The Daily Drift

America ... The World is Watching - VOTE DEMOCRAT ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 200 countries around the world daily.   

 
The World is WATCHING ... !

Today is  - Election Day
 

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Some of our readers today have been in:

The Americas

Kitchener, Longueuil, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, North York, Vancouver, Regina, Burnaby, Edmonton and Calgary, Canada

Luquillo and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Buens Aires, Argentina

Santiago, Chile

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Deeth and Monona, United States

Europe

Yuri, Estonia

Dugny, Rouen, Velizy-Villacoublay, Nancy, Paris, Lyon, Salon-De-Provence and Calais, France

Prague and Habry, Czech Republic

Berlin, Erfurt, Dusseldorf, Nuremberg and Regensburg, Germany

Arendal and Oslo, Norway

Stockholm, Karlskoga and Kista, Sweden

Focsani, Romania

Vinnytsya, Ukraine

Madrid and Barcelona, Spain

Kaunas, Lithuania

Moscow, Ryazan and Novosibirsk, Russia

Elin Pelin, Bulgaria

Milan, Bergamo and Treviso, Italy

Maribor, Slovenia

Zagreb, Croatia

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Reykjavik, Iceland

Dublin, Ireland

London, Reading and Leeds, England

Ankara, Turkey

Pristina, Serbia

Asia

Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujrat, Pakistan

Margahayukevcana and Mulyorejo, Indonesia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Jodhpur, Patna, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and New Delhi, India

Colombo and Maharagama,  Sri Lanka

Nanning, China

Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Taipei, Tainan, Taiwan

Tehran, Iran

Port Louis, Mauritius

Africa

Cape Town and Benoni, South Africa

Lusaka, Zambia

Algiers, Algeria

The Pacific

Homebush and Sydney, Australia 

Pasay and Cebu City, Philippines

Today in History

644		Umar of Arabia is assassinated at Medina and is succeeded as caliph by Uthman.
1493		Christopher Columbus discovers Guadeloupe during his second expedition.
1677		William III and Mary of England wed on William's birthday.
1760		Following the Russian capture of Berlin, Frederick II of Prussia defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Torgau.
1791		General Arthur St. Clair, governor of Northwest Territory, is badly defeated by a large Indian army near Fort Wayne.
1798		Congress agrees to pay a yearly tribute to Tripoli, considering it the only way to protect U.S. shipping.
1842		Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill.
1854		Florence Nightingale and her nurses arrive in the Crimea.
1863		From the main Confederate Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's troops are sent northeast to besiege Knoxville.
1918		Austria signs an armistice with the Allies.
1922		The U.S. Postmaster General orders all homes to get mailboxes or relinquish delivery of mail.
1922		The entrance to King Tut's tomb is discovered.
1924		Calvin Coolidge is elected 30th president of the United States.
1924		Nellie Tayloe Ross and Miriam Ferguson are elected first and second women governors (Wyoming and Texas).
1946		The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is established.
1952		General Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected 34th president of the United States.
1956		Russian troops attack Budapest, Hungary.
1979		At the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, 90 people, including 63 Americans, are taken hostage by militant student followers of Ayatollah Khomeini. The students demand the return of Shah Mohammad Reza Pablavi, who is undergoing medical treatment in New York City.
1980		Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th president of the United States.
1992		Carol Moseley Braun becomes the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
1995		Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
2008		Senator Barack Obama of Illinois elected 44th president of the United States, the first African American to hold that position.

10 Of The Most Amazing Treehouses You Surely Want to Climb

As an adult, there might be chances when you reminisce the old times when you were a kid. That kid who's all eager to climb up a treehouse. You scatter all those toys and have fun all day with your best playmates until someone climbs down crying because of a toy fight.
But don't worry! You can still have a chance to enjoy treehouses and now you can even book a night in their well-designed rooms; or you can just be fascinated by looking at them from the ground.

Minority Voter Suppression In North Carolina Witnessed Firsthand

What the future holds for voting in North Carolina is unknown. 

