A few hundred years ago, when the King of a BIG Middle Eastern kingdom was being threatened by a smaller kingdom, the big king would give the smaller king a white elephant as a gift.

Apparently, it costs a LOT of money to keep a white elephant, and it would literally bankrupt the smaller king (Who wouldn't DARE decline such an expensive gift from a big king)

So the smaller king would be ruined and therefore, no longer a threat.

We still use the term "White Elephant" as a useless gift.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread: