What turns a fact into something “you're not supposed to know”? Basically, it happens when that piece of information is upsetting, embarrassing, discomforting, or even damaging to a powerful party. The list of such parties is long — leaders of nations, legislatures, militaries, intelligence agencies, justice systems, regulatory agencies, corporations, mainstream media, the medical establishment, the educational system, religious institutions, racial and gender groups, academics and scholars in various disciplines, guardians of public morality, followers of ideologies, hypersenstitive leftists, conformist rightists, and others.
Other resistance comes from the fact that every historical figure has developed a cult of worshippers and cheerleaders who utterly refuse — in the face of all evidence — to admit the failings, hypocrisies, and, in some cases, the outright fraudulence of their idol.
In other cases, a fact doesn't offend an easily pinpointable institution or group. Instead, it's taboo because it exposes societal lies, the fables we tell ourselves in order to sugarcoat harsh reality.
With this in mind, it's time to present a cavalcade of troublesome facts, compressed and boiled down to their very essences so that you can quickly digest them in an info-glutted world. For further explorations, references are given in the back.
Thanks to Anne, my parents, Ruthanne, Jennifer, Billy Dale, Brett & Cristy, Darrell, Terry & Rebekah, Mike, Matt, Gary, Richard, Alex, Rebecca, Jason, Disinfo, and others who've slipped my overstuffed mind at the moment.