Weekend Open Thread

Magic 8-Ball says…

4th loser… dammit.

… France gives medals to citizens who raise several children with dignity? The Médaille de la Familie française (Medal of the French Family) is awarded in three classes – bronze, silver and gold – under a 1920 law that originally honored the mothers of large families. Over the decades the award has morphed to become one recognizing children “raised well” and the oldest child in the family must be at least 16 years old. (That’s an awful lot to go through just to get a medal, isn’t it?)

… the number one reason for stress in many countries is money? In 2009, the cable network CNN took a poll that revealed that money is the most stressful thing in the nations of Malaysia, China, Singapore, and the United States. The nations least stressed about money in the poll were Russia, France, and Italy. (It makes one wonder … is it having money, or not having money, that causes the stress?)

… a famous musical group performed in outlandish outfits because of tax laws? The Swedish group ABBA, made up of Agnetha Faltskog (born 1950), Bjorn Ulvaeus (born 1945), Benny Andersson (born 1946), and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (born 1945), performed on stage in glittering sequined hotpants, jumpsuits, and huge platform heels. This was because Swedish tax laws said that stage costumes were deductible only if they were so outrageous that they could not be worn as everyday street apparel. Additional trivia note: Lyngstad is also Swedish royalty. She is correctly styled as Princess Anni-Frid, Dowager Countess of Plauen, because of her marriage to Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss of Plauen (1950-1999). (Dancing queen indeed!)

… a U.S. president had a habit of skinny-dipping? John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), who served as sixth President of the United States, would go skinny-dipping in the Potomac River out behind the White House every morning. In one remarkable (but probably apocryphal) event, a female reporter named Anne Royall (1769-1854) – who had been desperately trying to get an interview with Adams – learned about his unusual habit and, finding the President in his morning ablutions in the river, sat on his clothing and refused to allow him access until he consented to the interview. (Historians say that probably did not happen, but it makes for a good story.)

… Germany only declared war on one nation during World War II? Though the German government fought against several nations from 1939 to 1945, only one was by a formal declaration of war – the United States, on December 11, 1941. All other conflicts were through attack or invasion, with no formal declarations from the Nazi government. (Well, it’s the thought that counts, I guess.)

Now … you know!

BZ Hack

Not *you*, Anon.
Liberal PUSSY Bois and rainbow piercing, lesbian hate mongers.