What offensive thing did Tommy Hilfiger allegedly say on Oprah?

Search: tommy hilfiger oprah



Why: On reddit, Abercrombie asks 'Jersey Shore' cast not to wear their brand, and in the comments:

oswyn, Yesterday 09:01 PM

Poor A&F is worried about the brand image because the wrong people are wearing it. Some may find this funny because the Jersey shore group seems easy to ridicule. But if A&F said the same thing to another group for example African Americans I think we'd be rightfully appalled. Can anyone remember the backlash against Tommy Hillfiger because of what he allegedly said on Oprah? It should be the same here.

I can not remember that.



Answer: Nothing! Here was a forward that yourmomsilliteratefriend@aol.com sent you in 1996:

Tommy Hilfiger on Oprah



Hello, please read.... and pass on if you haven't already! Everyone needs to see this.



God for Oprah!!!! I'm sure many of you watched the recent taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she asked him if the statements about race he was accused of saying were true. Statements, like"...if I had known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish and Asians would buy my clothes, I would not have made them so nice. I wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for upper class white people."



His answer to Oprah was a simple "YES". Where after she immediately asked him to leave her show. My suggestion? Don't buy your next shirt or Perfume from Tommy Hilfiger. Let's give him what he asked for. Let's not buy His clothes, let's put him in a financial state where he himself will NOT be able to afford the ridiculous prices he puts on his clothes.



BOYCOTT PLEASE...., & SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW



Nothing empowers people quite like their own survival!

The rumor stemmed from a fake interview in a Filipino tabloid. Also, Oprah never even met Tommy Hilfiger until 11 years after the alleged kicking-off incident, in May 2007.

She kind of looked like an alien.



Source: Snopes



The More You Know: Anyhoo, CNN says that Abercrombie stock has fallen 9% since they dissed "Jersey Shore," which I guess means they had a lot more orange fistpumping investors than they thought. But I'm not surprised.

Who sings the song in that Payless commercial?

Search: i am a paleontologist payless

Why: I know a Future Paleontologist of America who might just need that to be her official theme song.

Answer: They Might Be Giants!!! YEEESSSS!!! (and it says "w/ Danny Weinkauf," who is always in the band anyway... so I don't know).

This is one of the only bands anyone at my camp ever listened to in 1995-7. (The other one was REM.)

Oh my god, do you guys remember Dial-a-Song?

Lyrics go like:

I love diggin' in the dirt
With just a pick and brush
Finding fossils is my aim
So I'm never in a rush
'Cause the treasures that I seek
Are rare and ancient things
Like Velociraptor's jaw
Or Archaeopteryx's wings

Now all the kids
Who wanna see 'em
Are lining up
At our museum

I am a paleontologist
That's who I am

Could it be an herbivore
Crushing plants with rounded teeth
Or ferocious carnivore
Who moves so quickly on its feet
It's like pieces of a puzzle
That I love to try and solve
It's so fun to think about
How a species has evolved

Is it a T-rex? (I keep digging, digging, digging, digging)
Maybe a Triceratops? (digging)
Or a Carnotaur? (digging)
Pachycephalosaurus?

Source: YouTube

The More You Know: Speaking of sequins, sometimes I think about how there were actual flying dinosaurs, like dinosaurs who could fucking FLY, and they were huge and wanted to - and could - gobble you up in a single snap o' the jaw. Can you imagine that today? Look out your window right now and imagine a dinosaur flying around.

(Oatmeal)

BUT it turns out that the fearsome pterodactyl was not a dinosaur at all, just a regular ol' "prehistoric winged lizard." Boring!

Pterosaurs are sometimes referred to in the popular media as dinosaurs, but this is incorrect. The term "dinosaur" is properly restricted to a certain group of reptiles with a unique upright stance (superorder Dinosauria, which includes birds), and therefore excludes the pterosaurs, as well as the various groups of extinct marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs.

Oh, it's also not called a pterodactyl - it's a pterosaur. At least 60 genera of pterosaurs have been found to date, ranging from the size of a small bird to wingspans in excess of 10 meters (33 ft).

Who was Chuck Taylor?

Search: chuck taylor

Why: It kind of bugs me when people my age or older call Converse All Stars "Chucks." I had never heard the term "Chucks" before about 2005, but now, it seems like no one remembers the days of just plain ol' Converse. Erin, if you would:

Anyway, I am wearing navy ones today because I have a blister on the back of my heel.

