Illusionary Links: Why Spurious Connections are Making You Stupid

by Nomad

The human mind was made to search for recognizable patterns. Generally speaking it has aided the survival of our species. But sometimes, this predisposition can also lead us down the wrong paths.

Riddle me this. 

What is the correlation between the divorce rate in Maine and the per capita consumption of margarine in the United States?  According to the graph below, as less margarine was consumed nationally, the divorce rate in Maine declined. 

Can you guess?

http://i.imgur.com/wuFRozj.png

What about this? What could be the connection between the per capita US consumption of cheese and the number of people who died by becoming tangled in their bedsheets? The graph below provides the proof of there is some kind of relationship between the two.
The more people that ate cheese around the country, the more people were found dead  throttled by their knotted bed sheets.

So, what's going on with the dairy products in the US?

http://i.imgur.com/OfQYQW8.png

Johnson Unzipped: Listening to LBJ Ordering Trousers Will Have You in Stitches

by Nomad

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, had a reputation as being a little uncivilized at times. Here's slightly graphic telephone conversations between the president and his tailors.

Let's go back to August 1964 to listen to President Johnson unplugged. This slightly vulgar- or at least, vividly described- excerpt provides us with a snapshot of the man who ran things in the 1960s.

Compared to the elegance and sophistication of the Kennedy era, Lyndon Johnson ushered in a bit of a cultural shock for many in Washington. Insider tales of the president's vulgarity and a bit too plain speaking were gossiped about.

In fairness, Johnson was not the only president known for his vulgar language in private. Truman and Nixon both had such reputations. In Johnson's case, there was a naturalness which is a little shocking but funny too.  (I was also a little surprised that Johnson carried a knife with him.)

Over His Dead Body: Jamaican Corpse Kept on Ice for 7 years due to Family Row

by Nomad

Nomadic Politics travels to the Caribbean to report this story about how a family squabble has left one dead millionaire on ice since before Obama became president.

Here's a small story that caught my attention. 

According to an article in the Jamaican Observer, seven years have passed since an unnamed local man died and yet today his body is still being kept in storage at a downtown Kingston funeral home. 

To top it off, even now, nobody is quite sure when the man will ever be properly interred. 

The reason? 

An ongoing dispute about money between family members. 

Mr. Michael Jones, the director of the funeral home, says he has run out of patience. After waiting since 2007, he is now is threatening to take legal action against the family to recover millions of dollars, he says, he is owed for storage fees. 

Back in 2007 things seemed to be going smoothly. After the initial negotiations the discussions with family members seemed to finalize things, claims Jones, But then, there was some kind of problem. According to Jones, the family suddenly became unable (or unwilling) to bring him the necessary documents and payments to allow him to proceed with the burial. And that's how things have stood since that time. 

Jones claimed that, at the time, family members requested that the man be buried and promised that payments would be made at a later date. But he said he refused to do that.

The funeral director says that in more than 20 years of business, he has never seen anything like this. He has encountered similar cases in the past where people were unable to pay for the costs. And obligingly- though probably not happily, he has in the past offered to write off the expenses. It's one of the things that comes with the job. 

However, this case, he claims, is quite different.