Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care

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GMM'S 4 Strangest Unsolved Mysteries

10 Meaningless Political Facts That Are Totally Amazing

1. Your undies might be able to predict economic recovery

The Men’s Underwear Index is an economic indicator used most notably by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to determine the end of economic slumps. Economists say that, as people have more money to spend on non-essential purchases, men (and women) purchase more underwear. While considered by most to be a necessity, underwear has a tendency to hang around past its shelf life during lean years. A surge in spending can give notice that a turnaround is imminent.

 

2. Miniskirts, too, can be the sign of a good economy

The Hemline Index, postulated by economist George Taylor in 1926, maintains that hemlines on women’s dresses and skirts rise with the price of stocks. This is based on the increased popularity of miniskirts in good economies, such as the 1960s, while during bad economic periods such as 1929 and the 1930s, hems can plunge almost immediately. Recent research by the Econometric Institute at the Erasmus School of Economics confirms the correlation, citing that while many hemlines nowadays have stayed high, there has also been a movement in fashion to lower hemlines below the knees.

3. Lefties are likelier leaders

Six out of the last 12 US Presidents have been left-handed, and successful politicians, such as John McCain and Ross Perot, in general are more likely to be southpaws than is the rest of the population, which is only 10 percent lefties. Many regard this as pure coincidence, but Daniel Geschwind, a professor of human genetics at UCLA, told The Guardian in 2008, “Six out of the past 12 presidents is statistically significant and probably means something.” Handedness scientist Amar Klar, says that left-handed people “have a wider scope of thinking,” pointing to the disproportionate level of left-handedness in Nobel Prize winners in a 2008 ABC News article.

4. Size does matter (in presidential politics)

Since the end of World War II, the taller of the two main party candidates has won the presidential election 75 percent of the time. After tallying up the results from each election, researchers at Texas Tech University determined that Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush are the only presidents in the post-war period to have defeated taller rivals. The findings, published in Social Science Quarterly by Gregg Murray and David Schmitz point to the “big man” tribal leadership of many ancient societies, as well as the impact of physical strength on status in the animal kingdom, as the likely reason for this phenomenon.

5. Forget the first Tuesday of November; the president is decided on October 31st

Halloween may be more of a mirror for political opinion than previously thought. Since 1996, the presidential candidate whose likeness sells the most Halloween masks has won the election. CNN Money reported that this trend continued in 2012 as the Barack Obama mask outsold Mitt Romney masks 60 to 40 percent prior to Halloween, according to the popular Halloween outlet Spirit Halloween.

6. Nearly one-tenth of all U.S. presidents lost the popular vote

Four times in US history, the man inaugurated as president was the candidate who garnered fewer votes. Owing to the vagaries of the electoral college, John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888) and George W. Bush, who lost the popular vote by 500,000 votes in 2000, were all elected president despite loss of the overall vote.

7. The US was a dictatorship in the ’70s

For two years, the U.S. was led by a president and vice president who were not elected by American citizens. In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew, resigned after pleading no contest to a charge that he had failed to report income received in 1967. Nixon then appointed Gerald Ford as VP. When Nixon resigned ignominiously following the Watergate scandal in 1974, Ford became president and appointed Nelson Rockafeller as his veep.

8. Our presidential accounting is off

While the U.S. counts Barack Obama as its 44th president, only 43 presidents have ever led the nation. President Grover Cleveland, due to his election to non-consecutive terms from 1885–1889 and 1893–1897, is counted as our 22nd and 24th president. So while there have been 44 presidencies, only 43 people have ever held the office.

9. America is its most presidentially stable since 1825

Obama’s reelection in 2012 marked America’s third consecutive stretch of two-term presidents. While this might not seem like much, you’d have to go back about 200 years to find the last such three-peat represented by Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.

10. The Washington Redskins control the presidency (usually)

In a classic case of odd correlations, the Redskins Rule states that the last Washington Redskins home game played prior to a presidential election has a high likelihood of predicting the results. In a formula that has been accurate in every election from 1940 to 2000 (with exceptions in 2004 and 2008), the winner of the game has aligned with the winner of the election. When the Redskins win, the incumbent party gains the electoral vote. When they lose, the non-incumbent party wins the vote. The trend was first noticd prior to the 2000 elections by Steve Hirdt, executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau. He later amended this rule after the 2004 election, saying, “When the popular vote winner does not win the election, the impact of the Redskins game on the subsequent presidential election gets flipped.” With this knowledge in hand, you can enter, loins girded, the political theater of battle that so often marks the holidays. Uncle Rob will praise your worldliness, while Aunt Mary will praise the value of your political science degree in a declining market.

