The Daily Drift

Got to get new strings ...!

 

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Today in History

1494   Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica, which he names Santa Gloria.  
1814   British attack the American forces at Ft. Ontario, Oswego, New York.  
1821   Napoleon Bonaparte dies in exile on the island of St. Helena.  
1834   The first mainland railway line opens in Belgium.  
1862   Union and Confederate forces clash at the Battle of Williamsburg, part of the Peninsula Campaign.Eyewitness to War  
1862   Mexican forces loyal to Benito Juarez defeat troops sent by Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla.  
1865   The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery.  
1886   A bomb explodes on the fourth day of a workers' strike in Chicago.  
1912   Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing.  
1916   U.S. Marines invade the Dominican Republic.  
1917   Eugene Jacques Bullard becomes the first African-American aviator when he earns a flying certificate with the French Air Service.  
1920   Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Visetti are arrested for murder.  
1935   American Jesse Owens sets the long jump record.
1942   General Joseph Stilwell learns that the Japanese have cut his railway out of China and is forced to lead his troops into India.  
1945   Holland and Denmark are liberated from Nazi control.  
1961   Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space.  
1968   U.S. Air Force planes hit Nhi Ha, South Vietnam in support of attacking infantrymen.

Shoe

Inside America’s Faltering Romance with the Car

End Of The Road

Third World America: Manufacturing Jobs Return Because U.S. Workers Are Cheaper Now

The good news? Manufacturing jobs are returning to the U.S. The bad news? It’s only because our workers have gotten so cheap. Thank you, Republicans.

Read more 

Discount-seeking man displeased about being called a cheeky fucker in email from restaurant

A Chinese restaurant has apologized after staff accidentally sent an email calling him a “cheeky fucker” when he asked for a discount. Richard Moore, 28, emailed the Twin Dynasty Chinese noodle bar in Gravesend, Kent, asking if he could get a special deal for a party of 12. Staff at the restaurant, which promises “fresh and affordable food”, replied saying no offers were available.

But Richard was shocked to receive another email which appeared to be accidentally sent to him instead of another recipient. The email read: “What do you think of this cheeky fucker?” Mr Moore said his party of a dozen friends and relatives were likely to be spending as much as £400 had they booked a table at the restaurant.
Mr Moore, of Gravesend, said: “Me and my fiance are getting married in about three weeks and we wanted to have a meal with friends and family beforehand. We inquired for a table for 12 so there would have been quite a lot of money, we think as much as £400. I asked if there was any offers or group discounts but they replied to say there wasn’t. Our plan was to go anyway but then I received this other email.
“I was completely shocked, I’ve told friends who have said they are disgusted by it all. I certainly won’t be eating there.” Staff apologized to Mr Moore for the error and described it as a “genuine mistake sent to the wrong recipient”. Restaurant director Nick Byram,47, apologized for the unprofessional use of bad language. He said: “As I explained to Mr Moore the email he received was a genuine mistake sent to the wrong recipient on a completely different matter and topic.”

Dad unhappy after Lego Store detained his 11-year-old son for shopping without an adult

A father in Calgary, Canada, says he is shocked his 11-year-old son was detained by a security guard at the Chinook Center Lego Store because the boy was shopping alone. Doug Dunlop's son, Tadhg (pronounced Tige), had $200 of his own money on Sunday and was looking to add to his vast Lego collection. Dunlop says he cycled most of the way to the mall with Tadhg, leaving him to shop at the Lego store. The two planned to meet later at the mall for lunch. In the store, Tadhg was asked his age. After he told the store manager he was 11½, a security guard was called and the boy was asked to stay in a certain area until his father arrived.

