The Daily Drift

The Fourteenth of our trees of December ...!

 

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

 
Everyone Loves Monkeys ... !

Today is  - Monkey Day

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Some of our readers today have been in:

The Americas

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Brasilia, Fortaleza, Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil

Fleming, Joliette, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Sydney and Youngs Crossing, Canada

Bogota, Colombia

Tijuana, Mexico

Europe

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Varna, Bulgaria

Prague, Czech Republic

Crawley, London, Manchester and Slough, England 

Jyvaskyla, Finland

Aiglemont, Cerny, Roubaix, Velizy-Villacoublay and Villeurbanne, France

Berlin, Hamburg, Muenchen, Nuremburg and Stuttgart, Germany

Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece

Reykjavik, Iceland

Ivrea, Meda and Naples, Italy

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Warsaw, Poland

Lisbon and Lagoa, Portugal

Novosibirsk and Ryazan, Russia

L'Olleria, Madrid, Santa Cruz De Tenerife and Torrent, Spain

Kista and Stockholm, Sweden

Chervonograd, Ukraine

Asia

Bangalore, Delhi, New Delhi, Patna, Powai, Pupri,  Rewa and Shillong, India

Jakarta, Indonesia

Tehran, Iran

Astana, Kazakhstan

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Seoul, Korea

Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Multan, Pakistan

Ad Dammam and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Doha, Qatar

Singapore, Singapore

Colombo and Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka

Africa

George, South Africa

Tunis, Tunisia

Lusaka, Zambia

The Pacific

Chatswood, Homebush and Torrens Park, Australia

Hamilton, New Zealand

Quezon City, Philippines

Today in History

1799   George Washington dies on his Mount Vernon estate.  
1819   Alabama is admitted as the 22nd state, making 11 slave states and 11 free states.  
1861   Prince Albert of England, one of the Union's strongest advocates, dies.  
1863   Confederate General James Longstreet attacks Union troops at Bean's Station, Tenn.  
1900   Max Planck presents the quantum theory at the Physics Society in Berlin.  
1906   The first U1 submarine is brought into service in Germany. Italy's MAS torpedo boats.  
1908   The first truly representative Turkish Parliament opens.
1909   The Labor Conference in Pittsburgh ends with a "declaration of war" on U.S. Steel.
1911   Roald Amundsen and four others discover the South Pole.
1920   The League of Nations creates a credit system to aid Europe.  
1939   The League of Nations drops the Soviet Union from its membership. Joseph Avenol sold out the League of Nations.  
1941   German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel orders the construction of defensive positions along the European coastline. Desperate Hours on Omaha Beach  
1946   The United Nations adopt a disarmament resolution prohibiting the A-Bomb.  
1949   Bulgarian ex-Premier Traicho Kostov is sentenced to die for treason in Sofia.  
1960   A U.S. Boeing B-52 bomber sets a 10,000-mile non-stop record without refueling.  
1980   NATO warns the Soviets to stay out of the internal affairs of Poland, saying that intervention would effectively destroy the détente between the East and West.  
1981   Israel's Knesset passes the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights area.  
1994   Construction begins on China's Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.  
1995   The Dayton Agreement signed in Paris; establishes a general framework for ending the Bosnian War between Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1999   Tens of thousands die as a result of flash floods caused by torrential rains in Vargas, Venezuela.  
2003   Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
2004   The Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge, official opens near Millau, France.  
2008   Iraqi broadcast journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throws his shoes at US President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad.  
2012   At Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn., 20 children and six adults are shot to death by a 20-year-old gunman who then commits suicide.

The Thought Doesn't Always Count

With Gift Giving, the Thought Doesn't Always Count

Are you happy with the relationship you're in? Or are you trying to enhance a new one with the perfect gift? Think hard, people! There's evidence to suggest if you choose wrong, you might just cost yourself much more than what you spent on the item. 

One Toke Over The Line ...

The repugicans Are In Total Collapse As Democrats Have All The Leverage On Government Funding Bill

Nancy Pelosi told her fellow Democrats that they now have all the leverage they need to get a better government funding bill. It is clear that Boehner’s repugicans are in a state of chaos and collapse.

Pelosi sent a letter to Democrats letting them know that they have the leverage,

“It is clear from this recess on the floor that the repugicans don’t have enough votes to pass the CRomnibus. This increases our leverage to get two offensive provisions of the bill removed: the bank bailout and big money for campaigns provision.

However you decide to vote in the end, I thank those who continue to give us leverage to improve the bill.”

Speaker Boehner clearly doesn’t have the votes. Democratic leader Pelosi has got the repugicans up against the wall. If Boehner moves to the right to try to appease his members that are upset over Obama’s immigration executive orders, he will pass a bill that the Senate will reject.

Democrats want the gift for Wall Street gone, and they want the Mitch McConnell insisted on rollback of campaign finance laws removed. Pelosi has all the leverage. Democrats will hop on board and pass Boehner’s bill as soon as he removes those two provisions from the bill.

Boehner is going to have to come to Democrats and give them something that they can support. House Democrats won’t support the bill as it exists currently. By expressing support for the bill because it funds the government, while trashing the same bill in his statement of policy, President Obama is giving Pelosi room to work.

Democrats are exploiting the dysfunction of House repugicans in order to get a better government funding bill. The odds are that Boehner and company are going to have to pass a short-term CR to keep the government open, while they work with Pelosi to come up with a bill that House Democrats will support.

John Boehner’s failure to lead has left Nancy Pelosi running the show as the minutes tick away before the government shuts down.

Michigan House Just Passed Bill That Would Deprive LGBT People of Their Most Basic Rights

by Kali Holloway

Michigan House Passed Bill Allowing EMTs To Refuse Treatment To Gay People

All under the guise of religious freedom.

The Michigan House of Representatives just gave the nod to bigots to discriminate against LGBT people under the guise of religious freedom. The “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” a bill that allows people with “deeply held religious beliefs” to deny LGBT people services, including life-saving healthcare or medication, was passed by statehouse Republicans this weekend. It now heads to the state Senate, and if it clears a majority there, will head to the desk of Republican Governor Rick Snyder.

If this latest right-to-discriminate bill sounds familiar, that’s because it is: a similar anti-gay law in Arizona turned out to be so unpopular that even Tea Party darling Jan Brewer vetoed it. The New Civil Rights Movement notes that the bill would allow for “rampant discrimination” in the provision of even the most necessary of services:

"For example, under the Religious Freedom law, a pharmacist could refuse to fill a doctor's prescription for birth control, or HIV medication. An emergency room physician or EMT could refuse service to a gay person in need of immediate treatment. A school teacher could refuse to mentor the children of a same-sex couple, and a DMV clerk could refuse to give a driver's license to a person who is divorced."

Michigan’s Republican Speaker Jase Bolger issued a statement claiming he supports the bill in an effort to promote “individual liberty.” Said Bolger, “I have been horrified as some have claimed that a person’s faith should only be practiced while hiding in their home or in their church.”

The Michigan legislation comes ahead of the announcement of a major anti-LGBT discrimination bill at the federal level. TIME reports that Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley is gearing up to propose a bill that will target LGBT discrimination in housing, employment, education and more. 

That Explains A Lot ...

CCTV camera thief filmed himself in the act

A man has become the chief suspect regarding the theft of CCTV cameras in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, after he was snapped staring directly into one of them as he allegedly lifted it from the wall of a photography studio earlier this week.

Police have released an image of the man, who was wearing a hoodie and cap and had a cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth, at Cole Studios in West Wollongong. Two cameras were taken during the robbery early on Sunday morning. In fact, police know the robbery took place at precisely 5.36am and five seconds. The footage was also timestamped.
Jason Cole, the owner of Cole Studios, said the alleged offender, thought to be aged in his mid 30s or early 40s, was first captured on camera wheeling his bicycle around the front of his business. "He's done well in life, he's got himself a nice pushbike," Mr Cole said. Mr Cole said the footage then showed the man pulling his hoodie up, walking down the side of the building and pulling the bin up to one of the cameras.
"He stands on the bin, disconnects it and pulls it out. Just before it cut, he puts the camera in his face," Mr Cole said. Mr Cole said the cameras were worth about $90 each, and were pointing down either side of the building. "They're not exactly high-price items, but he has cut the cables as well, so they're not even worth $90 now," Mr Cole said. Police have appealed for anyone with information about the identity of the man to contact Wollongong police.

