The Daily Drift

Thing you learn ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 203 countries around the world daily.   

    
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Today in History

1139   The Second Lateran Council opens in Rome.  
1657   English Admiral Robert Blake fights his last battle when he destroys the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay.  
1769   Ottawa Chief Pontiac is murdered by an Indian in Cahokia.
1770   Captain Cook discovers Australia.  
1775   British troops begin the siege of Boston.  
1792   France declares war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia.  
1809   Napoleon defeats Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1836   The Territory of Wisconsin is created.  
1841   Edgar Allen Poe's first detective story is published.
1861   Robert E. Lee resigns from the U.S. Army.  
1879   The first mobile home (horse-drawn) is used in a journey from London to Cyprus.  
1916   Wrigley Field opens in Chicago.  
1919   The Polish Army captures Vilno, Lithuania from the Soviets.
1940   The first electron microscope is demonstrated.  
1942   Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany."  
1945   Soviet troops begin their attack on Berlin.  
1951   General MacArthur addresses a joint session of Congress after being relieved by President Truman.  
1953   Operation Little Switch begins in Korea, the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war.  
1962   The New Orleans Citizens Committee gives free one-way ride to blacks to move North.  
1967   U.S. planes bomb Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War.  
1999  Two students enter Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and open fire with multiple firearms, killing 13 students and teachers, wounding 25 and eventually shooting themselves.

45 Most Popular Crock Pot Recipes from Well Known Food Bloggers

Crock Pot Ruben Sliders 

Those of you who have a crock pot know that it can be a great help when the person preparing dinner is strapped for time. One can place everything in a crockpot in the morning, leave the house and return home in the evening and have dinner ready to eat.
Food blogger The Country Cook took her most popular crock pot recipes and also gathered the most popular recipes from some of her fellow food bloggers and assembled them into one delicious post. There are a lot of traditional comfort foods as well as a few more adventurous combinations.  

Crock Pot Caramel Sweet Rolls

40 Gs, Because Someone Had to Do It

Col. John Paul Stapp was an Air Force Surgeon who underwent trials to see how much a human pilot could take. He volunteered for a series of tests at Edwards Air Force Base on rocket sleds. Stapp broke speed record after speed record.

His last run on the sled was on December 10, 1954. Increasing the rocket power behind him, he accelerated to 1,017 kph (632 mph) in five seconds, then came to a complete stop in less than two seconds. That meant more than 40 Gs, and that he momentarily weighed 3,084 kg (6,800 lbs). Emergency workers were standing by to rush him to hospital; all the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, leaving him blind – he would recover his sight later, but he’d also have two black eyes due to the forward motion of his eyes inside his head. He’d cracked a few ribs and broken both wrists, but he survived.

Incidentally, Stapp’s ride also gave us what we now know as Murphy’s Law.
His story is just one of a dozen in the post Past Lives: Remembering 12 of History’s Greatest Test Pilots & Early Aviation Pioneers at Urban Ghosts. Read about people who set aviation records and those who tested flying machines from before the Wright Brothers up to NASA experiments.

Man Invents Shoe That Grows 5 Sizes to Help Millions of Poor Children

If you're a parent, you're familiar with this challenge: children outgrow shoes very quickly. That can become a serious problem for whole communities that are too poor to afford to replace children's shoes often. That's why Kenton Lee invented The Shoe That Grows.

It's a sandal that comes with snaps in the front, back, and sides. It can expand to 5 shoe sizes. The shoes comes in small and large varieties, so two pairs of shoes can meet a child's footwear needs from the ages of 5 to 15.
Because International, the charity which distributes these shoes, has a motto: practical compassion. It appears that they've found a way to exercise precisely that.

Here's What a Knuckle Being Cracked Looks Like on an MRI

YouTube Link

Recently, Canadian researchers decided to find out once and for all what causes the sound when people crack their knuckles. In a study called Real-Time Visualization of Joint Cavitation, they aimed to challenge the long-held assumption of many that sounds emitted during knuckle cracking were from the collapse of a bubble formed in synovial fluid when the bones of the joint separated. Yet from the result of the MRI the scientists were able to determine that "the mechanism of joint cracking is related to cavity formation rather than bubble collapse." There you have it. Another medical mystery put to rest. (I can sense your relief from here.)

