Everything From Government to The Morbid

If you have a question that needs answering, e-mail me at stumpme@mindlesscrap.com.  If you know an answer, e-mail me at spot@mindlesscrap.com.

My Only Rule:
1)  There must be a legitimate answer to your question or don't bother asking.  It doesn't matter if you don't know the answer.

Why You Can Trust My Answers:
I do the research...plain and simple.  Nothing goes up on my site unless I've located a reliable source or verified a visitor's submission with a secondary source.  Most of my answers come from one of the many source books I own (now counting over 35), but others come from my directly asking a company, college professor or some other person who would be considered an informed and reliable source.

Questions without hypertext links (the black ones) have not been answered yet.

1. Why was the U.S. Secret Service originally formed?
2. Does OSHA say it's mandatory that all employees of an orthopedic doctors office are not allowed to wear some type of nylons with open-toed shoes?
3. What does CSIS stand for?
4. In what country does the Communications Security Establishment operate?

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1. Why does "In God We Trust" appear on U.S. currency?
2. Which elected officials of the United States government are not allowed to travel together?
3. Who was the first President of the United States to be born in a hospital?
4. Who was the first president to get a scholarship?
5. Which country has the oldest continuously serving government in the world?  Where is that country?  What is the government's name?  What does that name mean?
6. What country still maintains the longest surviving democracy?
7. What was the first law to be passed after the Bill of Rights?
8. What is the national debt right now?
9. What was the Vichy Government?  When was it in power?
10. If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?   NEW
11. How many total laws in the U.S. are there on the books, including federal, state, county, and municipal?
12. Has any community ever officially declared itself void of laws or a lawless state?  If so why?
13. What was the first form of government and who came up with it?
14. Why did the U.S. Congress pass a law stating that no president could change the date of Thanksgiving?

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1. When was the first car insurance issued?
2. Who was the Greek goddess of victory?
3. When did people start using last names and why?
4. What was the last word spoken on the moon?
5. How old is our world?
6. What major National news event over-shadowed the Wright brothers first flight on the morning of December 17, 1903?
7. On what date was the first radio broadcast from space?
8. What was the last ship to fly the Jolly Roger flag?
9. What was the first man-made object to move faster than the speed of sound?
10. What new eating utensil appeared at the table in the 17th century?
11. Where was the home of modern ballet located during the 17th century?

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1. What was the first recorded terrorist act committed against the United States of America, on U.S. soil?
2. Who really killed JFK?
3. Who was the first person to be charged with a felony against the United States of America?
4. Is it true that where Solon Borglum created Mount Rushmore, there already existed giant sculptures of Indian "dignitaries" sculpted by the Indians of the area?
5. 50% more of these are sold in America today than ten years ago.  What is it?
6. In December of 1782 a certain line was drawn on the map of the US. What was the line?
7. Why did we name so many things after American Indians?
8. Who was the first president of the U.S.?
9. What major U.S. city was founded in 1800?
10. Why did they used to use pubs as court houses?  Did they use to hang people there, too?
11. Was there a United States president that never had a wife or some kind of a woman at one point in his life?
12. Did New Jersey try to split into two separate states?  If so, how close did they come to doing so?
13. Why did the Mayflower land at Plymouth Rock?
14. Who was Lyndon Johnson's vice-president immediately after John F. Kennedy was assassinated and before Johnson was elected in 1964?
15. Which daughter of a former President of United States was named for the candy bar Baby Ruth?

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1. Who was Tutankhamun's mother and father?
2. How many people did Jack the Ripper kill?
3. What is the real reason why the Titanic crashed and sank?
4. Who was the first person to fly an airplane across the Andes Mountains (first name must be given not just initial)?
5. What was the name of the first child born on Pitcairn Island?
6. Is it true that Katherine the Great had sex with a horse?
7. Could Good King Wenceslas have been gay?
8. Which king and queen had a daughter known as Joan Mad?
9. Why do samurai shave their heads?
10. Who was treated the worst from the beginning of the world till now?
11. Who was the tallest ruler of the 17th century in Europe?
12. What 17th century ruler liked to wear high heeled shoes?
13. Why did Julius Caesar wear a crown of laurels almost constantly in public?
14. Why was Napoleon always depicted with his right (left?) hand in between the buttons of his jacket?
15. What has happened only 4 times in the history of Great Britain?
16. Which European monarch at one time held the world record for smoking 240 cigarettes in a single day- and had a special stamp issued in commemoration for this feat?
17. What does the Hippopotamus represent in the History of the Chinese culture?

