"Seven year itch" originally referred to scabies

The seven-year itch that [Thoreau] had in mind was an infection by a mite which lays its eggs in burrows under the skin. Its medical name is scabies, whose name comes appropriately from Latin scabere, to scratch. It was once extremely common in all kinds of situations and historical American sources are full of names for it, among them Indiana itch, Illinois itch, Jackson itch, Cuban itch, prairie itch, camp itch, army itch, ship itch, jail itch, mattress itch, swamp itch, winter itch, barley itch and grain itch. It was very hard to treat before effective insecticides came along...

Because it was so hard to get rid of, a story grew up in North America that those who got the itch were stuck with it for the next seven years. The phrase was sometimes later reinterpreted to mean that it would recur after seven years, or would reappear every year for seven years. Found at World Wide Words, where the discussion continues as to how and why the phrase was adapted as the title of the famous movie.

The "turbo entabulator" eloquently elucidated

YouTube link.

If you don't understand his explanation, the explanation is explained at Neatorama.

See if you can figure out what's going on here...

The answer is at First Time User, via A London Salmagundi.

Photo from the Memory of the Netherlands.

"America Looks at Neighbors"

This political cartoon was published in 1932.


Via Reddit.

"Obama surrenders"

Lots of posts everywhere offering interpretations of the budget fiasco.  Here's excerpts of one viewpoint:

In the end, President Obama had to admit surrender. He tried to put a bold face on it, but there's no other way to interpret his remarks to the nation announcing that Congressional leaders had cut a deal to raise the debt ceiling...

The president stated that "I've said from the beginning that the ultimate solution to our deficit problem must be balanced." And yes, Obama has long maintained that revenue increases that would partially balance out any cuts to entitlement programs must be part of any deal. But there are no revenue increases in this deal. And it is surely a pipe dream to imagine that Democrats will be able to include any new revenue increases in further negotiations...

The new deal, so far as had been described on Sunday, also included no measures to stimulate an economy that may be sliding back into recession...

The president said it was not "the deal I would have preferred." He should have been stronger. He should have said it's a bad deal that does not address the pressing needs of the nation, and sets in stone cuts in entitlements that will savage an aging population faced by spiraling health care costs. And then he should have acknowledged that he still had to sign it, because the alternative would have ensured a nearly immediate slide into recession and the strong possibility of a global financial shock.

All in all, the weekend's events represent a smashing victory for the Tea Party and a crushing defeat for Democrats -- and more of the same coming down the pike. But at least Congress will be able to recess on time next week.

More at the Salon link.

A compilation of porn videos - without the porn

YouTube link.

"Pretty wild narcissistic numbers"

A pretty wild narcissistic number is an integer N that can be represented by mathematically manipulating its digits (in order) using only the arithmetical operations of + - x ÷  ^  √  ! .

Examples shown above, for those who enjoy recreational mathematics.   Found at archery, which has a link to many more examples.