It used to be that paper currency was backed by gold and silver for its value. A 10$ paper note would be redeemable for 10$ worth of gold or silver following the gold or silver standard. Currently our bills are fiat money which means they are not backed by any tangible item. They’re just based on the strength of the economy. The economy can fluctuate so it makes the actual value of a bill unstable. These Mcdonalds coins, however, would be a currency that are redeemable for a Big Mac. This would make them a technically more stable currency as they are always have the value of a Big Mac they can be redeemed for.
Girls pose by a jail that recalls the witch trials of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Photo taken in 1945.
I recently learned that the water in Salem was contaminated with the fungus from which LSD is derived and a legitimate theory for the whole thing is that everyone in the town was tripping balls
This might be the greatest thing ive ever seen on the internet
We did a whole massive thing on this in history. I believe the fungus in question is called Ergot and it’s terrifying. It makes your muscles spasm so when they had seizures that was the reason, not because they were possessed. One woman had to be strapped to her bed, she was seizing so bad. And, like ‘theybuildbuildings’ said, it had the same effects as LSD; as soon as you touch it, let alone consume it, it messes with your entire system. The worst thing is, you practically always had a bad trip. Many complained about bugs crawling under their skin or monsters emerging from the shadows to scratch and bite at them until they were screaming. It was a horrendous thing and the worst part is, Ergot is still around. It grows on crops and, if your wheat isn’t properly treated, it can be eaten and you’ll most likely experience the same as the women of Salem.
god i love history
This is hella cool and almost correct…
The effects on the people of Salem were probably from consuming bread with the fungus in it, not from contaminated water. And apparently rye is way more commonly affected than wheat. In fact, often the members of the clergy were able to afford nicer bread made from wheat and thus were not as commonly affected.
You don’t go on a spasm-y trip just by touching it. You have to consume it for weeks, which results in chronic poisoning. ( If you stop eating it early enough, you may recover. So when people suffering from these “demonic possessions” took refuge in churches and stopped eating low-grade rye bread they were sometimes miraculously healed.
More interesting facts:
Ergot poisoning can result in convulsions & hallucinations, or it can cause gangrene, depending on which group of active alkaloids are present. (Horrifying, either way.) It killed a lot of people in Europe in the Middle Ages.
In Europe, often there was a strong correlation between wet summers (which provide ideal conditions for ergot) and reports of witchcraft/ possession. And in Norway and Scotland, records of witch persecution are only found in areas where rye was grown and used to make bread.
And I just learned right now that one author dude translated the word “Beowulf” as “barley-wolf” which could indicate a connection to ergot. The LSD-like effects could be a valid explanation for stories of Old Norse warriors going into the a sort of trancelike battle rage.
(this is exactly the kind of stuff my herbology medicinal plants class is about, it’s so cool omfg. we had a lecture on ergot last week.)
But a new study projects that 40 million Americans who voted last year will likely not show up at the polls for the 2018 midterms.
And that two-thirds of those “drop-off” voters will be millennials, unmarried women and people of color.
The report, just out from the Voter Participation Center and Lake Research Partners, “Comparing the Voting Electorate in 2012-2016 and Predicting 2018 Drop-off,” notes that many of those expected not to cast a ballot next year live in key battleground states like Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Ohio. Read more (7/21/17)
Young people in America, REGISTER TO VOTE AND GET TO THE POLLS NEXT YEAR
THIS MATTERS
YOUR VOTE MATTERS SO MUCH OKAY
Just look at the difference young people getting out and voting made in the UK general election this year…young voters CAN make a POSITIVE DIFFERENCE by getting out and voting
And I know this isn’t a presidential election but it is in some ways EVEN MORE IMPORTANT
Because the president can’t do anything without congress and the senate on his side…but likewise, if the Republicans get a majority it means it will be easier for that disgusting sack of stinking dog-vomit Donald Trump and his party of traitors and criminals to push through the DISGUSTING things they want to try and inflict on the country and its people
Get out and vote democrat next year and keep the Republicans from getting a blank check to try and push through their bigoted, evil bullshit
I’m pretty sure the biggest barrier to young people voting isn’t not caring, it’s not knowing.
Am I registered? Shit, who knows? I’ve moved five times in the last four years. I think I registered, but that was a year ago, did I change districts since then? Where even are the polling places in this town? What are their hours? I know I submitted a registration, but did they get it? I didn’t get a confirmation. Did they lose my form? Am I even eligible? Who knows? Oh well, I’m sure I can always register in the days leading up to the – whoops, there’s a deadline and it’s already gone by.
This is one of those civic skills that you would really think would be taught in high school, and – surprise! – it isn’t.
Of course, all of this – in the way of Tumblr, and the internet more generally – will be lost to the vagaries of cyberspace by the time November rolls around. So hey: tag it with “voting reference” and you’ll always be able to find it again.
Boosting because us Millenials are nothing but fueled by spite, and blowing this projection out of the water would be delicious
Reblogging because us Gen Xers grew up in the last shadow of nuclear war and I keep having flashbacks… Please vote. Even just pick the few offices that matter most to you, please stay engaged and let’s make this mess a little bit better.
VOTE
…bitch
AND ALSO EXPLORE ALL YOUR OPTIONS
I’m currently living outside the US, and I went to a generic website that tries to help people register for overseas voting no matter where they live in the US, and it had me fill out a form that it said I needed to print out and mail in–inconvenient since I don’t have a printer.
BUT
Then I went to my state’s (Utah’s) voter registration website–AND I DID THE WHOLE PROCESS ONLINE, NO PRINTING REQUIRED, BECAUSE I HAVE A DRIVER’S LICENSE.