Answer: He was a basketball player! He was born Charles Hollis Taylor in Brown County, IN, in 1901. He played his first professional game in March 1919 while still a high school student.

In the early-1920s, Taylor played for the Akron Firestone Non-Skids "industrial league" team. This team were charter members of the National Basketball League in 1937. They folded during WWII, but in 1949, the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA.

Meanwhile, the Converse Rubber Shoe Company was founded by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 to manufacture winterized rubber-soled footwear for men, women, and children. By 1910, Converse was producing 4,000 shoes daily, but it was not until 1915 that the company began making athletic shoes for tennis. The company's main turning point came in 1917 when the Converse All-Star basketball shoe was introduced. Then in 1921, Chuck Taylor walked into Converse complaining of sore feet. Converse gave him a job as a salesman and ambassador, promoting the shoes around the United States.

By the mid-20s, Taylor played and managed a group of cagers who played for the traveling Converse All-Stars barnstorming team. The team hosted basketball clinics in high school and college gyms across the country. Taylor "almost single-handedly taught Americans the fundamentals of basketball," making his name into a brand. In 1932, his signature was added to the Converse All-Star.

During WWII, he worked as a physical fitness instructor and coach for the Army and Navy. In 1944-45, he trained the Wright Field Air Tecs in a Navy pre-flight program at Marquette University.

He was also popular for his All-American picks. He only selected players he had personally seen play, many from small rural colleges where big-city sportswriters never went. His picks always were highlighted in the popular Converse Basketball Yearbook.

Source: Chuck Taylor Biography (by Abraham Aamidor), Wikipedia

The More You Know: And who was Jack Purcell? Not the guy from "30 Rock" (that's Jack McBrayer / Kenneth Parcell). He was the 1933 world champion of badminton!

He designed a canvas and rubber badminton sneaker for B.F. Goodrich in 1935. In the 1970s, Converse purchased the trademark rights to Jack Purcell sneakers - which it still produces and sells today.

What's a lede?

Search: bury the lede

Why: In "We Opened the Relationship, and It Epic-Failed" by MC Housework on xoJane:

I saw no reason to bury the lede with this post.

Answer: It's the "lead" of a story - just an alternate spelling!

Some American English writers use the spelling lede, from the archaic English, to avoid confusion with the printing press type formerly made from the metal lead or the related typographical term leading.

That's "ledding." And then:

Leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. The term originated in the days of hand-typesetting, when thin strips of lead were inserted into the formes to increase the vertical distance between lines of type.

Anyway, to "bury the lede" is to begin a story with details of secondary importance to the reader while postponing more essential points or facts. Boring. Sounds like somebody went to journalism school!

Ostriches don't really bury their heads in the sand. That's an urban legend. But:

If threatened while sitting on the nest, which is simply a cavity scooped in the earth, the hen presses her long neck flat along the ground, blending in with the background.

So where does the myth come from?

Ostriches swallow sand and pebbles to help grind up food in their stomachs. This means they have to bend down and briefly stick their heads in the earth to collect the pebbles. Bingo! Another false myth is born.

More animal myths dispelled here.

Source: Wiktionary, Wikipedia

The More You Know: Speaking of lead ("led"), it has kind of never been actually been used to make pencils. That's another urban legend. The ancient Romans used lead styluses to make light, but legible marks on papyrus. But by the 1500s, people had started wrapping graphite sticks in string because it left darker marks. Wood and graphite pencils came in the 1600s. Behold!

What are pieces of eight?

Search: pieces of eight

Why: Yesterday, so utterly hungover from 2 consecutive 6-in-the-morning bedtime "nights" and barely able to breathe or speak (let alone stand up [let alone actually walk]), I did that thing where I brought a regular bedroom pillow into the living room, hid under a blanket, and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End because I had never seen it and also because, with commercials, it has a 3.5-hour running time. There's a whole deal with "pieces of eight," and also, there's a store outside the exit of the ride called Pieces of Eight.

Answer: They're old Spanish money! Silver coins were "Reales" and gold coins were "Escudos." The "Pieces of Eight" were the largest silver coins (1 oz.) worth 8 reales. I don't know why it was 8; maybe they didn't use the base 10 system.

