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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.


Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.
What "he" said ...! 
 
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Today in History

756
Abd-al-Rahman is proclaimed emir of Cordoba, Spain.
1213
King John submits to the Pope, offering to make England and Ireland papal fiefs. Pope Innocent III lifts the interdict of 1208.
1602
English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold discovers Cape Cod.
1614
An aristocratic uprising in France ends with the Treaty of St. Menehould.
1618
Johannes Kepler discovers his harmonics law.
1702
The War of Spanish Succession begins.
1730
Following the resignation of Lord Townshend, Robert Walpole becomes the sole minister in the English cabinet.
1768
By the Treaty of Versailles, France purchases Corsica from Genoa.
1795
Napoleon enters the Lombardian capital of Milan in triumph.
1820
The U.S. Congress designates the slave trade a form of piracy.
1849
Neapolitan troops enter Palermo, Sicily.
1862
The Union ironclad Monitor and the gunboat Galena fire on Confederate troops at the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia.
1864
At the Battle of New Market, Virginia Military Institute cadets repel a Union attack.
1886
Emily Dickinson dies in Amherst, Mass., where she had lived in seclusion for the previous 24 years.
1916
U.S. Marines land in Santo Domingo to quell civil disorder.
1918
Pfc. Henry Johnson and Pfc. Needham Roberts receive the Croix de Guerre for their services in World War I. They are the first Americans to win France’s highest military medal.
1930
Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess.
1942
The United States begins rationing gasoline.
1958
Sputnik III is launched by the Soviet Union.
1963
The last Project Mercury space flight, carrying Gordon Cooper, is launched.
1968
U.S. Marines relieve army troops in Nhi Ha, South Vietnam after a fourteen-day battle.
1972
Gov. George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Maryland.
1975
The merchant ship Mayaguez is recaptured from Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge.
1988
Soviets forces begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Peter Pan quote to be replaced over inaccuracy fears

A quotation at the foot of a Peter Pan statue in Angus, Scotland, will be replaced after a "lack of certainty" over its origin. The quote, attributed to Peter Pan's Kirriemuir-born author JM Barrie, is etched in stone beneath a statue of the character in the town's square. However, an internet search by local historian David Orr revealed the quote may have come from a Disney movie. Angus Council will replace it with one "incontrovertibly traced" to Barrie.
The engraved quote reads: "Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting." Mr Orr said: "When I read it, I thought 'that's quite good, I've never heard of that'. So, I googled it to see the full quote and the first thing it took me to was the JM Barrie website and there was debate about it." One theory is that the quote is an amalgamation of lines from Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook.
Mr Orr consulted other Kirriemuir residents, including Sandra Affleck, an authority on the Peter Pan author. He said: "I'm no expert on Barrie by any means, but a lot of the local folk are, and they came back with the same answer. I thought, if Sandra hasn't heard of it, what are the chances?" Barrie, who was born in Kirriemuir in 1860, published the story of "the boy who wouldn't grow up" in a 1904 play and a 1911 novel.
Mr Orr said: "I suspect there has been someone doing more checking behind the scenes. They're trying to draw attention to the Peter Pan statue in the square and it's surrounded by this quote. It's an admirable line but if it's not actually from Peter Pan, it's a bit strange." A spokesman for Angus Council said: "We are grateful to one of our museum visitors for raising this with us. While this quotation has been widely attributed to the famous author there is a lack of absolute certainty over its origins. As such, we feel it is appropriate to replace it with one that can be incontrovertibly traced to the work of the great JM Barrie."

There's Now a Sauna inside a Burger King

"Have it your way," as Burger King likes to say. If you want to enjoy your Whopper inside a hot, moist, sweaty box, that's now an option in Finland.
With a sauna for every 1.6 people, Finland is the sauna capital of the world. So it's appropriate that Finland's newest Burger King outlet has a sauna that can accommodate 15 people. It has a 48" TV inside, as well as an attached shower and locker room. The tabloid Metro reports that Burger King is marketing it as a business meeting center:
According to the dedicated website, the sauna is ‘perfect for social gatherings or work’. Yes, perfect for work. Please consider it for your next team away day – what could be more conducive to team building than enjoying Whopper meals as you sit side by side, your skin slick with sweat, in a steaming hot room? 
You can reserve it for about $400 for 3 hours.

Germany Made So Much Renewable Energy Last Sunday That It Paid People to Use Electricity


Last Sunday, it was particularly sunny and windy in Germany, which meant that the country's solar energy farms and wind turbines were especially productive. They provided about 55 of the 63 gigawatts being consumed. As a result, energy company prices to customers went negative--that is, people were paid to use this surplus electricity. Quartz describes this unusual event and the rapid advance of renewable energy in Germany:
Critics have argued that because of the daily peaks and troughs of renewable energy—as the sun goes in and out and winds rise and fall—it will always have only a niche role in supplying power to major economies. But that’s looking less and less likely. Germany plans to hit 100% renewable energy by 2050, and Denmark’s wind turbines already at some points generate more electricity than the country consumes, exporting the surplus to Germany, Norway and Sweden.
Germany’s power surplus on Sunday wasn’t all good news. The system is still too rigid for power suppliers and consumers to respond quickly to price signals. Though gas power plants were taken offline, nuclear and coal plants can’t be quickly shut down, so they went on running and had to pay to sell power into the grid for several hours, while industrial customers such as refineries and foundries earned money by consuming electricity.

Revealed: Senate staffer threatened Colombia with loss of foreign aid over cheap cancer drug

“I would … ask Sen. Hatch to consider that we’re talking about people’s lives and this needs to mean something to him.”

Do you have good posture at the airport?

Security check-point lines stretch well in the baggage claim area 19 Oct. 2001 at Denver International Airport (AFP/Mark Leffingwell)
Psychologist Paul Ekman is the brains behind the TSA's behavioral analysis.

Man wearing a toilet seat on his head and a clown's nose charged with harassment

A man from North Tonawanda, New York, is facing charges after an unusual incident at the Mid-City Plaza on Wednesday afternoon. A woman was in Dollar Store with her child and a neighbor's child when police say 67-year-old Herbert Forrester began following them around the store.
The woman says he was following her and the children around while wearing a clown's nose. When the woman and children left, police say he followed them out, ran to his van and put a toilet seat around his head and toilet paper in his mouth. Police say the woman ran to her car with the children as Forrester allegedly yelled, "Yeah, run!"
Once safely inside, the woman says she snapped a picture of the man for evidence and then called police. Police later caught up to Forrester and arrested him, charging him with harassment. "He says he has a strange sense of humor and knows he has to stop doing those things," North Tonawanda Police Capt. Thomas Krantz said. "This has happened before."
Krantz added that while this is Forrester's first arrest, he has had encounters with police in the past after making others "uncomfortable." Krantz said police have no indication that Forrester is prone to violent behavior. However, he said that the public should be aware of him, citing his "strange" actions and previous incidents. "It's hard to put into words with any certainty as to what his motives were or what future incidents could occur," Krantz said. "We just don't know." Forrester is currently free on $100 bail.

Texas moron goes bonkers after Obama issues trans bathroom guidelines

A Texas superintendent issued a scenery-chewing response to a letter from the Obama administration warning schools to comply with federal law and allow transgender students to use the restroom that matches their gender identity.

Judge delivers major blow to Sheriff Arpaio in racial profiling case

A federal judge found Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio in contempt for violating a court order meant to stop racial profiling.

North Carolina man confesses to yanking Muslim woman’s hijab off

Muslim woman wearing hijab or headscarf (Shutterstock)
Gill Payne, 37, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in New Mexico to one count of using force to intentionally obstruct the woman from freely exercising her religious beliefs, prosecutors said.

Headless corpse turned out to be a discarded sex doll

Police in Germany were called out early on Wednesday to the scene of what seemed to be a grisly murder.
A street cleaner in the town of Lübeck near Germany's Baltic coast called police to tell them he had found a female corpse lying on the street next to a paper recycling container.
The lifeless body was wrapped in a blanket with a foot jutting out of one end. Officers from Lübeck’s 2nd police district jumped into action, rushing to the scene as fast as they could.
“After more exact criminal observation, it was ascertained that we were dealing with a so-called sex toy which had no head,” the police report revealed.

Kentucky woman says man beat her for looking too masculine ...

Brittany N Wallace in hospital after beating (Facebook.com)
"I truly believe that if I had a more feminine appearance, someone would have helped.”

Stripper arrested on suspicion of drunk driving tried to eat her shirt

A stripper from Florida was arrested early on Sunday after police said she was pulled over for driving erratically and later attempted to eat her shirt. ZyZe McCausland, from Key West, was pulled over at around 2am after police said her car was seen almost hitting another while driving off from a restaurant.
"You'll be sorry," McCausland told police several times, according to the arrest report accusing her of drunk driving, a misdemeanor, and a felony count of trying to flee police at high speed. Once detained, McCausland, who police say is 32 while jail records put her at 26, told police to call security at Rick's bar "because they would tell me not to arrest her," Officer Jesse Young wrote in his report after the stop. "Call my lawyer. I don't understand," McCausland allegedly said later.
McCausland, who said she works at an adult entertainment club, had to be handcuffed and put into a police cruiser against her will, Young said. The action began when Sgt. Pablo Rodriguez said he was outside Sandy's Cafe when he spotted a Mazda SUV headed south almost strike another car on the road. Rodriguez yelled at the Mazda's driver to pull over but heard her say, "Oh, f*ck" as she drove towards Horace O'Bryant School's parking lot. HOB's parking lot has only one way in and out and is next door to the Key West Police Department.
Trapped, McCausland first tried to wake her passenger in the front seat, but the person was passed out drunk and couldn't be roused, police said. She then tried to flee on foot but Rodriguez caught her. McCausland was taken to jail, where after police told her not to put anything into her mouth, after she said she would take a breath alcohol test, she stuffed "a large portion of her shirt into her mouth and began chewing." Police cancelled the test. McCausland remains locked up at the county jail on Stock Island on $10,500 bond.

Psychedelics and Opium Poppies

Mexico debates legalizing opium poppy for medicine
 

Researchers discover mysterious microbe functioning without mitochondria

'It's so weird': Researchers discover mysterious microbe functioning without mitochondria

Fragment of 50,000-year-old axe uncovered in Australia

Fragment of 50,000-year-old axe uncovered in Australia: 'Without doubt the oldest axe in the world'

NASA directly observes fundamental process of nature for 1st time

NASA directly observes fundamental process of nature for 1st time
NASA directly observes fundamental process of nature for 1st time
Like sending sensors up into a hurricane, NASA has flown four spacecraft through an invisible maelstrom in space, called magnetic reconnection. Magnetic reconnection is one of the prime drivers of space radiation and so it is a key factor in the quest to learn more...

Scientists use astronomical software to date 2,500 year-old lyric poem

Scientists use astronomical software to date 2,500 year-old lyric poem
Scientists use astronomical software to date 2,500 year-old lyric poem
Physicists and astronomers from the University of Texas at Arlington have used advanced astronomical software to accurately date lyric poet Sappho’s “Midnight Poem,” which describes the night sky over Greece more than 2,500 years ago. The scientists...

Animal Pictures