The Daily Drift

Just so you know ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 200 countries around the world daily.   

Any questions ... !

Today is  -  Be A Dork Day 
 

Don't forget to visit our sister blog: It Is What It Is

Some of our reader today have been in:

The Americas

Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Bridgetown, Barbados

Britannia, L'ancienne-Lorette, Ottawa, Fort Saint John and Toronto, Canada

Tipitapa, Nicaragua

Medellin, Colombia

Guatemala, City, Guatemala

Santiago, Chile

Huacho, Peru

Europe

Bratislava, Slovakia

Stockholm and Karlskrona, Sweden

Lisbon, Portugal

Vantaa, Finland

Ravenna, Naples, Treviso, Milan and Terlizzi, Italy

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Warsaw, Poland

London, Spalding, Rochdale, Bournemouth, Leeds, Hebburn and Manchester, England

Vincennes, Boulogne-Billancourt, Cerny and Magenta, France

Kharkiv, Ukraine

Brussels, Belgium

Ryazan and Moscow, Russia

Eschborn, Germany

Madrid and San Juan De Alicante, Spain

Dublin, Ireland

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bucharest, Romania

Naxos, Greece

Reykjavik, Iceland

Asia

Beirut, Lebanon

Bikaner, Pondicherry, Patna, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai, Coimbatore and Kolkata, India

Jakarta, and Bandung, Indonesia

Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Bayan Lepas and Balakong, Malaysia

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Tehran, Iran

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Bangkok, Thailand

Africa 

Sousse, Tunisia

Dakar, Senegal

Lagos, Nigeria

Mogadishu, Somalia

Rabat, Morocco

The Pacific

Adelaide, Sydney and Subiaco, Australia

Today in History

1099		Jerusalem falls to the Crusaders.
1410		Poles and Lithuanians defeat the Teutonic knights at Tannenburg, Prussia.
1685		The Duke of Monmouth is executed in Tower Hill in England.
1789		The electors of Paris set up a "Commune" to live without the authority of the government.
1806		Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins his western expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine.
1813		Napoleon Bonaparte's representatives meet with the Allies in Prague to discuss peace terms.
1834		Lord Napier of England arrives at Macao, China, as the first chief superintendent of trade.
1863		Confederate raider Bill Anderson and his Bushwackers attack Huntsville, Missouri, stealing $45,000 from the local bank.
1895		Ex-prime minister of Bulgaria, Stephen Stambulov, is murdered by Macedonian rebels.
1901		Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers go on strike.
1938		Howard Huges and crew set a new world record for an around-the-world flight.
1942		The first supply flight from India to China over the 'Hump' is flown.
1958		President Dwight Eisenhower sends 5,000 Marines to Lebanon to keep the peace.
1960		John F. Kennedy accepts the Democratic nomination for president.

Non Sequitur

Unusual Pools

Take a Dip in These Unusual Pools: Photos

These odd bodies of water offer relief with a twist for the sweltering summer masses.

Did you know ...

That states that raised their minimum wage experience faster job growth

About how lunatic fringe wingnut extremists took over Texas

About the danger of conflating criticism of Israel with anti-sematism

About the troubling world of corporate 'christianity'

About Darth Cheney's campaign for Iraq war 3
That more than half of repugican cabal governors are climate deniers
That Democrats introduced a bill that could lead to SCOTUS impeachment
That trophy wives may not be a thing

A Missouri town discovers tourists don't like hanging around gun nuts
That Los Angeles is the wage theft capital of the united states
About the plunder of Detroit and iraq

That school kids are being restrained against their will
Here's inside the Koch brothers' secret billionaire conference
That the majority of the country don't need to hear from Sarah Palin anymore
About the alcoholic judges of broward county

That privatized education steals from the poor and gives to the rich
That the FBI under-reports rapes
That one quarter of America lives in high-poverty neighborhoods
Here physicists explain why your earphones are always tangled

