Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Pi = 3.2 in Indiana (Almost)

Some mathematical nutter in 1897 came very close to persuading the Indiana Legislature to enact into a law a bill which would have, in essence, defined Pi as equaling 3.2.

Fortunately for Indiana's legislature, a genuine professor of mathematics was in the Statehouse on the day that the bill passed the Assembly. He was able to persuade some senators that the state legislature lacked the power to define mathematical truth. The professor was aided in his efforts by the press, which had caught wind of the Pi Bill and were having a lot of fun with the story.

The Pi Bill thus died in a state senate committee.

2 comments:

bmq215 said...

In contrast to an 1818 case where the outcome defined whales as fish despite being presented with a mountain of scientific evidence to the contrary...

http://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/legal-history-eras-02/history-new-york-legal-eras-maurice-judd.html

Ole Phat Stu said...

Actually, it was House Bill #246, and proposed to define PI=3, afaik :-)

I've linked to a history of approximations to PI today.

Happy Einstein's birthday, too!