What is known is that the damaging and chilling effects of this law will be felt for a generation…

by Michael Wells, Jr.

It is harder to vote in North Carolina these days. On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court, in Shelby v. Holder, gutted a landmark provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A majority of the justices struck down Article 5 of the Act, which had required federal pre-approval of changes to voting practices in southern states. Eviscerating Article 5 effectively halted its protections and set the stage for sweeping efforts to disenfranchise minorities, women, the elderly and students. Six weeks later, emboldened by the Court’s ruling, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the nation’s most restrictive voting law all in the name of “preventing voter fraud.”

Lawsuits challenging the law have been filed by various organizations including the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. The ACLU and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice sought to have certain provisions of the law stayed until the trial scheduled for summer of 2015. The request for a stay was denied at the district court level, but the district court’s decision was reversed by a three judge panel at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. On October 8, 2014, the Supreme Court struck down the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that had stayed many of the 2013 North Carolina’s laws restrictions thus instituting widespread voter suppression.

The repugican United States Senate candidate and North Carolina Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis, along with North Carolina Senate president pro tem, repugican Phil Berger, Sr., led the charge to pass this restrictive and discriminatory legislation. Tillis, Berger and their supporters claim “voter fraud” is an issue in North Carolina; yet there is no evidence to support that claim. The real reason is more pernicious: barriers to vote keep heavily democratic groups, minorities (African-Americans and Hispanics in particular), women and college students from voting. If you cannot win on the issues, then control who votes.

The law’s restrictions are as follows: no same day voter registration; preregistration during early voting for 16 and 17-year-olds was eliminated; it shortens early voting by one week; out-of-precinct provisional voting was eliminated; and counties cannot extend polling place hours by one hour on Election Day in extraordinary circumstances (long lines). Most importantly, the law now permits anyone registered in the country to challenge a voter; previously the challenger needed to be registered to vote in the same precinct as the person he or she was challenging. Starting in 2016, ID will be required to vote. There are six acceptable forms of ID: 1) an unexpired North Carolina Driver’s License, 2) United States Passport, 3) a Veterans Identification Card, 4) an unexpired North Carolina Identification Card, 5) a United States Military Identification Card and 6) Tribal Identification Card. All of these forms of ID cost money and are tantamount to a ‘poll tax,’ which the Constitution forbids.

The one documented case of voter fraud in North Carolina involved an absentee ballot. Historically absentee ballots are heavily repugican. If voter fraud were really an issue, absentee ballots would have been addressed more extensively in the legislation. The repugicans ignore this clear contradiction and choose to make up stories about how “possible non-citizens” and “people are admitting to voter fraud” in an attempt to ride a wave of bigotry and xenophobia to victory.

On October 8th, when the Supreme Court lifted the stay on North Carolina’s law, it gave no explanation, but Justice Ginsberg offered a scathing dissent, echoing the Fourth Circuit’s majority opinion. According to a www.pbs.org article from October 9th, Justice Ginsberg argued eliminating same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting risked significantly reducing opportunities for black voters, likely in violation of the Voting Rights Act; and, Justice Ginsberg writes, “I would not displace that record-based reasoned judgment.” Proponents of the law argued changing the law this close to the election would create mass confusion, but possible confusion is a spurious explanation for voter suppression. Of course, Americans for Prosperity sent out a mailer with misinformation, but repugicans ignore this real confusion.

The law has a disproportionate effect on African-Americans because, according to an October 26, 2014, article on www.msnbc.com, they make up 41% of voters who use same day registration. In addition, African-Americans cast nearly a third of out-of-precinct votes despite of making up only 22% of the population.

I witnessed the inequities of the law firsthand during the first day of early voting in North Carolina on Thursday, October 23rd. I voted in Winston-Salem at the Forsyth County Government Center. Several African-American voters told me they were told by people outside the polling place that it would take two hours to vote. I, a clearly upper-middle-class white man, was told forty-five minutes to an hour; it took fifty-five minutes. I have heard other similar stories of purposeful misinformation given to minority voters from through out the state.

