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Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Thursday, September 10, 2015

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1419 John the Fearless is murdered at Montereau, France, by supporters of the dauphine.
1547 The Duke of Somerset leads the English to a resounding victory over the Scots at Pinkie Cleugh.
1588 Thomas Cavendish returns to England, becoming the third man to circumnavigate the globe.
1623 Lumber and furs are the first cargo to leave New Plymouth in North America for England.
1813 The nine-ship American flotilla under Oliver Hazard Perry wrests naval supremacy from the British on Lake Erie by capturing or destroying a force of six English vessels.
1846 Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine in the United States.
1855 Sevastopol, under siege for nearly a year, capitulates to the Allies during the Crimean War.
1861 Confederates at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia, fall back after being attacked by Union troops. The action is instrumental in helping preserve western Virginia for the Union.
1912 J. Vedrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier.
1914 The six-day Battle of the Marne ends, halting the German advance into France.
1923 In response to a dispute with Yugoslavia, Mussolini mobilizes Italian troops on Serb front.
1961 Jomo Kenyatta returns to Kenya from exile, during which he had been elected president of the Kenya National African Union.
1963 President John F. Kennedy federalizes Alabama’s National Guard to prevent Governor George C. Wallace from using guardsmen to stop public-school desegregation.
1967 Gibraltar votes to remain a British dependency instead of becoming part of Spain.
1974 Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese Guinea) gains independence from Portugal.
1981 Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica is returned to Spain and installed in Madrid’s Prado Museum. Picasso stated in his will that the painting was not to return to Spain until the Fascists lost power and democracy was restored.
2001 Contestant Charles Ingram cheats on the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, wins 1 million pounds.
2003 Sweden’s foreign minister, Anna Lindh, is stabbed while shopping and dies the next day.
2007 Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister of Pakistan, returns after 7 years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.
2008 The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator—described as the biggest scientific experiment in history—is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.

Baconfest Was Everything It Was Cracked Up to Be

Did you know last Saturday was International Bacon Day? You would have if you went to the San Diego Baconfest that we previously wrote about. While they didn't feature any of the utterly insane bacon treats we wrote about a few weeks back, there were certainly some that could match them.
Upon entertaining the event, we were greeted by sampling booths by Hormel's Black Label Bacon -the event's biggest sponsor. While their bacon is good (particularly the jalapeno bacon that strangely tastes a bit like beef jerky), it was still the weakest part of the festival -even if you could just get handfuls of plain bacon to munch on. After all, if there's one thing better than bacon, it's bacon with other yumminess.
The festival was a lot bigger than I expected it to be -and a lot more crowded. In fact, it actually sold out the morning before the event. Even with the long lines though, there was still plenty of bacony goodness for all. My friend even figured out that there was something like 40 food and beer vendors.
Of course, even with all those vendors and lines, not everyone could be popular. While there's nothing wrong with the idea of having fresh organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your door, a festival dedicated to greasy, cholesterol-filled meat might not be the best place to advertise it.
One of the first bacon treats we encountered was actually one of our group's favorites from the whole event. The maple bourbon bacon stick was actually a thick slab of pork belly with a maple bacon sauce over it. It was heaven on a stick. Neatorama has more.

If Hollywood Age Gaps Were Gender-Swapped


Will Smith, 46 is paired with Margot Robbie, 25, in Focus
The age gaps of male and female couples in film has been a topic of debate in the last year. Actresses have commented about their frustration over being declared "too old" to play love interests to comparably aged or slightly older male actors. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal told The Wrap magazine:
“There are things that are really disappointing about being an actress in Hollywood that surprise me all the time. I’m 37 and I was told recently I was too old to play the lover of a man who was 55. It was astonishing to me. It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh.”
Actress Emma Thompson told Vulture:
“I remember somebody saying to me that I was too old for Hugh Grant, who’s like a year younger than me, in Sense and Sensibility. I said, ‘Do you want to go take a flying leap?’”
The article linked below is an interesting collection of pictures that turns the tables on gender in Hollywood love interest age gaps. Some of the comparison photos are shown here; see the rest at BuzzFeed.

