Something you think other people should know, But assume they don't

[Liquid Blue]

The most recent way I gain information/knowledge, is by reading about something in a discussion, finding something interesting, and going through the internet to look up more on the matter. We all have something to share with everyone else, and I think that we could help eachother learn by taking a little time to share something that you think other people should know about, but don't. It could be a short fact, information on a situation, maybe some details on something that might not be well-known to all. This isn't something that should take you a long time to post, I'm not trying to make you do any extra work and find some stuff. If you want to, that's cool- but I'm not forcing you too. I want each and every one of us to be able to take something away from the thread, something we didn't know before. Kind of a high goal, but hey if you reach for the moon and fail, at least you'll be among the stars, right?

Note- Useless Crap and Trash Talk are here for a reason, so saying " lol my dick is large" as a fact, or calling someone a " fag newb nerd" or whatever because you don't like what they posted is not welcome, or cool at all :*

If Tone or anyone similar posts something you don't agree with, let it fucking go. There are enough topics and places for you to argue with Tone or Zabuza or whoever about how they're wrong/stupid/idiots. I don't need to see it for the 55th time in this topic, so please do me a favor and keep it out. Slap the bitches on ignore or just turn a blind eye in this topic, just leave it out.

Sources for your information is appreciated, but not required. Hopefully if someone is interested in what you have to say you won't mind going into further detail, even though they could look it up themselves.

- Try and avoid the obvious one-liner posts that aren't funny. You aren't Illya, and it's highly unlikely your post is going to be funny. Try and keep that stuff for Zeus's topics.



What I chose for this thread, is something I've wondered about off and on for awhile, but never took the time to look up. That thing was " what was the deal with Tiananmen Square? " Well, I looked up on Wikipedia and got the lowdown.

Tiananment Square- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananm...otests_of_1989


In basic terms:
So basically, the students were at first mourning the death of a ex-offical, but grew into something else as the media lied about why they were there and rumors of violence involving police spread. To clear the air and change the current state of the media, the students asked to speak with some officials but were denied. They went on a hunger strike as a result and refused to leave the city, which lead to the Army coming in and forcefully
removing them.

Semi-detailed summary: In 1989, Students in China protested the economic instability and political corruption of China, by leading demonstrations in Tiananmen square. The protest was trigged by the death of Hu Yaobang, a former party general secretary. His resigination was forced by Den Xiaoping, who was basically the ruler of China at the time. This was seen as unfair, and as a result the students protested. At first they started out small, but due to rumors of violence between some students and bad media coverage, their numbers swelled into the thousands. On May 4th, 1989, 100,000 students and workers marched in Beijing making demands for free media reform and a formal dialogue between the authorities and student-elected representatives.The government refused, and so large groups of students went on a hunger strike on May 13th, in Tiananmen square. They got alot of support from other students and residents of Beijing, support that also went on a hunger strike. The demonstrations continued and eventually the military got involved. Soliders and Tanks were deployed throughout the city to restore order.

[Ilya]

theres these flies in florida called lovebugs and they are the fucking worst

if you drive through there during their mating season, your car will be covered in them within an hour

the male puts his penis in the female, but it always gets stuck in there, so they both try to go their separate ways, and the female is much more stronger than the male, so she rips his penis out and goes away with it still stuck inside of her.

the penis-less male dies right away, probably on your car or your bag or maybe even your shoulder

so now Barbara the female is trying to fly away with a dick stuck up in her. after the penis drains all its semen out inside of her, im assuming she dies too because theres a big penis stuck inside her.

fucking lovebugs.

[Ilya]

oh, and they can have sex in the air, which is pretty kinky

i guess that explains why they end up on your windshield a lot

because you hit them while they're trying to fuck

[DoTheFandango]

Have they ever found out who the Tiennenman Square man was?

[Troll King]

When shoveling your driveway after a heavy snow fall, there are several ways in which you can make life easier afterwards.

Firstly, if the snow plow hasn't passed through your street yet, you can take steps to lessen the problem of it creating a densely packed ridge of snow along the end of your driveway that can be difficult to remove. When shoveling your driveway, do not stop at the curb but continue to clear the snow for about a metre into the street. If you know which direction the snow plows will be coming from, then dig a little in that direction as well. That way, when the snow plows come through, there will be less snow pushed towards your curb to block your driveway. Encouraging your neighbours to do the same will also help lessen the problem.

Secondly, after several heavy snowfalls, you'll eventually develop a large mound of snow along the side of your (repeatedly) shovelled driveway. This mound may soon be large enough to be a driving hazard as it could prevent you from seeing oncoming traffic and pedestrians when you try to leave your driveway, especially if you're backing out. To make things easier for yourself, when you shovel, don't just push your snow to the sides and make the mounds larger but instead lift and throw the snow over this ridge and onto the other side of it. If your ridge gets too large, try to knock it down a bit with your shovel by jamming your shovel into the top as if you're trying to knock the tip off a mountain.

Thirdly, if the mail carriers usually deliver right to your door, clear a small path (or trench, if there's a lot of snow) between your door and your neighbours, even if it goes across your lawn. Your mail carrier will appreciate not having to trudge through one-foot-deep snow or having to go around it.

[ZeUs!!]

The 1st paragraph is my mini-dissertation summised, the rest is my main dissertation

The biggest hotbed for piracy was in fact the Mediterranean, and not the Carribbean, and Johnny Depp wasn't around in the 16th century. In fact the main piratical nest in the area, Port Royal, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. As this area had a reputation for being so debauched, with so many whorehouses, drinking dens, smuggling coves, that when it was destroyed many pirates saw it as an act of retribution from God and stopped their piratical ways. Of course many carried on, but from the 18th century onwards piracy in the region began to decline as governments made an effort to stamp out the problem, either through more effective policing, or by employing the pirates and then licensing them to carry out specific raids under the guise of 'privateers', for example Captain Henry Morgan of Morgan's Rum fame.