In Boone, North Carolina, the Board of Elections tried to move a polling site located at Appalachian State University. The polling site draws primarily college students, and most of those students vote for Democrats. The Board’s efforts proved unsuccessful as a local Superior Court judge ruled the polling place must stay at Appalachian State, but do not be surprised if Tillis, Berger and others in the final days before the election file another frivolous lawsuit to keep college students from voting.

What the future holds for voting in North Carolina is unknown. What is known is that the damaging and chilling effects of this law will be felt for decades, even if the law is overturned this summer. Attempts to disenfranchise specific groups of voters will undoubtedly suppress voting in these communities for many generations.

Without Stupid People repugicans Would Go Extinct

However one defines or applies the word stupid, they can hardly think of the word without directly relating it to repugican supporters …

The word “stupid” has a broad range of applications, but it generally means a person lacks rudimentary intelligence or the ability to reason. It can also imply a congenital lack of capacity for reasoning, or a permanent state of daze or slow-mindedness. However one defines or applies the word stupid, they can hardly think of the word without directly relating it to repugican supporters; especially those who are not part of the wealthiest one-percent of income earners.

Over the past week while encouraging people to vote in the midterm elections, it became apparent that the level of stupidity inherent in people inclined to support repugicans is beyond comprehension. In fact, as an educator, it is frightening that so many people of voting age lack the fundamental reasoning ability of a second-grader and are even less-informed about basic facts than a kindergartner; exactly the type of voter repugicans depend on to steal elections. It really does not matter what issue or policy the typical repugican cabal voter either supports or opposes, they base their position on whatever absurdity their favorite repugican candidate espouses; regardless of reality.

One of the most bizarre ideas held by repugicans living in drought-stricken California is that the lack of rainfall responsible for, among other things, a non-existent snowpack in the mountains and dried-up wells is due to the Clean Water Act and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  As a reminder to morons, a drought is an extended period when a region receives consistently below average precipitation; or for repugican voters, there is no rain. Still, local repugicans like Koch-teabagger Jeff Denham have convinced ignoramuses that the reason it has not rained in California for the past three years is because the EPA regulates the amount of toxic chemicals the oil industry pours directly into the air and water.  Unbelievably, more repugican cabal voters are convinced that eliminating the EPA will bring back normal rainfall to the region and create millions of high-paying jobs to boot.

Another bizarre notion repugican voters embrace is that keeping the minimum wage at poverty levels, or eliminating it altogether, will put more money into working people’s pockets and eliminate poverty. What is stunning, is that those most in need of better wages believe repugican lies that the reason they are poor is not due to low wages, but because of “socialist” workplace regulations such as overtime pay, 40-hour work weeks, OSHA, and of course the dreaded minimum wage. This insanity accompanies a firm belief that cutting retirees’ Social Security and giving their retirement accounts to Wall Street will create millions of jobs as well as eliminate struggling senior citizens living off their Social Security pensions need for food stamps to survive. In fact, a fair number of repugican voters, including white seniors, are convinced that Democrats and President Obama are responsible for their poverty because they oppose privatizing Medicare; something repugicans convinced them is a Marxist plot to destroy America’s storied “free market capitalism.”

The so-called ‘values crowd’ are clearly stupefied into supporting repugicans’ economic policies in large part due to their belief that Democrats and President Obama are waging a war on marriage that only electing repugicans will remedy. They cannot, and will not, believe that marriage does not need protecting because no-one is attacking it, or that anyone in their right mind cares on way or another if a man and woman chooses to marry. The same evangelical crowd is convinced by repugicans that President Obama has robbed them of their religious rights and more than a few are preparing for the looming government assault on their cults. As an aside, the religious repugican supporters who missed eighth-grade biology class, or their Sunday School lesson covering the Genesis creation account, really need to comprehend that a zygote is not a living, breathing human being worthy of constitutional protections they are unwilling to extend the woman carrying the single-celled organism.