It turns out Lego has a rule that children under 12 should not be left unattended in its stores. The boy had shopped at the store alone many times without incident, said his father, and had spent thousands of dollars there - he earned the money shoveling snow and babysitting. Tadhg had even been asked his age before on several occasions, and the store employees would joke that it wouldn't be long before he could work there. Dunlop was upset to discover his son had been detained in the store. "I was, of course, shocked," he said. When he walked into the store, he thought that Tadhg might have knocked over a display, but not that he had done anything wrong, said Dunlop.
"Why would you detain a good customer? It's bad business." The store policy was not visible inside the store at the time. Dunlop asked the store manager why the policy existed. The store manager cited safety concerns such as child predators or the possibility of an evacuation from the mall. Dunlop said he was called a "bad parent" while questioning the store manager and the security guard about the policy. On Wednesday, the store posted a sign in the window reading: "To ensure that your child has a safe and enjoyable experience in our store, please do not leave them unattended." Amanda Santoro, a Lego brand relations manager, said the company stands by the policy.
"As a toy company, our utmost concern is for children's safety, and as such we have a policy in place regarding unaccompanied minors. As this customer was under the age of 12 and alone, we followed our protocol and stand by our policy." In a lengthy letter to Lego, Dunlop says he wants an apology from the store for detaining his son and for being called a "bad parent" by letting him shop alone. Now the Dunlops say they will never shop in the Calgary Lego store again. "My son loves Lego. It's his favorite store," he said. "This policy doesn't make sense; it's arbitrary age discrimination where they decided that children under 12 are inconvenient." Tadhg has also been telling his friends about the incident, said Dunlop. "And they are incensed. Being 11 years old is not a crime."
There's an audio interview with Tadhg and his dad here.

Topless Feminists Ruin French Fascist Leader’s Big Day

These French feminists just showed the world how to deal with wingnut bigots.

Read more 

What it’s like to escape an abusive, religio-wingnut religion

Sarah Morehead of the nonprofit group Recovering From Religion says leaving one's faith is like going on a "huge journey with no map."

‘I don’t believe this anymore'

Hospital Told Dying Mom To Surrender GoFundMe Account Or No Kidney Transplant

Over the last few months there’s been a lot of talk about the poor christian bigots who were prevented from raising money on GoFundMe. In spite of...

And the ASSHAT Award goes to ...

Raped 10-Year-Old Denied Abortion

Just remember this is what the ignorant religo-wingnut teabagger republicans want here in the United States
  
by Nina Strochlic
Horrifying

The girl is pregnant after being raped by her stepfather but the government of Paraguay has refused to grant her an abortion, stating that her life is not in danger. Activists are arguing that “life is not only a matter of having a pulse."

A 10-year-old pregnant with her stepfather’s child will not be allowed to get an abortion because the government of Paraguay doesn’t believe that her life in immediate danger.
On April 23, the unnamed girl was reportedly checked into the hospital by her mother. She complained of stomach pains and tests showed she was already 21-weeks pregnant. Earlier this week, her mother apparently requested her daughter be given an abortion, and when it was revealed that her stepfather impregnated her, the mother was taken into custody.
Doctors requested permission to perform the procedure. In Paraguay, abortions can’t be performed in the case of rape or incest, and only if the government decides that a life is in danger. In this case they decided it wasn’t.
The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), an international legal advocacy organization, has been collaborating with attorneys on the ground in Paraguay to fight the decision.
“They would not consider her health as a risk to her life?” says Paula Avila-Guillen, the Latin America and Caribbean advocacy advisor at CRR, about the government’s decision. “Life is not only a matter of having a pulse."
According to CRR’s information, the girl is under 70 lbs. and delivering a child could result in “permanent damage,” not to mention psychological issues.
“No 10-year-old is ready to be a mother. That will carry trauma for her whole family,” Avila-Guillen says. The risk of complications during child birth is exponentially higher in girls under 15—according to the World Health Organization maternal mortality is the leading cause of death for adolescent girls in developing countries.
“I don’t think anybody—you don’t need to be doctor or an advocate or even understand these issues—would realize a 10-year-old with a pregnancy as a product of rape is just completely inhumane,” Avila-Guillen says.
Punishment for illegal abortions can land a doctor, or even the woman herself, in jail for more than two years. As a result, the United Nations has reported upwards of 30,000 under-the-table abortions performed annually. According to CRR, as of Wednesday, the doctors were exploring other considerations to protect her health as petitions to approve the abortion had not garnered a response from the government, despite increasing international pressure.

