HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: leecr@microsoft.com (Lee Crocker)
Subject: Re: Mary Hart's Million$ Legs
Date: 22 Jan 93 00:43:07 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation

eradm@wbst845e.xerox.com writes:

>I saw Mary Hart's name pop up in the FAQ in relation to epileptic
>seizures. A more pedestrian ULish type of story I heard about
>her is that she insured her legs for a million dollars. Anyone able
>to point to the voracity [sic] of this?

I remember seeing an interview with her manager on _Good Morning
America_ in which he talked about the art of publicity.  He took
out a policy on her legs for $1M, paid a day's premiums, then
canceled the next day.  He then issued a press release that he
had insured Ms. Hart's legs for $1M, failing to mention the details.
Publicity stunt, plain and simple.


-- 
Lee Daniel Crocker    | Free minds; free bodies; free trade.
leecr@microsoft.com   | Libertarian Party  1-800-682-1776
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.discordia,alt.slack
From: cuffell@spot.Colorado.EDU (CUFFELL TIMOTHY MICH)
Subject: Re: Fame droppings (was Jesus' name ...)
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 05:39:46 GMT

In article <1993Jan25.201506.28952@twg.com> nolan@twg.com writes:
>
>In <1993Jan19.192926.1257@midway.uchicago.edu>, Ted Frank writes:
>|>
>|>Is anyone else related to someone famous, or knows someone who is?
>
>I know Naomi Ruth Eisenberg's brother Larry.
>
I am Robert Schuler's (of crystal cathedral fame) wife's second cousin once
removed.  That means that I am about 172 deaths away from inheriting a
televangelical empire.  

Any takers?

-- 
-Tim Cuffel	Finger for PGP 2.1  

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
From: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Distribution: na
Organization: gators 'r us
Subject: Re: AFU EAST
	<1993Jan21.221745.5220@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
	<C19FLE.CxK.2@cs.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.10 Rev. Dec 23 1992
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 13:22:08 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


>>We're working on an AFU East in Pittsburgh and an AFU Southeast in
>>Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina.  I'd like one to be held in February and
>>one in March.  If you're interested, reply to this post and say so.
i will be in pittsburgh sometime in july or august.  any chance you could 
delay it till then?
s
-- 
-- little gator aka s. mudgett     email: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
-- friend of a gator is a friend of mine
From: cde@mulka (Colin Entwisle)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Abducted by UFOS or hard night on the town?
Date: 25 Jan 1993 03:34:47 GMT
Organization: University of Melbourne
NNTP-Posting-Host: mulka.ph.unimelb.edu.au
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

YuNoHoo (styri@hal.nta.no) wrote:
: In article <1993Jan20.020433.27836@nezsdc.icl.co.nz>, derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz
: (Derek Tearne) writes:
: > [...]
: > 5. Have you ever found puzzling scars on your body?

: Don't sasy it - the extraterrestials (sp?) went for the kidneys.

: ---
: YuNoHoo  "but why?"


	everyone knows aliens use telephone books to minimize
bruising and scarring from one of their beatings.

				CE
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.music.misc
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: 54-40..what does their name mean?
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 22:46:00 GMT

nicolett@carson.u.washington.edu (Nicolette Roberge) writes:

>A negotiated settlement was reached that established the border west of the
>Great Lakes at the 48th parallel.  The Pig Wars resulted when a pig
>wandered over this negotiated border and was shot as a trespasser.  This
>is the only war, as such, between the US and Canada, and occurred in Point
>Roberts, WA.  Point Roberts is located on a peninsula that has its only
>land access through Canada.

48th parallel?  I guess we should cede parts of Mich, Minn,
ND, Montana, Idaho and Washington to Canada, since we seem
to have claimed things between 48 and 49 degrees north.

ObGeographyUL:  Michigan and Ohio once nearly fought a war over an
8 mile wide strip of land including Toledo.  The issue was
settled by Congress.  Both sides lost.  Ohio got Toledo, Michigan
was compensated with the UP.