School Develops ‘Safety Plan’ For 12-Year-Old Rape Victim: No Revealing Clothes

Instead of reporting sexual abuse, employees at this Florida school developed a “safety plan” for a 12-year-old victim — not to wear revealing clothes and to avoid other actions that might tempt her abuser.

Read more

Woman removed from flight after poking seatmate with pen for his alleged snoring

A female flier was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight on Thursday after allegedly jabbing another passenger in the arm with a pen. The passenger "was removed from the flight for poking her seatmate with a pen to stop him from snoring," Southwest said in a statement. But it's unclear whether snoring was the root cause of the incident. Michael Sutton said his friend, Lenny Mordarski, was asleep as Flight 577 was taxiing down the runway at Chicago's Midway International Airport en route to Manchester, New Hampshire, when a woman got agitated and stuck him in the arm with a pen.

"I was right beside him the whole time. Didn't hear snoring," Sutton said. "I guess his arm kind of brushed over to her. And she just went nuts and started stabbing (him) with (her) pen," Sutton added. "He screamed really loud, almost like a little girl." Mordarski said he yelled out to get flight attendants' attention after feeling pain in his arm. "Imagine being asleep and then being stung by bees," he said, "and then waking up and going, owwww." The woman smirked afterward, Mordarski said, but remained silent. "All I wanted to do," he said, "was not (to) be sitting next to her."
Sutton and Mordarski were connecting through Chicago on their way back from a multimedia convention in Las Vegas. The pilot returned the aircraft to the gate, where the woman was removed from the flight. "We were escorted off, they questioned us, and they took her away," Sutton said. The flight, which was already delayed, took off for Manchester after the woman was removed. It arrived in New Hampshire nearly two hours late. "The passenger in question will be accommodated on a later flight," a Southwest spokeswoman said.

YouTube link.

"No injuries were reported." No serious injuries, anyway. "Luckily he wore a thick long sleeve shirt or there would have been blood," Sutton said. "He will have a few bruises in the morning." By Thursday evening, Mordarski was smiling about the ordeal. He said it was unfortunate that it happened, but praised the airline for how the incident was handled. Sutton said Southwest treated them to free gin and tonics, and passengers cheered when they learned the woman wasn't coming back to the flight. "Everyone on the plane was happy afterward," Sutton said. "They were glad to get rid of her."

Man fired gun after becoming upset with neighbor requesting air for his bicycle tires

A Florida man is being held with no bond after firing his gun outside his home, police said.

Police were called to Delray Beach shortly after 7pm on Sunday on reports of shots fired. Tom Condra told police that he went to his neighbor's house to ask him to put air in his bicycle tires, as he did a month previously.
Condra said he knocked on Stephen Gianuzzi's door, but no one answered. Condra said that as he was walking away, Gianuzzi opened the door and said, "I will blow your head off." Condra said Gianuzzi fired the gun once into the ground and then pointed the gun at him.

YouTube link.

Condra said he got onto his bike and went to the home of a neighbour, who is also a deputy. Police officers were able to get Gianuzzi to come out of his home. They said he appeared to be intoxicated. Investigators said that Gianuzzi asked them, "Guys, what's the big deal? I shot wide to the left of him."

Men stabbed each other with broken beer bottles during debate about which is best phone

Two men have been hospitalized in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after an alcohol-fueled argument over whether iPhones are better than Android phones.

Police say a woman found a man covered in blood, stumbling around the parking lot of the Evergreen Apartments at around 1am on Friday.
When police arrived at the apartment complex, they learned that the roommates had been drinking and arguing over their mobile phones. Police say the two men broke beer bottles and stabbed each other with them.
One of the men smashed a bottle over the back of the other man's head. Police aren't sure who they will charge or if charges will be filed at this time. Both men are being treated at hospital for their injuries.

Man arrested for riding a horse while drunk

A man from Betsy Layne, (population 688), in Floyd County, Kentucky, has been arrested on a litany of charges after police say he was found under the influence while riding a horse. Kentucky State Police responded to a call on Monday evening about an intoxicated horse rider on US 23. When they arrived, they found Michael Kimmel, 40, of Betsy Layne, matching the description.

