The Daily Drift

FYI ...!

 

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

    
Juggling exercises the brain  ... !

Today is - World Juggling Day

You want the unvarnished truth?

Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told

Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Argentina - Brazil - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Puerto Rico - United States - Venezuela
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Belarus - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic - Denmark - England - France  Georgia - Germany - Greece - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Netherlands - Norway  Poland - Russia - Scotland - Spain - Sweden - Turkey - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
China - India - Indonesia - Iraq - Lebanon -Malaysia -  Palestine - Pakistan - Qatar - Saudi Arabia  Singapore - Taiwan - Thailand
Africa
Egypt - Somalia - South Africa
The Pacific
Australia - Philippines

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Today in History

1777		The Marquis de Lafayette arrives in the American colonies to help in their rebellion against Britain.
1863		Confederate forces on their way to Gettysburg clash with Union troops at the Second Battle of Winchester, Virginia.
1920		The U.S. Post Office Department rules that children may not be sent by parcel post.
1923		The French set a trade barrier between occupied Ruhr and the rest of Germany.
1927		Charles Lindbergh receives the Distinguished Flying Cross and is treated to a ticker-tape parade to celebrate his successful crossing of the Atlantic.
1940		Paris is evacuated as the Germans advance on the city.
1943		German spies land on Long Island, New York, and are soon captured.
1944		The first Germany V-1 buzz-bomb hits London.
1949		Installed by the French, Bao Dai enters Saigon to rule Vietnam.
1971		The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers.
1978		Israelis withdraw the last of their invading forces from Lebanon.
1979		Sioux Indians are awarded $105 million in compensation for the 1877 U.S. seizure of the Black Hills in South Dakota.
1983		Pioneer 10, already in space for 11 years, leaves the solar system.

Meet the Elf Whisperer of Iceland

Yes, She Sees Elves. 

Yes, She’s For Real.

by Paula Froelich

Iceland is a land where magic happens. Magical people live there — and I don’t mean those Vikings roaming the streets of Reykjavik. (Although, for all you single ladies out there, yes, they are indeed magnificent.) If you don’t believe me about the magic, just ask an Icelander. According to one study, up to 72 percent of people in Iceland believe in elves, trolls, and the huldufolk, or “hidden people” — who apparently look just like us but live in a different dimension inside rocks, which open up (for them, not us) like a Harry Potter tent. I’m not making this up. This is really what people will tell you in Iceland. They will even tell you that stones which from a certain angle look like faces, are actually elves… like this one:

Can you see the face? It’s okay - I couldn’t at first either. Apparently this elf guards the Elf Park and doesn’t allow bad spirits in. 

Elves, trolls and other sorts of creatures apparently wander all over Iceland - hidden to most human eyes - and hiding in plain sight. 

There are trolls on that there beach! No, really! You just can’t see them…  

Icelandic Parliament member Árni Johnsen nearly died in a car accident in 2010 but claims he was saved by a family of elves living in a 30-ton boulder nearby. So, to thank them, he agreed to move their boulder onto his property, where they could live their lives in luxury and not off the side of a highway. True story.

So, if you are as obsessed as I am about all this, and if you want to know everything about these fairy people, stop by the Hellisgerði Lava Park, aka the Elf Park, just outside of Reykjavik, and ask for Ragnhildur “Ragga” Jónsdóttir, the official caretaker of the elf park and unofficial elf spokeswoman.

Ragga on an elf walk.

Calvin And Hobbes Embodied the Voice of the Lonely Child

So many people loved the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes because they related to the small child who lived out his fantasies with his ever-loyal stuffed tiger Hobbes. Of course, Calvin was much more clever than we were at that age. According to Libby Hill, Calvin’s fantasy world was a retreat from the real world he didn’t fit into.

For as much as the brain of a child is growing and changing and maturing, for as many distractions as the world provides to developing minds, kids aren’t stupid, particularly children as highly sensitive and attuned to the world around them as Calvin. Disappearing into his own world is a coping mechanism for dealing with a world that seems to have little patience or place for him. His isolation breeds fantasy, which breeds isolation, which does him no favors at school or at home. To be a lonely child in the world means creating your own fun, your own friends, your own magic.

And we all did that at one time or another, didn’t we? Or were we lonely kids in the minority? Read an essay on the motivation behind Calvin’s childhood fantasies at the A.V. Club.

How Do You Distinguish Americans from Other People?

Students from all over the world at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan tell us what makes Americans stand out from the crowd.

(YouTube link)

We get it, Americans are loud, fat, cheap, always eating, drinking, wearing pajamas in public, and worst of all, they have American accents! But we smell like freedom.

