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Fact checking in po...
 

Fact checking in popular songs.

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[#12758719]

Case 1. The Irish Rover.

Consider the manifest listed by Mr McGowan, and the mass of such items.
One million bags of the best Sligo Rags - 10kg per bag of cleaning rages. 10,000 tonnes.

Two million barrels of stone - 25 20kg bags of aggregate fit into a standard 205 litre oil drum. 1bn tonnes.

Three million sides of old blind horses hides - 7.25kg. 2 sides per hide. 108,750 tonnes.

Four million barrels of bones - Barrel weight probably more significant than the bones. Est. 30kg for steel oil durum + bones. 120,000 tonnes.

Five million hogs - 1 pig is typically 125kg at slaughter, total weight, 625,000 tonnes.

Six million dogs - Our Cockerpoo is 12kg, 6 million Henry's, 72,000 tonnes.

Seven million barrels of porter - assuming a 'keg' size, (which is actually 1/2 a standard barrel), at 71kg, 497,000 tonnes.

Eight million bails of old nanny goats' tails. - assume a bale weight of 125kg, (same as a bale of cotton), 1bn tonnes.

Total cargo weight, 2.0014 billion tonnes.

Bloody obvious it was going to sink, in fact I suspect it was an insurance job.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:19 pm
Cletus, welshfarmer, oldnick and 3 people reacted
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I saw an 80s interview with him last week where the interviewer asked about playing while drunk. He considered for a second and replied that yes, they play better when sober but it's just not so much fun. 😀


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:25 pm
Cletus reacted
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Aha.... been waiting for the opportunity to query this.

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey;

I went for a walk, on a winter's day.

Story's fallen apart in two lines.... describe an autumn scene and claim it was winter.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:25 pm
welshfarmer reacted
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Was he the walrus?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:28 pm
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There is no dark side of the moon. I refuse to listen to that song until they fix it.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:29 pm
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Story’s fallen apart in two lines…. describe an autumn scene and claim it was winter.

Had they ever encountered a British winter. I don't know what winter looks like in California but I'm willing to trust The Parents. 😀

Anyway :

I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger
Defying the laws of gravity

So much wrong, where do you start?
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
What?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:30 pm
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There is no dark side of the moon. I refuse to listen to that song until they fix it.

Ross Noble on Infinite Monkey Cage recently queried what happens if you put a werewolf on the dark side of the moon?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:31 pm
ThePinkster reacted
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Slowly walking down the hall,

Faster than a cannonball

Well, where to begin really, Firstly I think you'll find the correct term is "round shot", and let's say the average speed from a 16th C cannon might be in the order of 800m/s. That a little over 1700mph, so faster than an F-22 in full afterburner. That's not waking speed now is it, let alone slowly?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:33 pm
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Ross Noble on Infinite Monkey Cage recently queried what happens if you put a werewolf on the dark side of the moon?

Nothing, they require moonlight to transform?
Nothing unexpected, they suffocate due to the lack of atmosphere?
Nothing unexpected even for immortal magical creatures, they freeze on the spot due to the low temperature?
A perpetual motion machine, a lycanthropic cat with buttered toast on it's back?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:38 pm
 IHN
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Well, I for one would also rather have a piece of toast than see a ghost (not the bothered about the evening news though).


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:40 pm
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I saw an 80s interview with him last week where the interviewer asked about playing while drunk. He considered for a second and replied that yes, they play better when sober but it’s just not so much fun.

I played in a band supporting The Pogues twice in the 80s. Can confirm, they took to the stage 'jolly'. Shane McGowan was considerably happier than anyone I've ever seen undertaking a paid performance.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:44 pm
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I remember hearing an edition of the Infinite Monkey Cage with Eric Idle. He said that he worked quite hard updating the lyrics of the Monty Python Galaxy song, to reflect ongoing discoveries.
Galaxy Song on YouTube


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:44 pm
reeksy reacted
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A crossfire hurricane will never appear in a weather forecast.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:45 pm
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And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

Not quite yet John, not yet.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:48 pm
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Having taken my fair share of recreational drugs in my youth, I was always disappointed that
Lemmy never specified a clear set of instructions on how to move '...like a parallelogram...'