These coins were also used in the American Colonies. Rather than calling them "pieces of eight," people usually just referred to them as peso, Spanish dollars, or - in the English-speaking colonies - just dollars. They were legal tender in the US until 1857.

You've also heard of "doubloons." These were gold, not silver, because Doblón means, doy, "double." There is some debate about how much a doubloon was actually worth. The theory that makes the most sense is that these were worth 8 escudos. I mean, obviously. Or "doubloon" was just slang for all the gold coins.

They were melted, poured, and forged or stamped by hand:

If the events of the Pirates movies happened around the 1740s-50s, this is what the coins would have looked like:

Obverse
VTRAQVE VNUM M[EXICANUS] 1739
"Both (are) one, Mexico [City Mint], 1739"
Displays two hemispheres of a world map, crowned between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with the PLVS VLTR[A] motto.

Reverse
PHILIP[PUS] V D[EI] G[RATIA] HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX
"Philip V, by the Grace of God, King of the Spains and the Indies"
Displays the arms of Castile and León with Granada in base and an inescutcheon of Anjou.

And an 8!

Source: Pirate Money, Wikipedia

The More You Know: Orlando Bloom and Keikei Knightley are not in the new Pirates movie that you recently ignored. Did you know that? I didn't. The reason is because their story ends after the credits of Pirates 3, which frankly, I find a little rude. In case you missed it (and their whole long boring drama), feast your eyes. Feast them! This is "ten years later":

Can I read my own palm?

Search: palm reading

Why: On Thought Catalog, "Marriage and Relationships from a 20-Something's Perspective" by Caitlin Stewart Truman:

A palm reader recently informed me that I do not have a union line. However, he also told me that I don’t have a life line. Obviously this means I am a rounded-out loner freak. Take what you will from the mystics, am I right?

Answer: As good as anyone else can! This Read your own PALM! thing looked promising for a few clicks, but then it petered out. They do offer an Online Palm Reading Service, but I don't have a scanner. I am now looking at some of their other resources on the same site.

For starters:

That's all well and good, but I seriously only have exactly 3 lines on my hand. Maybe 4, if you count a wrinkle down near the bottom. Maybe I just moisturize too much?

Uch, hands are so weird.

In good news,

• I will live forever (my Life Line is long and deep [twss])
• and carefully (my Head Line is touching my Life Line)

but also

• without luck (I have no space between my Life and Head Lines)
  
• selfishly / with a broken heart (my Heart Line starts between my 1 & 2 fingers)
• poor (I don't even have a Money Line)
• single and childless (I don't have Marriage or Children Lines, either)
  
• and with lots of complicated health problems (my Health Line is barely visible, at best)
  

It's looking pretty bleak.

But at least my hands are soft!

Source: OFESite

The More You Know: Did you know that the shapes and angles of your fingers and thumbs can tell you things about yourself, too? It's true! For example:

• If your top knuckles are smooth and your middle ones are knotty, then you are a person whose intellect and practicality work well together. A strong instinctive drive is characteristic of well developed knuckles.

WHAT!

I want to see a picture of Brenda Reimer

Search: brenda reimer

Why: In response to this article about the Canadian hippies who are in the news because they controversially refuse to tell people the gender of their baby Storm, Caroline posted this sad tale about a boy (a twin) who - after a botched circumcision - was raised as a girl. He eventually went back to being a boy, and then he committed suicide. Let's watch:

Answer: Aww :( He was born Bruce, called Brenda, and then renamed David Reimer.

As little kids (with twin brother Brian):

And later,

And in between, the Peter Brady years.

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: Because the circumstances seemed so perfect - whatwith the lack of gender identity crisis (at least initially) and with an ideal control (identical twin brother [who turned out to be schizophrenic]) - Bruce/Brenda/David got sucked into being a gender reassignment guinea pig for most of his childhood. Once his dong got destroyed, psychologist John Money convinced Bruce's parents to get him a surgery to remove his testes, call him Brenda, and turn him into a lady. For years, the psychologist wrote notes like this:

The child's behavior is so clearly that of an active little girl and so different from the boyish ways of her twin brother.