A gender switch of that age gap would pair Smith with a woman born in 1947, such as Glenn Close

Why are American workers so afraid to take a vacation?

Workaholic woman surrounded by work (Shutterstock)
Four in ten Americans do not use all of their paid vacation days and overall leave about 169 million days on the table each year.



Texas lawyer exposes religious hiring test for peace officers: County only wanted baptist constables

A Texas judge ruled last week that a case against Williamson County could go forward after a job applicant claimed that commissioners had a religious test for constable jobs.

The 12 Cognitive Biases That Challenge Our Good Judgment


No matter how intelligent one is, we all are susceptible to glitches in our thought process known as cognitive biases. Psychologists define cognitive bias in the following way:
"A cognitive bias is a type of error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them. Cognitive biases are often a result of our attempt to simplify information processing. They are rules of thumb that help us make sense of the world and reach decisions with relative speed. Unfortunately, these biases sometimes trip us up, leading to poor decisions and bad judgments."
One such cognitive bias is something we may experience after splurging on items that we don't necessarily need and/or can't quite afford. You know the thought process that is your mind attempting to justify such a dubious purchase, all the while making major stretches? That is the aptly named cognitive bias known as "post-purchase rationalization." This is a method of making ourselves feel better after poor decisions, particularly as consumers.

Former US catholics can’t imagine returning

By Abby Ohlheiser
Most Americans who were raised catholic but have since left the cult could not envision themselves returning to it, according to a new Pew Research Center survey examining American catholics and family life. The survey’s findings were released Wednesday, weeks before Pope Francis makes his first visit to the United States, and as catholic leadership contends with dramatic demographic shifts.
Seventy-seven percent of those who were raised catholic but no longer identify with the delusion said they could not envision themselves eventually returning to the cult, according to the Pew survey. The survey also examined U.S. catholics’ views on issues such as divorce, same-sex marriage and sinful behavior, finding an openness for non-traditional family structures.
Although catholics have long made up about a quarter of the U.S. population, recent data has shown that percentage dropping. In 2007, 23.9 percent of Americans identified as catholic. In 2014, 20.8 percent of Americans said the same, according to previous survey results from Pew.
But the new survey illustrates something else about catholic life in the United States: while the percentage of Americans who may identify their delusion as catholicism is dropping, a much larger group of Americans identify as catholic in some way.
In all, 45 percent of Americans say they are either catholic, or are connected to catholicism. That larger percentage includes “cultural catholics” (making up nine percent of those surveyed) who are not practicing catholics but who identify with the religion in some way; and “ex-catholics” (also nine percent) who were formerly catholic but no longer identify with catholicism at all. And another eight percent said they had some other connection to catholicism, for instance by having a catholic partner or spouse. For the purposes of the survey, Pew kept each category mutually exclusive.
According to the survey, about half of those who were raised catholic end up leaving at some point, while about 11 percent of those who left have since returned.
The breakdown provides an interesting look at the cultural reach of catholicism, beyond those who would call themselves members of the religion. For instance, the survey also found that 8 in 10 American Latinos have some direct connection to catholicism, whether as a current practicing catholic, as an ex-catholic, or otherwise.
The study also sheds some light on how catholic American attitudes on family, sex, and marriage compare with church teaching. When asked whether they believed the church should change its position on a variety of issues, a very large percentage of religiously identified catholics — 76 percent — expressed a desire to see the cult allow the use of birth control. Sixty-two percent felt that the cult should allow priests to marry, and about the same percentage thought that the church should allow divorced and cohabitation couples to receive communion.
Fifty-nine percent of catholics surveyed thought women should be allowed to become priests. Meanwhile, just 46 percent of catholics believe the cult should recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
Among those catholics who attend mass weekly, support for these changes was lower overall. But Pew notes that even among this particular population, two-thirds of mass-going catholics think the cult should relax its prohibition on contraceptives.
Overall, cultural catholics were more supportive of the changes named by the survey, while ex-catholics were more supportive of allowing priests to marry, and for women to become priests.
Although an overwhelming majority of catholics (9 in 10) believe in the concept of sin, they don’t seem to agree on what, precisely, constitutes one. Fifty-seven percent of catholics think it’s a sin to have an abortion, compared to 48 percent of the general U.S. population who say the same. Forty-four percent think homosexual behavior is sinful (about the same say this among the general public). And just 17 percent of catholics believe its a sin to use contraceptives, while 21 percent say the same of getting a divorce.
And although those percentages are higher for those who attend mass weekly — 73 percent of weekly cult-goers say that abortion is a sin, for instance — the numbers are still pretty low on the issue of contraception: just 31 percent of weekly mass attendees say the use of artificial contraception is a sin.
Despite those disagreements between U.S. catholics and cult 'teaching', the poll does not indicate that a change in that 'teaching' would lead more catholics to “revert” to their delusion than do already.
Cultural and ex- catholics gave a variety of answers when asked why they decided to leave catholicism, and no consensus emerges from those reasons that could point to any one factor driving away those who were raised catholic from the delusion. A 2008 Pew study asked a similar question, and found that fewer than one in four catholics said that the rule banning priests from marrying was an important reason for leaving catholicism. About 3 in 10 said that the cult’s 'teachings' on abortion and remarriage were important.
Far more common, in that 2008 survey, were those who said they simply stopped believing the cult’s overall 'teachings', or gradually drifted away from catholicism, or said that their spiritual needs weren’t being met.
The latest survey finds clearer answers for why “cultural catholics” identify with the religion in some non-religious way — 59 percent of those who were raised catholic or have a catholic parent cite this familial connection as the reason they are tied to the cult. Cultural catholics without a parental connection cite a variety of reasons, including having a catholic spouse (15 percent), a general affiliation with christian delusions or practices (nine percent) or the idea that their delusion is rooted in catholicism (15 percent).
The 2015 Pew survey was conducted between May 5 and June 7 among a national sample of 5,122 adults reached on conventional cellular phones, including 1,016 catholics. The margin of sampling error for results among catholics is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; the error margin is 5.5 points among the sample of 425 “cultural catholics” and among the sample of 413 “ex-catholics.”

