Crying can make you happier.

Although crying to make yourself happier seems counterintuitive, shedding some tears can be one of the best ways to restore your emotional equilibrium. A 2014 study found that emotional crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates the body’s “rest and digest” actions. Crying also elevates levels of endorphins and oxytocin, which helps dull both emotional and physical pain. And the physical act of crying — taking in big gulps of air — cools the brain and helps regulate your mood. All in all, “having a good cry” can actually be good for you.

Of course, whether crying makes you feel better can also be dependent on the situation. Tears are known to inspire interpersonal benefits by signaling to others that you’re in need of support. Unsurprisingly, studies have shown that people who receive support after crying are more likely to feel happier than if they’re shamed for crying. So while the physical act of crying can help our bodies return to an emotional homeostasis, it’s the support of friends and loved ones that makes those good feelings stick. 

October was originally the eighth month.

Octagon, octopus… most words that begin with the Latin prefix “Oct” have some connection to the number eight. But what about October? While the modern calendar considers the autumn month to be the 10th of the year, it wasn’t always that way. For the ancient Romans, who created the earliest form of the calendar we use now, October was originally the eighth month.

Today’s calendar follows a 12-month cycle, though the earliest iterations only had 10 months. In ancient Rome, the year began in March and ran through December, with the first four months named for Roman deities. The next six months had more straightforward, numerical names that referenced their place in the year. The remaining weeks of winter (which would eventually become January and February) were largely ignored on paper; when the harvest season ended, so did the calendar, until the next spring planting season rolled around.

Over time, the calendar expanded by two months; January and February were added around 700 BCE, and by about the middle of the fifth century BCE, they had become the starting months of the year. When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, he didn’t adjust the number-named months to more appropriate places, though later Roman emperors tried, using names that didn’t stick. Domitian, who ruled from 81 to 96 CE, called October “Domitianus” after himself, and decades later, Commodus dubbed the month “Herculeus” after one of his own titles. Some historians believe the attempts to rename October (and the other months of the year) were widely disregarded because the leaders themselves were generally disliked, though another theory might explain it best: Like many people today, Romans of the past just weren’t fans of change.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

More voices are letting us know that the election could come down to the electoral college vote, which only proves how out of touch that system is. It seems that some of the people that predict such things already think Trump will win that vote. There are only 2 states that split their votes so it would seem that if a candidate carries the state they should get the votes. Will that be the case if in a red state Harris wins the popular vote will the electors follow that or give the vote to Trump?
We really have to wonder how our country and especially our elections have become such examples of dishonesty and underhandedness. It is obvious that a republican win is going to promote hostility especially if they don’t have the popular vote. It will be worse if the democrats win, then it will no doubt be fixed or illegal or stolen.
Trump will always claim he won, is the better orf everyone else, smarter than, and can do more, get away with more and all that. The truth is of course, proof of his incompetence, weakness and stupidity. If there is a hereafter that man is going to pay one hell of a price.
Trump might be a great snake oil salesman like PT Barnum but that does not make him a great leader or suitable to be President. We have a number of wealthy people that seem to think that being gifted enough to make money off an idea somehow bestows greatness on them. The constant battle as to who has the most money does not make them better than any other person. Quite the contrary, the man who has nothing has a better perspective on life than a rich man because the rich man never went without, so no practical experience in getting by on nothing.
The wealth they have acquired might give them the idea that they are so much more important than anyone else. Just keep in mind that the rich man and the poor man have the same bodily functions, what they put in may be different, what comes out is all the same. Beyond that they all put their pants on the same way, one leg at a time.

The Senate picked the vice president once in history.

U.S. HISTORY

The United States has had some strange elections over the last 230-odd years, few more so than the presidential contest of 1836 — the one and only time that the Senate picked the vice president. Like the president, veeps are chosen by the Electoral College, and that year three names were on the ballot: Richard Mentor Johnson (who received 147 electoral votes), Francis Granger (77), and John Tyler (47). Johnson was the running mate of Democrat Martin Van Buren, who emerged victorious in the presidential race with 170 electoral votes. When it came to the vice presidential race, however, the Virginia delegation became faithless electors due to Johnson’s many controversies — including the fact that he had a relationship and two children with an enslaved woman named Julia Chinn — and cast their votes elsewhere. As fate would have it, the 147 electoral votes Johnson received left him one shy of a majority.

The Senate was thus called upon to exercise one of its rarest and most important duties. On February 8, 1837, it elected the beleaguered Johnson as vice president by a party-line vote of 33 to 16. Johnson had represented Kentucky in the upper chamber for 10 years, and upon being elected expressed the self-deprecating hope that “the intelligence of the Senate will guard the country from any injury that might result from the imperfections of its presiding officer.” He spent much of his term running his tavern back in Kentucky, eventually came to be considered a liability for Van Buren, and was dropped by the Democratic Party for the reelection campaign, leaving Van Buren without an official running mate. 

