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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Saturday, December 12, 2015

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.
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Today in History

1753 George Washington, the adjutant of Virginia, delivers an ultimatum to the French forces at Fort Le Boeuf, south of Lake Erie, reiterating Britain’s claim to the entire Ohio River valley.
1770 The British soldiers responsible for the "Boston Massacre" are acquitted on murder charges.
1862 The Union loses its first ship to a torpedo, USS Cairo, in the Yazoo River.
1863 Orders are given in Richmond, Virginia, that no more supplies from the Union should be received by Federal prisoners.
1901 Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio transmission in St. John’s Newfoundland.
1927 Communists forces seize Canton, China.
1930 The Spanish Civil War begins as rebels take a border town.
1930 The last Allied troops withdraw from the Saar region in Germany.
1931 Under pressure from the Communists in Canton, Chiang Kai-shek resigns as president of the Nanking Government but remains the head of the Nationalist government that holds nominal rule over most of China.
1943 The German Army launches Operation Winter Tempest, the relief of the Sixth Army trapped in Stalingrad.
1943 The exiled Czech government signs a treaty with the Soviet Union for postwar cooperation.
1956 The United Nations calls for immediate Soviet withdrawal from Hungary.
1964 Kenya becomes a republic.
1964 Three Buddhist leaders begin a hunger strike to protest the government in Saigon.
1967 The United States ends the airlift of 6,500 men in Vietnam.
1979 South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan, acting without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa, alleging that the chief of staff was involved in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
1985 Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff at Gander, Newfoundland; among the 256 dead are 236 members of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
1991 The Russian Federation becomes independent from the USSR.
1995 Willie Brown beats incumbent mayor Frank Jordon to become the first African-American mayor of San Francisco.
2000 The US Supreme Court announces its decision in the shrub v. Gore, effectively ending legal changes to the results of that year’s Presidential election.