I feel like I don't have to tell you that these were just nonsense lies. From 22 months into his teenage years, Brenda - who did not yet have her artificially constructed lady vagina - peed through a hole surgeons had placed in hiser abdomen. Hse was also given estrogen during adolescence so he would grow boobs. But really:

Reimer did not identify as a girl. He was ostracized and bullied by peers, and neither frilly dresses (which he was forced to wear during frigid Calgary winters) nor female hormones made him feel female. By the age of 13, Reimer was experiencing suicidal depression, and told his parents he would commit suicide if they made him see John Money again.

Turns out that the parents had been lying to Money the whole time about the success of the gender reassignment! So at age 14, they began to reverse the procedures with testosterone injections, a double mastectomy, and two phalloplasty surgeries, completing it all in 1997 when David was 32. He married and became stepfather to 3 children. But eventually, his strained relationship with his parents and depression about his brother's death-by-overdose in 2002 caught up to him. He shot himself in the head in 2004 at age 38.

Did someone really propose in the food court of the CNN building?

Search: cnn food court

Why: On Facebook:

Edie - Were you eating in the food court when Train helped the guy propose to his girlfriend?
Rebecca - no!! I think it happened Sunday because I had no idea!! I wish I had been!!
Edie - Eric knows a guy who was sitting and eating in the back ground of the clip that was on cnn.com and works there.

At first, I thought they were talking about this food court marriage proposal, which I saw on the Internets around Valentine's Day and then on ABC News this morning:

Answer: Yep! It was a soldier, and he had the band Train sing the song "Marry Me" to help him out. WHAT! At 8:48 -

Source: CNN.com

The More You Know: All this talk of public proposals is making me thirsty.

What's the real quote by Martin Luther King?

Search: mlk quote

Why: I have seen this quote attributed to MLK between 7 and 45 times in the last day and a half:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate: only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr

but according to Haterade sipper Megan McArdle, it's not real.

Answer: Oh, look, it's almost exactly the same. He first said the following in a 1956 sermon called "Our God is Able," and it's published in the 1963 collection Strength to Love (p. 108):

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. ... The chain reaction of evil—hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars—must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

All this hullabaloo started because one poor girl - whose name (Jessica Dovey) will now forever be tied to this embarrassing Internet disaster - inadvertently misquoted MLK on her Facebook status, and then Penn Jillette - professional factchecker - Tweeted it. Oh well.

Source: Good

The More You Know: In related news, Mark Twain didn't say this thing about obituaries:

"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

You know who did? Clarence Darrow! Remember talking about him in 8th grade? I do. Here is the truth:

The quotation actually comes from Clarence Darrow, the lawyer of Scopes Trial fame. Here's a fuller version of the quote, which appears in Darrow's 1932 work The Story of My Life:

"All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike some one they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction."

Meanwhile, Mark Twain did say / write this:

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it."

Spread the word!

What is a Chinese auction?

Search: chinese auction

Why: Jeff said:

Is it racist to have a "Chinese Auction"
at a Boy Scout flea market.

I thought it was and told them so last night,
but they said "You're no expert on how they hold auctions in China".

Answer: It's a kind of silent auction / raffle hybrid!

In a chinese auction, customers buy a number of tickets for a set price, then use the tickets to bid on the items on display by dropping them in a bowl next to the item.

Buyers are free to put as many tickets as they want in the bowl. At the close of the auction period, the winning ticket for each auction item is then drawn from the corresponding bowl.

Obviously, the more tickets a person deposits in the bowl, the higher the chance that he'll win the item. That means that highly desirable items will draw a lot of tickets, just as they would draw a lot of bids in regular auction.

That's part of the big draw for a chinese auction. Ticket costs are low compared to the ultimate value of the auction items, so lucky winners will get a great deal.

I've never heard of such a thing, but it seems so obvious and smart. What pains me, though, is that even if you put in 20 tickets each worth $5, another person could put in only one $5 ticket and still win. Can you imagine? I would be livid.

There are a few variations of such a thing; you can read about them here in case you're planning a fundraiser.

Source: Fundraiser Help

The More You Know: If I had to guess, I would say the idea of a "Chinese auction" did not really originate in China (although it seems like something they would like, whatwith their affinity for communism and all). Other misnomers associated with places:

• Chinese checkers did not originate in China (nor in any part of Asia).
• Guinea pigs do not come from Guinea (nor are they pigs). The "Guinea" may be a re-analysis of "Guyana,"- though they originate from the Andes, and Guyana.
• Arabic numerals originated in India, though they came to be associated with the Arab world.
• The Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) did not originate in Norway, but from North China.
• French horns originated in Germany, not France.
• The English Horn is, in fact, neither English nor a horn.