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The outrageous comments, conspiracy theories or the most recent thing to get his name in the news is all that matters to Trump. As long as he is getting the attention he cares not what is being said, his name is on the airways. We are very close to the election and he does not need airtime or facetime, he needs to be ignored no matter what he does or what legal issue is coming his way.
The things that need to get attention are winning the election with Harris and Walz, squashing any attempt to overturn the election and making sure Trump goes to jail, in that order. We can follow those things with purging the Supreme Court and purging the House and Senate. The supporters of the effort to overturn need to go and the fact that at least 3 people perjured themselves to gain a seat on the Court requires their censure and suspension.
Our government has been polluted by a group of very wealthy people that are convinced that the only good things in our world are what they get to take to the bank. Manipulate laws and put easily corruptible people in positions of trust that make a point of stabbing the American people in the back for the sake of appeasing the rich. Time to turn the tables and start prosecuting those that believe they are above the law.
With the election of Harris and Walz we will have people in office that are either trained and schooled in smoking out rats or they are in possession of common sense and honesty. Hopefully we can put enough of the supporting players in Congress to make ridding that body of useless near-do-wells a possibility.
Democracy was purposed and adopted by the founders of our nation. They knew that every system of government has its weak points, it is a human idea so it will have flaws. Those weak points have been found and exploited by people that are interested in self not society. That brand of people includes people like Nixon, Reagan, the Bush family, Trump, and most of their appointees as well as supporters.
The founders tried to make a government that was responsive to the people and it worked for many years. The weak spot was that a bill can be attached to a legislation on the final reading before passing into law, and someone did just that and our voices are no longer heard because that bill took away our voice. We need to find a way to get it back, as well as repeal laws such as Corporations are People too, and the super pack money pools. All of these things make it possible for the elitist to keep raping society for their own benefit.

Woodrow Wilson was the only president with a Ph.D. 

FAMOUS FIGURES

Most U.S. presidents have attained some form of higher education, and there are a number of commanders in chief with law degrees, but only one received a Ph.D.: Woodrow Wilson. After beginning his undergraduate career at Davidson College in 1873, Wilson transferred to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and studied political philosophy and history. He next attended the University of Virginia School of Law, though he withdrew during his second year. He managed to become a lawyer anyway, but quickly grew bored and chose to pursue a Ph.D. in history and political science instead. He did so at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, completing his doctorate in 1886.

While there, he wrote a book called Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics that was published before he graduated. Wilson’s time in academia didn’t end there, however. After teaching at Bryn Mawr College and Wesleyan University, he returned to his alma mater — first as a professor, and then as the 13th president of Princeton. He served in that role from 1902 to 1910, when he launched his successful bid for governor of New Jersey, and later won the 1912 presidential election with 435 electoral votes. 

Lincoln was self-educated. His formal schooling was intermittent, the aggregate of which may have amounted to less than twelve months. He never attended college, but Lincoln retained a lifelong interest in learning.

This just proves that education doesn’t make you, character and effort do .

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

It is truly amazing that the man who can be managed with flattery is saying that his opponent will be an easy mark for foreign leaders. He gets along just fine with those that know how to blow smoke up his ass but the ones that don’t are considered unworthy of support from the United States.
This is just one of several reasons why we do not need 4 more years of Donny dumb ass. The autocrats have his number and they can play him like no one’s business. And if they can’t woo him that way they can always buy him as everything is up for sale. His integrity, not that he had any, his honor, or lack thereof, and what else his wife, his daughter perhaps his own ass. All that and our entire nation is for sale when he is on deck. He has no morals or conscience when it comes to money, that is first.
The other major issue of the day was the debate that pitted a college educated snake oil salesman to go against a man of moral principle. The number of questions asked that did not get answered by Vance was ridiculous. All it took was yes or no and he could not, or would not provide an answer. He spent the debate blaming immigrants and making false statements about every other topic that was presented.
Gov Walz could answer the questions asked of him, provided verifiable information on all the subjects that countered everything Vance claimed. Honesty can be presented by someone that is not well versed at debating or talking to large groups and will still win as truth is truth.
Another prime reason we do not need another session of Donny dumb ass. With a VP that is complacent in the lies and willing to sacrifice honor to boost the ego of a sick, worn out, useless old man because he has a big mouth is pathetic. Let’s move on and improve our country, not tear it apart with hate and violence.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

A report said that Biden made a shocking “threat” against Trump. This is big news for no reason at all, but when the reverse is the case it is no big deal. Everyone knows that the truth and Trump don’t reside in the same room. He tells lies because his ego gives him permission to do so to make him feel better about him.
The fact that the news media is so quick to pick up the lies and spread them only proves that the owners of the media, who’s voice is to be heard, are just as corrupt and power hungry as Trump. The monied segment of society feels that anything that will give them more money in their pockets is the way to go. It is a damned shame that all that wealth does no good in the world as these over indulged, self important near do wells just sit in the safe like Scrooge McDuck in the cartoon and play with the money.
There does not seem to be a way to alter this problem since the laws of the land have been bastardized to assist rather than curtail this sort of behavior. Accountability in government must be reestablished. Who we elect at all levels needs to be focussed on representatives of character not hollow promises. The Supreme Court needs to be purged of the dead wood that currently resides in at least 6 of the seats. Laws like “Corporations are people too” need to be repealed. The big money pacs buying representatives needs to stop, and those that either attempt to buy and those that are tempted to sell need to be prosecuted. Treat these deals just like the law treats both parties involved in prostitution. It is the same thing.
When major laws have been set at the highest levels, one must question why states choose to follow another path or go counter to that order. Most of the time, at least recently, is the fact that the states making the biggest stink are the ones that opposed the results of the last Presidential election. By the time the people sitting in the state houses are elected you would think that their maturity had developed past the point of “I did not get my way so I will hold my breath till I turn blue” stage. Give me another reason if that is not it.
From the perspective of age it is time to bring representatives of youth into the business of government. They need to have abilities, not just a desire to get their name in the papers, and character to listen to, understand, and propose solutions to problems that solve those problems for the greater good. It is time to look beyond our narrow vision of what we know best and see what others have done to solve issues and if it works adopt those techniques.
Other societies have overcome problems that we seem to be unable to resolve. Homelessness, public safety, care for the elderly, noise, how to live with our neighbors in confined spaces, and so many more. These societies have built all sorts of projects and still have money in the bank, we have debt and belligerent opposing forces with a better idea and no sense of compromise.
We have a great system in Democracy and it has proven to be successful. The problems have arrived with the purposeful corruption to provide favor to one segment of society with total disregard for all others. It only works when we all prosper.