Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Because vending machines are now automated, they can feel like a relatively modern invention. However, the basic contraption has actually been around for more than 2,000 years. Introduced around the first century CE by Greek engineer and mathematician Heron of Alexandria, the first vending machine didn’t deliver snacks — it dispensed holy water. Similar to modern machines, Heron’s device required inserting a coin into a slot. The coin fell onto a pan that was connected to a lever, which opened a valve on the other end where the holy water flowed out. The pan continued to move under the weight of the coin until, eventually, the coin slid off. The lever would then raise back to its initial state and close the valve, stopping the flow of water.

The machine — described by Heron as a “sacrificial vessel” — was made to limit the amount of holy water people were using at ancient temples. (This was during the Hellenistic period, when Alexandria was a multicultural hub for various Roman, Greek, and Egyptian faiths.) Heron’s invention didn’t stick around with any regularity until centuries later, however. Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, coin-operated machines were used to sell tobacco in English taverns, and by the 1800s, they were selling everything from banned literary works to stamps. In 1888, a new chewing gum called Tutti-Frutti appeared in custom penny-operated vending machines on New York City subway platforms, introducing the United States to vending machines as we know them today.

Ancient Egyptian royals were often buried with objects they believed were needed for a harmonious transition to the afterlife. Items such as jewelry and games were common inclusions in their tombs, as were everyday staples such as clothing and food. And while we might expect any ancient food to decompose past the point of recognition, archaeologists have actually uncovered 3,000-year-old pots of honey that were, remarkably, intact — and still edible.

Honey’s extraordinary shelf life is the result of several factors. Its low water content and high sugar levels create an environment that’s inhospitable to bacterial growth, and it also contains trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which acts as a natural microbial inhibitor. While other foods with similar sugar makeup tend to spoil faster, honey has its sophisticated alchemists to thank for its resilience: Bees use their rapidly flapping wings to evaporate most of the honey’s water, and an enzyme in their stomachs contributes to honey’s unique antibacterial property. Egyptians were some of the earliest known organized beekeepers, and along with sending honey into the next life with the deceased, they also offered the sweet substance to their deities.

The Rocky Mountains have had many names since humans first came into contact with them, some more fanciful than others. Their current moniker comes from the Plains Cree term ᐊᓯᓃᐘᒋᐩ, usually transcribed as asinîwaciy and literally meaning “rocky mountain” or “alp.” The first European to describe the pride of Colorado was explorer Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, who gave them their current name when he called the mountains “montagnes de Roche” in a 1752 journal entry. Four decades later, the John Reid Company published a map in which they were called the Stony Mountains.

Another journal, this one belonging to fur trader Gabriel Franchere and written between 1811 and 1814, claimed “the first travellers called them the ‘Glittering Mountains,’ on account of the infinite number of immense rock crystals, which, they say, cover their surface, and … reflect to an immense distance the rays of sun.” The Rockies have also been called the Mountains of Bright Stones and the Shining Mountains, each name a testament to how striking they are.

The Roman Empire is responsible for countless innovations that are still used on a daily basis, but it would be putting it lightly to say that medical science has advanced quite a bit since Rome fell. Given that — as well as all the gladiators, wars, and assassinated emperors — it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that life expectancy in ancient Rome was just 35 years. Yet the real culprit behind that figure is actually the infant mortality rate at the time, as some 25% of babies born in the first century CE didn’t make it past 1 year old, and only half survived past the age of 10.

Life expectancy is an average, and one that has tended to increase over time, but lifespan hasn’t actually changed much in human history. Indeed, it was not uncommon for ancient Romans to live to a ripe old age. Gordian I was 81 when he became emperor of Rome, and Roman statesman Cicero’s wife Terentia lived to be 103, for instance. Pliny the Elder (who, despite his moniker, lived to be just 55 before dying in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius) was particularly impressed by one centenarian he studied. He wrote, “The solitary instance of Xenophilus, the musician, who lived one hundred and five years without any infirmity of body, must be regarded then as a kind of miracle.”