Piracy in the Mediterranean stemmed from the crusades of the middle ages, Christianity versus Islam. As the Ottoman Empire gradually spread westwards, so did the point of conflict until eventually Istanbul (or Constantinople as it was then known) in modern-day Turkey fell to the Ottomans and they began plying their trade on the sea. The Ottoman's also spread along the North Coast of Africa, and established what was known as the Barbary States. These states gradually seperated themselves from main Ottoman rule, and their primary source of income became pirating, or corsairing as it was known, and these people became the Barbary Corsairs. Their main opponents were the Christian Knights of St John, based in Malta, a antiquitated and chivalric Order of Knights in the true sense of the word, and they continued the 'corso' (holy war against Islam) on the high seas. They were far better fighters and the Ottomans, but far fewer in number.

The Barbary Corsairs valued slaves above all else. There have been reports that the Barbers would set out with 10-20 galleys and raid the coastline of southern Europe, carrying off entire communities into slavery, where they would then be forced to row the boats back as galley slaves and then imprisoned in the Barros of the main piratical communities, before being sold at the slave markets. Galley slaves were chained to their bench day and night, and Corsair galleys were just hulls, so in battle they were first in the line of fire, and upon being sunk they went down with the ship. The Barbery Corsairs were incredibly tolerant of other religions, including Christianity, and renegade Christians fleeing persecution from their home country could come to the Barbery States, recant Christianity in favour of Islam and then continuing operating as a pirate from the African coast. Many brought with them knowledge of the superior technology employed by the Christians, such as their narrowboats and ammunition. The Barbary Corsairs were highly efficient at what they did, and devastated communities and shipping in the Mediterranean from the 16th century to the early 19th century, with the fall of Algiers.

The Knights of St John were an odd bunch. The remnants of the Knights Hospitallier established in Jerusalem during the crusades, the Ottomans had forced them back to Rhodes, and then in 1530 from Rhodes to Malta. Only young men of noble blood could join the Order, and they had to be enlisted at birth, along with a large sum of money. They were expected to live a life of chastity, fighting for the good of Christianity, essentially they were military monks. However to make ends meet, many Knights went out Corsairing of their own accord. Other Knights served in the navies of other European nations at the same time, with the French being notable employers of Knights of St John. This created a problem when navies such as the French engaged in conflicts with other Christian powers, such as the Spanish, so not only were these Christian monks fighting other Christians, they could even be fighting of Knight's in the employment of the other navy.

In 1565 the Ottoman Navy laid siege to Malta, and against all the odds - though not through luck - the Maltese repelled the far superior force. In 1571 the Pope organised Europe under the banner of the Holy League and ships from Malta, France, Venice, Spain, Genoa and England combined defeated an Ottoman force in the Battle of Lepanto off of Greece. These events had the effect of halting the Ottoman advance East, and marking the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Around 1590 there was a famine in the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic maritime powers - England, France and the Netherlands - swept into the Mediterranean with their grain to solve the famine, and never left. With their far superior ships to both the other traders and the Corsairs, the 'Northern Invasion' saw the start of the regulation, but not eradication, of piracy, and the domination of trade by these three powers. France was undergoing a large degree of internal struggle with its series of mini civil wars (called Frondes) at this point and so is slightly less of a player. The diplomacy in this period is odd, with Christian powers often protecting Muslim shipping against Christian pirates if a particular Christian nation was trading with these Muslims, and the same with the Ottoman's attempting to stifle Barbery Corsairs if they were attacking any Christian shipping heading towards a Muslim port. What is clear from this period is that any religious divide was gradually being ignored over the desire for increased commerce, and profits.

Yes I just typed all that out

[ZeUs!!]

Knights of St John:


Barbary Corsair:


Less "yarrr", more "ALLAH ALLAH ALLAH"

[Unorthadox]

you guys type to much

[DoTheFandango]

EDIT: Good point, Zeus.

Still, I got a B- on the essay anyhow. And I wrote it around 1.5 years ago.

[ZeUs!!]

I don't think this is just 'post your coursework'. I'd also recommend editting it out as these essay whoring pages grab essays like that and you could find a load of other 15 year olds handing your work in in years to come

[Lemufa]

Nietzsche wasn't anti-semitic.

Embyronic stems cells are not currently as productive as adult cells (which do not require the killing of an embryo, but even if they did, wah fucking wah). Embryonic stem cells, when cultured to grow, have a 70% chance of becoming a tumorous blastocyst.

[Liquid Blue]

I don't think this is just 'post your coursework'. I'd also recommend editting it out as these essay whoring pages grab essays like that and you could find a load of other 15 year olds handing your work in in years to come

Yea please don't post essays or anything of that nature, just some simple stuff like Illyaz and TK did is fine.

[Superted]

I don't know much, but then again I'm just a human. I always talk about this when I see someone eating a carrot. There is a pigment in carrots repsonsible for its orange colour, which is called 'carotene'. If you eat too many carrots your skin can turn slightly yellow. I've heard it's also addictive but not sure that part is true.

[Exotic]

that is true ive seen it in an episode of the magic school bus when the kid with the orange hair ate too much spinach or something

[Riesen]

There are no such things as ghosts, psychics, witches, magic, or heaven or God. I really think people need to know that.

Edit: Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook are not comedians, they're barely funny. Thank you.

Also, I'm not being facetious when I say these things, I really think people need to know these things.