CAROLINA NATURALLY: Sep 11, 2013

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Daily Drift

True statement...!

Carolina Naturally is read in 193 countries around the world daily.

Now, that's an Odd Duck ... !

Today is Odd Day

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Today in History

1297		Scots under William Wallace defeat the English at Stirling Bridge.
1695		Imperial troops under Eugene of Savoy defeat the Turks at the Battle of Zenta.
1709		John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, wins the bloodiest battle of the 18th century at great cost, against the French at Malplaquet.
1740		The first mention of an African American doctor or dentist in the colonies is made in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
1777		General George Washington and his troops are defeated by the British under General Sir William Howe at the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania.
1786		The Convention of Annapolis opens with the aim of revising the articles of confederation.
1802		Piedmont, Italy, is annexed by France.
1814		U.S. forces led by Thomas Macdonough route the British fleet on Lake Champlain.
1847		Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna" is first performed in a saloon in Pittsburgh.
1850		Soprano opera singer Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," makes her American debut at New York's Castle Garden Theater.
1864		A 10-day truce is declared between generals Sherman and Hood so civilians may leave Atlanta, Georgia.
1857		Indians incited by Mormon John D. Lee kill 120 California-bound settlers in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
1904		The battleship Connecticut, launched in New York, introduces a new era in naval construction.
1916		The "Star Spangled Banner" is sung at the beginning of a baseball game for the first time in Cooperstown, New York.
1944		American troops enter Luxembourg.
1962		Thurgood Marshall is appointed a judge of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
1965		The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) arrives in South Vietnam and is stationed at An Khe.
1974		Haile Selassie I is deposed from the Ethiopian throne.
2001		In an unprecedented, highly coordinated attack, terrorists hijack four U.S. passenger airliners, flying two into the World Trade Center towers in New York and one into the Pentagon, killing thousands. The fourth airliner, headed toward Washington likely to strike the White House or Capitol, is crashed just over 100 miles away in Pennsylvania after passengers storm the cockpit and overtake the hijackers.
2005		Israel completes its unilateral disengagement of all Israeli civilians and military from the Gaza Strip.
2007		Russia detonates a nano-bomb; dubbed the "Father of All Bombs," it is the largest non-nuclear weapon developed to date.
2012		US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, attacked and burned down; 4 Americans were killed including the US ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens.

Autumn Colors

The end of summer and the start of autumn has arrived in the northern hemisphere.

Did you know ...

5 things you may not know about rainbows

About the history of scary clowns

About the innocent people killed in the war on drugs

With One Speech Elizabeth Warren Terrifies the Koch Brothers and The Supreme Court

In a brief speech at the AFL-CIO convention, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) rocked the crowd by taking on the Koch brothers, and the corporate owned and operated wingnut Supreme Court majority. Here is the close of Warren’s speech:

Sen. Warren called the Supreme Court wingnut majority among the top ten pro-corporate justices of the last half century, and said, “You follow this pro-corporate trend to its logical conclusion, and sooner or later you’ll end up with a Supreme Court that functions as a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Business.”
Warren roused the crowd by vowing to take on the powerful interests, “From tax policy to retirement security, the voices of hard-working people get drowned out by powerful industries and well-financed front groups The fight continues to rage, and the powerful interests continue to be guided by their age-old principle: ‘I’ve got mine, the rest of you are on your own. However steep our climb, I am proud to stand with you, to march with you, and to fight side-by-side with you.”
She also talked about the history of powerful interests standing against changes that benefit the many, “In every fight to build opportunity in this country … in every fight for working families, we have been on the front lines because our agenda is America’s agenda… But let’s be clear, we have always had to run uphill. Powerful interests have done everything they can to block reform. They attacked Social Security and Medicare. They attacked pensions and public employees. They attacked bank regulation and consumer protection.”
This is why Wall Street, corporate America, and the Koch brothers all fear Elizabeth Warren. She is saying the things that they don’t want people hear. Warren is mobilizing the masses by calling out the political front groups for corporate America and connecting the dots all the way up to the wingnut Supreme Court majority.
The wingnut billionaires may have the money, but they are afraid of Elizabeth Warren. They fear her because she brings message to the American people that they matter. They fear her because she vows to fight for them, and she urges those who the powerful conservatives in this country try to silence to join the fight. Warren’s words carry extra weight because she not placing herself above those she is advocating for. The Massachusetts senator is standing with them.
At a time when the left has been divided over the question of military action in Syria, Sen. Warren’s speech reminds us of our common values and our shared cause.

