The Public Opinion Soapbox

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

The only problem with not posting the answer is remembering to post the answers later----but for you, Coppy, I'll give it a shot.

Cookie,
All I've been doing is posting what a kind West VA resident takes the time to send. He has an interesting criteria for when he sends these nuggets out:
It has to be a weekday.
It has to be above a certain number of degrees by 7:00am.
The wind also has to be below a certain speed and it cannot be raining.
It just so happens that it is an older gentleman who asks these questions over an amateur radio during his morning walks and then sends out an email with the question and answer when he returns home.
There also have to be at least five other HAMs on before he will ask that day's question.

Oh and a group of his admirers posted a song about him on YouTube (it started as a poem)
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.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

Report Handicapped Parking Fraud

http://www.handicappedfraud.org/

I find useful knowledge occassionally, too. Cool

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

March 26, 2008 #782

Q: What US state has a gold roof on its capitol building?

*Added Note* There is more than one answer to this question.

Answer to be posted tomorrow (I hope)
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.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

A: Colorado, whose capitol's dome has its upper one-third covered with 24-karat gold to commemorate the Colorado Gold Rush. The top of the dome is about the height of an 18-story building. Tours of the dome afford a view of the Rocky Mountains, as well as the city of Denver. A marker on the 15th step of the capitol's west entrance is engraved "One Mile Above Sea level". In 1969 a more accurate survey resulted in a new mile-high marker for the 18th step. Finally, in 2003 an even more accurate measurement put a third mile-high marker on the 13th step.

Correction: The source for this question appeared to indicate that the Colorado capitol was the only answer. However, the on-the-air discussion that followed revealed that other state capitols also had gold roof coverings. A subsequent Internet survey adds at least the following to the list: Connecticut, Georgia(most important), Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

March 27, 2008 #783

Q: What was the highest death toll of any disaster in New York City prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001?
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Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

Wasn't it a gasline explosion in the 19th century?

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

'fraid that isn't what my source says. Wink

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Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

Ok, ok... how about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of March 25, 1911 where 148 garment workers died as a result of the fire itself or jumping to their deaths?

Phew, I can't believe i remembered that one! Razz

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

Nope.

Right century, though.

I'd be impressed with you if I didn't already know you have a knack for knowledge. It's a good thing cranium size isn't indicative of the amount of info contained within or you'd be a football head. (Of course, you still could have one...) Cool

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Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

Geez, now I'm a bit stumped... but I think I know it now...

The General Slocum steamboat disaster

AnonyMouse · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 522

Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

My entire family is from New York; my mother from Brooklyn and my father from Queens. I spent a majority of my childhood with a city-employed father in a time when families no longer lived in the city; White Plains, Poughkeepsie, Clinton Corners, Schenectady and Rhinebeck.... all while spending weekends visiting grandparents who refused to leave the city they grew up in. I have a very intimate portrait of New York, if not from my own experience, but from my parents, Aunts, Uncles and grandparents constantly discussing it.

Let's just say that September 11 was a tragedy beyond comprehension to us; and although I was fortunate enough to not have lost someone close to me, a dear cousin of mine lived in the Village during the attacks and just weeks prior had been employed within the towers.

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

sigh.

Coppy, UR such a dork.

Wait, I mean ding ding DING DING! We have a "winner"!! Very Happy

A: The 1,021 fatalities caused by the General Slocum steamship disaster on June 15, 1904. The ship caught fire on the East River while carrying 1,200-1,500 passengers who were mostly German immigrant women and children on a daylong church outing. The ship's inexperienced crew did not know how to handle the emergency. In addition, the vessel was in poor condition and lacked adequate safety features. The passengers who didn't know how to swim either died in the fire or drowned when they jumped into the water to escape the flames.
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AnonyMouse · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 522

Hey Coppy - I do know about the Great Molasses Disaster of 1919. That's pretty obscure, right?

...Of course it happened in Boston, not New York...

...And I learned about it from my 10 year old son...

*sigh*

I can't keep up.

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3043 Location: Chambersburg

Uh, what?

Forget keeping up. I'm still at the starting line!
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