This list of insane beliefs repugicans promulgate to convince their base to vote against their own self-interests is exhaustive, and sadly no reason or facts will ever convince them their support for repugicans is the root cause of all their woes. There are millions of Americans struggling in poverty due to low wages, and yet they will go to the polls and vote for repugicans because they tell them that lower wages and giving the wealthy their pensions will magically increase their personal wealth and save America in the process.

No-one likes to admit that half of their country’s population is inherently stupid, much less ignorant, but at the rate repugican candidates garner votes based on sheer fantasy and lies, there is no other conclusion that makes any sense whatsoever. One thing is certain; if American voters were not so stupid, they would not knowingly vote against their own best interests. But repugicans know their base and that without stupid people they would be extinct as a viable political cabal and it is a sad commentary, but they are far from going extinct and it is all down to the level of stupidity permeating this sad ignorant nation.

Yes, teabagger membership is fueled by 'racial resentment'

Did the teabagger cabal come about because a bunch of old white wingnuts suddenly got it into their heads that their taxes were too high, or was it a more simplistic—read, racist—reaction to the election of America's first black president? Let's find out, using science!

At least to some degree, the teabagger movement is an outlet for mobilizing and expressing racialized grievances which have been symbolically magnified by the election of the nation’s first black president,” writes a research team led by Florida State University sociologist Daniel Tope.

The study, just published in the journal Social Science Research, finds this acrimony appears to be aimed specifically at blacks rather than also targeting Latinos. While that’s somewhat surprising, “The findings suggest that, among conservatives, racial resentment may be a more important determinate of membership in the teabagger movement than lunatic fringe wingnut political values.”

Your membership in the teabagger cabal may have stronger ties to anti-black racial resentments than any declared political values? How shocking! How unexpected! And so on, and so forth!

[T]he researchers found racial resentment was a “distinct factor” driving membership, one which was “largely independent” from ideological concerns. “wingnuts who were more racially resentful were substantially more likely to claim teabagger movement membership,” they write.

The caveat to all of this is that it is dastardly science, and the people who are out there wearing triangular hats complaining that Barack Obama is clearly the most tyrannical and out of control president ever insist that they have not suddenly discovered how oppressed they are and how mistrustful of presidential authority they should be because their president is now A Black Guy. That they just happen to also answer a series of questions about race in a manner that clearly demonstrates their hostility to black Americans is, they will insist, purely a coincidence.

More

After wingnuts freakout, McConnell confirms that he will fast-track Obamacare repeal

Mitch McConnell showing the number of positions he's willing to take on any given issue.

McConnell alarmed his wingnut base last Tuesday when he declared "no one thinks" a repugican senate will vote to repeal Obamacare because even if repugican steal control of the Senate, they won't have the 60 votes needed to thwart a Democratic filibuster.
Flash forward 48 hours, however, and McConnell is singing a very different tune:
McConnell says he would be willing to repeal Obamacare with a simple majority he told the Washington Examiner last Thursday.

The Truth Hurts

Child neglect charges after laundry argument led to meth-fueled fight with animal feces

A couple from Evansville,Indiana, were jailed on Tuesday on child neglect charges after a meth-fueled argument over laundry left the woman, their two small children and their apartment smeared with animal feces. Neighbors called police at about 9:30am to the residence of Terri A. Patterson, 23, and Nicholas D. Schelb, 29, after Patterson was observed standing in the rain outside the rear of the apartment, screaming and beating on the back door. Officer Steve Carlile wrote in a probable cause affidavit that he found Patterson screaming and banging in the backyard of the apartment.

