CAROLINA NATURALLY

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Snow Leopard and Four Cubs Caught on Camera

Snow leopards are pretty rare. A snow leopard with a new cub or two is good news. The World Wildlife fund says this camera trap footage from Mongolia is the first time scientists have seen a snow leopard with four cubs at once in the wild.

(YouTube link)

The footage is from September, when the cubs were about three months old. They would be half grown by now. Estimates of snow leopard population put their numbers at anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000.

Man Gives Street Dog Some Food, Which She Takes Home To Her Puppies

It's hard to say no to a stray dog begging for food on the city streets, and even though people can come up with all kinds of reasons why they shouldn't give a buck to a homeless person they can't deny a stray dog if they're animal lovers.And, as the guy who shot this video in Bangkok, Thailand discovered, sometimes donating food to a stray means you're helping feed her family of pups as well, which we can all agree is a win-win-winwinwinwin situation!

(YouTube Link)

Say "Hello" to the New World's Tallest Dog

Freddy was the runt of the litter when he was born, but he's certainly grown up since then. In fact, now he's the world's tallest dog -when he stands up on his back legs, he measures a whopping 7'5" tall! Guinness announced their new record holder in late December.

Anyone interested in keeping tabs on the pooch can now follow him on his Instagram page.

Animal Pictures

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1757		Robert Francois Damiens makes an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate King Louis XV of France.
1863		Union General Henry Halleck, by direction of Lincoln, orders General Ulysses Grant to revoke his infamous General Order No. 11 that expelled Jews from his operational area.
1896		Utah becomes the 45th state of the Union.
1902		France offers to sell their Nicaraguan Canal rights to the United States.
1904		The U.S. Supreme Court decides in the Gonzales v. Williams case that Puerto Ricans are not aliens and can enter the United States freely, yet stops short of awarding citizenship.
1920		The Negro National League, the first black baseball league, is organized by Rube Foster.
1923		The Paris Conference on war reparations hits a deadlock as the French insist on the hard line and the British insist on Reconstruction.
1935		President Franklin D. Roosevelt claims in his State of the Union message that the federal government will provide jobs for 3.5 million Americans on welfare.
1936		Billboard magazine publishes its first music Hit Parade.
1941		On the Greek-Albanian front, the Greeks launch an attack towards Valona from Berat to Klisura against the Italians.
1942		Japanese forces begin the evacuation of Guadalcanal.
1951		UN forces abandon Seoul, Korea, to the Chinese Communist Army.
1952		The French Army in Indochina launches Operation Nenuphar in hopes of ejecting a Viet Minh division from the Ba Tai forest.
1969		Spain returns the Ifni province to Morocco.
1970		A 7.7 earthquake kills 15,000+ people in Tonghai County, China.
1972		Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, England.
1974		Nixon refuses to hand over tape recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1975		The Khmer Rouge launches its newest assault in its five-year war in Phnom Penh. The war in Cambodia would go on until the spring of 1975.
1976		The Ulster Volunteer Force kills six Irish catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day 10 Protestant civilians are murdered in retaliation.
1979		Ohio officials approve an out-of-court settlement awarding $675,000 to the victims and families in the 1970 shootings at Kent State University, in which four students were killed and nine wounded by National Guard troops.
1990		Over 300 people die and more than 700 are injured in Pakistan’s deadliest train accident, when an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train.
1999		Jesse “The Body” Ventura, a former professional wrestler, is sworn in as populist governor of Minnesota.
1999		The euro, the new money of 11 European nations, goes into effect on the continent of Europe.
2004		NASA Mars rover Spirit successfully lands on Mars.
2004		Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the Rose Revolution of November 2003.
2007		Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) becomes the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
2010		Burj Khalifa (Khalifa tower) officially opens in Dubai, UAE. At 2,722 ft (829.8 m) it is the world’s tallest man-made structure.

Five Side Characters Who Deserve Their Own Movies

To make one movie, writers must create an entire world of characters to interact with the protagonist. The minor characters can be as rich and interesting as the main cast, but we don't get to know them very well. Some of these characters are intriguing enough to carry their own movie, but it rarely happens. Be honest, you'd go see a movie based on the sea turtles from Finding Nemo, wouldn't you?

