 06:54 PM

Lengthy previous discussion here.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 12:22 PM

Some interesting discussion on "circumcision", male and femal, can be found here (scroll down to discussion):

http://worldofweirdthings.com/2009/05/27/sex-culture-and-religion-with-greta-christina/

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 12:10 PM

bobad, your link is a joke. See any statistics re penile cancer there? I couldn't find any.

That circumcision lessens male sensitivity during the sex act is not in dispute. One of the main impediments to sexual harmony in marriage is premature ejaculation. Any stats on PE in uncircumcised vs. circumcised men?

How about polling the nation's housewives on whether they would prefer that intercourse last thirty seconds or thirty minutes?

Beyond that, I'm not going to comment further unless a new thread on the subject is opened, and I'm not gonna open it.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 10:58 AM

From an orthodox Jewish website:

Finland's Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that male circumcision carried out for religious and social reasons and in a medical manner does not constitute a criminal offence.

That is as I expected, and answers my original question.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: bobad
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 10:49 AM

"Circumcision, like many other rules of Judaism, is hygienic in origin."

"Many theories have been advanced to explain the origin of genital mutilation. One theory postulates that circumcision began as a way of "purifying" individuals and society by reducing sexuality and sexual pleasure. Human sexuality was seen as dirty or impure in some societies; hence cutting off the pleasure-producing parts was the obvious way to "purify" someone.

It is now known that the male foreskin, or prepuce, is the principal location of erogenous sensation in the human male (see Anatomy.) Removal of the prepuce substantially reduces erogenous sensation.12,16 Therefore (in the appropriate cultural context), circumcision is revealed as a sacrifice of "sinful" human enjoyment (in this earthly life), for the sake of holiness in the afterlife.12"


"Add to that the fact that uncircumcised penises are ugly as hell ...."

"It may have been at this time that the Pondus Judaeus (also known as Judaeum Pondum), a bronze weight worn by Jews on the residual foreskin to stretch it back into a foreskin,8,18,23 gained popularity amongst Jewish males. This lessened the ugly appearance of the bare exposed circumcised penis.18 This restorative procedure was known by the Greek word epispasm,8 or "rolling inward."

http://www.cirp.org/library/history/

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 10:19 AM

"Uncircumcised penises are not safe at all. Cancer of the penis is virtually unknown in circumcised penises, one of the most common cancers in the uncircumcised. Of course, the treatment for cancer of the penis is just what you think it is.

Add to that the fact that uncircumcised penises are ugly as hell and you are way beyond 'superstitious belief'."

Fact, opinion or superstitious belief?

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 10:04 AM

Well, if this subject is going to be discussed at length here (no pun intended) it should probably be spun off into a new thread.

I'm not sure what 'superstition' you're referring to. Circumcision, like many other rules of Judaism, is hygienic in origin.

Jews today realize that pork, properly processed, is perfectly safe to eat. They don't eat it out of respect for their heritage. If you consider that 'superstition', you're entitled to your opinion.

Uncircumcised penises are not safe at all. Cancer of the penis is virtually unknown in circumcised penises, one of the most common cancers in the uncircumcised. Of course, the treatment for cancer of the penis is just what you think it is.

Add to that the fact that uncircumcised penises are ugly as hell and you are way beyond 'superstitious belief'.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: bobad
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 08:49 AM

"Surely there is an exemption for religious observance."

Superstitious belief is no justification for non-consensual genital mutilation.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 08:27 AM

There were two William Boyds and a Bill Boyd (all unrelated) concurrently in the 1940's-50's.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: s&r
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 05:57 AM

The actors' trade union Equity will not admit you to membership under a name already registered as a member. So every Equity member must find a unique name

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 03:01 AM

Ref above to famous film actor James Stewart ~~ The in-his-time equally distinguished British film actor Stewart Granger was actually called James Stewart, but had to adopt another name as his own was already pre-empted.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: beeliner
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 11:21 PM

In 2006, Finland outlawed the circumcision of healthy boys....unless it is done for medical reasons to treat an illness.

Surely there is an exemption for religious observance.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 11:00 PM

An interesting 'rule of thumb' that depends on human anatomy that works for astronomy and other 'rough guide' measuring.

Hold out your arm with with thumb up. Close one eye. The angle subtended by your thumb is now 2 degrees. There are other fixed numbers for the palm out with fingers closed and palm out with fingers outstretched, but I can't recall them at the moment.

It is now believed by some archaeo-astronomers that is how neolithic astronomers measured the sky. Funnily enough that seems to be why there are 360 degrees in a circle...

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Ed T
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 08:47 PM

In 2006, Finland outlawed the circumcision of healthy boys.

From Finland's Central Union for Child Welfare (2003):

"The Central Union for Child Welfare considers that circumcision of boys that violates the personal integrity of the boys is not acceptable unless it is done for medical reasons to treat an illness. The basis for the measures of a society must be an unconditional respect for the bodily integrity of an under-aged person."

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 07:41 PM

I can get away with rhyming orange and porridge!

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 10:09 AM

OOPS!

Dave beat me to it.

DT

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Wesley S
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 10:04 AM

I just read a biography of Jimmie Stewart. He turned down the role of Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird". Also the leads in "Broadcast News" and "On Golden Pond". All three roles landed Oscars for the men who played them.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 09:59 AM

""Now, with regard to purple, may I submit 'burple', "the color of a belch".""

Or you could follow the Ogden Nash route.

Roses are red,
violets are purple,
sugar is sweet,
and so's maple syrple.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 09:27 AM

Number 7.

Incorrect!

A 2 X 4 sawn (ie. rough cut) is 2 inches by 4 inches exactly

A 2 X 4 PAR (planed all round) is one and seven eighths inches by three and seven eighths inches.

The latter, (in timber lists in the UK at least) is normally listed as Ex 2 X 4, indicting the original from which it was planed.

Anything that measures less is either very heavy handed planing, or a special order size.

Don T.(Ex Joiner and Cabinet Maker)