Package thief tricked into stealing box full of dog poo

After falling victim to thieves who stole packages off of their front porch several times, a Northeast Washington D.C. couple decided to teach them a lesson.
At about 3pm on Friday, surveillance footage caught a man walking up and down in front of their home, before stealing their package and taking off. The caught-on-camera incident marked the third package taken from their yard since October. “Obviously, it made me really mad,” said the woman, who is not being identified.
“I worked hard, saved my money, bought something and then it was just gone.” Angry, she and her boyfriend decided to place a fake package outside, and to move the camera so they could get a better angle if the robber hit again. He did on Monday, but this time, he got away with a box filled with dog feces.

YouTube link.

“I had originally wanted to put a note in the box that said, ‘Surprise!’” the woman said. Others in the neighborhood laughed when they heard what the couple had done. The homeowners said they saw a white pick-up truck passing by in both videos. They have filed a police report and will now be handling the delivery of their packages differently.

Police officer with fear of cows forced to call for back-up after being sent to arrest farmer's son

A rural police officer was forced to call for back-up after he was sent to arrest a cattle farmer's son, because he was afraid of cows. When PC David McTurk told David Lindsay that he had arrived to take his son into custody, he warned about his fear of cows, Stirling Sheriff Court was told. But the 17-stone agriculturalist simply "got red in the face" and told PC McTurk that he didn't like policemen. After a cowshed stand-off, PC McTurk, who already had a female officer with him, called for further assistance. Not until other officers arrived at the byre (cowshed) in Thornhill, Stirlingshire, were Lindsay and both of his sons - Ian, who the officers were looking for in the first place, and Callum, finally taken into custody. The situation was branded "ridiculous" by Sheriff Celia Sanderson. She formally acquitted Callum Lindsay, 20, of obstructing police after the Crown accepted his plea of not guilty - and she admonished David Lindsay, 53.

Gail Russell, prosecuting, said PC McTurk and PC Stephanie Martin arrived at Lindsay's farm at 9.30am on August 13th (2014) to find the farmer and both of his sons in the cowshed. She said the officers had arrived in a marked car, and were both in full police uniform and hi-vis jackets with "Police" written on the back of them. She said: "The shed was full of cattle, obviously large animals, and they found the accused wasn't very receptive towards them. I am told the police tried to explain in calm manner that they needed Mr Ian Lindsay to come with them, and PC McTurk told him he had a phobia of cows and didn't like being around cattle. Mr Lindsay said he didn't like police. They informed Mr Ian Lindsay that he was to be detained under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 in relation to a different matter, but his father began shouting at the police saying his son was going nowhere."
Miss Russell said Lindsay, later described as "naturally ruddy", jumped over a small fence and told police he had "already sorted the matter out" with an inspector. The depute fiscal said: "Mr Lindsay became very angry and his face turned extremely red. He placed his hands on his son's right arm. He was told to release his hold but he refused, and positioned himself in between his son and the police officers. This continued and the police were concerned they were going to be assaulted, so they made a call for assistance from other officers. Eventually other officers arrived, and Mr Lindsay and his sons were detained." Miss Russell said: "Mr Lindsay's demeanor is described as being rather sinister, and he was ranting - he is an extremely strong man and a farmer." Lindsay, of Easter Frew Farm, Thornhill, Stirlingshire, pleaded guilty to resisting, obstructing, molesting and hindering police.
Nicholas Scullion, defending, said it was surprising that an officer with 15 years experience working in a rural community should have a phobia of cattle. He said his client had been confused when police arrived to detain his son, as he had already made an arrangement with an inspector to hand himself in later that day. He added that the matter that Ian Lindsay had been detained for was later "resolved amicably". Mr Scullion said: "The atmosphere was rather charged, given this officer's phobia. My client is a farmer - they normally have a ruddy complexion. He is six foot, he is 17 stone, but he is not a mammoth. In the frustration of trying to explain he found himself in a situation where he took hold of his son's jacket and said 'you're not taking my son with you'. This was retrospectively a bad move." Sheriff Sanderson agreed with Mr Scullion's suggestion that Lindsay, who had no previous convictions, should be simply admonished. She said: "This was a somewhat ridiculous situation for someone of your age to get himself into. The police were trying to do their job. In all the circumstances I'm going to admonish you, and I never expect to see you back in this court again."