The Grand Canyon is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.

The Grand Canyon attracts millions of visitors to northern Arizona each year, all hoping to snap an amazing photo of the canyon’s vast landscape. The mile-deep gorge is the centerpiece of such an expansive view that it can’t all be seen at once; at 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide, the Grand Canyon is so large, it creates its own weather. In fact, getting a view from its two most popular rims (aka tops) requires nearly five hours of travel time. 

The Grand Canyon is under the care of the National Park Service, yet the park boundaries don’t contain it entirely; the portion protected by Grand Canyon National Park totals 1,904 square miles, a span larger than the smallest U.S. state. In comparison, the tiny East Coast state of Rhode Island contains just 1,214 square miles.

Today, the Grand Canyon is the second-most-visited national park (bested only by the Great Smoky Mountains in 2022). Until the mid-1800s, however, little was known about the area, thanks to its remoteness. Spanish conquistadors who explored the region in 1540 had little to note of its magnificence, and an 1857 report from an American expedition through the canyon described the 6 million-year-old area as “altogether valueless,” with “nothing to do but leave.” Such declarations impeded progress in turning the natural wonder into a national park when President Benjamin Harrison first moved to protect the area in 1893 as a forest reserve; President Theodore Roosevelt designated it a national monument in 1908. It would take a third president — Woodrow Wilson — and 11 more years for the Grand Canyon to become the awe-inspiring national park it is today.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Executive Orders have been used by every President in our nation’s history, but no one has attempted to circumvent the rule of law and our Constitution until now. Donny’s Executive Orders are petty and vindictive and from what I have seen do nothing that will move the country and the government forward. He wants to defy the Constitution and ban Birth Right Citizenship, repeal lower prescription drug prices, pull funding from the Biden Era infrastructure plan designed to fix roads and bridges, basically reverse any legislation passed in the past 4 years. He is actively trying to implement schedule F and purge government employees that are not loyal to him, (those that won’t pledge that the 2020 election wasn’t rigged against him).

You know all the things he promised he was going to fix.

Now that we are squarely in the FAFO portion of the retribution tour I can only hope that there are some members of the GOP that still have spines, but hope is like pissing in the wind with this group of jellyfish.

The Great and Powerful (ODD) has even attacked clergy because they, actually, spoke the truth that Christ commanded asking for mercy for those he has personally attacked. The sign of true power is to look down on and subjugate others while holding yourself in the highest regard… I forget what Bible text that is from (DIckarotimy 1:1) maybe someone fact check me.

Now he is going to North Carolina and California because… well just because he must continue the big lie. He is confident that the Hurricane that hit the Carolinas wasn’t addressed by FEMA and he knows how to manage fires and magically move water, ‘like no one has ever seen…’ I am sure that he can inform firefighters how to stop fires in the middle of a draught and high winds… I mean really, he has won his own golf clubs’ tournament more than once he obviously knows and thing or two about a thing or two.

The first known use of “OMG” was in a letter to Winston Churchill.

Winston Churchill’s remarkable life was filled with genuine “OMG” moments, from withstanding the disastrous Gallipoli campaign during the First World War to leading Britain through World War II as prime minister. Churchill held a front-row seat to many history-defining moments, even including the little-known origin of the term “OMG” itself. 

The expression “OMG,” an acronym for “oh my god,” became popular as early internet lingo during the 1990s. But the first known use of the acronym actually dates back to a letter written to Churchill in 1917, while he was serving as first lord of the admiralty in the British navy. The letter was written by John Arbuthnot Fisher, who, as first sea lord (the navy’s highest ranking officer), often quarreled with Churchill.  In the 1917 missive, Fisher wrote, “I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis [table] — O.M.G. (Oh! My God!) — Shower it on the Admiralty!!” Sadly for the linguistically hip Fisher, neither Churchill, the navy, nor the British people adopted his clever quip. It wasn’t until the arrival of the internet age some 70 years later that the “OMG” acronym exploded in popularity. 