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1. What is the origin of Halloween?
2. What is the origin of Christmas?
3. What is the origin of Easter?

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1. What "exorcises" can I do to prevent being possessed?
2. My friend Justin wants to know why his penis all wrinkled and ugly?
3. How many ounces of water are in the Pacific Ocean?
4. How many grains of sand are on the ground on York Beach in Maine?
5. How many post boxes are there on the Keele University campus?
6. How many cups of water are in the Keys in Florida's oceans?
7. Approximately how many tea spoons would it take to fill the Grand Canyon?
8. Do you think an e-mail-a-kebab service would be profitable?
9. Want to see my stump?

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1. Why do you have to pee so much when you drink beer?
2. What is the world's longest recorded time for a person peeing?
3. Is it possible to sneeze while taking a piss?
4. Why is a yawn contagious?
5. Why does smoking a cigarette greatly increase the urge to have a bowel movement?
6. Why does pot make you hungry?
7. Is it possible to sneeze with your eyes open? Why or why not?
8. What are hiccups?
9. Why does your tongue go to the top of your mouth when you swallow?
10. Is it true that a baby can both swallow and breath simultaneously?  If so, when does a person lose this ability?
11. If you sneeze with your eyes wide open, would your eyes pop out?
12. Why do you always have to pee when you take a dump?

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1. Who's more likely to be colorblind...men or women?
2. How much artificial estrogen (like the patches) would give a man boobs?
3. Is there any way to make yourself go to sleep, without the use of drugs, without physically damaging your body or mind?
4. What is the deadliest (non-human) mammal to humans?
5. The girl I like has mononucleosis, and I really like her, and I know that she really likes me. If I kissed her, what are the chances of me receiving mono?
6. Why is heartburn called heartburn when it has nothing to do with your heart?
7. How many ounces is the average urination?
8. How much does the average bowel movement weigh?
9. What would a 200 year old living person really look like?
10. How much semen is produced by the male human population of the world in one year?
11. What is the scientific name for "booger?"
12. Approximately how many red corpuscles of the blood, stacked upon each other, would make an inch?
13. Why can't you tickle yourself?
14. Did you know that when you blush, your stomach lining also turns red?
15. Is it true that the color blue stimulates your metabolism? If so, why?
16. Why does it hurt so bad when a guy gets hit in the balls?
17. Where is the most painful place on the human body to be punched?

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1. When and where did people start having afros?
2. How many strands of hair does a red-haired person have on their head?
3. How many hairs does the average blonde have?
4. How much does an eyeball weigh?
5. How many pounds of pressure does it take to rip off an ear from a human?
6. How many muscles are found in the human nose?
7. On average, how many hairs are on the human head?
8. Why do full-blooded Native Americans lack facial hair?
9. What is the average weight of bone marrow that is in the average American male?
10. Why do people have hair on their fingers? What purpose does it serve?
11. How many hairs does a brunet have?
12. Why is it physically impossible to lick your elbow?
13. Why are nose hairs so thick than all other body hairs?
14. What's the average size of a vagina?
15. Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?
16. Is it true that the average size penis is 3 inches?
17. Many animals walk on feet that have no resemblance to the human toes. So what purpose do toes serve?
18. Why do eyelashes stop growing?
19. What is the only bone in the human body not connected to any other bone?
20. Do larger breasts produce more milk, than smaller ones?
21. Why do we have earlobes?
22. Why do we have two nostrils instead of just one?
23. Where did the name "groin" come from and what does it mean?
24. What's the scientific/medical name for a person's tongue?
25. Why does a penis shrink when its cold?
26. What is the function of your uvula?

