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1500 questions
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votes
2 answers

Is the increasing availability of high speed internet pornography reducing sex crime rates?

Some early studies show that the availability of pornography does not increase the rate of sex crimes. Research on pornography has generally been of various types (Tovar, Elias, & Chang, 1999). Probably most common are studies that involve…
Jeff Atwood
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Did the builder of the Taj Mahal have the workers' hands cut off?

Local legend has it that once Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, the hands of the workers were cut off. I cannot find any historical reference to this but some examples which say so http://library.thinkquest.org/27638/tajmahal.html Shahjahan cut off…
JoseK
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Did removing one olive lead to an airline saving thousands of dollars?

Quite a common story that gets brought up around airports or business meetings when someone wants to provide a famous example of small change for massive savings is the olive story. Apparently there was an airline that managed to save tens of…
going
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Does drinking distilled water remove needed minerals from your body?

Claim: Drinking distilled water can actually remove needed minerals from the body, due the lack of minerals in the water, and therefore do damage to the body. I have a hard time accepting this due to amount of minerals that can be found in the…
Scott
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Is a married woman in Michigan required to have her husband's permission to cut her hair?

Many sources indicate that there is a law on the books in Michigan requiring a married woman to get her husband's permission before cutting her own hair. According to the Huffington Post article The Craziest Laws That Still Exist In The United…
Robert Columbia
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Were our ancestors segmented sleepers?

Historian A. Roger Ekirch contends that in ancient times, people naturally had two sleeping periods at night- the first starts shortly after sundown and ends in an short break, where people were semi-conscious and would speak to each other about…
Apophenia Overload
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Is it possible to "boost your immune system"?

I often hear claims that some activities, nutrients, ... "boost" your immune system. My understanding of the immune system is that it is a finely tuned machine with enormous destructive power. If unconditionally activated it is at least as…
Mad Scientist
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Is Germany paying for vacations for refugees to the refugees' home countries?

This article The German Government Is Paying For Refugees To Return Home For 3-Week Vacation on noted blog Zerohedge.com, lifted in its entirety from another source, claims: I am in Germany on business and did not see the place overrun with…
user36356
41
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3 answers

Are there shanty towns in Paris?

Recently I started to see many images of shanty towns in Paris, supposedly created by immigrants. One included below is especially popular. Text says: Meanwhile in Paris Is this image true? If yes, where is it? If no, is there a real problem with…
Mołot
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Do the Swedish police have a special code for immigrant crimes?

An article I read today asserts the Swedish police have a special 'code 291' for crimes committed by muslim immigrants. This code would be used to 'bury' crimes such as sexual assault by refugees. A total of +/- 5000 crimes are supposed to have been…
Menno van den Heuvel
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41
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Did Harold Camping profit from his false prediction that the world would end?

We all joke about it but there's probably lots of people that took him seriously. Now that the world hasn't ended, many are claiming he is a fraud and a con man. Did Harold Camping or his Family Radio statement benefit financially from making this…
Samuelson
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What makes up $17,500 cost to outfit a U.S. Soldier mentioned in War Dogs?

I just watched the movie War Dogs last night (good flick, btw), and they opened with a line that claims that it costs $17,500 to outfit the average US Soldier. Assuming this disregards training and only looks at actual supplies, this figure seems…
user36959
41
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1 answer

Can a blow to the base of the neck cause unconsciousness? (i.e., "Karate...CHOP!")

Relating to Are one-hit knockouts possible? : It was a common trope in the 60s for heroes to knock out evildoers with a open-handed chop to the base of the neck (preferably accompanied with a high-pitched cry of 'Kee-YAH!'). I believe the claim is…
Larry OBrien
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Did 96% of Hillary Clinton's 2015 charitable donations go to the Clinton Family Foundation?

The Daily Caller reports: Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill deducted $1,042,000 in charitable contributions last year — $1 million of which went to their own family non-profit, the Clinton Family Foundation. Mediaite.com: 96 percent of the…
Goose
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Are there more women in government in Afghanistan than America?

I'm skeptical of this claim: And did he even say that?
Chloe
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