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Is this what we get to look forward to for the next few years… a 78years old toddler that has a poopy diaper and no concept that the world exists outside the confines of his hair spray. Donald has delusions of grandeur, and his personality disorder and advanced age are on full display. These are the actions of a tyrant that in no way will tolerate anything contrary being said about him or to him. His inaugural ‘TED Talk’ was full of lies about the failing economy and how he has been mistreated and how everything (he thinks) is bad will be rectified by his hand.

The thin-skinned Narcissist can’t even take the pleas of a female bishop for compassion for LGBTQ, immigrants and anyone else in distress without attacking them as a nasty person.

We must stand up and push back, if we don’t, we only have to look back through the 20^th century to see what the cost could be.

Like any good tyrant he is talking about expelling those he feels are undesirable, expanding our borders through military action, punishing any, and all that speak out against him. President Biden foresaw they actions of the Toddler King and pre-emptively pardoned his entire family and all those that were on the J6 committee but based on the actions of the past 48hours I don’t know that if Donny gets the league of misfits in the Justice Department, he wants that they will honor any actions taken by President Biden. Wouldn’t be surprised if during the State of the Union he didn’t call for public executions of any person on the J6 committee, the Biden family, Kamala Harris and her Husband and because the Supreme Court said that nothing is illegal if its Presidential act he would walk away once again.

Currently we have a constitution and laws and those are being severely challenged, our system allowed a convicted felon into the White House… I guy that if he weren’t DJT with these charges could even buy a gun but now he has an army and the nuclear codes. Too many believed the constant barrage of crap that White Washed the last time he was in the Oval and now we are all going to pay the price.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

This may not make a great deal of difference in the actions of the ultra rich, but it should be something for them to think about. Most if not all of them got wealthy because they have or had something that other people bought. So now you are sitting on these mountains of money and looking at the class of people that are your customers and saying lets take away the programs that help them have the money to spend on our products. If you sell cars and you take away jobs by allowing tariffs to be put in place that end up closing your factories, who is going to buy your cars? If you sell news papers and people only have enough in their pockets to either buy the paper or something to eat, which do you suppose will come first? Most of the newspapers around the country have been bought out or crushed because the big boys did not like the message that was being sent by the local press. Has it really improved your circulation that much? Take the controls off of medicine and the ones that benefit for now are the drug companies, and when no one can afford the medicine and start dying off then will the drug companies do better? The only things that improve with loss are disease and stupidity. Keep on believing that putting debt back on students, or families trying to same a sick family member and all other facets of life will begin to suffer. When buying medicine causes someone to not pay the rent, if you are a land lord you end up with emptry apts. If you are a rancher and sell beef and people can only buy hamburger your cattle are not that valuable or become a liability. If no one can buy anything more than basics in groceries the novelty foods are left to be thrown out. The wealth of a nation depends on the how well all of the inhabitats are doing not just the ones at the top. The Robber Baron era finally proved that to at least a couple of those that made fortunes off the sweat of others. One started building libraries as a for instance. What are you going to build? If social security gets cut or eliminated that truly means that millions of people will be out on the street. The benefit was earned and should be repaid. The fund would be self generating if it were allowed to take care of only what it was designed to do versus all the crap that it has funded over the years. Other social assistance programs are necessary because of many factors, not the least of which is the reluctance of the wealthy to share some of that by way of paying living wages. Many of the wealthy today high someone to do all the grunt work to keep things going and they usually offer a golden parachute if that person fails to do a really good job. You have boards of directors that do nothing to improve or produce the product you are selling but they get paid lots for hot air. Hopefully that is not what is being offered to the less than competent people that are being approved by the fearful congress to hold such important cabinet positions. Big business has for years put limitations on people for being inventive. If you come up with something that makes this better the company owns it and you can not profit by the invention. Really causes everyone to be creative or inventive doesn't it? The bottom line is that the arrogance of wealth is leading to ecconomic ruin and it will not just be the people at the bottom that have nothing, no one will. Look at history and what the more corrupt nations of today look like an you have the view of what your programs and hubberus will cause.