One of the most beloved characters in Disney’s Finding Nemo is Crush. He is a sea turtle who speaks like a surfer. He helps Marlin and Dory get to Sydney Harbor so that they can find and rescue Nemo. He gives Marlin the nickname, The Jellyman and he calls Dory, Little Blue. He takes the pair on a fantastic ride along the East Australian Current. He also has a son named Squirt and a group of other turtles that he travels with. It would have been great to see Crush get his own spinoff so that we can see what his family is like and what it is like to travel along the East Australian Current. Crush is very funny and very lovable. Fans fell in love with him in Finding Nemo, and they would love him even more if he had his own movie.

Read about other side characters who should be in their own movies at Unreality.

Why Were Comics So Weird In The 50s And 60s?

There is a noticeable difference between the average superhero comics from the 80s and beyond and issues starring the same characters from the 1950s and 60s, and that difference is all thanks to the Comics Code Authority.The Comics Code kept writers and publishers from printing anything that could be considered immoral or remotely offensive, and their assault on comic books began with the release of Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction Of The Innocent.
Susana Polo of Polygon's Issue At Hand discusses the silly effect the Comics Code had on comic storylines, touching on how writers fought back with the power of morally neutral absurdity and how Nixon and Stan Lee helped cut out the Code.

(YouTube Link)

Women and Men on Men and Women in Red

Researcher Daniela Niesta Kayser.

Attempts to Detect Some Effects of Red Clothing

by Alice Shirell Kaswell

Consternation abounds as to the relationships, if there are any, between a woman’s reproductive biology and her decisions to wear, or not to wear, red things. Here are some of the bolder explorations that seek understanding of this vexing subject.

Men Viewing Women in Red
“Red and Romantic Behavior in Men Viewing Women,” Daniela Niesta Kayser, Andrew J. Elliot, and Roger Feltman, European Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 40, issue 6, October 2010, pp. 901–908. The authors, at the University of Rochester, explain:

In two experiments, we investigate..., specifically, whether red on a woman’s shirt increases attraction behavior in men. In Experiment 1, men who viewed an ostensible conversation partner in a red versus a green shirt chose to ask her more intimate questions. In Experiment 2, men who viewed an ostensible interaction partner in a red versus a blue shirt chose to sit closer to her.... [Our results show that it] appears that women would do well to wear a red shirt or dress when preparing for a date with a desirable man, and women may be particularly successful in online dating when they post a picture of themselves in red apparel. More generally, our findings should be of considerable interest to fashion consultants and product designers, as well as marketers and advertisers.

Romance in Women Viewing Men
“Red, Rank, and Romance in Women Viewing Men,” Andrew J. Elliot, Daniela Niesta Kayser, Stephanie Lichtenfeld, Markus A. Maier, Tobias Greitemeyer, and Richard H. Gramzow, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2010, vol. 139, no. 3, pp. 399–417. The researchers, at the University of Rochester, the University of Munich, the University of Innsbruck, the University of Southampton, and Tianjin Medical University, explain:

[I]n a series of 7 experiments we demonstrate that women perceive men to be more attractive and sexually desirable when seen on a red background and in red clothing.... The influence of red appears to be specific to women’s romantic attraction to men: Red did not... influence women’s perceptions of men’s overall likability, agreeableness, or extraversion.

On Men Who View Women in Red in Austria
“Sexy Red: Perceived Sexual Receptivity Mediates the Red-Attraction Relation in Men Viewing Woman,” Adam D. Pazda, Andrew J. Elliot, and Tobias Greitemeyer, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 48, no. 3, 2012, pp. 787-790. The authors, at the University of Rochester and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, explain:

Males in Austria participated [in these experiments].... From a pragmatic standpoint, our results suggest that women may need to be judicious in their use of red clothing. Wearing red may be a subtle, yet powerful way to communicate sexual interest to a targeted male, but in public settings replete with eager male receivers, a red signal may result in unwanted sexual advances. More generally, our finding that female red carries sexual meaning will likely be of considerable interest to fashion designers, marketers, and advertisers.