10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America

by Mark Manson
Wundervisuals Imagine you have a brother and he’s an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your distance from him. You don’t mind him for the occasional family gathering or holiday. You still love him. But you don’t want to be around him.
This is how I lovingly describe my current relationship with the United States. The United States is my alcoholic brother. And although I will always love him, I don’t want to be near him at the moment.
I know that’s harsh, but I really feel my home country is not in a good place these days. That’s not a socio-economic statement (although that’s on the decline as well), but rather a cultural one.
I realize it’s going to be impossible to write sentences like the ones above without coming across as a raging prick, so let me try to soften the blow to my American readers with an analogy:
You know when you move out of your parents’ house and live on your own, how you start hanging out with your friends’ families and you realize that actually, your family was a little screwed up? Stuff you always assumed was normal your entire childhood, it turns out was pretty weird and may have actually fucked you up a little bit. You know, dad thinking it was funny to wear a Santa Claus hat in his underwear every Christmas or the fact that you and your sister slept in the same bed until you were 22, or that your mother routinely cried over a bottle of wine while listening to Elton John.
The point is we don’t really get perspective on what’s close to us until we spend time away from it. Just like you didn’t realize the weird quirks and nuances of your family until you left and spent time with others, the same is true for country and culture. You often don’t see what’s messed up about your country and culture until you step outside of it.
And so even though this article is going to come across as fairly scathing, I want my American readers to know: some of the stuff we do, some of the stuff that we always assumed was normal, it’s kind of screwed up. And that’s OK. Because that’s true with every culture. It’s just easier to spot it in others (i.e., the French) so we don’t always notice it in ourselves.
So as you read this article, know that I’m saying everything with tough love, the same tough love with which I’d sit down and lecture an alcoholic family member. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It doesn’t mean there aren’t some awesome things about you (BRO, THAT’S AWESOME!!!). And it doesn’t mean I’m some saint either, because god knows I’m pretty screwed up (I’m American, after all). There are just a few things you need to hear. And as a friend, I’m going to tell them to you.
And to my foreign readers, get your necks ready, because this is going to be a nod-a-thon.
A Little “What The Hell Does This Guy Know?” Background: I’ve lived in different parts of the US, both the deep south and the northeast. I have visited most of the US’s 50 states. I’ve spent the past three years living almost entirely outside of the United States. I’ve lived in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and South America. I’ve visited over 40 countries in all and have spent far more time with non-Americans than with Americans during this period. I speak multiple languages. I’m not a tourist. I don’t stay in resorts and rarely stay in hostels. I rent apartments and try to integrate myself into each country I visit as much as possible. So there.
(Note: I realize these are generalizations and I realize there are always exceptions. I get it. You don’t have to post 55 comments telling me that you and your best friend are exceptions. If you really get that offended from some guy’s blog post, you may want to double-check your life priorities.)
OK, we’re ready now. 10 things Americans don’t know about America.
1. FEW PEOPLE ARE IMPRESSED BY US
Unless you’re speaking with a real estate agent or a prostitute, chances are they’re not going to be excited that you’re American. It’s not some badge of honor we get to parade around. Yes, we had Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison, but unless you actually are Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison (which is unlikely) then most people around the world are simply not going to care. There are exceptions of course. And those exceptions are called English and Australian people. Whoopdie-fucking-doo.
As Americans, we’re brought up our entire lives being taught that we’re the best, we did everything first and that the rest of the world follows our lead. Not only is this not true, but people get irritated when you bring it to their country with you. So don’t.
2. FEW PEOPLE HATE US
Despite the occasional eye-rolling, and complete inability to understand why anyone would vote for George W. Bush, people from other countries don’t hate us either. In fact — and I know this is a really sobering realization for us — most people in the world don’t really think about us or care about us. I know, that sounds absurd, especially with CNN and Fox News showing the same 20 angry Arab men on repeat for ten years straight. But unless we’re invading someone’s country or threatening to invade someone’s country (which is likely), then there’s a 99.99% chance they don’t care about us. Just like we rarely think about the people in Bolivia or Mongolia, most people don’t think about us much. They have jobs, kids, house payments — you know, those things called lives — to worry about. Kind of like us.
Americans tend to assume that the rest of the world either loves us or hates us (this is actually a good litmus test to tell if someone is conservative or liberal). The fact is, most people feel neither. Most people don’t think much about us.
Remember that immature girl in high school, who every little thing that happened to her meant that someone either hated her or was obsessed with her; who thought every teacher who ever gave her a bad grade was being totally unfair and everything good that happened to her was because of how amazing she was? Yeah, we’re that immature high school girl.
3. WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD
For all of our talk about being global leaders and how everyone follows us, we don’t seem to know much about our supposed “followers.” They often have completely different takes on history than we do. Here were some brain-stumpers for me: the Vietnamese believe the Vietnam War was about China (not us), Hitler was primarily defeated by Russia (not us), Native Americans were wiped out largely disease and plague (not us), and the American Revolution was “won” because the British cared more about beating France (not us). Notice a running theme here?
(Hint: It’s not all about us.)
We did not invent democracy. We didn’t even invent modern democracy. There were parliamentary systems in England and other parts of Europe over a hundred years before we created government. In a recent survey of young Americans, 63% could not find Iraq on a map (despite being at war with them), and 54% did not know Sudan was a country in Africa. Yet, somehow we’re positive that everyone else looks up to us.
4. WE ARE POOR AT EXPRESSING GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION
There’s a saying about English-speakers. We say “Go fuck yourself,” when we really mean “I like you,” and we say “I like you,” when we really mean “Go fuck yourself.”
Outside of getting shit-housed drunk and screaming “I LOVE YOU, MAN!”, open displays of affection in American culture are tepid and rare. Latin and some European cultures describe us as “cold” and “passionless” and for good reason. In our social lives we don’t say what we mean and we don’t mean what we say.
In our culture, appreciation and affection are implied rather than spoken outright. Two guy friends call each other names to reinforce their friendship; men and women tease and make fun of each other to imply interest. Feelings are almost never shared openly and freely. Consumer culture has cheapened our language of gratitude. Something like, “It’s so good to see you” is empty now because it’s expected and heard from everybody.
In dating, when I find a woman attractive, I almost always walk right up to her and tell her that a) I wanted to meet her, and b) she’s beautiful. In America, women usually get incredibly nervous and confused when I do this. They’ll make jokes to defuse the situation or sometimes ask me if I’m part of a TV show or something playing a prank. Even when they’re interested and go on dates with me, they get a bit disoriented when I’m so blunt with my interest. Whereas, in almost every other culture approaching women this way is met with a confident smile and a “Thank you.”
5. THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN IS NOT THAT GREAT
If you’re extremely talented or intelligent, the US is probably the best place in the world to live. The system is stacked heavily to allow people of talent and advantage to rise to the top quickly.
The problem with the US is that everyone thinks they are of talent and advantage. As John Steinbeck famously said, the problem with poor Americans is that “they don’t believe they’re poor, but rather temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” It’s this culture of self-delusion that allows America to continue to innovate and churn out new industry more than anyone else in the world. But this shared delusion also unfortunately keeps perpetuating large social inequalities and the quality of life for the average citizen lower than most other developed countries. It’s the price we pay to maintain our growth and economic dominance.
In my Guide to Wealth, I defined being wealthy as, “Having the freedom to maximize one’s life experiences.” In those terms, despite the average American having more material wealth than citizens of most other countries (more cars, bigger houses, nicer televisions), their overall quality of life suffers in my opinion. American people on average work more hours with less vacation, spend more time commuting every day, and are saddled with over $10,000 of debt. That’s a lot of time spent working and buying crap and little time or disposable income for relationships, activities or new experiences.
6. THE REST OF THE WORLD IS NOT A SLUM-RIDDEN SHITHOLE COMPARED TO US
In 2010, I got into a taxi in Bangkok to take me to a new six-story cineplex. It was accessible by metro, but I chose a taxi instead. On the seat in front of me was a sign with a wifi password. Wait, what? I asked the driver if he had wifi in his taxi. He flashed a huge smile. The squat Thai man, with his pidgin English, explained that he had installed it himself. He then turned on his new sound system and disco lights. His taxi instantly became a cheesy nightclub on wheels… with free wifi.
If there’s one constant in my travels over the past three years, it has been that almost every place I’ve visited (especially in Asia and South America) is much nicer and safer than I expected it to be. Singapore is pristine. Hong Kong makes Manhattan look like a suburb. My neighborhood in Colombia is nicer than the one I lived in in Boston (and cheaper).
As Americans, we have this naïve assumption that people all over the world are struggling and way behind us. They’re not. Sweden and South Korea have more advanced high speed internet networks. Japan has the most advanced trains and transportation systems. Norwegians make more money. The biggest and most advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. The tallest buildings in the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
What’s so surprising about the world is how unsurprising most of it is. I spent a week with some local guys in Cambodia. You know what their biggest concerns were? Paying for school, getting to work on time, and what their friends were saying about them. In Brazil, people have debt problems, hate getting stuck in traffic and complain about their overbearing mothers. Every country thinks they have the worst drivers. Every country thinks their weather is unpredictable. The world becomes, err… predictable.
7. WE’RE PARANOID
