Category:
Government

When Belgium Invaded England



Very good long article here.

Tip of the hat to pal Peter Danssaert.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 22, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Government, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, War, Reader Recommendation, 1960s, Europe, United Kingdom

Tomato



Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 17, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Government, Police and Other Law Enforcement, PSA’s, Sexuality

Frestonia

CHAZ? Nothing new in the world.



Good article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 26, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Government, Stupid Criminals, Unauthorized Dwellings, 1960s, United Kingdom

Constitution of Alabama

Clocking in at 310,296 words, the constitution of Alabama is the longest constitution in the world. By comparison, the U.S. constitution is only 4,543 words (including the signatures).

The bloat of the document is a result of the state government deciding that it needed to micromanage the individual counties. So all kinds of local regulations have been included in the constitution. Wikipedia explains:

About 90 percent of the document's length, as of 2018, is made up of its 946 amendments ... About 75 percent of the amendments cover individual counties or cities, and some are so detailed as to deal with salaries of specific officials (e.g. Amendment 480 and the Greene County probate judge). As a result, Alabama has a very high number of constitutional officers and the constitution makes it very difficult for residents of most counties to solve their own problems.

The Constitutional Convention was called with the intention by Democrats of the state "to establish white supremacy in this State," "within the limits imposed by the Federal Constitution." Its provisions essentially disenfranchised most African Americans and thousands of poor whites, who were excluded for decades.


You can read the full document here.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 17, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Government, Regulations, Law

How To Avoid Property Taxes

"Back in 1955, the Marquis de Maussabré took drastic action when faced with a wealth tax. He blew up his château in Airvault, near Poitiers, using 150kg of dynamite."

Posted By: Paul - Wed May 13, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Architecture, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Government, 1950s

Blaze, the Dog That Flew First Class



In the year 1945, a dog named Blaze, while being shipped on Army Transport planes, bumped off several traveling soldiers, causing a national controversy.

Read about it here.

A funnier account was composed by James Thurber, viewable after the jump.



More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Government, Scandals and Controversies, War, Air Travel and Airlines, Dogs, 1940s

Albert in Blunderland

This'll get you hep to the real meaning of "socialism."

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 11, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Dreams and Nightmares, Government, Insects and Spiders, Money, Work and Vocational Training, Cartoons

Interama

A Utopian project in Miami that never materialized.

Wikipedia article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 29, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Government, Regionalism, 1960s

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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