Yes, fire.
To clear up some minor confusion: yes I did author the faux-Onion article a few entries back. I'm a huge fan of the Onion but a lot of their articles for a solid month were...well if you read my entry you know. I sent it to their San Francisco offices, not as an editorial, but as a reader complaint. I have not heard back, nor do I expect to.
But yes, anything you read here is original, unless otherwise noted. As in this case right here: Yesterday I cam across possibly the dullest set of "factoids" ev.er. At least, in the categories of both "non-ironic" and "written for adults". It was in the "Focus on the Family" newsletter, embedded in some article about US Senator Jim DeMint, and I transcribe it here:
Did You Know?
- The average tenure of congressional representatives today: 9 years
- The average tenure of today's senators: 11 years
- Of those currently serving in Congress, former occupations include: doctor, minister, law enforcement officer, scientist, Peace Corps volunteer, as well as legislator, governor and congressional staffer.
- When especially agitated, certain species of whales have been known to shoot fire out their spouts, instead of water.
Okay, the last fact I made up. But you see how a blurb entitled "Did You Know" requires at least one fact that the reader presumably didn't know? Or at least wouldn't be a first guess. If you had asked me, before I'd read all about it and become an expert, to name a former profession of any active Congress-member, I probably would have guessed something like "Legislator", even though I don't really know what that is or even if it's real. You would then have told me "Correct! Other acceptable answers include minister, law enforcement officer, or congressional staffer." and I would have punched you in the arm for wasting my time.
But yes, anything you read here is original, unless otherwise noted. As in this case right here: Yesterday I cam across possibly the dullest set of "factoids" ev.er. At least, in the categories of both "non-ironic" and "written for adults". It was in the "Focus on the Family" newsletter, embedded in some article about US Senator Jim DeMint, and I transcribe it here:
Did You Know?
- The average tenure of congressional representatives today: 9 years
- The average tenure of today's senators: 11 years
- Of those currently serving in Congress, former occupations include: doctor, minister, law enforcement officer, scientist, Peace Corps volunteer, as well as legislator, governor and congressional staffer.
- When especially agitated, certain species of whales have been known to shoot fire out their spouts, instead of water.
Okay, the last fact I made up. But you see how a blurb entitled "Did You Know" requires at least one fact that the reader presumably didn't know? Or at least wouldn't be a first guess. If you had asked me, before I'd read all about it and become an expert, to name a former profession of any active Congress-member, I probably would have guessed something like "Legislator", even though I don't really know what that is or even if it's real. You would then have told me "Correct! Other acceptable answers include minister, law enforcement officer, or congressional staffer." and I would have punched you in the arm for wasting my time.