CAROLINA NATURALLY: May 10, 2015

Sunday, May 10, 2015

The Daily Drift

True, so true ...!

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Today in History

1285 Philip III of Spain is succeeded by Philip IV ("the Fair").
1503 Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands.
1676 Bacon's Rebellion begins in the New World.
1773 To keep the troubled East India Company afloat, Parliament passes the Tea Act, taxing all tea in the American colonies.
1774 Louis XVI succeeds his father Louis XV as King of France.
1775 American troops capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.
1794 Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI, is beheaded.
1796 Napoleon Bonaparte wins a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy.
1840 Mormon leader Joseph Smith moves his band of followers to Illinois to escape the hostilities they experienced in Missouri.
1857 The Bengal Army in India revolts against the British.
1863 General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson succumbs to illness and wounds received during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
1865 Union cavalry troops capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis near Irvinville, Georgia.
1869 The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads meet in Promontory, Utah.
1859 French emperor Napoleon III leaves Paris to join his troops preparing to battle the Austrian army in Northern Italy.
1872 Victoria Woodhull becomes first woman nominated for U.S. president.
1917 Allied ships get destroyer escorts to fend off German attacks in the Atlantic.
1924 J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1928 WGY-TV in Schenectady, New York, begins regular television programming.
1933 Nazis begin burning books by "unGerman" writers such as Heinrich Mann and Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front.
1940 German forces begin a blitzkrieg of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, skirting France's "impenetrable" Maginot Line.
1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister.
1941 England's House of Commons is destroyed during the worst of the London Blitz: 550 German bombers drop 100,000 incendiary bombs.
1960 The USS Nautilus completes first circumnavigation of globe underwater.
1994 Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa's first black president.

People don't like atheists because they serve as a grim reminder of death’s finality

More and more people in the United States are casting aside religion and identifying as atheists

Study: People don't like atheists because they serve as a grim reminder of death’s finality

The Time the Allies Tried to Disarm Hitler With Female Sex Hormones

Did you hear the one about the plot to sneak estrogen into Hitler’s carrots? It sounds like the setup for a joke, but the Allies really tried this one out.

A study at the time by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA, claimed that on the gender spectrum, Adolf Hitler fell notably near the middle—"close to the male-female line," wrote the OSS’s director of research and development, Stanley Lovell. The Allies thought if they could just tip him over the line into "female" territory, he would lose his hold on Germany and the war would be won.
Sources differ on whether the hope was that a more feminized Hitler would be less aggressive, and thus, less inclined to commit mass genocide, or that if he lost his facial hair and grew breasts he simply wouldn't have the confidence or charisma to allow him to serve as an effectively malevolent dictator.

We know that didn’t happen, but the reasons why are murky. Read about the scheme to feminize Hitler at mental_floss.

Fire station destroyed by fire

A fire department in Williams County, Ohio, found themselves on the other side of the fire after their station went up in flames. Three other fire departments responded to the fire at the Florence Township fire station in Edon Sunday night. Fire Chief Jay Klinger says the fire started in one of the truck bays while some of the firemen were at the building for a meeting. "They dispatched Edgerton, Montpelier, and Northwest Township Fire Departments.

"They actually took care of the fire attack. We just, we couldn't do anything but sit there and watch it burn," says Klinger. "It's hard to be on the other side, not being able to help. when you're used to doing that for people." Luckily no one was injured, but now all five of their fire trucks and nearly all their gear is gone. "A lot of tears shed the last couple days. When somebody puts 20 plus years of their life in to a fire department, it's hard to stand and watch, but we're making it," says Klinger.

But just as the large debris pile and the scorched fire trucks have drawn people to the department, the chief says the loss has also drawn the community together. "I want people to know, our community to know, thank you for helping, for any donations. We're still here for you, we're going to be here for you," says Klinger. And though it may seem like all is lost, the Florence Township Fire Department will continue to serve their community.

YouTube link.

"We've got arrangements worked out. We're still going to respond, we're going to respond as a department. Things aren't going to change, we just won't be as big as we used to be for now, but we'll get back to it," says Klinger. The department does still have their EMS vehicles, but hopes to have a truck on Tuesday. Neighbouring departments will assist the village of Edon, Florence Township, Blakeslee and the Ohio Turnpike until the Florence Township fire station is back on their feet. The cause of the fire is still unclear.

Man started fire in police station by setting light to toilet roll in attempt to dry wet clothes

A man who beat up his girlfriend set fire to a toilet roll in a police station, a court heard. Marc Gibson was attending Scholey Street police station in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on March 11 to answer bail for the assault, which happened on December 7 last year.

When the fire alarm sounded at the station, officers found Gibson locked in the disabled toilet, and banged on the door before finding burn marks on the wall and floor inside. Bolton Crown Court heard that Gibson had decided to use a lighter to set fire to some toilet roll in an attempt to dry his clothes.
The court heard that Gibson had been given a cigarette by a friend on the way to the station, and that he now questions the contents of the cigarette, claiming that it influenced his actions. Gibson, 34, of Halliwell, had pleaded guilty to one count of assault and another of criminal damage at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison following a sentencing hearing on Friday, and must also pay a surcharge of £100. Judge Timothy Stead said: “The assault is a nasty case. While answering bail at Bolton police station you caused damage by fire in the disabled toilet. This case, it seems, is a matter of vandalism. Whatever you were trying to do in there, ordinary decent people do not set fire to toilet roll in police stations.”