What are the words to the Princeton fight song?

Search: princeton fight song

Why: On "30 Rock," Jack says there's nothing gay about the Princeton theme song:

Oh, the merry men of Princeton are charging up the rear
Holding all the balls-

Answer: They go like this!

In Princeton town, we've got a team
that knows the way to play.
With Princeton spirit back of them,
they're sure to win the day.
With cheers and song we'll rally 'round
the cannon as of yore,
And Nassau's walls will echo with
the Princeton Tiger's roar:
(And then we'll)
Crash through that line of blue,
and send the back on 'round the end!
Fight, fight for ev'ry yard,
Princeton's honor to defend.
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Tiger sis boom ah!
And locomotives by the score!
For we'll fight with a vim
that is dead sure to win,
for Old Nassau.

Source: Lyrics on Demand

The More You Know: And sound like this!

Where is there a character named Sigourney in "The Great Gatsby"?

Search: sigourney gatsby

Why: There's an NES Great Gatsby game. I remember reading on Sigourney Weaver's wiki wiki:

She began using the name "Sigourney Weaver" in 1963 after a minor character (Sigourney Howard) in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.

And I'm also pretty sure I've read the entire book since then, and also probably flipped through it even further looking for this character. I don't think I ever found one.

Answer: There's not one! But there is one in This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald's debut novel (1920). Weaver did say that, but she was probably being careless - according to an article from the National Catholic Register called "Gatsby's Epitaph":

Fitzgerald's first novel—that scandalous, marvelous, twenty-three-year-old's astonishing bound into fame and fortune—opens with scenes among wealthy Catholic families. This Side of Paradise is dedicated, in fact, to Sigourney Fay, the worldly priest who stood for a time as spiritual (and surrogate) father to the author, and Fay appears, very lightly disguised as Monsignor Thayer Darcy, throughout the book's semi-autobiographical tale of a handsome, pampered, and yet still idealistic young Princeton student named Amory Blaine.

It's a man, man!

Source: ReadLiterature.com, Catholic Education

The More You Know: Sigourney's real name is Susan Alexandra Weaver. Maybe you will recognize her as Alvy's theater date tonight when you're home stuffing your face with ice cream and watching Annie Hall. I know I will.

(JK, we're stuffing our faces and watching "The Bachelor" [and arguing about Michelle. Controversial!].)

Is there a real movie called "Croctopus"?

Search: croctopus

Why: On "Modern Family" this week, Phil and Claire went to go see it in 3D. In 3D!!!!

Answer: No :( not yet...

BUT! Here are some very nice artistic imaginings of how one might look:

Source: nothing, Google Images

The More You Know: A croctopus also lives in the underwater levels of Donkey Kong Country. It is completely invincible, just like the real croctopus, but it really just looks like a regular octopus:

I want to see a picture of Jacquelyn Kotarac

Search: Jacquelyn Kotarac

Why: I am reading 7 Creepy Urban Legends That Happy to Be True (Part 4) on Cracked.com. Kotarac was that woman who crawled down her boyfriend's chimney in August of this year, got stuck, and died. She was an internist in Bakersfield, CA, which seems like a pretty distinguished job for someone with such poor judgment. I just want to see if she looks like a crazy person.

Answer: No :( She even has an Ab Rocket.

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: Be careful out there, you guys.

Are there really inbred blue people in Kentucky?

Search: blue people kentucky

Why: Last night, while watching Avatar:

RICHARD - James Cameron said he had to go to Kentucky and find a lizard that could fly just to film this scene.
DAN - Ha, ha.
ME - What?
RICHARD - You know, those blue people in Kentucky.
DAN - What?
ME - This is a real thing?
RICHARD - Yeah, they inbred so much they turned blue.
DAN - Oh, I thought you were making a joke.
ME - Yeah, a weird one.

Answer: Yes! But they weren't really blue because of inbreeding. Not really.

The Fugate family settled on the banks of Troublesome Creek after 1800. Mary, the wife of the patriarch Martin, was a carrier for a rare disease called hereditary methemoglobinemia.

Due to an enzyme deficiency, the blood of met-H victims has reduced oxygen-carrying capacity. Instead of being the usual bright red, arterial blood is chocolate brown and gives the skin of Caucasians a bluish cast.