Weird Facts About Modern America

(Video Link)

America is a weird place when you think about it -and if you've never thought about it before, then this video might make you recognize just how weird it is. For example with all of our smart phones and internet use did you know 32 million Americans are illiterate? Or despite the fact that you always hear about the religious right America is actually getting less religious overall?
Check out more strange facts about America over at TopTenz or just check out the video above.

What It’s Like to Be Declared Dead by the Government

It sounds like a joke to be declared dead when you are very much alive, but if it’s the Social Security Administration that makes the mistake -possibly with just a typo- it can cause all sorts of problems for the living. And it could be years before you even find out about it.

Since 1980, it has maintained the Death Master File, a database of more than 86 million deceased, SSN-holding Americans. When you are medically recorded as dead, you are included in this master file and your SSN is retired, disabling any future use; a few weeks later, Medicare, the IRS, law enforcement, and employers essentially “scratch you out of existence.”

In 2011, the Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of the Death Master File, and found that, from May 2007 to April 2010, 36,657 living people (12,219 per year) had been prematurely added, nulling them legally dead. After probing deeper, officials estimated that between 700 and 2,800 people were erroneously declared dead every month since the list’s inception. Over the file's 35-year history, the Inspector General suspects that more than 500,000 Americans have been affected.

Affected how? If you receive Social Security benefits, those will stop. Banks won’t let you open a new account, and can freeze funds on your existing accounts. Potential employers, landlords, insurers, and service providers will think you are an identity thief. And identity thieves can really mess things up for you. Read about the dangers of paperwork premature death at Pricenomics.

The American Police State

American police have zero obligation to protect and serve the people. 

They work for politicians and enforce laws and generate revenue. 

Make no mistake

Vatican Removes De Facto Immunity For Bishops Concealing Sex Abuse

The development was welcomed by lay people appointed by the pope to his advisory board, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Vatican Removes De Facto Immunity For Bishops Concealing Sex Abuse

Couple Divorcing So Gays Who Marry Can't Destroy Their Marriage ...

... Which Makes Total Sense - If You're Bigoted Moron

Sarah and Nick Jensen may be getting a divorce after ten years of marriage because gay people might soon be able to legally marry.

Couple Divorcing So Gays Who Marry Can't Destroy Their Marriage

Virginia Mom Leaves Kids In Hot Car While Turning Self In For Leaving Kids In Hot Car

A Virginia mother left her two children unattended in a hot car, with windows rolled up as she turned herself in for leaving one of the children unattended in a hot car while she went shopping last month.

Read more 

Man accused of kidnapping neighbor because she was being too loud in her laundry room

A Florida man is accused of abducting a neighbor on Sunday after he claimed the woman and her husband were being too loud in their laundry room.

Vero Beach resident Leon Thurston, 61, is facing multiple charges including felony armed burglary to a dwelling, felony aggravated assault, felony kidnapping, felony false imprisonment and felony carry concealed firearm.
Authorities with the Vero Beach Police Department said Leon Thurston, 61, entered the laundry room of Jessica Scoville's home with a black baton and a handgun. Investigators said Scoville's husband, David Scoville, was hit twice with the baton before Thurston grabbed Jessica Scoville by the wrist and took her from the home. David Scoville then called police for help.

YouTube link.

Police launched a search for Jessica Scoville, and she flagged down police near Charles Park at about 7:30am. Thurston was taken into custody, and officials said a gun was found in his pants. Jessica Scoville told authorities she asked to use a restroom and was able to get away and find help. Thurston is being held at Indian River County Jail with no bond. A "no contact order" has also been issued for Thurston against the victims in this case.

Fleet of emergency vehicles responding to report of plane crash found man washing truck

Four ambulances, three County Sheriff's deputies, a couple of State Highway Patrol troopers, a firetruck and a few more emergency vehicles descended on a farm just east of Springfield, Missouri, on Monday afternoon. Authorities had received a report of a possible plane crash in the area, so dispatchers, fearing the worst,sent a lot of emergency responders. But what the callers, who are new to the neighborhood, thought was a plane crash beyond the tree-line south of their property ended up being a bath for Shockwave, the jet-powered semi-truck that tops out at 376 miles per hour.

Shockwave's owner, Neal Darnell, said he raced the vehicle, which looks like a fighter plane and a semi-truck had a baby, on a dirt course last week, so the truck needed to be washed. Part of that washing process means firing up the jet engines on the back of the 36,000-horsepower truck, and that makes for some loud noises and a cloud of white smoke outside of Darnell's garage. "We do it from time to time and it will usually generate a couple of 911 calls, but today for some reason it brought out a whole army of emergency vehicles," Darnell said.
"And I hate that because they have better things to do than come out here." The new neighbors said next time they will know that those jet-like noises just mean it's bath time for Darnell's racing truck. Darnell said he doesn't blame the neighbors for being concerned. He said he has had Shockwave for about three years and he and his son take the truck to shows all over the country, where they do things like setting stacks of cars on fire or racing fighter planes. Darnell, who has been drag-racing his whole life, said Shockwave started as a hobby but has now turned into a "crazy business."