Train passengers scared by angry-looking clown

A teenager wearing a clown mask scared rail passengers in Victoria, Australia, on Saturday, prompting questions as to whether disguises should be allowed on public transport. V-Line passenger Karen said the "creepy looking" clown intimidated other passengers and was "menacing towards young females". "I was taking the train down to Southern Cross to have lunch with a girlfriend down there, I sat back expecting the usual relaxing trip, put my ear pods in, I usually doze a little bit," she said. She said the man – wearing a suit, a clown mask and carrying a suitcase – got on the train at either Ardeer or Deer Park in Melbourne's western suburbs. "It was a very scary face, it was a clown mask but a very angry clown," she said. "At first I thought, well surely they're not going to let a man on a train with a mask, because what if he was wearing a balaclava or something like that?"

Karen said the man entered the train's front carriage a few stations later, walking down the aisle slowly and silently. "He slowly walked along the isle until he got to the driver's door, stood, stopped, turned around and just watched all of us, stared us all down, everybody in the carriage," she said. She said all sorts of things were running through her mind. "What do I do? What's he got in the bag? What do I do if he pulls out a gun? It was a bit like being in a horror movie to be honest," she said. Karen said she was surprised that the man was not confronted by staff when the train pulled up at Southern Cross. She said he walked through the gate onto the concourse where he was "menacing towards young females". "The strange part was that he was never pulled up, nobody stopped him, nobody said 'hey mate, take off the mask'. It sort of makes you think, what sort of security is there?" V-Line spokesperson Colin Tyrus said the train's conductor had investigated reports of a masked person after being alerted to his presence at Sunshine.
"The clown man at this stage was just standing near the toilet and seemed to be just minding his own business," said Mr Tyrus. "There was no threat that the conductor could perceive from this particular gentleman." He said he understood that other passengers could have found the masked man unnerving; however, when the conductor saw him he was "just standing there". "People might have, I think it's called coulrophobia, a fear of clowns," he said. He says all V-Line staff are trained in the principles of security and police are called whenever a passenger is considered to be disruptive or threatening. "We report anything that is suspicious," he said. He encouraged rail passengers to alert the conductor whenever they felt threatened. "On the modern trains... there's a duress button in every carriage where the conductor can be alerted," Mr Tyrus said. He said there was nothing in the transport regulations, to stop people wearing masks or disguises on public transport.

"We often have, actually, people with masks traveling on trains; in fact, I got on a metro train the other weekend and there were a few zombies on board," he said. A review of transport regulations is underway and public comment is being called for. "If anyone wants to suggest that masks or other disguises be banned from public transport, now is opportunity for everyone to have their say," Mr Tyrus said. Later on, a man named Andrew said the person in question was his 14-year-old stepson. "He goes to NICA [circus school] over in Prahran and does circus arts, and on the weekends he's working on his different clown personas and costumes," Andrew said. "He's six-foot-three... but he's only 14 so he's probably not quite aware of the impact it may have on other people." Andrew said he "had no idea" that his stepson was wearing his mask on the train. "I think that his teacher will be having some words with him, and I know we will as well," Andrew said. "He likes the attention, and so the issue now is going to be how to push upon him the seriousness of it without him going off going 'wow, this is really cool'."

Road rage incident led to fight involving sword and homemade flail

Police in Austin, Texas, arrested 34-year-old Kia Cameron Paya-Akhavan for attacking another man following an alleged road rage incident, a sword fight and an attack with a homemade flail. According to the arrest affidavit, a man spotted Paya-Akhavan driving his Mercedes recklessly in Southwest Austin just after 3:45pm on Friday.

The man, also driving a Mercedes, was upset about Paya-Akhavan's reckless driving near a daycare, decided to take a picture of Paya-Akhavan's car and licence plate at an intersection. This was followed by a heated exchange between the two men after which both men turned in different directions. Paya-Akhavan then made a U-turn and followed the man in his car.
When the man got out of his car, Paya-Akhavan hit him with a water bottle before punching him in the chest, ending in an altercation on the street. After a neighbour broke up the fight in the street, Paya-Akhavan followed the man to his house and pulled up behind him, blocking his driveway. According to affidavit, Paya-Akhavan then attacked the man's car with a metal sword, attempting to chop down the driver's side of the door.
The man backed his car into Paya-Akhavan's in an attempt to get away. Paya-Akhavan then drove away, only to come back a few minutes later, attempting to run over the man in the street twice before eventually attacking the man with a homemade flail. Paya-Akhavan left shortly after the two had another physical altercation. Police charged Paya-Akhavan with two cases of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as well as aggravated assault with a motor vehicle.