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1. Who invented carpet?
2. Who invented wallpaper?
3. Who invented the toilet?
4. Who invented the toothbrush and where?
5. Who invented the seat belt?
6. How was the microwave discovered/invented?
7. Who invented nail polish?
8. Who invented the laptop?
9. Who invented the cigarette?
10. What was discovered accidentally while working on a better gun barrel?
11. Which came first: the match or the lighter?
12. Where and when was the showerhead invented?
13. Who invented the keyboard and why did they choose the "qwerty" system?
14. Who discovered Pi?
15. Who invented the condom?
16. Who came up with the original Murphy's Law?
17. Who invented the nail gun?
18. Who invented the rubber duck?
19. Is it true that the first battery was made by placing a copper disk, then a cardboard disk soaked in salt water, then a zinc disk and over and over on a rod?
20. If the screwdriver was invented before the screw, what was its use for before being used to screw screws?
21. Who invented black lights?
22. Who was the original inventor of the hazard lights on cars?

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1. What are the ten languages spoken by the most people worldwide as a mother tongue, listed in order (most to least)?
2. What are the ten languages spoken by the most people worldwide as either a mother tongue or as a second language (fluently), listed in order (most to least)?
3. What word has been incorporated into 1000's of languages without changing it?
4. Why do the English (and others) use an S where we use a Z in print?
5. What ancient Greek word means, "Armpits which smell like he-goat?"
6. What one word is recognized in more languages than any other word?
7. I am looking for a translation for either an Italian or Latin phrase. It is either "Labor Spes Volontas" or "La Bor Spes Volontas."
8. What is the Jewish or Yiddish word for "Uncle?"
9. What was the language that was created as a world language and is still spoken by a good number of people?
10. What language has the most letters in its alphabet?
11. What does "Skogen" mean in Norwegian?
12. Is the phrase spelled - Free reign or Free rein? Is it referring to a king's ability to do as he wishes or giving a horse free rein to run as he wishes?
13. Can you please tell me what the Chinese word Hong Kong translates to in English?
14. There are fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name half of them?
15. What does "chow" mean when someone says chow instead of goodbye. And is it an Italian word?

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1. Which country "invaded" Australia in James Marsden's "Tomorrow" series of novels?
2. There are two police officers.  One is killed and the other (Alex) is kidnapped by some backwoods hillbillies.  They are forced to run a liquor still chained and guarded by dogs.  Name the book.  What is the death toll at the end?
3. What book follows the adventures of a "company of 13"?
4. Who wrote the poem "Gil-galad was an Eleven-King"?  And what book is it in?
5. Who wrote the book "The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time" and what is conspiracy number 18 of the book?
6. In the book, The Firm, name the famous bar on the Gulf of Mexico on the Alabama / Florida border.  How many pool tables are inside the bar?
7. What is the name of the poem that contains the line: "The one's who were got, were got and half forgotten. T'is the ones I didn't get that give me my regret." Who was the poet?
8. There is a particular story I know of where the word "and" can be used FIVE times consecutively and still make sense, do you know this story?
9. In The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Aslan tells the children he won't tell them what would have happened if things had gone differently. In what book did Aslan actually tell one of the children what would have happened? And what year was this book published?
10. What was the species of Puddleglum in The Silver Chair, and what did he say he was after he had to much to drink?
11. In The Last Battle, what is the name of the ape who lies to the Narnians and says Aslan has come?
12. Tell me the names of all the animals mentioned in Shakespeare's King Lear.
13. In the 9th book of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, what new form of Karate does Anita start taking classes of?
14. In one of the Far Side books, there was a word that they said meant the fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.  What's the word they used for that?
15. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby using all letters of the alphabet except one.  Which one?
16. From Tolkein's Lord of The Rings, what is the name of Aragorn's sword that he inherits?  What does he rename it?  Who was the smith that created it?