That natural history is dying, and we are all poorer for it

About the rise of DIY abortion in Texas

About how wingnuts could make Elizabeth Warren president

About the bird that paints its eggs with bacteria

The Truth Be Told

Founder Of gun nuts cabal Wants President Obama Assassinated

On Saturday, Kathy Perkins, the founder of a gun rights advocacy group known as Moms With Guns Demand Action, posted a photo on her Facebook page with a caption that read, “Where is an assassin when you need one?” The photo came from Faux and Friends First, Faux News’ weekend morning gabfest. The image showed President Obama eating BBQ in Texas alongside a photo of Governor Rick Perry riding on a border patrol boat. Perkins has since deleted the post. However, Alan Colmes’ website Liberaland was able to get a screengrab of it before she took it down.

Wow. What’s even more interesting than Perkins openly asking for someone to kill the President is that one person told Perkins to “message me later” in order to get more info on an assassin. It seems that Perkins and the lunatics she associates with are living in a twisted fantasy world where it is perfectly okay to publicly discuss the assassination of the nation’s leader.

While Perkins did take down the Facebook post, she attempted to defend herself somewhat with another Facebook post on the group’s Facebook page. Early Sunday morning she posted a private message she received from someone criticizing her regarding her advocacy for assassination. For some reason, Perkins thought the person’s message was extremely “vile, violent” and “evil,” and mocked him for contradicting the “non-violent camp’s” mindset. The person didn’t advocate violence but did use some strong language. Instead, his hope is that Ms. Perkins is visited by the Secret Service.

Moms With Guns Demand Action is a hackneyed attempt by Perkins to latch onto the notoriety and exposure that the gun control advocacy group, Moms Demand Action, has attained. Just like other open carry and gun nut cabals, Perkins’ group is targeting MDA due to their ever-growing national presence. The hope is that by setting herself up as an opponent of MDA, she can maybe get herself some interviews on Faux News or other wingnut media outlets. Perhaps she can even sell some merchandise while she’s at it as her website offers lots of options, such as t-shirts, baseball caps and beer koozies.

I guess Perkins got her wish fulfilled. She’s now received notoriety. Of course, that notoriety is going to come with a visit from the Secret Service. Even if nothing happens on that front, she’s exposed herself as being someone not to be taken seriously. Instead of being a “TRUE stay at home mom” who is “an advocate for women, children, and all abuse victims,” she’ll now be known as another tinfoil hat wearing crazy who thinks Obama needs to be taken down before he comes and rounds up all the guns and places all the 'true patriots' in FEMA reeducation camps.

The BBC is instructing its editors and producers to stop striving for "false balance"

The BBC is instructing its editors and producers to stop striving for "false balance" by booking so many anti-science and climate-denying commentators. "Audiences should be able to understand from the context and clarity of the BBC's output what weight to give to critical voices," a company report stated.

Well, at least one news source is getting smarter

Taliban survivor Malala in Nigeria, pledges to help free girls

Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai speaks during a meeting with the leaders of the #BringBackOurGirls …

by Abraham Terngu

Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, has pledged while on a trip to Nigeria to help free a group of school girls abducted by Islamist militants.

On Sunday, 16-year-old Malala met with parents of the more than 200 girls who were kidnapped by militant group Boko Haram from a school in the northeastern village of Chibok in April.

Boko Haram, a Taliban-inspired movement, say they are fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria. The group, whose name means "Western education is sinful", has killed thousands and abducted hundreds since launching an uprising in 2009.

Some of the parents broke down into tears as Malala spoke at a hotel in the capital Abuja on Sunday.

"I can see those girls as my sisters ... and I'm going to speak up for them until they are released," said Malala, who celebrates her 17th birthday on Monday in Nigeria, where she is scheduled to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan.

"I'm going to participate actively in the 'bring back our girls' campaign to make sure that they return safely and they continue their education."

The girls' abduction drew unprecedented international attention to the war in Nigeria's northeast and the growing security risk that Boko Haram poses to Nigeria, Africa's leading energy producer.