Pizza delivery driver who was stabbed in back still managed to drop off order before collapsing

A pizza delivery driver in Louisville, Kentucky, was stabbed and carjacked, but managed to drop off the pizzas before collapsing. Willow Rouben, regional manager for Spinelli's Pizzeria, said Josh Lewis, 25, left the restaurant on his way to Norton Hospital.

Police said Lewis was attacked when he arrived at the hospital at around 2:45pm on Sunday. "As he was taking the pizzas out of his car and walking to deliver the pizza, he was stabbed in the back. Believe it or not, he got his pizzas delivered and collapsed in the ER,” Rouben said.
Investigators said the suspect, described as a black man in his 40's, jumped into Lewis' black Jeep Cherokee and took off. Rouben said Lewis was rushed to nearby University Hospital and into surgery with a collapsed lung. "He was coherent. He's just an amazing kid and we're all praying for him. We haven't stopped thinking about him," Rouben said.

YouTube link.

Rouben said Lewis is a college student from Detroit, Michigan. She said he's worked off and on for Spinelli's for the last six months. Rouben said they're currently working on a way to help Lewis and his family. "He's just a sweetheart. He's a sweet kid and we're just so sad that this happened to him," Rouben said. "Our hearts are broke. We just want him to be OK."

Man on meth broke into family’s apartment then stole doughnuts and marshmallows and left

Police have arrested a man after he allegedly went into a family’s Salt Lake apartment, while the children were inside.

Todd J. Kingston Jr. took doughnuts and marshmallows and then left.
Police said when Kingston was asked what state he was in at the time he told them he was high on methamphetamine.
Kingston is now facing charges for burglary and public intoxication in the incident that happened at about 7pm on Saturday.

Man robbed Subway shop then crossed street to buy sandwich from competitor

Police say a Chicago man robbed a Subway sandwich shop with a knife and then crossed the street and bought a sandwich at Subway's competitor, Potbelly, where he was arrested.

Fredrick Warren, 43, was still eating his Potbelly sandwich when police arrived just before 5pm on April 26, police said. About 20 minutes earlier, Warren had walked into the Subway shop and held up the cashier with a folding knife, police said.
A customer who walked in mid-robbery told investigators she saw Warren leaning over the counter and grabbing cash from the register. Investigators caught Warren's trail by watching Loyola University Police surveillance video, according to Chicago and Loyola police departments.

It showed Warren walking south, crossing the street and then walking back north to Potbelly. There was no sign of him leaving the Potbelly, so they went inside and found him eating near the back of the shop, his gold coat draped over his seat. He was arrested and police found $186 in cash and a silver-bladed folding knife with a black handle on him, police said. Warren was charged with armed robbery.

Non Sequitur

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Microwave Oven Baffled Astronomers for Decades

Astronomers at the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, Australia, have been noticing strange signals coming through the radio telescope since 1998. These signals were designated as perytons, and were observed maybe twice a year. No one knew where they were coming from, but lightning was proposed as the cause. Of course, we’d all prefer it to be aliens. A new receiver installed this year picked those signals up even stronger at 2.4GHz, which led the scientists to suspect the facility’s microwave oven.

Immediate testing of the oven failed to detect any perytons -- until they opened the microwave door a few seconds before it had finished cooking. Johnston told The Guardian: "If you set it to heat and pull it open to have a look, it generates interference."
Although the telescope, known locally as "The Dish", is operated largely remotely, a few operational staff who maintain the facility would use the microwave oven to heat their lunch in the daytimes. Moreover, the interference would only occur when the telescope was pointed in the oven's direction, making the cause even harder to pinpoint. The findings have been published in the notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

So much for aliens trying to contact us. But it’s nice that the 17-year mystery has been solved.

Angry Birds balloon seagull deterrents are working but keep being stolen

Angry Birds have been recruited to frighten seagulls in Rhyl, north Wales, but people keep stealing them. Scare balloons featuring characters from the popular video game franchise have been attached to traffic cones and dotted around the high street in a bid to stop the pests stealing food from shoppers. The idea was thought up by Denbighshire Council who say it works well until people take them.

A council spokeswoman said anyone who knows Rhyl knows there are problems with seagulls causing a nuisance in the warmer months and making an "incredible mess" of the streets. She said: “We continue to try everything we can to tackle the problem, including cleaning down the streets every morning but obviously, they are back to the same condition by the evening and so the process goes on and is quite costly.
“Yes, we know these weird Angry Bird type scare balloons look a bit daft but they do seem to work and we have had good feedback from businesses on the high street since we started using them. The only problem is that, while they may scare the seagulls away, not so for people who take a fancy to them and take them home with them.” The spokeswoman added: “Gulls don’t like bright, scary owl faces on masks or balloons.
“They have excellent eyesight and are spooked by unexpected visual signals or predators but any deterrents need to contain some element of change and movement within them but also be able to be moved at regular intervals - birds quickly acclimatise to a static deterrent. The feedback we’ve had is that, the birds were still around on the roofs but were not coming down to ground level. We’ve been back to the premises helping us out with the trials and they have said they will bring them in each night so we will continue with it.”