She was soaked with her clothing in disarray, her bare feet bloodied and with “large clumps of what appeared to be a yellowish animal feces in her hair as well as on her face and clothing. Carlile’s report said she was crying and screaming she wanted her children, who were inside the apartment. According to the affidavit, Patterson and Schelb have lived together for four years and have two children together, a 1-year-old and a baby. Patterson told police that she and Schelb had got into an argument about laundry. During the incident, Patterson told officers that Schelb had scooped up animal feces from the apartment floor, smeared it onto the bedroom door as she tried to hold it shut and then rubbed it into her hair.
He had also thrown some at her while she was near the couple’s baby, according to the affidavit. Patterson also accused Schelb of breaking several glass objects and smashing a coffee table during the argument. Inside the apartment with Schelb, Officer Carlile reported Schelb was holding the older child who appeared to have faeces on the tops and bottoms of his feet and between his toes. The younger child was in a car seat on a stack of mattresses. Patterson said the younger child had got feces into the mouth when Schelb had thrown some at her, according to the report.
Officers wrote that the 1-year-old child had been walking around in the vicinity of where the argument had taken place, which was littered with broken glass, pieces of wood and feces. Schelb, according to the affidavit, admitted to officers that the couple had been up all night because they had smoked meth on Monday. Both Patterson and Schelb tested positive for using methamphetamine at the time they were arrested. Both children were placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. Patterson and Schelb both face a preliminary charge of child neglect. Schelb also faces two preliminary counts of battery. Both were lodged in the Vanderburgh County Jail, where bail had not been set.

Deaf robber used interpreter to demand money

A deaf robber forced his way into a woman's home and then used his interpreter to demand money. Paul Coombs admitted carrying out the uniquely Scottish crime of hamesucken by storming into Laura Fairweather's house to steal from her. Perth Sheriff Court was told that Coombs, who is registered deaf, turned up with a gang at the flat and used one as an interpreter because he cannot speak himself. On Thursday, Coombs was jailed for 14 months despite telling the court prison would be difficult for him because of his inability to hear. Coombs, 42, from Dundee, admitted forcing open the door of the property in Dundee, on June 27, and demanding money from Miss Fairweather before robbing her of bank cards. Fiscal depute Stuart Richardson said the victim knew Coombs and had borrowed £20 from him which he had told her that he wanted back in June. "She had not paid him back. He sent a text message asking for repayment of his money. She said she could not pay him back at that time," Mr Richardson said. "He responded by saying he was coming to her house to try and recover his money. Not long afterwards, she heard a knock at the door.
"Thinking, correctly as it turns out, that it was Coombs, she ignored it. The door was forced open and Coombs and two others entered the flat. One of the others did have normal speech and he did the talking, demanding the accused's money from Miss Fairweather. She said she did not have the money." He said bank cards were taken from the flat. Coombs, who needed a sign language interpreter to follow court proceedings, was arrested along with George Drinnan, 29, who is also deaf, and Simon Stewart, 26. The charge was dropped against Drinnan and Stewart.
A solicitor for Coombs said: "As is obvious, he is registered deaf. He has underlying issues in relation to substance misuse. The money here had been loaned. Because of his difficulties he attended the flat with friends - including one who acted as interpreter for him. He accepts he entered the property uninvited." Sheriff Michael Fletcher told Coombs: "You have an extremely bad record for crimes of dishonesty and crimes involving violence, with several convictions for assault and robbery. The serious part of this offense is that you made your way into an individual's home without invitation and there were three of you. As a result a number of items were removed. I can't deal with it any other way than a custodial sentence."

Man accused of stealing chainsaw by hiding it under his shirt before fleeing on stolen bicycle

A Florida man is under arrest after police say he attempted to steal a chainsaw by placing it under his shirt and walking out of a lawn equipment store.

According to Port St. Lucie Police, Anthony Brian Ballard is facing a charge of grand theft. Police said he went into Treasure Coast Lawn and asked for change for a dollar, then tried to conceal a chainsaw under his shirt and leave without paying for the merchandise.
Investigators then said Ballard got onto a stolen bicycle and fled from the area. A store employee tracked down Ballard and witnessed him drop the chainsaw in a vacant lot.