For the second time in eight months teenage girl awoke to find a strange man asleep in her home

A teenage girl woke up to find an intruder sleeping in her home in Waimanalo, Honolulu. It happened twice in less than a year and involved two different intruders. “I don’t understand why it keeps happening to me and my family,” said Donald Crummer, the girl’s father. Crummer had already left for work on Saturday morning when he got a phone call from police. His teenage daughter was home alone and found a stranger sleeping on their living room couch.

“She woke up at 9:30. She walked out in the front room. Saw him, grabbed one of my kendo sticks, barricaded herself inside my bedroom. Locked the doors and called 911,” said Crummer. Crummer couldn’t believe it and rushed back home. Honolulu police arrested Bradley Lindsey, 21, for unauthorized entry of a dwelling. He was charged and appeared in court on Monday. Bradley remains in custody, unable to post $20,000 bail. Back in May, Crummer had a similar encounter. His same teenage daughter woke up and found a man sleeping in her bedroom.
Forty-five minutes and four 911 calls later, police finally arrived to the home. But this time, Crummer’s daughter didn’t wait long. “The good thing about it, this time, extremely quick police response. They were there within three minutes of the 911 phone call,” said Crummer. “You asked me before, ‘Do you think anything is going to come of this? If any change is gonna be made?’ Well, obviously some changes have been made and they stepped up and they did their job well.” Crummer says he doesn’t know how the suspect got inside of his home since there were no signs of a forced entry. Now that it’s happened again, he’ll be making some changes.

YouTube link.

“I’m a general contractor. I’m obviously going to secure my home better. I’m going to build a sliding, rolling gate in front of my house. I’m going to put my dogs in the front yard from now on,” said Crummer. As for his daughter, Crummer says she’s a tough kid, but knows the outcome could’ve been a lot different. “She’s trained in my martial arts school. She’s a pretty outstanding young lady. She’s kind of laughing at the dumb luck of it all. And thank dog we can laugh at it. Thank dog that nothing has happened to this point,” said Crummer. “We still don’t know why it took police 45 minutes to respond to the first incident in May.” An internal investigation is ongoing. The suspect in that case, John Fritz, pled no contest and will be sentenced next month.

Man secretly living in restaurant ceiling freed after falling and getting trapped in wall

A man secretly living in the rafters above a Denver restaurant fell through the ceiling and got trapped in the wall space on Tuesday night, police said. At about 11pm, the Denver Police Department got a call reporting that a man had fallen through the ceiling at the Yard House.

When firefighters arrived, they saw a man walking through the space for the water pipes and HVAC system, according to James Ballinger with the Denver Police Department. The man disappeared from their view and somehow broke one of the water pipes - causing massive flooding at the Yard House and the Sheraton Hotel next door.
Police officers checked through the ceilings and couldn't find the man, but said it appeared that he had been staying up there for a while, Ballinger said. There were multiple bottle caps from alcoholic beverages in the area. Then officers heard a strange sound. "There was moaning coming from one of the walls to the right of the front doors," Ballinger said.

YouTube link. News video update.

When crews removed one of the booth's seats, they could see the man's feet behind the wall. Fire crews used a chainsaw to cut the man out of the wall. The man was only wearing jeans and was transported to Denver Health with unknown injuries. He apparently fell about 20 feet.

Random Celebrity Photos

Natalie Wood

The Mystery Of The Tjipetir Blocks That Keep Washing Up On To Europe's Beaches

Tracey Williams still remembers the exact moment she came across the bizarre object that would change her life. It was the summer of 2012, and she was ambling along the beach when she saw it - a plank the size of a chopping board inscribed with the word Tjipetir.
After some weeks she saw another one. She took to Google and only found mention of some faraway Indonesian plantation that went by the same name. What did it mean? 'I was absolutely fascinated by it,' she said. 'And I knew this was a story that was only just beginning.'