On Men Who View Women in Red in Burkina Faso
“Red Enhances Women’s Attractiveness to Men: First Evidence Suggesting Universality,” Andrew J. Elliot, Jessica L. Tracy, Adam D. Pazda, and Alec T. Beall, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2013, pp. 165-168. The authors explain:

Recent research in the U.S. and Europe indicates that viewing red enhances men’s attraction to women.... We conducted a first test of this universality hypothesis by examining the influence of red on attraction among men living in an isolated traditional small-scale society in Burkina Faso where red carries explicitly negative associations. The results indicated that the red effect is present in Burkina, and that it emerges in culturally appropriate expressions of attraction.

On Women Who Use Red to Be Viewed by Men
“Women Use Red in Order to Attract Mates,” Pavol Prokop and Martin Hromada, Ethology, vol. 119, no. 7, 2013, pp. 605-613. The authors, at Trnava University, Slovakia, and Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland, explain:

As expected, women preferred red clothing both in real-life and would-be situations more than men.... A preference for the color red was shown in particular for clothes on the upper parts of the participants’ bodies... Women who were actually involved in a romantic sexual relationship had a preference for red in would-be situations more than single women...

On Women Who Use Red to Be Viewed by Men
“Women’s Use of Red Clothing as a Sexual Signal in Intersexual Interaction,” Andrew J. Elliot, Tobias Greitemeyer, and Adam D. Pazda, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 3, 2013, pp. 599-602. The authors explain:

In Experiment 1, women expecting to converse with an attractive man were more likely to choose to wear a red (versus green) shirt than women expecting to converse with an unattractive man or a woman of average attractiveness. In Experiment 2, women expecting to converse with an attractive man were more likely to choose to wear a red (versus blue) shirt than women expecting to converse with an attractive woman.

On Women Who See Red When They See Other Women in Red Clothing
“Red and Romantic Rivalry: Viewing Another Woman in Red Increases Perceptions of Sexual Receptivity, Derogation, and Intentions to Mate-Guard,” Adam D. Pazda, Pavol Prokop, and Andrew J. Elliot, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 40, no. 10, 2014, pp. 1260-1269. The authors explain:

Experiment 1 demonstrated that women perceive another woman in a red, relative to white, dress as sexually receptive. Experiment 2 demonstrated that women are more likely to derogate the sexual fidelity of a woman in red, relative to white. Experiment 3 revealed that women are more likely to intend to guard their romantic partner from a woman wearing a red, relative to a green, shirt.

Revisiting Romantic Red
“Romantic Red Revisited: Red Enhances Men’s Attraction to Young, But Not Menopausal Women,” Sascha Schwarz and Marie Singer, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2013, pp. 161-164. The authors, at Technische Universität Dortmund, and Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany, explain:

► Young and old men judged a young or older woman against a red or white background.
► Red increases only young woman’s sexual attractiveness.
► Young and old men do not differ in this sexual attractiveness ratings.
► Red does not increase physical attractiveness, intelligence or sympathy.
► Men are not aware of this red effect.

Sex hormone-sensitive gene complex linked to premenstrual mood disorder

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have discovered molecular mechanisms that may underlie a woman’s susceptibility to disabling irritability, sadness, and anxiety in the days leading up to her menstrual period. Such premenstrual dysphoric disorder … Read more

Randomly Surfing the Web Is No Way to Educate Yourself

Noam Chomsky: Randomly Surfing the Web Is No Way to Educate Yourself; Internet Is a 'Cult Gen

Indivertible: What YOU Can Do To Keep The Media Honest

From former producers of The Daily Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann, here's a guide to how to keep the media honest in the Age of Dumbass Trump.

Finland to give people $587 a month

Finland to give people $587 a month in test of universal basic income

In a move that might make wingnut media and many US lawmakers apoplectic, Finland has launched a guaranteed universal income pilot program. The state will give out €560 ($587) a month to 2,000 residents, regardless of their job status or wealth, reports CNN.