Not only are we emotionally insecure as a culture, but I’ve come to realize how paranoid we are about our physical security. You don’t have to watch Fox News or CNN for more than 10 minutes to hear about how our drinking water is going to kill us, our neighbor is going to rape our children, some terrorist in Yemen is going to kill us because we didn’t torture him, Mexicans are going to kill us, or some virus from a bird is going to kill us. There’s a reason we have more guns than people.
In the US, security trumps everything, even liberty. We’re paranoid.
I’ve probably been to 10 countries now that friends and family back home told me explicitly not to go because someone was going to kill me, kidnap me, stab me, rob me, rape me, sell me into sex trade, give me HIV, or whatever else. None of that has happened. I’ve never been robbed and I’ve walked through some of the shittiest parts of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
In fact, the experience has been the opposite. In countries like Russia, Colombia or Guatemala, people were so friendly it actually scared me. Some stranger in a bar would invite me to his house for a bar-b-que with his family, a random person on the street would offer to show me around and give me directions to a store I was trying to find. My American instincts were always that, “Wait, this guy is going to try to rob me or kill me,” but they never did. They were just insanely friendly.
8. WE’RE STATUS-OBSESSED AND SEEK ATTENTION
I’ve noticed that the way we Americans communicate is usually designed to create a lot of attention and hype. Again, I think this is a product of our consumer culture: the belief that something isn’t worthwhile or important unless it’s perceived to be the best (BEST EVER!!!) or unless it gets a lot of attention (see: every reality-television show ever made).
This is why Americans have a peculiar habit of thinking everything is “totally awesome,” and even the most mundane activities were “the best thing ever!” It’s the unconscious drive we share for importance and significance, this unmentioned belief, socially beaten into us since birth that if we’re not the best at something, then we don’t matter.
We’re status-obsessed. Our culture is built around achievement, production and being exceptional. Therefore comparing ourselves and attempting to out-do one another has infiltrated our social relationships as well. Who can slam the most beers first? Who can get reservations at the best restaurant? Who knows the promoter to the club? Who dated a girl on the cheerleading squad? Socializing becomes objectified and turned into a competition. And if you’re not winning, the implication is that you are not important and no one will like you.
9. WE ARE VERY UNHEALTHY
Unless you have cancer or something equally dire, the health care system in the US sucks. The World Health Organization ranked the US 37th in the world for health care, despite the fact that we spend the most per capita by a large margin.
The hospitals are nicer in Asia (with European-educated doctors and nurses) and cost a tenth as much. Something as routine as a vaccination costs multiple hundreds of dollars in the US and less than $10 in Colombia. And before you make fun of Colombian hospitals, Colombia is 28th in the world on that WHO list, nine spots higher than us.
A routine STD test that can run you over $200 in the US is free in many countries to anyone, citizen or not. My health insurance the past year? $65 a month. Why? Because I live outside of the US. An American guy I met living in Buenos Aires got knee surgery on his ACL that would have cost $10,000 in the US… for free.
But this isn’t really getting into the real problems of our health. Our food is killing us. I’m not going to go crazy with the details, but we eat chemically-laced crap because it’s cheaper and tastes better (profit, profit). Our portion sizes are absurd (more profit). And we’re by far the most prescribed nation in the world AND our drugs cost five to ten times more than they do even in Canada (ohhhhhhh, profit, you sexy bitch).
In terms of life expectancy, despite being the richest country in the world, we come in a paltry 38th. Right behind Cuba, Malta and the United Arab Emirates, and slightly ahead of Slovenia, Kuwait and Uruguay. Enjoy your Big Mac.
10. WE MISTAKE COMFORT FOR HAPPINESS
The United States is a country built on the exaltation of economic growth and personal ingenuity. Small businesses and constant growth are celebrated and supported above all else — above affordable health care, above respectable education, above everything. Americans believe it’s your responsibility to take care of yourself and make something of yourself, not the state’s, not your community’s, not even your friend’s or family’s in some instances.
Comfort sells easier than happiness. Comfort is easy. It requires no effort and no work. Happiness takes effort. It requires being proactive, confronting fears, facing difficult situations, and having unpleasant conversations.
Comfort equals sales. We’ve been sold comfort for generations and for generations we bought: bigger houses, separated further and further out into the suburbs; bigger TV’s, more movies, and take-out. The American public is becoming docile and complacent. We’re obese and entitled. When we travel, we look for giant hotels that will insulate us and pamper us rather than for legitimate cultural experiences that may challenge our perspectives or help us grow as individuals.
Depression and anxiety disorders are soaring within the US. Our inability to confront anything unpleasant around us has not only created a national sense of entitlement, but it’s disconnected us from what actually drives happiness: relationships, unique experiences, feeling self-validated, achieving personal goals. It’s easier to watch a NASCAR race on television and tweet about it than to actually get out and try something new with a friend.
Unfortunately, a by-product of our massive commercial success is that we’re able to avoid the necessary emotional struggles of life in lieu of easy superficial pleasures.

