Much ado about nothing... The birth rate in the US is rather evenly distributed. Neighboring months are typically within 5%. The most popular birth month commonly changes from year to year. Maybe Christmas matters, and maybe cold weather matters, but no one factor is moving the needle very much...

There are a lot of big red flags, here. Wait for the next study that says the exact opposite, then come back and discuss...

When I interview for a new job, I ask questions (and make observations) to ensure it doesn't have the same terrible issues as my prior job. Problem is, it's always a DIFFERENT kind of terrible. In hindsight there were always a few subtle signs that I might have spotted, had I known to look for them. Experience is something you get right AFTER you needed it.

Lay's Stax are just as blatant a ripoff.

A better one from 10 years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRabNlrFVoo.

Seems like the bay area is the WORST possible example. I'd bet rent and housing has gone up 5X (even adjusted for inflation) since the 1970s, too. A booming oil town in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota probably has even more dramatic price jumps.

Last time I read that Joker story (probably also on Neatorama), it explicitly said that there was meant to be a delay, Ledger was told about it, but he simply forgot.

Those are one-shot scenes. If he fell down, made a funny face, whatever, it would have to be kept and worked around, because you just can't do a massive building explosion more than once. I'd be curious to know if the director liked or disliked the change. Obviously it made a serious scene less serious, so it might actually have upset "the plan".

A future heavy metal drummer, if ever I saw one.

I found Waldo...

Simpsons jumped the shark very clearly at the start of season 13, LONG before the awful movie came out. The stories became heavy handed moralizing, the scripts were painfully unfunny and didn't even make sense how they got from point A to B, and the characters all completely changed into empty shells that do whatever stupid action the writer needs, regardless of the character development. Matt Groening admitted in interviews that while ratings were down, and critical reception was awful, that he still preferred the new direction and intended to keep it up. Hence the death of the Simpsons.

That pain chart isn't very good... it keeps talking about likelihood of dying, when some of the most painful medical conditions don't actually put your life at risk at all... e.g. Kidney stones, child birth, etc.

Unlike in sports, in Hollywood there are no drug tests. Do you really think actors, particularly ones with known substance abuse problems, aren't getting a little medical help when they need to quickly get into shape? Not that it's illegal, but nobody wants to mention that dirty little secret, abs even the gossip rags ignore it. It's not just a rumor, either. At least Stallone got busted for going through airport security with steroids in his luggage, so it's no great secret.

This seems familiar...

http://humour.amulyam.com/images/humour/large/1210/108098.jpg

It's close, anyhow.

American Experience made an excellent (albeit difficult to watch) documentary called "The Lobotomist" which goes into the topic in great detail. You have to admit it seemed like a laudable goal at the start... something that would pacify the most dangerous mental patients, back when there was absolutely nothing else available.

Early evidence was positive (though it quickly became "mixed" at best) and didn't immediately indicate the horrible downsides we associate the procedure with, now. It's fascinating and horrifying the gradual decent from "laudable" into abject evil, as his goals morphed into nothing more than money and his own ego. He (and state institutions) continued to ignore the horrors of the procedure long, long after they became undeniably clear to all, and did such incredible, unnecessary harm to such a large number of vulnerable people.