Sweden tries to curb buy-and-throw-away culture

Sweden tries to curb buy-and-throw-away culture through tax breaks

Mexican town whose chief earners are in the US worries what happens if they're sent home

Link Dump

100 things we didn’t know last year

The Giant Concrete Arrows Across The US

The handshake of awkwardness

13 undeniably good things that happened in 2016

Wood Pile Art

The Most Commonly Misused English Words

2016 – The Year in Memes

Best Ever Fictional Engineers

The 20 Best Movies of 2016

When prop money goes bad

33 Things That Were Originally Called Something Else

The most moving, striking images from a year of terrible news

American Status Symbol

Work Stress Is the Saddest American Status Symbol

Facebook censors historian to protect users from Roman god’s sculpted genitalia

Facebook censors historian to protect users from Roman god’s sculpted genitalia

Over the years, Facebook has famously waged war on the female breast, regularly suspending accounts that display the offending body part.

***

Some need serious therapy and of course they think they are the normal ones.

‘My eye was filled with blood’

2017 Will Be a Lot Worse than 2016

Let's Face It: 2017 Will Be a Lot Worse than 2016

Don't Let Media and Society Normalize the Neofascists Coming to the White House

Don't Let Media and Society Normalize the Neofascists Coming to the White House

'Christian' fundamentalist schools put kids at risk

'Christian' fundamentalist schools put kids at risk

LGBT students were being taught that homosexuality was unnatural and girls were being told that they had to obey men. Other students reported other forms of “serious mistreatment.”

Texas refuses special ed services to blind girl

Texas refuses special ed services to blind girl who can’t read words more than three inches away

The parents of a 9-year-old legally blind girl are taking action after the public school system in Houston, Texas repeatedly refused to provide special ed services.

Animal Pictures

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of
Carolina Naturally

Oh, yes ...!

Carolina Naturally is read in 210 countries around the world daily.

Wisdom ... !

Today is - J.R.R. Tolkien Day

You want the unvarnished truth?

Don't forget to visit our sister blogs Here and Here.

Today in History

1521		Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
1777		General George Washington defeats the British led by British General Lord Charles Cornwallis, at Princeton, New Jersey.
1861		Delaware rejects a proposal that it join the South in seceding from the Union.
1903		The Bulgarian government renounces the Treaty of Commerce tying it to the Austro-Hungarian empire.
1910		The Social Democratic Congress in Germany demands universal suffrage.
1912		Plans are announced for a new $150,000 Brooklyn stadium for the Trolley Dodgers baseball team.
1916		Three armored Japanese cruisers are ordered to guard the Suez Canal.
1920		The last of the U.S. troops depart France.
1921		Italy halts the issuing of passports to those emigrating to the United States.
1924		King Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus is uncovered near Luxor, Egypt.
1930		The second conference on Germany’s war reparations begins at the Hague, in the Netherlands.
1931		Hundreds of farmers storm a small town in depression-plagued Arkansas demanding food.
1933		The Japanese take Shuangyashan, China, killing 500 Chinese.
1946		President Harry S. Truman calls on Americans to spur Congress to act on the on-going labor crisis.
1958		The British create the West Indies Federation with Lord Hailes as governor general.
1959		Alaska is admitted into the Union as the 49th and largest state.
1959		Fidel Castro takes command of the Cuban army.
1961		The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1966		Cambodia warns the United Nations of retaliation unless the United States and South Vietnam end intrusions.
1977		Apple Computers incorporates.
1978		North Vietnamese troops reportedly occupy 400 square miles in Cambodia. North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops were using Laos and Cambodia as staging areas for attacks against allied forces.
1985		President Ronald Reagan condemns a rash of arson attacks on abortion clinics.
1990		Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to US forces.
1993		George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
1994		More than 7 million people receive South African citizenship that had previously been denied under Apartheid policies.
1996		The first mobile flip phone, the Motorola StarTAC, goes on sale.
1999		Mars Polar Lander launched.
2000		The last original weekday Peanuts comic strip is published after a 50-year run, following the death of the strip’s creator, Charles Schultz.

Dashcam Video Footage Of A Driver Hitting 240 Green Lights In A Row

One of the more popular automotive-related urban legends is the tale of "nothing but green", in which a driver claims to have hit X amount of green lights in a row while driving through the city.This urban legend is hard to believe in big cities like Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco, because it seems like all the other drivers on the road would make it really hard to continuously every light, green or not.
But NYC ride-share driver Noah Forman hit an astounding 240 green lights while driving through Manhattan, and Shawn Swetsky posted Noah's dashcam footage to prove it.

