MaxRedline

Torture

Exercising on a treadmill often feels like torture, and that’s not exactly a coincidence.

In 1818, an English civil engineer named Sir William Cubitt devised a machine called the “tread-wheel” to reform stubborn and idle convicts.

That's right, the treadmill originated in prisons. As prisoners walked up the wheel for eight-hour periods, the mechanism was used to pump water or grind grain, which is why it was referred to as a treadmill. English prisons finally got rid of them in the late 19th century, as consigning inmates to tread on them all day came to be regarded as cruel and inhumane. The US prisons abandoned them well before then, in favor of chain-gangs.

The treadmill went away, lost in the mists of history, until the 1960s, when the benefits of aerobic exercise were described. Today, every gym features them. Even "exercise rooms" in hotels have them.

 

Macabre

THE mystery over the death of Alexander the Great may have finally been solved – and his passing was grislier than historians had ever imagined.

The fearsome military genius succumbed to a rare disease that left him paralysed for six days, gradually robbing him of his ability to move, speak and breathe, claims a new study.

It means the ancient Macedonian ruler was likely still alive while his loyal soldiers prepared his body for burial in 323 BC.

His muscles were paralysed to the point that doctors couldn't see he was still breathing, meaning he was pronounced dead nearly a week early. At the time, doctors didn't use your pulse to check if you were still alive, instead looking for signs you were still breathing.

So, thinking he was dead, they buried him alive.

 

 

Florida Man Went Magnet Fishing

I’ve heard of explosive diarrhea at Taco Bell, but this is ridiculous.

Yep, he found himself a live WWII hand grenade, so he did what any normal person would do: he put it into his car's trunk and then drove to Taco Bell.

While he was having dinner, it occurred to him that he might as well call the cops to report his find. Oh yeah - the bomb squad showed up and shut the place down. Yep, it was a live device.

UPDATE: This has been verified as an authentic WWII hand grenade. The bomb squad removed the grenade without incident and advised it would be disposed of properly. Taco Bell has reopened. https://t.co/o7CnxowRZZ

— Ocala Police Dept (@ocalapd) January 26, 2019

Do not serve the fisherman!

 

USAID

The agency will reportedly end all Palestinian projects at the end of the month.

No big surprise, as there's been no progress made on the "two state solution". We've just been tossing money over there, building them infrastructure, with nothing to show for it all.

 

Memories

It seemed like mothers couldn't wait to kick their kids out of the house in the morning so they could get on with their chores or socialize with friends. They called you in when dinner was ready and let you back out, telling you to come inside when the street lights come on. As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "We were like wild dogs." Kids wandered around in packs, looking for stuff to do. Adults often had no idea of their kid's whereabouts for long stretches of time.

Yeah. We didn't have "helicopter parents".

 

Tradition

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican experts have found the first temple of the Flayed Lord, a pre-Hispanic fertility god depicted as a skinned human corpse, authorities said Wednesday.

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said the find was made during recent excavations of Popoloca Indian ruins in the central state of Puebla. Priests worshipped Xipe Totec by skinning human victims and then donning their skins. The ritual was seen as a way to ensure fertility and regeneration.

It appears that the Popoloca built the temple around 1000 A.D., but were conquered by Aztecs a couple of centuries later.

Ancient accounts of the rituals suggested victims were killed in gladiator-style combat or by arrows on one platform, then skinned on another platform. The layout of the temple at Tehuacan seems to match that description.

The Aztecs liked what the Popolocans had been doing, so they adopted the rituals as well. And described how they were carried out. They modified things a bit, in that their priests liked to remove the beating heart of sacrificial victims before proceeding to the whole skinning part. They did a lot of weird stuff.

 

 

Apparently, The Constitution Contains Additional Rights

Our Children’s Trust filed suit against the federal government in 2015 on behalf of 21 youths, aged 11 to 22, arguing their right to a “stable climate system” was being violated. The suit asks the court to order the government to issue laws and regulations to fight global warming.

We've never had a "stable climate system" at any time during the history of Earth's existence.

Geologists have found evidence that sea ice extended to the equator 716.5 million years ago, bringing new precision to a "snowball Earth" event long suspected to have taken place around that time.

Global warming? Global cooling would be more like it.

Yes, we have records of cars driving across the ice on the Willamette River (and the Columbia River) when they froze over in the early 1900s - last known such crossings were in 1930.

Sorry, kids - your gripe is misplaced.

 

Immigration & U.S.

Ellis Island began processing immigrants into the U.S. on Jan. 1, 1892 — 127 years ago.

Over 12 million new arrivals were processed there over the course of 62 years, and medical screenings were mandatory - among other requirements. Things are considerably different today:

Hundreds of migrants and their children seeking to enter the U.S. from Mexico are arriving with illnesses, forcing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seek additional medical assistance and boost medical screenings, the agency disclosed Monday.

Overall, however, there's much less order, as hundreds of Latinos from Central America routinely attempt to force their way into our country; the latest was two days ago, when another 150 or so tried to storm the border from Tijuana, pelting CBP with rocks. Agents responded with tear gas and drove them back. Interestingly, many of them claim to be fleeing rampant lawlessness in their home countries but demonstrate no respect for law and order here.

 

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

That was complicated stuff.

 

Nope, Not Cold Hookers

Hoar Frost is totally different (and likely prettier):

It's basically supercooled fog that becomes solid upon contact with trees, power lines, grass, and similar items at freezing temperatures. It doesn't generally affect roads, as it's really a transient phenomenon that melts away rapidly.

As for the term "hoar" it comes from the Old English word "har", meaning gray, venerable, old. The term came into use over time due to the phenomenon's supposed resemblance to an old man's beard. Naturally, the word was eventually bastardized into the present "hoar".

You're welcome.