The arrest report, filed by Trooper J. Gabbard, says he was ordered to stop, but instead he ran down an embankment, fleeing on foot, wearing only a brown hat, jeans, and boots. During the search for the suspect, police say the found his clothing on the back porch of his own house. Later, Kimmel was found by Trooper Goodsell, again on horseback. Officers say he resisted arrest, saying “I didn’t do [expletive], just riding my horse.”
The report says Kimmel would not submit to a field sobriety test, and later refused a breath test and blood alcohol test as well, though troopers took note of his slurred speech and the smell of alcohol, adding that he was unsteady on his feet. “Subject made threats to ‘[expletive] [expletive] up driving drunk in a car next time and he would give me something to worry about,’” the arrest citation quotes Kimmel as saying.
In their first attempt to lodge Kimmel at the Floyd County Detention Center, he was instead deferred to Highlands Regional Medical Center, after he claimed to have taken 15-20 Xanax, smoked meth, and used cocaine. While he was cleared by physicians at HRMC, troopers escorting him note him as saying “You cops are [expletive] when someone is not wearing handcuffs, and if I didn’t have these cuffs on I would kick your [expletive].” Troopers were then able to house Kimmel at the Floyd County Detention Center on charges of operating a non-motor vehicle under the influence, first-degree fleeing or evading police, menacing, third-degree terroristic threatening, resisting arrest, and third-degree criminal mischief.

Missing puppy found on neighbor's roof

A man's frantic search for his lost puppy ended a little closer to home after she was found sitting on the neighbor's roof. Matt Grant from Nelson, New Zealand, had been searching far and wide for Polly, a six-month-old Jack Russell, who had gone missing earlier on Monday. Polly, who was a Christmas present for his father, was noticed missing by someone who lived in the house, sparking a desperate 90-minute search.

"We go out driving around the neighborhood, knocking on a few doors and whistling around and then I came back and got to the point where I'm like 'I'm going to have to call the pound' or something because either she's been snatched or she's just gone complete walkabout," he said. He'd gone to a quiet place upstairs to call the SPCA when he looked out the window and saw something he didn't expect. Polly was sitting nonchalantly in a triangular patch of shade on the neighboring roof.
"She doesn't usually go out and about like that so it was a bit worrying," he said. But his mood suddenly changed once he spotted her and the worry turned into laughter. "When I saw her she was just sitting there looking like a right dickhead," he said. Mr Grant believes Polly would have had to get inside the neighbor's house and through a window to get to the roof but hasn't figured out how. "I don't know how they hell she got into the house. I can't find a cat door or anything so I've got no clue."

He didn't know if the neighbors were home at the time, but thinks Polly could have snuck in the door as the neighbors left. Mr Grant stood on the fence between the properties and "just reached up" to get Polly, who didn't take much coaxing to come back down to earth. "I think she was pretty happy to get back down. She looked nervous because I don't think she likes the heights – she's just a small little girl – but once she was in our arms she was fine." To prevent further escapades, Mr Grant will be checking the fenced in property for a hole where Polly might have got out. But it doesn't mean he'll necessarily be keeping a closer eye on where Polly gets to. "I like her adventurous nature."

Earthworms rain from the sky over Norway

Earthworms have been raining down over large areas of southern Norway, leaving biologists and meteorologists scratching their heads. Biology teacher Karstein Erstad was out for a ski in the mountains outside Bergen on Sunday when he came across the unusual phenomenon. “I saw thousands of earthworms on the surface of the snow,” he said.
“When I found them on the snow they seemed to be dead, but when I put them in my hand I found that they were alive.” At first he thought that they had perhaps crawled though the snow from the ground beneath, but on reflection, he rejected this idea. “In many places, the snow thickness was between half a meter and a meter and I think they would have problems crawling through the cold snow.”
Since Erstad’s discovery reports have flooded in from across southern Norway, with sightings of worm rainfall in Lindås and Suldal near Bergen, and as far away as Femunden on the Swedish border. “People have now observed the same phenomenon in many places in Norway,” Erstad said. “It’s very peculiar, I don’t know why so many people have discovered it.