Spilled beer led to fatal shooting at gas station

One man is dead after a shooting at a gas station in Sauget, Illinois, early on Saturday. Police identified the victim as Oscar C. Carbajal, 26, of St. Louis.
Sauget Police Chief Patrick Delaney called the killing senseless. Delaney gave this account of what happened: At 5:20am three men were standing in the walk-up line at the liquor store to purchase a 12-pack of beer. After they bought the beer, a man pumping gas walked over and asked for a can.
The men told him he would have to pay for it. One of the men dropped a beer and it sprayed on the shoe of the man who had asked for a can. The man whose shoe got sprayed went back to his car, then returned to the walk-up window, pulled out a gun and shot Carbajal. He then fled. "You talk about a senseless killing," Delaney said.
"The victim wasn't the one who dropped the beer. You can only assume he was upset that they wouldn't give him a beer or that it was over the spilled beer on his shoes." The gunman's picture was captured on surveillance footage from security cameras on the site. He left in a dark blue Ford Fusion, police said. Images from the security cameras are expected to be released later.
There's a news video here.

No charges for female motorist who jumped out of moving car that rolled into oncoming traffic

A woman from San Bernardino in Orange County, California, abruptly stopped her car along a major street, abandoned the vehicle and allowed it to roll into the path of oncoming traffic in an unusual crash that was captured on video. The incident, which took place at about 3:45pm on Tuesday was recorded by a dashboard camera.
As depicted in the video, the woman was at the wheel of a 2010 Hyundai Sonata heading downhill along a major thoroughfare when the car suddenly came to a screeching halt. The driver exited the car and walked away casually, allowing the Hyundai to continue rolling. The Hyundai crossed over a central divider and into oncoming traffic lanes, where it collided with an SUV.
Another SUV then became caught up in the wreck as well before the driverless Hyundai continued to the side of the road before striking two trees, according to an officer from the CHP’s Santa Fe Springs area office. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved in the crash reported only minor injuries, officials said.

The driver of the Hyundai, identified as 22-year-old Jasmine Lacey of San Bernardino, was taken to a hospital for “a non injury-related reason” before CHP officers arrived on scene. “(Lacey) was later contacted and identified at St. Jude Medical Center facility and, after investigation of the traffic collision, was arrested for DUI,” a CHP officer said. But Lacey was released from custody early on Saturday due to insufficient evidence to support a criminal complaint, according to Los Angeles County booking records.