YouTube link.

Ballard was eventually caught by a store employee who held him in custody until police arrived. Ballard was arrested and taken to the St. Lucie County Jail.

Moped man led more than a dozen police cars on slow speed chase

Police say a man from Norton Shores, Michigan, threatened his girlfriend and her mother, slashed tires on a car and threatened to burn down the house. Then he jumped on a moped, and led more than a dozen squad cars with sirens wailing on a slow speed chase.

The police started following the moped at about 6:45pm on Sunday. When the parade of police cars rolled past the Norton Mini Mart, clerk James Herbert stepped outside to get some video on his phone.
"When I heard the cop cars coming, I just brought out my camera and came to the corner to see what was going on," he recalls. "There was a guy on a moped getting chased by about 13 cops. I couldn't believe it. It was crazy."

YouTube link. Facebook link.

After about eight miles and 15 minutes, 28-year-old Richard Shear led police back to his house where all the trouble started. Police say he was tackled trying to run inside. Shear is facing a number of charges including assault, attempted arson and fleeing from the police. His bond has been set at $100,000.

Woman faked Ebola to get out of jail

A woman from Chesapeake, Virginia, arrested on Monday allegedly implied she may be sick with the Ebola virus. Police stopped 48-year-old Lisa Miller at 11:55pm.for a traffic infraction, authorities said.

"She was subsequently arrested for possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia and made comments to the officer that warranted a stop to the hospital," said Officer Kelly O'Sullivan. Miller said she was driving herself to the hospital because she was in pain, according to bail bondsman Troy Merritt.
Miller talked to Merritt over the phone from jail and said she told police she was sick after travelling from Liberia. "[Miller] told me she thought by telling police she had Ebola they would let her out of jail," said Merritt. "I told her 'No, you're probably going to stay there longer now.'"
Merritt said Miller's claim prompted nearly a dozen people to leave the booking area. Deputies then put on surgical masks and gloves to isolate Merritt. After escorting Merritt to a nearby hospital, it was determined she had never been to West Africa or left the US, according to O'Sullivan. Charges are pending for obstruction of justice.

Two-year driving ban for woman after wheelchair car park drag

A woman has been handed a two-year driving ban after she was caught on camera dragging a friend in a wheelchair behind her car in a supermarket car park in Sunderland. Maria Adams' prank ended up costing her more than £1,400 and her license when she towed a man sitting in a borrowed wheelchair outside the Tesco in Roker.

The call center worker, from Whitburn, South Tyneside, repeatedly drove up and down the car park with her friend holding on to a towel hanging out of the boot of her Nissan Juke. Watched by a handful of astonished shoppers, Adams sped up before the man in the wheelchair let go and was sent whizzing along with the momentum.
The prank, caught on the supermarket's security cameras, lasted several minutes. She appeared at Newcastle Crown Court and admitted dangerous driving. The court heard the friend did not require a wheelchair and had jumped in one owned by the store for customer use.

YouTube link.

Adams, 20, was disqualified from driving for two years, ordered to pay £1,369 prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge. She was also given a four-month curfew and a 12-month community order. Judge Penny Moreland described the driving as "a piece of stupidity".

Bullying woman who attacked boyfriend with hammer and broken bottle jailed for eight years

A woman has been jailed for eight years in what a police officer describes as ‘one of the most serious cases of domestic violence’ she has ever seen. Victim Paul Kirkpatrick was left with a broken bone in his face and covered in blood after being ‘relentlessly’ abused over a two day period by his partner Gemma Hollings, a court heard. The 30-year-old who was hit with a hammer and slashed across the neck with a broken bottle, was found in the street by police after he ran away from the home they shared in Darwen, Lancashire.