YouTube link.

He showed the first-responders his truck and apologized for having wasted their time. A deputy on scene said no citations were issued and the 911 callers were acting in good faith because they genuinely believed someone might be in danger. Darnell said the deputies and emergency medical technicians were friendly once they found out there weren't any downed planes in his yard, but instead the roaring engines of the fastest jet-powered semi-truck in the world. "The cops thought it was cool," Darnell said. "They said, 'Boy, we wish we would have been here 25 minutes ago so we would have been able to see it.'"

10 Totally Amazing Libraries Built in the Last 100 Years

We love libraries and the most recent Homes and Hues article is a tribute to those places of knowledge. While there are some utterly beautiful libraries that have been around for centuries, the newer ones rarely get the same level of attention. That's why we focused on newer libraries.

You might notice that there aren't any libraries from Asia, Africa and Australia, but rest assured, we fully plan to do more articles that will feature stunning library architecture from those continents as well.

So if you're eager to take a peek at some of these stunning book depositories, don't miss this great post: 10 Totally Beautiful Modern Libraries

15-Year-Old Discovers New Planet

Artist rendition of WASP-142b (on the left), as seen from a hypothetical moon.

by David A. Hardy

A teenager in England has suddenly become the coolest kid in school: 15-year-old Tom Wagg discovered a new planet while participating in a work-experience program at Keele University.
Cataloged as WASP-142b, the planet lies in the Southern constellation of Hydra. It was discovered based on data collected by the Wide Angle Search for Planets project, which identifies planets when they pass in front of their host star, creating a temporary "dip" in the light.
After two years of further analysis, astronomers are confident that WASP-142b is, in fact, a planet.
"I'm hugely excited to have a found a new planet, and I'm very impressed that we can find them so far away", says Wagg, now 17, who plans to study physics.
"Tom is keen to learn about science, so it was easy to train him to look for planets'', adds Professor Coel Hellier, who helms the WASP project.
Click here for more information from Keele University

Snake-carrying hawk hit power line causing four-acre fire

A brush fire that broke out on a hillside in Sorrento Valley, San Diego, California, on Tuesday morning was caused by a hawk and snake.

The four-acre fire was reported at 5:43am near the General Atomics building. According to San Diego Fire-Rescue, it was sparked when a hawk carrying a snake hit a high-voltage power line. The two animals were killed.
80 firefighters with San Diego Fire-Rescue responded, along with a helicopter that conducted water drops. The fire started in light grass and spread into heavier grass and brush. Crews had it extinguished within an hour.

YouTube link.

The fire did not threaten any of the businesses that sit at the top of the hill. More than 400 San Diego Gas & Electric customers in the Sorrento Valley and Torrey Pines area were without power for more than 90 minutes. The fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damage to SDG&E equipment.

Plumber pulled iguana out of woman's blocked toilet

A South Florida homeowner was surprised to discover an iguana was blocking her toilet at her home on Sunday. Fort Lauderdale resident Marian Lindquist said her encounter with the foot-and-a-half reptile began when her daughter Lily tried unsuccessfully to flush the toilet at their home in the Poinsettia Heights neighborhood. "I knew that something had to be wrong," said Lily. Lily said she then called her mother for help.

Rabbit Runs Across an Avalanche Like It's No Big Deal

With the nickname of "Land of Fire and Ice," you can imagine that life in the Kamchatka Peninsula can make one really tough.

How tough? Just take a look at this rabbit, who comes across an avalanche, said to itself "snow biggie!" and hopped across.

Baby Koala Clings to Mother Throughout Emergency Surgery

When Lizzy the Koala was hit by a car on the Warrego Highway in Australia, she suffered life threatening injuries including a collapsed lung and facial trauma. But thankfully, before the accident Lizzy had herself a good luck charm in the way of her six-month-old joey Phantom.

Lizzy underwent the surgery necessary to save her life, and tiny, one-pound Phantom clung to her throughout the procedure. Mother responded well. Both Lizzy and Phantom are spending some time in recovery at Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, a facility founded by the late Steve Irwin — also known as the Crocodile Hunter — and his wife Terri.

See more photos of Lizzy and Phantom and get updates on their progress at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital Facebook page.

Animal Pictures