A #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign supported by Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie heaped pressure on authorities to act, and President Jonathan pledged to save the girls, drawing promises of Western help to do so.

But several weeks on the hostages have not yet been freed and media interest has waned.

In addition, Boko Haram, now considered as the main security threat to Nigeria, is growing bolder. Police said on Saturday they uncovered a plot to bomb the Abuja transport network using suicide bombers and devices concealed in luggage at major bus stations.

"I can feel ... the circumstances under which you are suffering," she said. "It's quite difficult for a parent to know that their daughter is in great danger. My birthday wish this year is.. bring back our girls now and alive."

Taliban militants shot Malala for her outspoken views on women's right to education. She survived after being airlifted to Britain for treatment and has since become a symbol of defiance against militants operating in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

She has won the European Union's prestigious human rights award and was one of the favorites to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year, although the award ended up going to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Studies show folks who read are easier to get along with

This cute article on Elite Daily references a few studies demonstrating that people who read more have a deeper understanding of a wider range of life experience.

Finding someone who reads is like dating a thousand souls. It’s gaining the experience they’ve gained from everything they’ve ever read and the wisdom that comes with those experiences. It’s like dating a professor, a romantic and an explorer.

This should not serve as an invitation to interrupt me while I am reading.

The Truth Hurts

That Awkward Silence

What Makes Awkward Silence So, Well, Awkward?

We've all been there. Someone says something and them whooosh! Drop. Dead. Silence. What happens to the poor speaker of the words that caused the silence, as the agonizing dearth of noise unfolds? 

Feeding Bad Dreams

Can Certain Foods Trigger Bad Dreams?

Does sugar give you nightmares? What about eating some pasta or pizza? Will they have you sitting up straight in fear? Laci takes a look at the relationship between food and our shut-eye. 

Cycling Harmful?

Is Cycling Harmful for Men?

There's no question that cycling has major health benefits, putting your whole body into workout mode. But the debate rages on about whether all of that pedaling can cause a number of serious maladies in men. 

VR or Drugs?

Does Virtual Reality Beat Drugs at the Dentist?

Instead of getting hopped up on pain meds at the dentist, one day you may be able to just ask for "VR" instead.

Random Photos

Seattle's first legal pot shop runs out of marijuana

by Bryan Cohen

Employer offers first Spokane marijuana customer his job back

Seattle's first and only recreational marijuana store had to close on Friday after running out of stock in just three days since Washington became the second U.S. state to allow pot sales to adults.

Cannabis City opened in Seattle on Tuesday with at least 10 pounds (4.5 kgs) of marijuana for sale, and by close of business Thursday it was all gone. A message on the store's phone line said it would re-open on July 21.

There were widespread concerns that shortages of pot would afflict retailers this week after the state issued its first 25 licenses to outlets, under a heavily regulated and taxed system approved by voters in November 2012.

Some business owners planned to limit the amount of marijuana early customers could buy to try to make stocks last.

Amber McGowan, manager at Cannabis City, told Reuters on Thursday the store would likely not have enough inventory to stay open for all of its regularly scheduled business hours until a delivery that was due next week.

She said the shop was only able to stay open as long as it had by limiting customers to 0.2 ounces (six grams) per purchase, rather than the legal limit of 1.0 ounce (28 grams).

The roll-out of recreational sales in Colorado and then Washington comes as a broader trend of liberalization and pro-pot activism takes hold in the United States.

Progress in Washington has been slow, however, with state regulators still processing more than 300 license applications, and approved growers producing only limited harvests so far.

Industry insiders say the shortages are likely to be only temporary, caused in part by the short notice many retailers had to prepare for opening, and a surge of pent-up demand.

This week, Colorado estimated that state's total marijuana demand for this year at 130 tons.

"A year from now, product is likely going to be far more available," said Sean Green, chief executive officer of Kouchlock Productions, a marijuana producer in Washington.