Detectives said the prolonged attacks left the victim traumatized and with ‘significant and serious’ injuries. Campaigners also praised Mr Kirkpatrick for coming forward and giving evidence against his former partner during her trial at Preston Crown Court. She had denied the attacks, but was found guilty by a jury of two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and another two allegations of assault following five days of evidence. The 37-year-old was sentenced to eight years behind bars for the abuse. Speaking after the hearing, DC Jenny Berry, said: “The victim suffered very traumatic injuries. They could have potentially been fatal.
“This was a nasty attack. It is certainly one of the most serious cases of domestic violence I have ever come across. It was a relentless assault. Justice has now been done for the victim and he just wants to forget about the whole thing and move on with his life.” Officers found Mr Fitzpatrick with serious injuries following the attack in May, the court heard. Prosecutors said he had been hit with a hammer and a pole and Hollings had used a broken bottle to cut his neck. The force of the blows also caused a fracture to a bone in his face. He has been left with a scar on his neck and another just above his eye, police said. DC Berry said one of their arguments had been caused when Hollings fell out with Mr Kirkpatrick over her hair straighteners.
She said: “The bottle had been used to cause the injury to his neck. When the victim was found, he did not really understand the significance of his injuries. Since the attack, he has been able to move on. He has moved away and is not living in Darwen anymore. He has made a fresh start now that Hollings is in prison and the further away from her he is, the better.” The officer said cases of domestic violence against men were not reported to police as often as those against women. She added: “We do not hear of cases so much in terms of domestic violence against men because they are very much under-reported. This is the first domestic violence case I have dealt with which has involved a man. Tackling the issue is one of our main priorities and I would urge anyone, male of female, who is experiencing it to come forward.”

The Hall of Justice from Super Friends Looks Just Like a Train Station in Ohio

In the 70s cartoon Super Friends, the Justice League is based in a building called the Hall of Justice. Rain Noe of Core77 notes that the building looks a lot like Cincinnati Union Terminal, a train station and museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cincinnati Union Terminal is a well-preserved Art Deco style building that opened in 1933. It served as a train station until 1973. The Cincinnati Museum Center, the owner of the building, has used the Super Friends connection to promote its building and call for support to maintain it. The resemblance is clear, but evidence that Union Terminal inspired the Hall of Justice is sketchy.

Retro Photos

Security tags added to shopping baskets to stop thieving customers avoiding 5p bag charge

Supermarket bosses have been forced to attach security tag to baskets at a Dundee store in an attempt to hamper tight-fisted shoppers. A “large number” of baskets have been taken from the Asda store at Milton of Cragie by shoppers since the Scottish Government introduced a 5p carrier bag charge.

Shoppers are going to extraordinary lengths in a bid to avoid the charge, including stealing shopping baskets, as well as cramming the free tiny bags designed for fruit and vegetables with an array of other goods. Now baskets at the Asda store in Milton have had to be security tagged following an epidemic of thefts . It is thought that the store could be the only one in Scotland where bosses have had to go to such levels.
Other shops in Dundee have been forced to shell out significant sums of money to replace basket stocks and have also issued stern warnings to customers - with put security staff also on high alert. A spokesperson for Asda said: “Sadly, since the introduction of the carrier bag charge, we have lost a large number of baskets. We have reluctantly introduced security tags to ensure all our customers can carry out their shopping without disruption.”
Shoppers are being advised that if they take a basket from premises and fail to return it, they could be charged with theft. Zero Waste Scotland, which has played a key role in the scheme, slammed the actions of the basket thieves, saying there was “no excuse” for their actions. “Avoiding the bag charge is no excuse for criminal and irresponsible behavior,” a spokesman said. “The best way to avoid the charge is by remembering to bring a re-useable bag to shops.”

Classical Music is Super Hot

(YouTube link)

It’s true that beautiful music can sometimes bring tears to your eyes. In this video, the Danish National Chamber Orchestra plays Tango Jalousie, which is nice. But then they stop and eat a hot pepper, either  a Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend, a Carolina Reaper, or a Ghost pepper. The rest of it is a test of their dedication to their art. Maybe I should add that this isn’t the entire orchestra -just the volunteers. This stunt is brought to you by Chili Klaus, who serves as the conductor as well as the instigator. 