The truth hurts

Russia Urges Syria to Put Its Chemical Weapons Under International Authority

Last week, Russia and China were refusing to get on board with a United Nations condemnation of Syria’s use of chemical weapons against its own people. Monday morning, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Russia has urged Syria to put its chemical weapons under international authority.
“We are calling on the Syrian authorities not only agree on putting chemical weapons storages under international control, but also for its further destruction and then joining the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We have passed our offer to [Syrian Foreign Minister] Muallem and hope to receive a fast and positive answer,” Lavrov said, according to RT.com.
Russia will urge Syria to move their chemical weapons to areas under international inspection in order to dismantle them.
This is a huge and important shift, both in possible U.N. support for Obama’s call to action against Syria and in unlikely aversion of a need for military strikes. Russia is basically offering to persuade Syria to give up its chemical weapons in exchange for the possible aversion of the U. S. strike on Syria.
Secretary of State John Kerry made a case for Assad averting the possible strike by turning over all of his chemical weapons, however his remarks were later clarified to express that he does not believe that Assad will ever turn his chemical weapons over to international control. Kerry made the case that doing nothing was unacceptable, “If you want to send Iran and Hezbollah and Assad a congratulatory message: ‘You guys can do what you want,’ you’d say: ‘Don’t do anything.’”
Even if Russia’s urging doesn’t stop a possible strike, it could signal support for a U.N. resolution since according to USA Today, Lavrov said that U.N. should present the results of their lab tests to the U.N. Security Council. “We have agreed to push for the soonest return of inspectors,” Lavrov said.

Long-lost Van Gogh Painting Unveiled in Amsterdam

Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum on Monday unveiled a newly discovered landscape painting from the height of the Dutch master's career.

Severity of sleep apnea predicts aggressiveness of melanoma

The severity of sleep apnea can independently predict the aggressiveness of malignant skin melanoma, according to a new study. The research, presented today (9 September 2013) at the European

Nadja Durbach, Professor of history at the University of Utah, questions the extent to which Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, was exploited during his time in a Victorian freakshow, and asks if it wasn't perhaps the medical establishment, often seen as his saviour, who really took advantage of Merrick and his condition.

Controversy over 'bound woman' truck tailgate decal

A tailgate decal suggesting that a woman is bound and tied in the back of a truck is raising some eyebrows in Waco, Texas. At first glance, the decal is extremely convincing and acts as an optical illusion to make someone think there is an actual woman tied up in the bed of a truck.

But a closer look reveals that the optical illusion is simply a decal, and there is no woman in distress. The decal is the handy work of Hornet Signs, a marketing and advertising company in Waco.

According to Brad Kolb, the owner of the company, the sticker was put on an employee’s truck to gauge how realistic their decals are. "I wasn't expecting the reactions we got, nor do we condone this by any means,” Kolb said. “It was more or less something we put out there to see who noticed it." Kolb said an employee volunteered to be tied up and was photographed so the decal could be made.

YouTube link.

It was put on the employees truck about a month ago, Kolb says, and has been catching many eyes throughout the Waco community. However, reactions have been pretty one sided. Some people say they called police when they saw the decal, but Kolb says he hasn’t been approached by a police department yet.