Another local supplier, Wow Weed, said they were trying to help the stores, but that there was only so much they could do.

"We have been hearing from retailers off the hook. My voice mail is full every single day," said Wow's Susy Wilson. "It's the same people calling over and over, hoping I'll pull something out of thin air."

Frustrated consumers in Seattle, a city of some 630,000 people, made light of the shortages, with one Twitter user urging outlets to adopt a green "Pot Light" system for their windows to show they had stock - similar to the Hot Light employed by a well-known donut brand.

Underwear thief made getaway in ice cream truck

A woman accused of stealing two pairs of underwear from a Dollar General store in Rock Hill, South Carolina, made her getaway in an ice cream truck.

Police say the 34-year-old shoplifting suspect put the undergarments in her purse on Thursday afternoon and then walked out of the store without paying.
She then fled in a white ice cream truck. The underwear is valued at $13. An officer was familiar with a woman matching the suspect's description who operated an ice cream truck.
Police went to the woman's home and told her she was caught on surveillance video stealing from Dollar General. Lessa Iannone was arrested and charged with shoplifting and held at the Rock Hill Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Burglar left home cleaner than before breaking in

An woman from Athens, Georgia, reported that when she returned to her home on Wednesday afternoon she found it had been burgled and also cleaner than how she’d left it, Athens-Clarke County police said. Sometime between 9:30am and 3:40pm someone entered the woman’s trailer at the Athens Mobile Home Court by removing a window screen.

The woman said after checking around, the only thing that seemed to be missing was a set of headphones valued at $85. She also discovered the kitchen floor was mopped, her cat’s litter box was cleaned, and trash was bagged and placed outside. The woman found items the burglar left in her home, including some pans, coffee mugs and a jar of instant coffee.

She told police “it was very odd to her that someone would break in and clean her kitchen,” according to an incident report. The woman told police the only person she could think of that might be responsible was a 26-year-old man she recently allowed to spend a night in her home. She said she did know the man well, and was acquainted with him through friends with whom she used to hang out and do drugs.
The man showed up at her home on Sunday night, drunk and possibly high, and she let him in after he banged on her window. She allowed him to spend the night. When he left on Monday he told the woman he was going to check into a rehab programme. The woman recalled that during his brief stay the man had mentioned her home needed a cleaning. She only learned the man’s last name because he left behind documents from a criminal case he had in Oconee County.

Poltergeist in couple's home turned out to be woman on a meth rampage

Police say a Seattle couple called 911 on Wednesday night after returning to their condo to find remnants of what appeared to be "paranormal activity." The couple said the condo had been ransacked and someone, or something, had torn open their mail, spread clothes throughout the house and smeared lotion on a door handle.
If that wasn't bizarre enough, the couple said the soles of their shoes had been removed and a single screw had been screwed into a piece of scrap wood and crammed into space between a door and and its frame. An upside down can of paint had also mysteriously appeared on their toilet. The only clue the couple had to work with was an unknown purse found on their bed. Inside the purse was a 27-year-old woman's ID card. Officers searched the condo for obvious signs of a break in, but they found none.

The only other way to get inside the home would have been to shimmy up a tree and climb through a window, police said. Baffled, the officers dusted for fingerprints, but once again came up empty. The couple said nothing appeared to have been stolen, save for $50 in cash, so the stumped officers returned to the West Precinct to document the spooky case. But a short time later the couple called police yet again to say they had been hearing noises coming from underneath their bed.
"Now facing the possibility of having to figure out how to arrest a poltergeist, officers dutifully sped back to the University District condo," police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee said. The officers arrived in time to see a 27-year-old woman emerge from the couple's bedroom. The woman, who turned out to be the owner of the mysterious purse, appeared to be having a panic attack, according to police. Officers called medics to treat the woman, at which point she told them she had been on a "meth rampage" for several days and had broken into several homes in the neighborhood. Officers arrested the woman and booked her into King County Jail for investigation of burglary.