10 Things About The Netherlands That Shock First-Time Visitors

There's more to the Netherlands than the red light districts, coffee shops, tulips, wind mills and wooden shoes. There are things about the Netherlands and the Dutch that you'll surely fall in love with... that is if you could get past the initial shock factor. What are the things you might be surprised by on your visit to the Netherlands?

Mathematician Creates Formula for the Perfect Doughnut

Dr. Eugenia Cheng is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sheffield (UK). She recently used calculus to determine the optimal hole size in a donut.
A larger hole produces increased surface area and therefore a donut interior that is cooked more thoroughly. So, if I follow Dr. Cheng correctly (which is highly unlikely), then the two qualities of a donut are what she calls “squidginess” and “crispiness.” The bigger the hole, the greater the crispiness.
The ideal ratio of squidgy to crispy is approximately 3.5:1, which is the result of a donut with a hole of 11 millimeters. An article in the Daily Telegraph about this discovery does not explain how Dr. Cheng arrived at this conclusion, but I’ll chalk that up to advanced math resulting from substantial experimentation.

Idiotic Risks

Men Take Idiotic Risks, Study Confirms

The theory that men are more likely to take stupid risks is supported by the first systematic analysis of sex differences in risk-taking behavior. 

Alzheimer's Breakthrough

Alzheimer's Breakthrough Could Hold Key to Cure

Zeroing in on a tiny molecule in the brain could be the key to finding a way to reverse the disease.

Drugs in Early Americas

Drugs in Early Americas: Toad Skins, Alcohol Enemas

The array of consciousness-altering substances that people in the early Americas used was wider than thought.

Random Photos

250,000 Tons of Trash

Oceans May Hold 250,000 Tons of Trash

The world's oceans may contain about 10 times more plastic than the most recent studies suggest.

Laser Blasts Broadband

Space Station Laser Link Blasts Broadband Data from Orbit

A new laser link with the International Space Station could do what optical fiber has done for internet access on Earth -- by turning orbital communications from painfully slow dial-up to blazing-fast broadband.

Hubble 'Snow Globe'

Hubble Stares Deep into Glittering Stellar 'Snow Globe'

Just in time for the festive period, the Hubble Space Telescope has released a dazzling image of a globular star cluster filled with stellar glitter.

Habitable Binary Planets

Are Habitable Binary Planets Possible?

For the first time, a computer simulation has shown that, in theory, habitable binary planets can exist -- what would this mean for the evolution of alien life? 

Mars' Wet Past

Curiosity's 'Whale Rock' Emerged from Mars' Wet Past

The motion of water on the bottom of an ancient Martian lake is frozen in time in a stunning new photo by NASA's Curiosity rover. 

Asteroid Not a Threat

Newly Found Massive Asteroid Not a Threat to Earth

Claims that Russian scientists have discovered a huge asteroid that could threaten Earth in the near future are just not correct, according to NASA.

Get a Guard Donkey Instead of a Guard Dog

You may not think of donkeys as protective animals, but they can be successfully trained to guard farms from small predators, such as raccoons. Dogs can do this too, but donkeys will do the job without barking all night. That’s why trainers like Jan Dohner advocate giving them a chance to guard farms and flocks from nighttime threats. Tyler LeBlanc writes in Modern Farmer:

Donkeys are territorial animals and are not necessarily protective of the herd as much as they are protective of their territory and themselves. They do not patrol the pasture but rather feed and socialize with the stock until a threat appears. With their large ears and a wide range of vision, donkeys are alert while grazing yet are less spooky and skittish than horses, making them more likely to stand their ground and confront a threat.
Dohner says donkeys are instinctively aggressive toward canines, and are capable of dishing out crushing blows with both their front and hind legs as well as using their large teeth to bite raiding intruders.

Ideally, a guard donkey is a jenny (a female) or a gelded male who is introduced to a flock of sheep or goats while still a foal. The donkey grows up seeing the other animals as members of its family.

Balloon Animals

Weird Fossil Reveals Ancient Balloon Animal

The animal that once lived in the ancient sea looks like a bird's nest in fossil form.

'Pseudoscorpions'

'Pseudoscorpions' Discovered in Grand Canyon Cave

The elusive creatures have adapted to their lightless environment by losing their eyes.

Animal Pictures