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10. Hidden Ears

Whether you’re at Disneyland or any of the other theme parks, everywhere you look there are Mickey Mouse Ears. And no, not the merchandise ears. From the shape of the pizza to the hedges to the ears hidden in the tiles, Mickey’s iconic ears are everywhere thanks to Walt’s desire to add to the magic of the kingdom.

9. The first soundtrack

Long before “Saturday Night Fever” was the big hit of the 70s, an animated feature about a wooden puppet and its maker yielded the first soundtrack for sale to the general public. Since the start with “Steamboat Willie” and its use of music, Disney projects have made music an integral part of the process. So soundtracks, and consequently making money off of them, were only a natural extension.

8. Oscars

By the 2008 Academy Awards, Walt Disney’s company had been nominated for more than 200 Oscars with more than 50 wins just in films under the Disney logo. Of those films, there are 51 nominations for animated features with 14 wins. With Pixar under the Ears, that amount close to doubles with 13 Oscar wins for Pixar. Disney will likely continue to tack on more wins since it has distributed all of the major film releases for Pixar and bought the company two years ago. As for dear old Walt, he holds the record for most Oscars with 22 in regular categories and four honorary out of his 59 nominations.

7. Facial hair

Back in the 60s, long hair and facial hair was considered to be a sign of hippies, which the empire could not afford to be associated with. Hence a policy was born requiring all male employees to have short hair and no facial hair at the theme parks. It took until 2000 for the theme parks to renege on the policy. Now male employees are allowed to have neatly trimmed moustaches.

6. DDD

Talk about keeping quiet. Disney employees are expressly prohibited from dating other Disney employees – hence Don’t Date Disney. A former employee of Disneyland let the cat out of the bag on that policy years ago when he tattled to “LA Magazine” about his time as Jack Sparrow. Unfortunately, someone took a photo of him and his then girlfriend, an Ariel, and showed it to the higher ups, who were displeased. However, it was going to the premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” doing an interview in costume, giving his full name, and the interview being posted online that got his Ears taken away. At the same time, park employees are discouraged from trying to “excite” members of the opposite sex and to ignore any flirtation from guests. Tough luck, Jack, no lasses or goatee for you!

5. Rigid control of trademarks

Years ago, Disney promised that the corporation would sue three daycare centers in Florida for having five-foot tall painted depictions of Disney characters. The characters were replaced, but that is just one example of how Disney holds its trademarks close to the chest. In another case, a Florida couple was sued for a cool million when they advertised Eeyore, Tigger and Pooh outfits that they had available for parties. The couple sent the costumes back to the Peru ebay seller, which prompted Disney to say the couple acted in bad faith. No honey for you!

4. The Vault

Included in that rigid control of their trademarks is the vaunted Disney Vault. Disney started theatrically re-releasing movies seven years after they were originally released after “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Since then, the home movie craze hit and with the advent of DVDs, the Vault is only reopened once every 10 years. Supposedly this is a ploy to get new generations of children interested in the movies. Or like any business, it could just be a way to make more money.

3. It’s a big, big Walt Disney World

Located entirely within its own improvement district – the Reedy Creek Improvement District of Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – Walt Disney World with its main attractions and resorts is twice the size of Manhattan. Every day, the guests of the resorts use an amount of linens that would take a normal person 40 years to clean. Supposedly the landscaping crew puts over a half a million miles on the mowers covering the 47 miles of WDW throughout the year. In the last seven years, a water saving effort has taken place at the theme parks, which has meant a savings of about 2.5 billion gallons of water. Who said it was a “small, small world?”

2. Fatal Rides

There have been about a dozen deaths in Disneyland California since the park opened in 1955 while there have been at least as many at Disney World and at least one at the Paris Disneyland. Some of these fatalities were due to adverse reactions from the guests, but many of the deaths were the fault of the guests who were not heeding directions. When they say don’t stand up in a roller coaster, there’s a reason. Photo: Floyka, Artists: Sophia Chadez and Brad Chadez

1. Walt’s Apartment

 

Because Walt wanted to ensure that everything would be as magical as possible when Disneyland was being built in the early 50s, he had an apartment built in the theme park, which was an hour from where he lived in California. Employees would know when he was in the apartment, above the fire station on Main Street USA, when the light was on in the window at night. To this day, more than 45 years after his death, a light is left on in the window in his memory and supposedly the room has been left untouched since he passed away. Perhaps Mickey’s Ears are not the only things you could ever see at Disneyland.