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1. How many of Josephus's writings exist today? Not copies made by others that could possibly have been changed or misinterpreted, but of the actual material used and words written by his very own hand.
2. What novel has the shortest opening sentence? If that question has multiple answers, I’d like to have an example of one.
3. In a poem by D.H.Lawrence called Last Lesson of the Afternoon, there is a line that states, "To me it is all my aunt." I cannot find anywhere to what he might be referring to.
4. How many times does John Grisham use the name K.O. Lewis in his books?
5. William Shakespeare had 3 children. What were their names?

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1. Who is Israel Weintraub?
2. Who has the e-mail address dragon@aol.com?
3. Who was the REAL (first) John Doe?
4. Who said, "Give me a lever long enough, and I will move the world?"
5. Who's right: I was driving with my friend and we came across a no turn on red sign, school days only. My friend told me that I couldn't turn because it was Tuesday, but I told him because it was during summer and school was out so it was okay to turn.
6. Who has the highest recorded IQ?

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1. What color hair do they put on the drivers license of a bald man?
2. I'm trying to find out what the symbolism and the origin of polka dots are.
3. What in the Indian constitution is called "the 52 second rule?"
4. What phrase, meaning "Get out of the way or you'll be shot" originated when soldiers would "take a knee" so the row of soldiers behind them could shoot over them. Who still uses the phrase today?
5. In Ontario, Canada, what level of driver's license can you get at 16, and how long is it until you can get the next level of license?
6. What is the delay element in a model rocket engine made of?
7. Most dermatologist use pre-filled needles in there office with color codes. What does each color represent?
8. 72% of stay at home moms say they don't own one of these.   NEW
9. What is a short definition of queer theory?
10. What does a bulletproof vest, laser printer and a fire escape have in common?
11. What is a 3-stone gypsy ring and what does it symbolize?
12. What does it mean when the horse's front feet are both in the air on a statue of a horse and rider?
13. What does GLAAD stand for?
14. What is the meaning of "Thit" and how is it used?
15. I got a tattoo of a Belgian Stamp (a four leaf clover where the forth leaf's a heart). What does it mean?
16. I'm going to be painting the side of a boat motor cover, and I need to know, what type of paint should I use, and what type of sealant?
17. When I graduate high school I want to become a nurse so I'm wondering, what is the best college in California for nursing?
18. What does the barber's pole represent?
19. Does mixing moth balls and brake fluid produce copious amounts of smoke?
20. Does collagen in shampoo products come from infant fetuses or is this an urban legend?
21. What is the weight of a postage stamp?
22. What does ameboidphotosyticpolymorphisnuclearlucycite mean?
23. What is the origin of the 5-pointed star and why is it so predominant on flags and generals collars?
24. What is a google?
25. What is the most popular first name of a teenage boy in the United States?
26. What is Waitangi day ( Feb 6 ) all about?  The who, what, where, when, and why about it.
27. What is the proper way to punctuate a question that ends with a quotation mark?
28. What noise do you hear caused by a gun being fired? The explosion of gun powder or the bullet breaking the sound barrier?
29. What is the plastic ends on shoelaces called?
30. What is the name of the @ symbol?
31. What art form is associated with the name Grinling Gibbons?
32. What does the "M J" on the Columbia space shuttle patch stand for?
33. What is the result if you mix equal parts of SPF 10 and SPF 30 suntan lotion? One of my friends thinks that the mixture retains the SPF 30 and is not diluted. I say he is wrong.

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1. When were pantyhose introduced to the market?
2. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

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1. Where can I find a website with the best Japanese animation?
2. Where can I buy ecstasy in Montreal?
3. Where can I buy really cool Invader Zim t-shirts?
4. Where I can find the shirts with all those cool, funny sayings on them?
5. Where do I get those hypnosis tapes to help me sleep?
6. From where does 420, slang for smoking pot, originate?