“I don’t know if there have been some special weather conditions lately.” Erstad has found reports of the worm rainfall phenomenon taking place in Sweden in the 1920s. It is though that the worms are lifted by the wind before falling with the rain. “It’s a very rare phenomenon,” he said. “It’s difficult to say how many times it happens, but it has only been reported a very few times.”

Brian the Lar Gibbon seen impersonating person running naked from the shower without a towel

Fifty-year-old Brian, who lives at The Lake District Wildlife Park, is thought to be the oldest Lar Gibbon in Europe.

He joined the park in 2000 and likes to spend his time swinging through the trees, sunbathing and impersonating someone running naked from the shower without a towel.

YouTube link. Facebook video.

Hippopotamus spotted in London pond was probably remote controlled

A hippopotamus has been spotted swimming through the boating pond at Bushy Park in Richmond, south west London.

The hippo, typically native to sub-Saharan Africa, raised a few eyebrows as it appeared in the pond last Sunday.
A Royal Parks spokesman said no one had raised the alarm.
He said: "We are unaware of specifically what it is other than we’ve had no reports of a hippo in the park ... it’s probably remote controlled."

Unfortunate beaver crushed by tree it was felling

A beaver in Norway has been crushed to death after misjudging which way the tree it was gnawing down was going to fall. Beate Strøm Johansen, a Zoologist at the Agder Natural History museum in Kristiansand on the southern tip of Norway, was called to the scene after a local logger stumbled upon the animal.

“This beaver has been extremely unlucky,” she said. “I hope it’s not something that happens very often for the beavers' sake.” Johansen said that beavers normally have an uncanny ability to predict when and where a tree is likely to fall. “When the tree is falling they have to jump aside so the tree doesn’t hit them.
"Instinctively, they should know where it is falling, but sometimes they don’t know which way to jump,” she explained. “Sometimes there’s a strong wind and the tree doesn’t fall where the beaver thinks it's going to fall.” Leif Hægeland, the logger who found the beaver said he had never seen a beaver caught out like this in his 25 years in working as a woodsman.
“I have seen many beavers, but I have never seen such a thing,” he said. Beavers sometimes fell trees to provide logs to dam the rivers where they live, and sometimes for tree bark and cambium tissue to eat. In 2014, another beaver was found starved to death in southern Norway, after its tail was trapped under a fallen tree.

Raccoon climbed 200 meters up crane before going back down again

A fearless raccoon climbed more than 200 meters (700 feet) up a tower crane in Toronto, Canada. Rob MacFarlane spotted the raccoon clutching a ladder, looking a little apprehensive, with his eyes wide open.

MacFarlane said that it then went back down. The raccoon had made the 213-metre climb overnight and was waiting for MacFarlane when he arrived at work.
When he got close, the raccoon stared at him blankly and hissed a bit. Seemingly annoyed by MacFarlane’s presence, it then confidently made its descent to the ground.
This was not the first time MacFarlane has encountered a raccoon so high off the ground. Face-to-face, this was the second incident, but he has seen “evidence” multiple times before. “It’s not unusual,” he said. “Raccoons seem to like cranes.”

Tortoise in a Dress Walking through Tokyo

All pets need exercise, so it's prudent that this man takes his African spurred tortoise out on walks through the streets of Tokyo. There's little concrete information about the pair, but Rocket News 24 informs us that they've been spotted and photographed through the Tsukishima and Ginza neighborhoods. The tortoise sometimes wears a cute dress, but is always, sadly, off-leash.

Silverback Gorilla Smashes Glass at Omaha Zoo

YouTube Link

Frightened onlookers at the Omaha Zoo scattered yesterday as one of the gorillas suddenly rushed the glass of the enclosed exhibit and smashed it. A Redditor captured this footage of the Silverback in question, who had been fighting with another male just prior to the incident. Photos of the bleeding, angry animal later surfaced after the fact.
Having witnessed a similar incident at my local zoo in which a male gorilla raced up to the glass of his enclosure and suddenly punched it hard enough to shake the structure after a man pressed up against it from the other side, I can say how terrifying such a happening is, even though the glass wasn't smashed. Such accounts give me uneasy feelings about keeping these intelligent, powerful animals caged up, frustrated and bored.

Animal Pictures