Ziggy

The Vikings

Contrary to what the stereotype Continental Europeans demonized them with ...
The vikings were clean people who bathed often, combed their hair and washed their clothes.
They actually created a strong soap that not only cleaned the hair, but also bleached it.
Vikings bleached their hair since blond hair was highly sought after in the Viking World. 

Roman Art

Ancient Graffiti to Street Art: Rome Tells Its Story

From wealthy neighborhoods in the city's north to working class suburbs in the south, Romans are not shy about scrawling on walls.

Photos: Rome's Street Art Has International Flair

In a city where fine arts academies abound, graffiti is both technical and gorgeous. 

Aboriginal Star Maps

Star Maps Used by Aboriginals for Night Routes

Oral histories reveal that Aboriginal language groups have uses specific stars to remember way-points while traveling. 

The 'Anticrystal'

Researchers Consider the ‘Anticrystal’

For the last century, the concept of crystals has been […]

Daily Comic Relief

The Awful Reason Florida Is Bulldozing One of the World’s Rarest Forests

by Kristina Bravo

The lush tropical canopies of pine rocklands exist only in South Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. But soon the Sunshine State will lose some of its remaining tracts of the imperiled ecosystem in Miami-Dade County, expelling wildlife and rare flora to make room for a new tenant: Walmart.

This month the University of Miami sold 88 acres of rockland to Ram, a Palm Beach County–based developer known for building strip malls and residential complexes. The Miami Herald reports that the company has allotted space for 900 apartments and 185,000 square feet for a Walmart, in addition to a Chick-fil-A, a Chili’s, and a fitness center.

Before the sale, the university and the developer agreed to preserve 40 acres of rockland. For environmentalists, it’s not nearly enough.

“You wonder how things end up being endangered? This is how,” Dennis Olle, a lawyer and a board member of Tropical Audubon and the North American Butterfly Association, told The Miami Herald. “This is bad policy and bad enforcement. And shame on UM.”

“County officials say they...are hamstrung by an ordinance that allows them to require forest protection only when the land is developed,” the paper reports. Meanwhile, scientists and wildlife organizations have been collecting and saving plants before the project gets started as part of an ordinance to preserve forestlands. They found troves of rare plants and butterflies.

“There was so much material there that we had to kind of prioritize,” field biologist Jennifer Possley told the paper.

Tropical Audubon and the North American Butterfly Association have called for an investigation. According to federal officials, they’re keeping an eye on the development.

“Our listed plants are very rare, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that so little habitat remains. So we certainly place a great value on these species’ conservation,” said Craig W. Aubrey, a field advisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Only 2 percent of South Florida’s once vast savanna survives. According to CEO Casey Cummings, Ram selected the land because it presented a “unique chance to create...a place where people can easily walk from the neighborhood to shops and elsewhere.”

The World's 7 Most Amazing Artificial Reefs

Human intrusion into the deep ocean isn't usually a good thing but in the case of artificial reefs, we're actually doing seafloor creatures a favor. An artificial reef is a human-made underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, control erosion, block ship passage, or improve surfing.

A Real Life Fox and Hound Story

YouTube Link

This fox was found malnourished and minus his tail at age four weeks. The vets who treated him dubbed him "Forrest Stump." Wildlife ranger Gary Zammit, employed by Feadon Farm Wildlife Centre at Gwel an Mor in Cornwall, England, was known in the area for his conservation work and his appreciation for foxes. Tipped off about Forrest, Zammit gave him a home at the wildlife center.

Forrest the tailless fox became fast friends with Barney, Zammit's (mostly) tailless dog. The adorable duo loves to spend their days together at play. Said Zammit,

"It really was love at first sight with them both. Barney is so gentle with him and they play for hours and hours. They are exhausting to watch. I think they might be kindred spirits - even without tails to wag you can tell they are happiest when they are together!"

To learn more about Forrest and see additional videos, visit the "Meet Forrest Stump" section of the Gwel an Mor website, as well as their Facebook page.

Animal Pictures