>Nicolette "formerly a cheesehead" Roberge

That explains everything.

Jon "40 36' 43" N, 81 12' 58" W " Papai
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Subject: Re: Chinese food
Reply-To: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Organization: ACUSON, Mountain View, CA
Distribution: world,local
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 21:25:43 GMT

In article <8333@kielo.uta.fi> psraah@uta.fi (Rami Ahonen) writes:

>      A girl goes to Chinese restaurant in Helsinki (That's in Finland

>      officials to check the place. They found a freezer full 
>      of rats. Now the restaurant is closed.


I know that Terry Chan has already given the substantive answer to
this, but the story brings up a question in my mind.

It is generally assumed by the teller in these stories (usually in
economicaly developed countries) that the event described is a
violation of some law, hence the closing "the restaurant is closed."
What I want to know is whether this is really true.  Being a
(stereo)typical USA type person, I am more familiar with this part of
the world.

Is it really illegal, say in NYC, to sell rat stew?  I am assuming here
that the health department regulations on slaughtering, refrigeration,
cooking temp, etc. are followed.


Drew "Enquiring diners want to know" Lawson
-- 
Drew Lawson                      If you're not part of the solution,
lawson@acuson.com                you're part of the precipitate
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall)
Subject: Re: Okay, if you're so smart ...
Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 04:00:07 GMT

In article <2045@spam.maths.adelaide.edu.au> jaskew@spam.maths.adelaide.edu.au (Joseph Askew) writes:
>OBHistoryTrickQuestion : What was Julius Caesar's first name? (hint Not Julius)

"C", which stands for "Caius" or "Gaius" or "Orange". 
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Peter van der Linden)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: AFU WEST V - THE MOVIE
Date: 22 Jan 1993 01:18:35 GMT
Organization: Sun
NNTP-Posting-Host: positive

Alice:
>   - Lewis Carroll, who might give you free legal advice (Well,
>       for the first consultation maybe).

Lewis:
> out of the bar for lesser things, let me say for the record, I don't give 
> legal advice, not being licensed for the practice of law.

Serious query:
Isn't the issue giving legal advice *for payment*?   I.e. if nobody pays
anyone then it isn't going to keep anyone out of the barroom?

Disclaimer:  if this is legal advice, then I want my two-fifty.

-- 

The four Prefix brothers: Yocto, Zepto, Atto, and Femto 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall)
Subject: Re: parking meter nun smash
Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 04:02:08 GMT

In article <1993Jan23.183205.8943@midway.uchicago.edu> thf2@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>Ted "Ogden Nash/ Made a lot of cash" Frank

I went to high school with Ogden Nash's grandson, Nicholas Eberstadt,
who is now a well-known neoconservative journalist wandering out there
in the wilderness with Eric Breindel and Josh Muravchik.

Bruce "still gloating after all these inaugurations" Tindall
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:34519 alt.discordia:735 alt.slack:3831
From: jah7931@tamsun.tamu.edu (What?)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.discordia,alt.slack
Subject: Re: Jesus' name (was Re: Late breaking potential UL!)
Date: 22 Jan 1993 10:31:57 -0600
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: tamsun.tamu.edu
Keywords: alfred oouh


In <1993Jan19.192926.1257@midway.uchicago.edu>, Ted Frank writes:

>Is anyone else related to someone famous, or knows someone who is?


My sister used to know someone whose cousin played the albino
in "Foul Play."

--El Jefe
From: gj156879@alfred.carleton.ca ( gj student 156879)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Where AIDS came from
Date: 27 Jan 93 17:13:39 GMT
Organization: Carleton University

The following story was told to me by a friend of mine who says a
prof told it to him in class.  Whether it is true or not, I have no
idea.  It would be interesting if it were.