Man Walked 870 Miles Home After Being Robbed Because He Didn't Want to Make a Fuss

A 25-year-old man who has been reported missing by his family surprised his mom when he showed up at home, 11 days later after walking some 870 miles home, as reported by Rocket News 24.
The man, who was attending a playing card convention in the city of Kitakyushu, Japan, claimed that he missed his return flight to his hometown of Sendai. When he was looking for an Internet cafe, he was robbed of his phone and wallet.
Luckily, the man had hidden 2,000 yen (US$20) in his shoe. Now, you and I would use this money to call home, but not this man! He decided to buy bread and water and set off to walk home instead.
Eleven days and 870 miles later, the deeply tanned man arrived at his home to find his distraught mother, who said, "I was shocked and thought I was seeing a ghost when he arrived. I'm just thrilled that he is back and I'm very sorry to everyone who was worried about him."
When asked why he didn't call the police, the man replied, "I never wanted to make a fuss. I'm sorry to everyone I inconvenienced."
Now, naturally, a lot of people are skeptical (you can't cover 870 miles completely on foot in 11 days - not even the world's top ultra-marathon runners could do that - so there's plenty of speculation that there's a lot more to the story), but don't let that get in the way of the important thing about this story: the man reported that the trip wasn't a complete disaster. He was able to find a rare card to add to his collection, which the muggers didn't steal.
Walking 870 miles for that rare card? Totally worth it for this hardcore fan!

Ziggy

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Young adults reminisce about music from before their time

Music has an uncanny way of bringing us back to a specific point in time, and each generation seems to have its own opinions about which tunes will live on

Football Uniforms Throughout History

Uniforms have come a long way from wool jerseys, knee-high socks and leather helmets.

The Musical Drainage Pipes Of Dresden, Germany

The only house that sings in the rain stands in the quirky neighborhood of Äußere Neustadt in Dresden, Germany. It's called the Hof der Elemente of the 'Courtyard of Elements,' designed to turn the ordinary pitter-patter of a rainy weather to a wonderfully unique symphony that rings throughout town.

The Hof der Elemente is part of the Kunsthofpassage series of courtyards that displays artistic talent from young locals who are also residents in its surrounding apartments. Sculptor Annette Paul and designers Christoph Rossner and André Tempel decided to create a musical spectacle out of their own abode to contribute in this art experiment.

Daily Comic Relief

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Wine Tour for Pot Lovers

Napa has wine tours, Scotland has single malt whiskies tours, but Jamaica? It has ganja tours. That's right - according to David McFadden of the AP's The Big Story, Jamaican "farmers" have added tourism to the pot trade:

The tours pass through places like Nine Mile, the tiny hometown of reggae legend, and famous pot-lover, Bob Marley. Here, in Jamaica's verdant central mountains, dreadlocked men escort curious visitors to a farm where deep-green marijuana plants grow out of the reddish soil. Similar tours are offered just outside the western resort town of Negril, where a marijuana mystique has drawn weed-smoking vacationers for decades.
"This one here is the original sinsemilla, Bob Marley's favorite. And this one here is the chocolate skunk. It's special for the ladies," a pot farmer nicknamed "Breezy" told a reporter as he showed off several varieties on his plot one recent morning.

Spuds May Get Bugs Out of Food Coloring

Purple sweet potatoes hold particular promise as pigments. Chemists recently reported on advances they made in producing red dye from the purple spuds.

Florida seaweed good for what ails you?

A new defense against prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men in the United States, may come from a seaweed found off the coast of Florida. University of Florida

The Doll's Eyes Plant

Have you ever taken a stroll through a wood and felt that you were being watched? Yet when you turn around, no-one is there. You carry on with your walk but that feeling of disquiet lingers.

Perhaps you were being watched by something almost as disquieting as that galloping, mad axe murderer you were dreading. The Doll's Eyes plant could be eyeing you up as you innocently ramble. In North America, even the woods have eyes.

Awesome Pictures

China's Hua Shan Will Make You Scared of Heights

The views from China's mountain Hua Shan are amazing. On the downside, getting the most out of that view means climbing along the cliffside planks that make up the park's "path."

See those boards with metal pieces jabbed into them? Yeah, those are the path. And that chain? That's the handrail. If you have vertigo or bad balance, you're probably best off just enjoying the view through the great pictures collected by Twisted Sifter.