Oliver Corrects Teachers Who Tell Kids They’ll Need Math As Adults

Native American Student Contradicts History Prof Who Denied Indian Genocide, Is Bullied By Him

Chiitaanibah Johnson stood up to her professor's bullyingChiitaanibah Johnson stood up to her professor’s dismissal of the genocide of Native Americans and was kicked out of his class. Now the University is investigating. Good.

Man accused of carving name into Alamo wall, causing $250K in damage

by Anusha Ghosh Roy
The shrine of Texas liberty became the target of a vandal.
A man is accused of using a car key to carve his name inside the Alamo.
San Antonio police said Julio Perez, 22, scratched his name inside the Monks' Burial Room, damaging the newly designated World Heritage Site.
"Many Texans died here fighting for the independence of Texas. We don't take it lightly when someone comes and desecrates this area," Chief Mark Adkins with the Alamo Rangers said.
The Alamo is more than 250 years old. The Monks' Burial Room is cordoned off for the investigation. The three inch by one inch carving left around $250,000 of damage, according to the police report.
The Alamo was open when the wall was damaged, which is how investigators believe Perez got inside.
According to the police report, a tour guide spotted Perez and alerted the Alamo Rangers, who are in charge of security. They held Perez until San Antonio Police arrested him.
Perez is now facing charges of second degree felony criminal mischief.
Preservation experts are working on a plan to fix the damage.

Filtering the carbon from coal

1441389448923Filtering the carbon from coal

Despite gains by natural gas, wind and solar, coal remains the top electricity producer in the United States. Accordingly, interest is strong in developing technology that curbs unwanted effects, such […]

Here’s How Many People Already Die Each Year Because The Climate Changed

The climate has already changed.
The climate has already changed.
Read more

'Superhenge' of 90 buried stones discovered near Stonehenge

Move over, Stonehenge. 
A collection of up to 90 stones dating back thousands of years has been discovered beneath the Durrington Walls 'superhenge' monument.
The stones, which may originally have stood 4.5 meters (14 ft) in height, were found buried under Durrington Walls—a 4,500 year-old stone bank located around 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire, southwest England.
'Superhenge' of 90 buried stones discovered near Stonehenge

In a galaxy far, far away ...

13.2 billion-year-old galaxy detected by NASA


Police hunt burglars accused of tricking family's dog into eating broken glass

Police in California, are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying two suspects who broke into a Fremont residence and injured the residents’ dog by feeding it shattered glass last Friday. A resident of a house called Fremont police at 1:30pm to report a burglary and animal cruelty incident that had occurred at 9:45am and was filmed on the residence’s private video surveillance.
At least two suspects jumped the side fence into the backyard of the residence. The suspects looked through windows and eventually shattered the locked sliding glass door with an unknown object. They then entered the house and ransacked several rooms, stealing money and an estimated $2,000 worth of jewellery, according to police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques.

In addition, the suspects allegedly served cookies to the family’s dog on top of the shattered glass. The dog ate the food, which caused injuries to the dog’s tongue and caused its mouth to bleed. The dog is still under medical care but is expected to recover, according to Bosques. Police describe the first suspect as a Hispanic man who is 18 to 25 years old, between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build, is about 170 to 185 pounds and has short dark hair and a distinctive goatee.

The suspect was wearing a plain white T-shirt, tan cargo pants and black mechanic gloves during the burglary. A second suspect was also momentarily visible during the video footage, but not long enough for a description, police said. Fremont police urged anyone with information on the case or who may recognize the men to contact them. “We would really love for as many people as possible to view and share the video and information,” Bosques said. “We are grateful for any help in resolving this case.”

Bear Cub Wants to Play

This adorable grizzly cub, while a little unsteady yet in his two-footed gait, seems interested in playfully interacting with the photographer as he passes by. It almost looks as if the cub is motioning for him to come over. Luckily the photographer is well aware that meeting mama grizzly in that situation is hardly advisable.

Animal Pictures