When Did the Constitution Become a Religious Document?

ConstitutionWhen it comes to the Constitution, most of the self-proclaimed evangelicals in the current presidential field want to have it both ways. They pledge fidelity to the principles of the framers, yet their religiously inspired policies are often at odds with any plausible reading of the Constitution's text.

Your Heartburn Could Be Way More Serious than You Think

heartburnWhy Your Heartburn Could Be Way More Serious than You Think
Find out why you should never ignore this common ailment

How Walmart Sent 400,000 American Jobs To China

How Walmart Sent 400,000 American Jobs To China
Walmart sent 400,000 American jobs to China.
This is how they did it.
Read more 

Austrian police baffled after €100,000 found floating down the River Danube

Police in Austria are investigating how bank notes worth tens of thousands of euros ended up in the River Danube. The notes were found floating down the river in Vienna on Saturday, leading one passer-by to jump in and salvage the money.
A police spokesman said that the recovered money was worth some €100,000 (£72,000; $108,000). Police said there were no crimes were recorded in the area and that it was not clear where the money originated.
Officers had first believed the money, made up of €500 and €100 notes, was counterfeit, but they now believe the notes to be genuine. They were first alerted when bystanders spotted a boy in the river.
Fearing he was attempting suicide, they called police, only to find he was trying to retrieve the money. Anyone who finds money and hands it to police in Austria is entitled to keep between 5% and 10% of the total. But if the owner is not found within a year, the whole sum will be handed to the boy.

Police seized car with prophetic registration plate

Police in Australia's Northern Territory seized three vehicles over the weekend. An alleged street racer with a taste for vanity plates had foretold his own future, getting picked up by police with the word “SEIZED” emboldened on the back of his car. “The great irony is that one of the vehicles bore the registration plate ‘SEIZED’,” a police spokeswoman said.
The car was picked up by traffic police in an unmarked car after their vehicle was allegedly overtaken by two street racers in Palmerston, registering speeds of 122km/h in a 80km/h zone. Both vehicles were taken by police and their alleged drivers, an 18-year-old man and a 24-year-old man, were issued with notices to appear in court. The cars were seized under street-racing laws. “Both drivers have shown a blatant disregard for the safety of themselves and other road users given both have previously been issued with anti-hooning notices,” the police spokeswoman said.
But the night of hooning action began in earnest at around 6pm when police were called after reports of naked people lurking in a park while a white pick-up tore down the road doing burnouts. A man was driving a white Commodore ute and doing burnouts while three other people were walking naked in the park at the same location. “There were naked people in the park, there were children around and someone was doing burnouts,” Duty Supt Louise Jorgensen said. Police determined the white ute had two male occupants at one point, but it was unclear whether they were clothed.
The vehicle was later seized for hooning with the registered owner denying any knowledge of either the naked people or who was driving, police said. “The members will follow up further to see if they can establish the driver, the naked people and all the children in the vicinity.” Under Territory law, vehicles can be seized if drivers race, engage in speed trials, do burnouts or damage the surface of a public road. A first offense will see a car impounded for 48 hours and between three and six months for a second offense. Any further offenses can result in “permanent forfeiture”, police said.

Video of apparent rape shared on Florida A&M University social media site

The video was posted to Yeti on Thursday night and shows a man who appears to sexually assault an unconscious woman while the man filming the attack urges the rapist to “Get right.”

'Christian' Publisher Prints Tell-All Book From ‘White House Chef’ Who Never Worked At White House

Christian Publisher Prints Tell-All Book From ‘White House Chef’ Who Never Worked At White House
What was that their bible said about bearing false witness?

Tennessee school wins right to ban gays and women who’ve had sex

A Tennessee university has been granted the right by the federal government to ban students who go against their interpretation of 'christianity'.

Kentucky governor pardons man who blasted 12 year old with a shotgun over ‘ding dong ditch’ prank

Michael Bishop (Screenshot/WDRB)The family of a Kentucky child who was shot in the back while playing the game “ding dong ditch” is outraged over Governor Steve Beshear’s decision to pardon the shooter.