The Bangles should have paid more attention in history lessons though. No one walks like that.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:49 pm
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Brezhnev took Afghanistan
Begin took Beirut
Galtieri took the Union Jack
And Maggie, over lunch one day
Took a cruiser with all hands
Apparently, to make him give it back

1. Brezhnev took 20% of Afghanistan, the Mujahideen controlled the rest.
2. Begin didn't capture Beirut. Israeli forces surrounded it but didn't occupy it.
3. Galtieri took the Blue Ensign with a picture of a seal on it.
4. Maggie took a cruiser with 30% of all hands


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:50 pm
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30 November 1988...

...was apparently when Ice Cube had a particularly pleasant day


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:52 pm
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But it only takes one tree to make a thousand matches
Only takes one match to burn a thousand trees

They are either very large matches or a very, very small tree.

The second bit is feasible if given the right conditions, however I'd question how easily a tree could be ignited with a single match.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:56 pm
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Do the drugs really not work? We need an judgement.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:57 pm
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I recently visited Egypt, nobody was walking like that.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:59 pm
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There's no such place as Honnah Lee and dragons do not live forever.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:59 pm
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Do the drugs really not work?

Ask Placeabo


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:59 pm
tall_martin, Riksbar, Cougar and 2 people reacted
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I suspect that Beijing has more than 9 million bikes within the city limits.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:00 pm
jamj1974 reacted
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and let’s say the average speed from a 16th C cannon might be in the order of 800m/s. That a little over 1700mph, so faster than an F-22 in full afterburner. That’s not waking speed now is it, let alone slowly?

black powder propelled, large gauge round shot, exceeding Mach 2?

I think thats slightly overestimating their capabilities


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:03 pm
jamj1974 reacted
 toby
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I do not believe that (clear day or not) it is possible to directly observe either the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal from the UK.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:07 pm
 irc
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We do need education. But it is true we don't need thought control.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:07 pm
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If you’re Putin, it does indeed appear to be “…high time for Hypersonic Missiles!”


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:13 pm
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I think thats slightly overestimating their capabilities

Would that mean you're  fact checking my fact checking of fact checking popular lyrics? 😃


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:17 pm
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We do need education. But it is true we don’t need thought control.

More than half the population disagree with you on both these claims. Flagged as potential disinformation.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:18 pm
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Indeed.

It would also appear that Paddy McAloon was a little premature when he wrote
"As obsolete as warships in the Baltic".


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:19 pm
mick_r reacted
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If they had, in fact, ridden through mansions of glory in suicide machine, they would not have returned to report the adventure. Appears to have been written by a shameless fabulist.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:25 pm
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"He worked twelve hours a day
Seven days ever' week
Forty days ever' month
Diggin' for a bone in a hillside"

James, perhaps if you'd had the chance to stay in school rather than "digging hard coal at 12 years old", you may have had a better grasp of the fundamentals of the calender.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:30 pm
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"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town."

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it's highly likely to be at the jail.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:36 pm
tjagain, tall_martin, thenorthwind and 3 people reacted
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Always admired half man half biscuit for sharing the knowledge of Dairy Lee triangles. Apparently you need butter milk and cheese and an equilateral chainsaw. I’m not sure it’s factually correct.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:37 pm
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What the hell was the wattage in Meatloafs dashboard bulb?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:38 pm
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Was Louis Armstrong colourblind?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:40 pm
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I get up when I want, except on Wednesday's when i get rudely awakened by the dustmen.

Bin day's Friday, everyone knows that.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:42 pm
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chakaping
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“Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town.”

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it’s highly likely to be at the jail.

In a similar vein, I have a suggestion for Wreckless Eric:
If your mother is at all trustworthy (I've no idea, never met her) I'd start looking in Tahiti. Think of the time you could save.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:42 pm
jamj1974 reacted
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What the hell was the wattage in Meatloafs dashboard bulb?

I always assumed paradise involved headlamps on high beam.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:43 pm
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I can understand a day trip in a yellow submarine, but living in one? Really?!

Jesus built my hotrod.....I thought he was a carpenter, not an automotive engineer!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:47 pm
toby reacted
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Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town.”

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it’s highly likely to be at the jail.

Posted 7 minutes ago

London has many jails. Might need significant manpower to cover them all


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:47 pm
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Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town.”

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it’s highly likely to be at the jail.

Posted 7 minutes ago

London has many jails. Might need significant manpower to cover them all

Fact check: London is a city, not a town.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:53 pm
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They do eat, do sleep
They do feed, they do seethe

It's almost like that whole song is just deliberate misinformation.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:58 pm
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It's definitely not less dangerous with the lights out.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:00 pm
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David Was did not feel better than James Brown. Nobody has ever felt better than James Brown.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:06 pm
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