Some of the Fugates intermarried with the nearby Smiths clan, one of whom also carried met-H. The first "blue Fugate" was born in 1832, and a bunch of cousins popped up thereafter. There were about 6 in the 1890s, and one was reported as recently as 1975.

Here is a nice story about one who was born in 1950s and the hematologist who came to save them all. Other people have had it, too.

Source: Pravda.ru, The Straight Dope

The More You Know: Did you know that Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 are planned for 2014 and 2015? It's true! I hope Jake and Neytiri have kittens.

Who is Terry Nazon?

Search: Terry Nazon

Why: In the Lemondrop article "Dating Disasters - What's Fixable, and What's Unforgivable" by [Redacted] Guy:

I'm going to assume as a gentle reader of this progressive-minded website that you aren't racist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-Canadian, or pro-Bieber. My guess is you, like me, may accidentally fall prey to more of the garden-variety verbal buffoonery, like casually mocking astrology to someone who goes suddenly ashen-faced because their mom is Terry Nazon (look her up).

Answer: Terry Nazon World Famous Celebrity Astrologer #1 Best Astrologer!

No really:

Let her read your natal birth chart!

Source: TerryNazon.com

The More You Know: Here is a convo I overheard the other night.

H: Yo mane, what's your sign?
G: Scorpio.
H: You got Pisces tendencies.
G: I don't know anything about astrology.

Well, me neither. All I know is that with the Moon in Capricorn influencing my solar 12th House of solitude and behind the scenes activities, today is my day to work hard and complete tasks, which I really feel is what I'm doing right now. Also, in 2010, a long distance relationship will heat up my cold winter nights. I look forward to it! Thanks, Terry!

I want to see pictures of Al Capone's car

Search: al capone car

Why: According to "16 Things You Didn't Know About Automobiles" (by the guy from The Oatmeal [or The Oatmeal himself; I'm not sure if that's the name of his site or himself]):

When Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion, his armor-plated limo was seized by the Treasury Department. The day after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt rode that same limo to Congress to read his declaration of war.

Answer: The 1928 341A Cadillac Town Sedan was green with black fenders - just like the ones driven by Chicago police and officials, wink. Lookin fancy!

It had 3,000 pounds of bullet-proof armor beneath the standard body. Its windshield and windows were made of recently developed inch thick bullet proof glass. The car also had flashing red lights behind the grille and a real police siren. It is also believed to have been the first private car with a police band receiver.

What a scamp.

Roosevelt used Capone’s car until 1942, when Ford armored a 1939 Lincoln convertible limousine the president nicknamed the “Sunshine Special.”

FDR had a snappy response when someone told him where his new car came from: “I hope Mr. Capone won’t mind.”

Source: Associated Content, American Gangster, Federal Times blog

The More You Know: Something else about automobiles:

What is the Blarney Stone?

Search: blarney stone

Why: And why would you kiss it?

Answer: A magical stone shrouded in mystery! Legends of origin:

• It was the rock Moses struck to produce water for the Israelites during the Exodus.
• It was Jacob's pillow, brought by Jeremiah to Ireland, where it became Lia Fáil or "Fatal Stone" and used as the coronation stone of Irish kings.
• It was the coronation stone of Scottish monarchs and then used by St. Columba as a traveling altar when he was a missionary in Scotland. Then it was the Stone of Destiny, the prophetic power of royal succession...

It's a piece of bluestone. Eventually,

In gratitude for Irish support at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 (a Scottish defeat of the English), Robert the Bruce gave a portion of the stone to Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster. Installed at Cormac McCarthy’s stronghold, Blarney Castle, it became known as the Blarney Stone. A century later, in 1446, King Dermot McCarthy then installed the stone in an enlarged castle he constructed.

The castle served as a stronghold for a rill long time. It later hosted a school and became a Court of Poetry, where tons of things were written.

Source: Sacred Sites

The More You Know: Anyway, the kissing thing:

One local legend claims that an old women, saved from drowning by a king of Munster, rewarded him with a spell, that if he would kiss a stone on the castle's top, he would gain a speech that would win all to him.

It's rill hard to get to. You have to sit back on some iron rails and hang upside down like they're monkey bars. Someone has to sit on your feet or you will fall (at least one person has died doing this). Look at this ridiculousness:

Have you ever in your life?