Man who said he was turning into 'the Hulk' arrested for disorderly conduct

Police said a man from Charleston, South Carolina, who told them he was “turning into the Hulk” was arrested after causing a disturbance at a bank on Thursday morning.
Deputies said they were called to the Wells Fargo bank in Moore after employees reported a man in a maroon Ford Ranger who was refusing to leave the bank parking lot shortly before 9am.
Officers arrived and said the man, later identified as 30-year-old Cale Strickland, was shaking uncontrollably and could not sit still inside the truck, which was still running. Per investigative reports, Strickland “appeared to be intoxicated and stated to talk to imaginary people and was not making any sense.” He was placed into handcuffs and deputies called EMS because the man’s heart was racing.
Paramedics said Stickland’s heart was beating at 120 beats per minute. Strickland reportedly told deputies his pulse was elevated because he was “turning into the Hulk.” “He stated that the body could do this and he was turning into the Hulk but would not turn green,” reports state. Strickland also cursed loudly where customers could hear, deputies said. He was arrested on a public disorderly conduct charges and is being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center.

Speeding man was naked and drunk with three women in his car

A naked man accused of driving at 110 mph across Alligator Alley with three female passengers was arrested on Saturday afternoon on a DUI charge, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.
At around 3pm, authorities began receiving calls of a Cadillac driving recklessly, on and off the road, near the middle of Alligator Alley, according to an arrest report. About 10 minutes later, an FHP trooper spotted the car as it traveled towards the Naples area. The trooper estimated the vehicle's speed at 110 mph. His radar said the Cadillac was driving 109 mph.
The trooper stopped the car. He noticed the driver had no shirt on and an open 12-pack of Corona beer between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat. He asked the driver, Noe Dejesus, 33, to step out of the car. When Dejesus opened the door, the trooper saw he was naked. Dejesus smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech and had bloodshot eyes, reports said.
When he stepped out of the vehicle to put his pants on, he stumbled and nearly fell. Inside the car the trooper found several empty or nearly empty beer bottles and a nearly empty bottle of Crown Royal whiskey. Dejesus, of Lehigh Acres, declined to perform field sobriety tests and was arrested. In addition to the DUI charge, he is also facing a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license.

Woman accused of attempting to buy baby for her 14-year-old daughter

Whilst many mothers would do anything for their child, for one woman from north Forsyth, Georgia, that supposedly meant trying to buy a baby for her 14-year-old daughter on Craigslist.
Elaine Williams, 47, was arrested on Friday in connection with an advertisement posted on the online marketplace that asked mothers to drop their unwanted babies off in a baby box, according to Deputy Epifanio Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
She was charged with domestic-unlawful advertisement/inducement for adoption of children and remains detained in the Forsyth County Jail on a $5,610 bond. Detectives received a tip from a citizen about the suspicious ad on Craigslist out of Cumming.
In the ad, Williams is accused of promising mothers they could drop their baby in a “baby box.” Williams reportedly stated to detectives that her daughter “wanted a baby and would get one with or without her help, so she decided to help.” Her 14-year-old daughter, who lives with her mother, faces juvenile charges.

Muslims Raise Over $100,000 For San Bernardino Victims While Wingnuts Spew Vile Hatred

Muslims Raise Over $100,000 For San Bernardino Victims While GOP Spouts Vile Hatred
This is literally love conquering over hate.
Read more 

Muslim anti-radicalism activist detained in Texas because airline passengers thought he looked scary

Image: Dr Bilal Rana speaks to ABC News (Screen cap)Muslim anti-radicalism activist detained in Texas because airline passengers thought he looked scary

New York police decline to file report after 6th grade Muslim girl is called ‘ISIS’ and punched at school

Arabic Muslim girl reading (Shutterstock.com)
The report said that boys at the school called the 6th grade girl “ISIS.” The girl was allegedly placed in a headlock and punched while the boys tried to rip off her hijab.

Men take Toys ‘R’ Us dispute outside to settle with guns

Police said two men began arguing inside the toy store before the altercation spilled over into the parking lot, where a 25-year-old man suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg.

Gun Nut Dad Sends School Into Lockdown After He Strolls In Carrying Firearm To Prove A Point ...

...That He's An Idiot
Gun Nut Dad Sends School Into Lockdown After He Strolls In Carrying Firearm To Prove A Point
America: Where guns have more rights than children.
Read more 

White supremacist arrested after opening fire on ‘lucky’ South Carolina cops

A South Carolina white supremacist was wounded and will face attempted murder charges after initiating a shoot-out with law enforcement officers.

Terrorist Plot Foiled When White Supremacist Blows Own Leg Off

Featured image credit: video screen capture WIBVThe white supremacist, former cop, was in the process of building his eighth bomb when he accidentally blew up his leg. Don’t worry, though, he’s not a terrorist.

Neuroscience explains why ISIL attracts psychopaths

Does ISIL turn people into psychopaths, or do psychopaths join ISIL?

What We Know About The 300 ISIL Sympathizers In The U.S.

How Iron Age literacy spawned modern violent extremism

A Mongol prince studying the Koran (Wikimedia Commons)
Why aren’t muslim and 'christian' extremists extremely peaceful? The answer lies in the Iron Age setting of the bible and quran—when literate cultures replaced the Golden Calf with the Sacred Text.

Stonehenge First Built in Wales?

Stonehenge may have stood in Wales hundreds of years before it was dismantled and transported to Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

Archaeology News

The five embalmed human hearts were buried 400 years ago in a French cemetery.
Colombia has found a Spanish galleon that went down off the country's coast with a treasure now valued between $4 billion and $17 billion.

Burglary suspect killed by alligator while hiding from police in pond

An accused burglar is dead after police in Florida said he hid in a pond while on the run and was killed by an 11-foot-long alligator. Matthew Riggins, 22, of Palm Bay was reported missing on Nov. 13. His body was found 10 days later floating in a pond in Barefoot Bay. Investigators said it had the makings of a gator attack. Shortly before Riggins was reported missing, he called his girlfriend and told her he'd be in the area breaking into homes, deputies said.
"He was going to do burglaries in the Barefoot Bay area with another individual," said Maj. Tod Goodyear, with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. Neighbors reported to authorities that they saw two men dressed in black lurking behind homes. Deputies began searching the area and were later joined by more deputies, K-9 units and a sheriff's helicopter. Investigators said Riggins then called his girlfriend to tell her they were being chased and lying low.
"Do you still here them hollering, or did they hunker down?" deputies could be heard saying on radio traffic. Brevard County deputies called off the search that night, but then Riggins' family reported him missing less than 24 hours later. "He probably went into the lake to hide from the officers and the dog, and came across that gator," Goodyear said. "To hide somewhere to try and get away, and then meeting up with an animal like that, no, I've never had that happen before."

"He hid in the wrong place," said Laura Farris, a Barefoot Bay resident. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office dive team encountered the same gator while recovering the man's body, and the animal had to be euthanized by a trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Inside the gator's stomach, the medical examiner found proof of how Riggins was killed. "I would say it's poetic justice, you want to sit there and steal from people," Barefoot Bay resident Chuck Stokes said. Investigators said the other man thought to be breaking into homes with Riggins has not cooperated with the case, but so far he has not been charged.

Smiling donkey was extremely happy to be rescued from flood

This is moment a donkey gave rescuers a glorious smile after finally being rescued from a dangerous flood.
Animal Heaven Animal Rescue in Kerry, Ireland, received a call from a donkey’s owner on Sunday after Storm Desmond blew the gate of his paddock in Killorglin.
The animal then escaped and became stranded in floodwaters outside the town. With the help of Mike Fleming of the Killorglin Rowing Club. Along with another local man, the trio set off in a boat down the River Laune to find the animal.

The donkey was trapped by the flood on all sides but, with the aid of a ring buoy, they were able to pull him to safety. The donkey was then taken back to the AHAR stable where the staff set about warming him up with towels and a bowl of hot mash. After a bit of recuperation, the donkey will be returning home to his owner, who is said to be very relieved.
There are more photos and videos from the rescue at the Animal Heaven Animal Rescue Facebook page.

Animal Pictures