Noah hits 240 green lights

You can also watch Noah hit 240 green lights in a row in real time on the full 26 minute long video here.

Hollywood sign changed to 'Hollyweed' in New Year's Eve prank

Hollywood sign changed to 'Hollyweed' in New Year's Eve prank

Capitalism Is Collapsing

Capitalism Is Collapsing -- and the Weird Thing Is That Nothing Is Rising to Replace It

Shutting it off ...

I May Be Facing Felony Charges for Shutting Off a Pipeline Valve, but the Real Radicals Are Running the Fossil Fuel Companies

Food Gentrification Is Hurting Poor Communities

Food Gentrification Is Hurting Poor Communities—One Group Is Fighting Back

This Brewery Will Custom-Make a Beer for You Based on Your DNA

The flavors you like are partially based on how sensitive you are to certain chemicals. Now Meantime Brewing is creating custom brews for customers based on their DNA. Using a saliva sample to analyze what flavor compounds you may or may not enjoy, they will make you a beer they think you enjoy. They will even have you come in to consult on the beer so they can get your input on their flavor profiles and help name the beer and design the label. Of course, this kind of customization isn't cheap -the basic package will cost almost $31,000, but at least it leaves you with a good 2,000 pints of beer.

Read more about the process on their website.

Random Photos

5-year-old girl killed by celebratory gunfire just minutes into New Year’s Day

5-year-old girl killed by celebratory gunfire just minutes into New Year’s Day

About 30 people were gathered Saturday night at an Alabama home to ring in the new year when a child was accidentally shot by one of the revelers.

‘It felt like a sledgehammer’

Texas lawmaker shot in head by stray bullet from celebratory gunfire: ‘It felt like a sledgehammer’

A Texas lawmaker was shot in the head and wounded by a stray bullet while celebrating New Year’s Eve.

10 Twilight Zone Dystopias That Don’t Seem All That Bad Now

10 Twilight Zone Dystopias That Don’t Seem All That Bad Now

At this point, that strange old road that leads directly to the Twilight Zone is looking pretty good.

The violent, post-truth 2017 predicted in The Running Man? We’re living in it

The violent, post-truth 2017 predicted in The Running Man? We’re living in it

Welcome to a world where fake news stories are used to manipulate public opinion. Dissent is no longer tolerated and all your communications are monitored; the economy is not functioning and reality TV is used to distract you from harsher realities. Welcome to 2017.

Under Wingnut Junta North Carolina Is Not Classified As a Democracy

Under Wingnut Junta North Carolina Is Not Classified As a Democracy

North Carolina does so poorly on the measures of legal framework and voter registration that it ranks alongside Iran and is not classified as a democracy.…

Dumbass Trump is ‘an 11 on a scale of 10’ for Nixonian paranoid tendencies

Nixon intentionally sabotaged a 1968 deal that could have ended the Vietnam War earlier

Nixon intentionally sabotaged a 1968 deal that could have ended the Vietnam War earlier

Newly revealed documents confirm what many people had long suspected: Nixon intentionally sabotaged negotiations that could have ended the Vietnam War in 1968.

Quadrantids meteor shower

How to see Quadrantids meteor shower

(They are expected to be at their peak tonight - January-3-2017)

A New Home on Mars

NASA Langley’s Icy Concept for Living on the Red Planet

When astronauts set foot on Mars, they may stay for months rather than days as they did during Apollo missions to the moon. The surface of Mars has extreme temperatures and the atmosphere does not … Read more

Lunatic creationist Ham flips out after paper claims no dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark

‘Get your facts right’: Lunatic creationist Ham flips out after paper claims no dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark

Lunatic creationist Ham is very angry at the Washington Post for incorrectly reporting that he believes dinosaurs were wiped out by the biblical flood described in the story of Noah.

***

Get it correct, now ... dinosaurs WERE on the ark (along with Unicorns, Giffins, Sphinxes, etc.) according to Ham.
Never mind the fact that although dinosaurs actually existed and the existence of the others listed above is still undetermined ... they ceased to exist 100s of millions of years before the first man ever existed.

Welcome to ...

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

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