The Prof claimed he had a reporter friend who was on the trail of
where AIDS came from.  The reporter said that it seemed strange that
AIDS broke out in Africa and among the gay community of San Fran at
exactly the same time.  How does such a lethal virus bop about like
that?

The reporter (according to the prof) was tracking down some monkeys
used in government work.  Apparently the monkeys were used (?) to
make/test a vaccine (hepatitis?  something else?) used both in San
Fran and Africa.  It is suggested that these monkeys were tested
earlier, toyed with with certain FUN bacteria, manufactured by evil
yanks.  The results of this toying seemed to have no effect (there was
no aids test back then), so the monkeys were either handed over to
another government quadrant, or somehow accidentally ended up there.
Thus, spreading AIDS about to gays and Africans.

Anybody buy this or heard this anywhere else?  It seems like an
interesting idea.  I wonder myself at how often "plagues" just
suddenly appear out of nowhere and ravage the land.  I suspect even
the bubonic plague slowly started (due to unsanitary living
conditions, etc).  A sudden appearance of a lethal sexually
transmitted disease seems a tad strange.

Is this just a folklore thing?  

It's interesting to consider the implications of the above.  If it
were true, the yank government would be liable for deaths left, right
and center.  Hell, I believe the american government kept denying
Agent Orange caused cancer until there were very few people left who
had used agent orange so that when they pay off came, it was cheaper
than if they admitted it right from the start.

I'm just conspiracy minded today.  Don't mind me.

                                        Nik
From: sasha@cybernet.cse.fau.edu (David A. Tumarkin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Acronyms & Funny names
Date: 27 Jan 93 21:12:31 GMT
Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida


How `bout:

laser - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emmission of Radiaton
scuba - Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apperatus
radar - RAdio Detection And Ranging
sonar - SOund Detection And Ranging


                                        - Sasha

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Though the fruits of crime bear bitter seaweed, the sea cucumbers of 
 crime makes a killer salad."
                                      - Dr. Calamari in the DC/Marvel
                                        Crossover with Suicide Squid
                                        and Archangler in THE DEVIL,
                                        THE ANGEL, AND THE DEEP BLUE
                                        SEA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: dmp1@ukc.ac.uk (D.M.Procida)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Of kettles and Caroline...
Date: 26 Jan 93 15:55:23 GMT
Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.


	Everytime I go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea or coffee I
discover that the (automatic electric) kettle is *very* full of water. 

	"Caroline," I said, "when you use the kettle it isn't necessary
to fill it to the brim.  That just wastes electricity, especially if you
require only a little water."

	She glared at me.  "I don't.  But you should know that you have
to put cold water in a kettle when you have finished using it, otherwise
it goes on cooking and burns out."

	"Furrfu" I muttered under my breath, and walked out of the
kitchen mentally composing an article for a.f.u.  On the way to work I
entertained a fantasy about using the New York Method on her, and the
Twinkie Defence at my trial, but I decided that on the whole I would not
seriously rate my chances.  Apart from anything else, there might be
some clause in the University's Charter to the effect that any students
whose teacher was arrested for murder would automatically pass their
courses, and I'm sure that some of mine do not deserve to. 

	So: is Caroline a hopeless purveyor of useless pseudo-
scientific pap, or should I spray myself with freon (or an ozone-
friendly alternative) and hit myself with a hammer for being
unreasonably sarcastic?

Daniele "Stand back!" Procida
From: gadbois@mcc.com (David Gadbois)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Cuttin' the Rug
Date: 28 Jan 1993 23:39:58 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

    Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 10:09 CST
    From: Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall)

    Factoid, fictionoid, or UL?  Islamic artists and artisans (including
    rug makers, weavers, knotters, whatever) deliberately include an
    error in their product in recognition of the fact that only Allah
    is perfect.