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1. Why are underwear called a pair of underwear?
2. Why are some things called a pair of something when it's not really a pair?
3. Why do they call them step brothers/sisters/mothers/fathers?
4. Why does the "red carpet treatment" use RED carpet?
5. Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?
6. Why do people say "Geronimo" when they jump out of an airplane?
7. When a pond or a puddle freezes it is perfectly flat and smooth on top. Why are the tops of ice cubes lumpy?
8. Why is a spelling bee called a spelling BEE rather than a spelling contest, competition, etc.?
9. Why do old-time sailing craft (and their modern reproductions) have white-topped masts above the head of the sail or gaff?
10. Why don't you have pubs in America?
11. Why don't you drink pints in America?
12. Why do people cry when they are happy?
13. Why is it that all the push button telephones have 1 / 2 / 3 / at the top and while all of the adding machines and calculators have 1 / 2 / 3 / at the bottom?
14. Why do some singers/pieces of music make the hairs on my arms stand up (goose bumps)?
15. Why are clocks in catalogs or sales ads always shown with the hands at 2:10 or 8:20?
16. Why are there two tides a day in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but only one in the Gulf of Mexico?
17. Why does the smoke from a campfire always blows in your face, no matter where you move to?
18. Why aren't things cloned?
19. Why do the English drive on the lefthand-side of the road along with numerous other countries?
20. When you crush open a ping pong ball, why does it smell somewhat "minty?"
21. Why are toilet seats in your house completely round but ones in public restrooms are horseshoes?
22. Why is a "club" in a deck of cards called a club?
23. Why do the French surrender so easily? Is it genetics? The cheese? The wine?
24. Why was the letter "E" left out of the modern day grading scale, A B C D F?
25. Why are barns red?

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1. Exactly how many calories are in a standard postage stamp?
2. How do they make nail polish?
3. How does Yoga work?
4. How did the washer component of a nut-bolt assembly get its name?
5. How many WPM can the fastest typist type?
6. There is a math that is referred to as "Ethiopian Pebble Counting."  How does it work?
7. How did "Pollock" jokes get started?
8. How many 5-card hands are possible in a 52 card deck?
9. How many decimal places has pi been taken to, and where can I find the number?
10. How come, even though you love your siblings, you get a feeling of elation and pure joy when they get shouted at by your parents?
11. How long is the longest nail (as in hammer and nails, not fingers)?
12. How many gallons of 87 octane gasoline are produced from a barrel of oil?
13. How does placing ice in a urinal get rid of the bad odor of urine?
14. If you look at a broken clock, how much of a chance is there that the time you see is correct?
15. If the 3 (or 4) Musketeers are famed for there swordsmanship – how come they were called musketeers?
16. How much do mailmen (mail carriers) get paid?
17. How tall does a mountain have to be before it can be called a mountain?

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1. What job salary has gone from $2.75 per hr to $40.00 per hour in 77 years?
2. I'm reading Peyp's diaries at the moment (abridged version) and in 1666 he says he's worth £5200. Allowing for inflation since then, what would that amount be worth today?
3. What is written on the back of a five dollar bill, above the Lincoln Memorial?
4. What is wrong with the flag on a Canadian two dollar bill?
5. How many ridges are on a dime?
6. What are the best and easiest get rich quick schemes (both legal and illegal)?
7. Why does "In God We Trust" appear on U.S. currency?
8. If you didn't file your federal taxes one year, but don't owe the government money, how do you go about getting your W4s and filing them so you can get your rebate?
9. Why is the head of Abe Lincoln on the penny facing the opposite direction of the heads on every other coin?
10. $3,325 is the average amount for what?
11. When you're applying for a mortgage loan, what does it mean when you pay a point or two?
12. Did Chinese invent paper money?
13. What is the estimated value of all the resources in the world?
14. What is the total gross national product of all the countries in the world?
15. What is the unit of currency of Israel?   NEW
16. Do you have to pay taxes on winnings you receive in a court settlement?

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1. What month has the most suicides?
2. Why do they sterilize the needles for lethal injections?
3. What are the only crimes that you can get lethal injection for?
4. Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?
5. When a person is killed by lethal injection, what happens to the body?
6. What's the origin of the tombstone?
7. How many volts does it take to kill a person?
8. They say diseases more commonly affect certain age groups. Is it possible that there are diseases that exist but no one has suffered from because no one has ever lived long enough, into the right age group?
9. Is there such a thing as true death from old age or do all people who are claimed to have died from old age merely die from a very common or undiagnosed disease late in life?

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