“I don’t think anybody—you don’t need to be doctor or an advocate or even understand these issues—would realize a 10-year-old with a pregnancy as a product of rape is just completely inhumane.”

South America has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. Abortion is against the law in all circumstances—even if a mother’s life is in danger—in Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. But CRR has worked on similar cases in abortion-restrictive countries, like Colombia and Chile, with success.
In the past, situations that garnered similar media attention have ended with the government accepting the demands of activists. But even a concession could come too late. Once a doctor decides a pregnancy is too far progressed for a safe abortion, there’s no choice but to deliver the baby. “Clearly a girl at such a young age doesn't have the capacity to be a mother. But even in cases where it’s too late, the role of advocates is to ensure some type of support,” Avila-Guillen says.
According to Amnesty International, which calls this case “tantamount to torture," the young girl has been transferred to a center for young mothers to be given neonatal care. "There is no indication that the health of the (girl) is at risk ... therefore we are not, from any point of view, in favor of the termination of the pregnancy,” Paraguayan Health Minister Antonio Barrios told CNN. "The Justice Department will determine later who will have custody of the mother and child after (the birth)."
Sadly, this case shares tragic similarities with another case being covered in local Paraguay news, of a 12-year-old girl impregnated by her father. Her stepmother saw signs of pregnancy and took her to the doctor, who confirmed it. The father is currently being held and could face 12 years in prison. What will happen to his daughter is not currently known.
“They think they’re allowing the right to life and they’re protecting basic life [with abortion laws],” Avila-Guillen says. “ But these restrictions are very harmful for women and girls—they not only affect their life, they affect their potential of the life they want to build. Access to abortion that should be granted and only discussed between women and doctors. If that had been the case she would not be in the news—she would not be exposed to all this.”

Top cop in Freddie Gray case had guns confiscated, was hospitalized over mental health concerns 3 years ago

In 2013 Rice was ordered by a judge to stay away from his ex-girlfriend’s husband after reportedly threatening him.

Mentally ill cop

Bail set for charged Baltimore cops less than what was set for those arrested for rioting

All six police officers charged over the death of 25 year-old Freddie Gray have been released on bail, following a brief spell of detention at Baltimore’s central booking and intake center.

Joke bail set for charged Baltimore cops

Baltimore Police Union’s GoFundMe For Cops Who Killed Freddie Gray Fails Miserably

The Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police attempted to raise money for the six officers who were arrested for the murder of Freddie Gray and failed miserably ...

Miserable Failure

Shoplifting twin sisters dressed alike in attempt to fool store security staff

Twin sisters have been jailed after a series of shoplifting offenses where they used their identical looks to distract shop workers. Penelope and Constance Harris, 25, used their physical likeness to confuse security at various stores to leave with trolleys of stolen food and drink. It is thought they would both get trolleys and one would buy small items while the other would walk out with a trolley full of food and booze. But because they wore the same clothes and looked the same it would appear to staff and on CCTV that only one had been in the shop.

The sisters, of Porthleven, Cornwall, had used similar tactics at Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Co-op stores to steal a total of £1,000 worth of food and alcohol. Constance wept as she was jailed for 18 weeks while Penelope was given 14 weeks in prison. Chair of the bench at Truro Magistrates Court Roger Cargeeg said: "Our record shows you have a complete disregard for court order and nothing seems to have had an effect. We have now both reached the end of the road and both of you are going to prison today."
Both woman, both drug addicts, had previously pleaded guilty to several charges. They were jointly charged with stealing goods worth £382 from Tesco in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, on February 2 and items costing £198 from Marks & Spencer in Hayle on March 8. Penelope also faced charges of stealing alcohol and meat valued at £533 from Tesco in Pool on March 5 and stealing £91.79 from Coop in Hayle. Prosecutor Alison May said: "They have both made full admissions to working as a team in order to raise funds to support their habits of street drugs to buy food."
The court heard that the twins were overheard discussing distraction tactics before one pushed a trolley out the door loaded with alcohol and food. Robin Smith, defending Constance, said: "As far as the joint offenses are concerned the two girls volunteered themselves for arrest following a call from a police officer." He said drug treatment agencies had detected a "real commitment" from them to now act on their drug habits. In addition to the jail time, the sisters must also pay compensation of £99 each to Marks & Spencer, an £80 victim surcharge and court costs of £55.