Every oriental rug I have looked at closely has some kind of ingenious
flaw.  It is usually something incredibly subtle, like a curlicue that
should by the pattern twist clockwise but instead goes the other way, or
an off-by-one error in rows of repeated figures.  It is obvious that the
makers spend a lot of time planning and making the "mistakes."  (My
parents collect these rugs, and I remember spending hours as a kid
whenever they got a new one trying to find the mistake.)  The story is
that the mistakes were included as a gesture of humility, but it seems
to have gotten out of hand and instead indicates the cleverness of the
weaver.

--David Gadbois
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher)
Subject: Re: AIDS cases reach 1 million, again....SPY
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 02:35:23 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

Infected Americans are dying at the same rate as new infections
appear? Could be, but chronic media hype seems more likely.
From: jmoody@netcom.com (Jim Moody)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Primate Speech Research: Bogus?
Date: 25 Jan 93 16:59:25 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

With regard to teaching language...not speech...to non-human primates, it is
probably true that many of the claims made were exaggerated, but there are
one or two interesting results that were, at least, thought provoking.
One of the interesting results, IMHO, was one in which a chimp used
language creatively, devising a set of signs "sweet" + "water" + "fruit"
to represent watermelon, before being given the correct American Sign
Language version.  Says something interesting about cognitive process
and the use of concepts.
Second, if I remember this correctly and this was some years ago, some
researchers devised a push button panel with a series of illuminated
buttons, each of which contained an abstract symbol.  These symbols
were taught to the NHPs and associated with various nouns and verbs:
banana, give, grape, put...etc.  The purpose of the structure was
to see if the NHPs could be taught syntax...simply put, word order.
To see if they could be taught that word order was meaningful and 
significant.  The results, which I only saw reported once, was, 
according to thte researchers, hightly significant.
Finally, there was a report that after Washoe and some of the other
chimps used in the original sign language experiements were retired
to a university primate colony, she was observed teaching signs to
young chimps. 

Just a little more fuel for the fiew.
(that's fuel for the fire...had trouble signing it)

-- 
Jim Moody	jmoody@netcom.com	(415) 978-3289
===================================================================
    "The mystery does not get clearer by repeating the question"
         "nor is it bought by going to amazing places"*
                                                          Rumi
==================================================================     
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:34756 alt.conspiracy:14618
From: de@moscom.com (David Esan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.conspiracy
Subject: Re: Hepatitis and Taco Bell Scare.
Keywords: hepatitis beans shit Taco Bell savage humor
Date: 25 Jan 93 15:42:36 GMT
Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY

In article <C1A2As.JE5@world.std.com> esmythe@world.std.com (Erich Smythe) writes:
>Syracuse NY suffered such a fate about a year or two ago.  I had the
>misfortune of travelling there for a while.  Now all the food 
>service workers wear rubber gloves.  It's really strange.

Of course, the gloves may have something to do with the New York State law
requiring all food workers to wear gloves.

Yup, I watch them make my sandwich with their gloved hands, and then take
my money with their gloved hands.  Real sanitary.  Good law.  Of course,
what can we expect from the fools in Albany?




-- 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -->     David Esan      de@moscom.com  
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mag6@po.CWRU.Edu (Martin A. Gulaian)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Remote Meter Reading (Re: Coke Machines)
Date: 24 Jan 1993 02:48:01 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: mag6@po.CWRU.Edu (Martin A. Gulaian)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson) says:

>In article <C17q04.zur@austin.ibm.com> jlpicard@austin.ibm.com writes:
>>
>>Dunno about coke machines (most canteen operations I've seen pay
>>one or more people to make the rounds of the machines, check them,
>>fix them, refill them, etc), but I understand that power companies
>>around the country are starting to install remotely readable power
>>meters at distant/hard-to-get-to places. Apparently these things
>>connect to the phone line and automatically modem in every so often
>>with the latest power readings. In some cases, this is lots more
>>cost-effective than paying someone to climb your fence to read 
>>your meter.
>
>
>And not just remote places.
>
>The house that I lived in until last year in Springfield, VA
>(Washington, DC suburbs) had the gas meter in the basement.  About a
>year before I moved, they installed a new box of some sort on it and
>never came in again.  With the box installed, they can read the meter
>from the comfort of the van sitting on the street out front.