Whatever Happened to the Cast of The Blair Witch Project?

Can you believe it's been 15 years since The Blair Witch Project came out in theaters? It seems to be a "love it or hate it" kind of movie. I've heard and read a lot of comments over the years from those who hate it. But I'm definitely in the "love" category. I still remember the night I saw the movie. When my friends and I walked back into the movie theater lobby after the film ended, there were twigs fashioned into shapes with string hanging from the lobby ceiling. They looked exactly like those from the movie. That gave those of us leaving the theater another second of startle.
So what have the actors who played Heather, Michael and Josh in the film been up to since? Find out here. 

10 Obscure Sports In The World

In the sporting world there are many basic renowned sports such as soccer, tennis, boxing and so many others. There are also obscure sports that sound interesting but are just plain old weird.

Is The Human Species Still Evolving?

Is there a Homo superius just around the next corner, waiting to take our place? Let's think about what it would take: If we were to give rise to a new species, something would have to happen to us to create a bottleneck or isolated place for a founder-person and her or his mate to show up and get separated from you and me and our offspring.
In the modern world, that is very unlikely. We have airplanes and ships and the Internet. When human populations are even a little bit separate, they start talking differently. Other bigger changes might happen with more profound separation. Perhaps this could happen somewhere beyond Earth, even, such as in a colony on Mars.

The Greatest Werewolf Art Of The Middle Ages And Renaissance

While they weren't always depicted as shirtless teen heartthrobs, creatures who turn from human into wolf (and vice versa) appear in tales dating back to antiquity. So throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, artists have had plenty of strange and creepy stories to inform their werewolf illustrations.

Lunar Leftovers

The moon has only been accessible for decades, rather than hundreds of years. However, in the short time available to humanity it is estimated that we have left over one hundred and seventy thousand kilos of debris on the surface of our once pristine satellite. Here are some of the more notable pieces of trash on the moon.

Now, there's something you just don't see every day

1967: Towing a mammoth

Elephant Herd Loves their Mud Baths

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These elephants at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand are enjoying a mud bath created by the park staff. According to the staff, mud bathing is the elephants' favorite activity, which is evident as they splash and roll around joyously

The Adventures of Moyo the Rescued Baby Elephant

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The Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery near Harare, Zimbabwe rescued the baby elephant seen in these videos, who was found in February, 2014 abandoned by his herd. The calf, named Moyo, was brought to the nursery after a search for his herd was unsuccessful. The staff at the elephant nursery suspect that, judging by his extremely low weight when found, Moyo was born premature and wasn't physically able to keep the pace of his herd, which would have been pressured by poachers.
Since his rescue, Moyo has made friends with the nursery staff, as well as with the baby warthog in the video above. The video below shows various adorable clips of Moyo's adventures at the nursery, where he's said to be thriving, happy and loved by many.

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Deer ran at full-speed into brewery window

A brewery in Birmingham, Michigan, had a close run-in with a deer earlier this week. A fully grown deer rammed into a window at Griffin Claw Brewing Company.

One of the workers got video of the buck. Security cameras outside the brewery also caught the hit-and-run on tape. Brewmaster Dan Rogers described, "He jumped up pretty high."
"He bounced off, got back up, ran down the street down the ways, turn around, and cut into our parking lot, and started heading south," Rogers said.

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The deer didn't appear badly injured and the building wasn't damaged. Rogers chuckled this is the first time a deer tried to run through the building. Workers figure, their beer is just that good.

The Ocelot - Really Back From The Brink?

Do you hear a lot about the Ocelot? Hunted for its pelt for hundreds of years, the Ocelot was classified as a vulnerable endangered species until 1996. One look at this still rare animal and the attraction is undeniable but why is it no longer considered endangered?

Animal Pictures