Knife-wielding naked woman chased boyfriend through neighborhood in dispute over money

A woman from Fort Myers, Florida, was arrested on Tuesday morning after deputies found her running through the Pine Manor neighborhood naked chasing her boyfriend with a knife in hand.

According to an arrest report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office, 20-year-old Rolchika Washington was chasing her boyfriend of three years, Guerson Lapimarede, 26, after an argument over money.
Washington told deputies the argument stemmed from an incident the day before where she found money missing from her wallet. After a physical altercation the next day, Washington armed herself with the knife.
Washington's roommate said she heard the two arguing in the bedroom and then watched Washington run toward Lapimarede with a knife. Washington's roommate ran out of the house and dialed 911. Washington was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. She is being held at the Lee County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Man allegedly high on meth surfed on stranger's car

A Florida man is facing charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct after going for an unconventional ride on a stranger's car. It happened last Sunday morning on South Ocean Boulevard in Manalapan. Witnesses said it all started when Jonathan Restrepo, 25, of Coral Springs, jumped out of his girlfriend's car in the middle of traffic.

Restrepo jumped onto several cars and even jumped into a convertible going 20 mph, according to a man who shot cellphone video. "He was running around like a monkey with his tongue out, waving his arms in the air, jumping on top of cars," the man who recorded the cellphone video said. One driver didn't stop, and kept driving down A1A with Restrepo on the roof of her Nissan Altima.

In the cellphone video, you can see Restrepo scrambling back and forth on the roof on his knees, even peering in through the windows at the terrified driver. Eventually, as seen in the video, Lantana and Manalapan police arrive coming the other way on A1A and Restrepo jumps off the car and bolts for a grassy area by the Intracoastal Waterway. "When he went to run away from the cops, he didn't even run away from them," the man who recorded the video said.

YouTube link.

"He ran a few feet and then ran back at them. He was really confused, just acting crazy. I've never seen anything like it." Restrepo followed police orders to lie down on the ground. Officers say Restrepo told them he was using crystal meth and that someone was after him. He was arrested on charges of public intoxication, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief for causing more than $1,000 damage to two different cars. Restrepo was taken to a hospital after being arrested and has since been released.

Woman accused of flashing at lawn mowers

A 56-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly flashing at lawn mowing service workers and dropping her pants.

Neighbors called police reporting that a woman was flashing at the workers from her front yard and porch, according to a police report. Police arrived at the residential neighborhood in Des Moines, Iowa, just before 4 pm on Wednesday.
They found Tamara Zhane Harvey, 56, who admitted to lifting her shirt and dropping her pants but said she had underwear on. Neighbors said she had exposed her breasts, genitals and backside.
Harvey was highly intoxicated when police spoke with her, police said. No breathalyzer test results were noted in the report, however. She was arrested on a charge of indecent exposure and is being held at the Polk County Jail on a $300 bond.

Inquisitive raccoons escaped from cage to investigate phone company's offices

Three mischievous raccoons got inside the Russian phone company Yota-System's offices in Moscow on Tuesday and caused damage totaling £550 ($850, €761).

It all started when their animal trainer arrived at the Moscow offices, intending to buy a net signal booster, carrying the three raccoons with him.
As soon as the three were left alone, one of them opened its cage and helped the two others to do the same.

YouTube link.

They then starting investigating the offices, going in and out of various offices and into every box they could lay their paws on. Yota-System are now in touch with lawyers as they hope to get compensation from the trainer for the damage.

Animal Pictures