My duplex house has remote gas and water meters. The remote gas meter
apparently has some scaling factor - it counts arbitrary units that
are converted to cubic feet of gas. The conversion factor depends on
what model of gas meter you have... as my downstairs neighbor found out.
The gas company replaced her meter, left the conversion factor at the
wrong value, and six months later, when they discovered the error, hit
her with a seven hundred dollar(ish) retroactive gas bill. Ouch.

Marty
From: VBCSC03L@VAX.CSUN.EDU (snopes)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Nylon
Date: 21 Jan 1993 23:22:27 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


   FAQ still says:

   > F. "Nylon" means or stands for something.

   I repeat a passage from:

  _The Origins and Development of the English Language_
   by Thomas Pyles / John Algeo

  "Nylon" may not be quite etymologyless.  According to _Context_, a Du Pont
  company publication (vol. 7, no. 2, 1978), when the material was first
  developed, it was called "polyhexamethyleneadipamide."  Realizing the stuff
  needed a catchier name than that, the company thought of "duprooh", an 
  acronym for "Du Pont pulls rabbit out of hat," but instead settled on 
  "no-run" until it was pointed out that stockings made of the material were
  not really run-proof.  So the spelling of the word was reversed to "nuron,"
  which was modified to "nilon" to make it sound less like a nerve tonic.
  Then, to prevent a pronunciation like "nillon," the company changed the *i*
  to *y*, producing "nylon."  Thus beneath that apparently quite arbitrary
  word lurks the English expression "no-run."

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   "If Gladstone fell into the Thames, that would be a misfortune.  And if   |
|    someone pulled him out, that, I suppose, would be a calamity."           |
|                                                                             |
| Benjamin Disraeli, asked to distinguish between a misfortune amd a calamity |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   David P. Mikkelson   Calif. State Univ., Northridge   Northridge, CA  USA |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Snipers at Stalingrad
Date: 21 Jan 1993 20:13 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

>    Also, John Denver ( Yes the Singer ) was a sniper in Vietnam

Actually, his only contact with the Marines was by way of Field
Music, not the snipers.  He wanted to borrow their brass section
for a proposed jazz/folk fusion band to be called Mr. Peabody's
Coltrane.  It didn't work out and he returned to civilian life.

Joe "70 confirmed kills? Bring the gun-camera footage to AFU V" Chew
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Subject: Re: Tip Waitresses, Not Cows
Reply-To: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Organization: ACUSON, Mountain View, CA
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:27:33 GMT

In article <930120134304.1acf@VAX.CSUN.EDU> VBCSC03L@VAX.CSUN.EDU (snopes) writes:
>  kubo@zariski.harvard.edu (Tal Kubo) writes . . .
>
>> No, snopes' posting doesn't do the trick, unless you look at only
>> a single year.  Suppose that the marriage/divorce rates are in the 
>> ratio 2 to 1 for many consecutive years (as was confirmed, more or less,
>> in an earlier posting). Then it will be true that half of all marriages
>> end in divorce. 
>
>  Not so.  You'd have to have statistics about how much of a "backlog" of
>  marriages there is, and/or when the couples getting divorced got married
>  in the first place.
>
>  - snopes

Good point.  But wouldn't the validity of this depend on what "many
consecutive years" means?  The more years, the more likely that the
asertion is valid, up until
    #years = lifespan-average_marriage_age.

If this is 5-10 years, I'd be doubtful.  Over 10, I'd start to believe it.

Does anyone have any references that state where their data come from
and how it was used?  (References on divorce rate, of course).



Drew "hate statistics, but sometimes believe them" Lawson
-- 
Drew Lawson                      If you're not part of the solution,
lawson@acuson.com                you're part of the precipitate
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban