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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, July 16, 2016

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of  
Carolina Naturally
Street Hot Dog ...! 
 
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Today in History

1765
English Prime Minister Lord Grenville resigns and is replaced by Lord Rockingham.
1774
Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji, ending their six-year war.
1779
American troops under General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, N.Y.
1875
The new French constitution is finalized.
1882
Mary Todd Lincoln, the widow of Abraham Lincoln, dies of a stroke.
1918
Czar Nicholas and his family are murdered by Bolsheviks at Ekaterinburg, Russia.
1940
Adolf Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of England.
1944
Soviet troops occupy Vilnius, Lithuania, in their drive towards Germany.
1945
The United States detonates the first atomic bomb in a test at Alamogordo, N. M.
1969
Apollo 11 blasts off from Cape Kennedy, Florida, heading for a landing on the moon.
1999
A private plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. is lost over the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Oldest Egyptian writing on papyrus displayed for first time

Oldest Egyptian writing on papyrus displayed for first time

12-Year Old Starts Food Bank That Feeds 1,200 Families a Month

Mackenzie Hinson (right) is a 12-year old girl who lives in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Last year, she founded Make a Difference Food Pantry in the fellowship hall of a local church. Now she's expanded the operation massively, renting space from which she and her staff feeds 1,200 families in the area every month. She's very talented at getting support from local businesses to keep her charity thriving. WNCN CBS quotes her mother:
“She knows mostly everybody that comes in here by name,” said Paige Hinson. “If they’re new, she’ll probably know them the next time’
Mackenzie’s rent is $1,300 dollars a month to rent a 2,400 square-foot space. About 90 percent of her operating costs come from fundraising.
“I fund raise at local restaurants like Zaxby’s in Smithfield,” Mackenzie said. “Kelly Smith, the owner, asked me if I could do a fundraiser once a month.”
The 12-year-old is also determined to reach even greater heights. “I want it to be a warehouse, a 10,000-square-foot warehouse, that’s what I want it to be.”

Tubing trip turned into overnight nightmare for three women told that river goes round in a circle

Three women left for what they thought would be an easy float down the Muskegon River in Michigan on Tuesday afternoon, but they ended up spending the night on the river bank, scared and yelling for help. The trio of young women were rescued 20 hours later after a fisherman eventually heard their cries, said Muskegon Township Deputy Fire Chief Bob Grabinski. The women, all in their 20s, had never been tubing before and decided it would be a fun thing to do, Grabinski said.
So they bought some tubes and headed to the popular launch site at the Maple Island Road bridge, Grabinski said. "They were informed by somebody at the bridge that the river goes in a circle and if they put in there they would come back to their car," he said. "Not knowing anything, they set off on their little adventure." About six hours later, with darkness closing in and their car nowhere to be found, the trio decided to get out on the riverbank where they ended up spending the night, Grabinski said.
"They said they hugged a tree all night yelling for help," he said, adding that that stretch of river is very isolated. At about noon on Wednesday a fisherman floating the river heard their cries for help, investigated and then called 911. The women, one from Muskegon Heights and two from Muskegon, did not have a phone with them, Grabinski said. Muskegon Township firefighters launched their 16-foot jet propulsion river rescue boat from the Holton Duck Lake Road launch ramp and found the women about a quarter-mile downriver, he said.
Dalton Township firefighters also responded with their boat in case it was needed. Other than a few bug bites and scratches, the women were fine, Grabinski said. He estimated they had traveled roughly 3 miles. "In their words, they're never going tubing again," he said. "My words are know the river or take someone with you who knows it and have a plan." No one reported the women missing, which brought Grabinski to a third piece of advice: Before heading out for an adventure, tell someone where you're going and what time you plan to return.

The Center of the Universe is in a Small Town in Idaho

Wallace, Idaho, is a unique town. It was once known as the Silver Capital of the World, producing 1.2 billion ounces of silver. All the downtown buildings are on the Historic Register. It is a Superfund site and has a population of 784 people. And it is the Center of the Universe. Specifically, a manhole cover on the corner was proclaimed the Center of the Universe by a mayoral proclamation in 2004. Shauna Hillman explained how that designation was determined.
I ask Hillman why Wallace is the Center of the Universe.
“Why not?” she responds. “That’s the answer to why is it the Center of the Universe.” The second answer: “Prove it isn’t.”
The real answer, Hillman continues, relies on the theory of probabilism: If you cannot prove that Wallace is not the Center of the Universe, then it must be the Center of the Universe.
Read more about the fascinating small town of Wallace at Atlas Obscura.

Astronauts developing visual impairment

Before-and-after images of an astronaut’s eyes via spectral domain optical coherence tomography show choroidal folds (marked by arrows), which are similar to stretch marks. 
From an interesting story in the Washington Post:
During Phillips’s post-flight physical, NASA found that his vision had gone from 20/20 to 20/100 in six months. 
Rigorous testing followed. Phillips got MRIs, retinal scans, neurological tests and a spinal tap. The tests showed that not only had his vision changed, but his eyes had changed as well.
The backs of his eyes had gotten flatter, pushing his retinas forward. He had choroidal folds, which are like stretch marks. His optic nerves were inflamed.
Phillips’s case became the first widely recognized one of a mysterious syndrome that affects 80 percent of astronauts on long- ­duration missions in space. The syndrome could interfere with plans for future crewed space missions, including any trips to Mars.
Visual impairment intracranial pressure syndrome (VIIP) is named for the leading theory to explain it. On Earth, gravity pulls bodily fluids down toward the feet. That doesn’t happen in space, and it is thought that extra fluid in the skull increases pressure on the brain and the back of the eye.VIIP has now been recognized as a widespread problem, and there has been a struggle to understand its cause — and even to study it.
More at the link.

Fox 'News' Producer: I Witnessed Roger Ailes Sexually Harassing An Anchor

Former Fox News Producer: I Witnessed Roger Ailes Sexually Harassing An Anchor

Kentucky judge refuses to marry atheist couple because they don’t mention Dog in their vows

Trigg County Judge/Executive Hollis Alexander confirmed that he turned away Mandy Heath and her fiancee when Heath went to file the necessary paperwork at the local courthouse on the day before their wedding.
***
Just another Kentucky redneck breaking the law

Denver Uses Funds Designated to Help Homeless People to Harass Them Instead

8 Countries Where Rampant Inequality Has Led to Violence

This Is Your Brain on Violence

Copspeak: 7 Ways Journalists Use Police Jargon to Obscure the Truth

Police Racism

Fox 'News' 'commentator' sentenced to prison for faking CIA ties

A man who has appeared on Fox 'News' as a guest “terrorism analyst” was sentenced to 33 months in prison on Friday on charges that he fraudulently claimed to have been a CIA agent for decades.

Stripper arrested for arson after her DNA was found on a potato stuffed in van's exhaust pipe

A Connecticut woman has been charged with setting fire to a Prospect masonry company after, police said, she was tripped up by a potato she'd stuffed into a van's exhaust pipe(tailpipe). Willow Martin, 19, of Naugatuck, was charged on Tuesday with second-degree arson, third-degree burglary, possession of burglar's tools, first-degree criminal mischief, attempted first-degree criminal mischief and five counts of conspiracy. She was held on $110,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned at Superior Court in Waterbury. Martin and Breonna Constantino, who were the best of friends while dancers at the Hollywood Connecticut Strip Club in Southington, had a falling out over money, according to an arrest warrant. Martin and Constantino traveled to Wildwood, New Jersey, last summer and Martin loaned her friend $1,200, according to the warrant. Constantino was slow to repay the debt and that angered Martin so much that she set fire to MTM Masonry in Prospect, a business owned by Constantino's stepfather. The big break in the case came when a potato stuffed into the exhaust pipe of a van belonging to MTM Masonry's owner. When he was notified of the fire at his business at about 5am on Sept. 15, and prepared to drive over, he found the tuber in the van's exhaust pipe. He pulled it out and gave it to police, who had it analyzed for DNA. Analysts at the state lab did find a DNA profile on the potato and entered into an online offender database, which yielded the name of Matthew Garguilo.
Naugatuck police knew Garguilo, 28, to be the boyfriend of Martin. Naugatuck police also told state police that Martin was close friends with Constantino, the business owner's stepdaughter. In the meantime, state police arson investigators determined that the fire at MTM Masonry was arson and that gasoline was used to start it. Martin refused to talk to state police, but Constantino told them of the friendship, the falling out over money and her suspicion that Martin set fire to her stepfather's business. She said she suspected Garguilo was involved too. Garguilo told investigators that Martin set the fire and admitted he was with her when she did it. The fire followed weeks of arguing over the money by Martin and Constantino, although by the time of the fire Constantino had paid most of the money back and only owed Martin $300 to $400, Garguilo told police.
Garguilo insisted he did not set the fire and did not want to help, but said he went along because he feared Martin would find another guy. He said he took a gas can from his house and a hammer. He said he drove Martin to Prospect and watched as Martin broke into the business through a window. He said he stayed outside. When Martin set the fire there was an explosion that blew her through a door, "just like in the movies," Garguilo told police. The pair left, but returned to the fire scene later, where Martin said "yeah!" and high-fived him, Garguilo said. Garguilo also confirmed that Martin was responsible for the potato in the exhaust pipe. He said his DNA was on the potato because he handled it. A second witness, who began dating Martin after Garguilo went to prison on unrelated charges, told detectives that Martin told him about the fire and potato too. Garguilo was charged in connection with the fire and remains jailed on $20,000 bail.

Man accused of using his prosthetic arm as a weapon for the second time in two months

Police in Missouri say a man who allegedly beat a police officer with his prosthetic arm in May is back at it again, this time hitting a woman with his arm during a road rage incident.

Man arrested for using electric guitar as a weapon during attempted theft of computer

A Florida man has been charged for using an electric guitar as a weapon during an unsuccessful theft, the Broward Sheriff's Office said. Edward J. Chestnut III, 23, was arrested on Monday after trying to grab a laptop computer from Daniel Wolfe in Fort Lauderdale, according to an arrest report.
Wolfe, 55, of Oakland Park, was walking to a library when he and Chestnut got into a tug-of-war with Wolfe's computer case, the report stated. The guitar-wielding Chestnut struck Wolfe, who was trying to call for help on his cellphone. "I was on the phone with 911 when he hit me," Wolfe said.
"If I hadn't have put my arm up it would have hit me in the face." The instrument left Wolfe with a gash on his left arm that required four stitches at Holy Cross Hospital, he said. Details about the make and model of the guitar weren't released. "I just freaked out," Wolfe said, adding it's not the first time he's been attacked.
"I was mugged back in November where I was in a coma for two or three days," he said. "I was going to the grocery store and I got robbed but I didn't have anything on me." Chestnut ran off but was found later at a local hotel because a bystander saw the attempted robbery. He was positively identified by the witness and Wolfe. During questioning, Chestnut confessed to the armed robbery attempt, detectives said. Bond was set at $5,000.

Soot may have killed dinosaurs

A new hypothesis on the extinction of dinosaurs and ammonites at the end of the Cretaceous Period has been proposed by a research team from Tohoku University and the Japan Meteorological Agency’s Meteorological Research Institute.
The researchers believe that massive amounts of stratospheric soot ejected from rocks following the famous Chicxulub asteroid impact, caused global cooling, drought and limited cessation of photosynthesis in oceans. This, they say, could have been the process that led to the mass extinction of dinosaurs and ammonites.
The asteroid, also known as the Chicxulub impactor, hit Earth some 66 million years ago, causing a crater more than 180 km wide. It’s long been believed that that event triggered the mass extinction that led to the macroevolution of mammals and the appearance of humans.
Tohoku University Professor Kunio Kaiho and his team analyzed sedimentary organic molecules from two places – Haiti, which is near the impact site, and Spain, which is far. They found that the impact layer of both areas have the same composition of combusted organic molecules showing high energy. This, they believe, is the soot from the asteroid crash.
Soot is a strong, light-absorbing aerosol, and Kaiho’s team came by their hypothesis by calculating the amount of soot in the stratosphere estimating global climate changes caused by the stratospheric soot aerosols using a global climate model developed at the Meteorological Research Institute. The results are significant because they can explain the pattern of extinction and survival.
While it is widely accepted that the Chicxulub impact caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other life forms, researchers have been stumped by the process of how. In other words, they’d figured out the killer, but not the murder weapon.
Earlier theories had suggested that dust from the impact may have blocked the sun, or that sulphates may have contaminated the atmosphere. But researchers say it is unlikely that either phenomenon could have lasted long enough to have driven the extinction.
The new hypothesis raised by Kaiho’s team says that soot from hydrocarbons had caused a prolonged period of darkness which led to a drop in atmospheric temperature. The team found direct evidence of hydrocarbon soot in the impact layers and created models showing how this soot would have affected the climate.
According to their study, when the asteroid hit the oil-rich region of Chicxulub, a massive amount of soot was ejected which then spread globally. The soot aerosols caused colder climates at mid-high latitudes, and drought with milder cooling at low latitudes on land. This in turn led to the cessation of photosynthesis in oceans in the first two years, followed by surface-water cooling in oceans in subsequent years.
This rapid climate change is believed to be behind the loss of land and marine creatures over several years, suggesting that rapid global climate change can and did play a major role in driving extinction.
Kaiho’s team is studying other mass extinctions in the hopes of further understanding the processes behind them.

Animal Pictures