The Daily Drift

A Guy Thing - Oh, Yeah ...!

 

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

  
  The magic of Duct Tape ... !

Today is - It's A Guy Thing 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
Brazil - Canada - Colombia - Guatemala - Nicaragua - Panama - Paraguay - Peru - Puerto Rico 
Sint Eustatius/Saba - United States - Uruguay - Venezuela
Europe
Armenia - Belarus - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - England - Finland - France  Germany -  Greece - Iceland - Italy - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Russia - Scotland  Slovenia - Spain - Switzerland - Wales
Asia
Brunei Darussalam - China - India - Indonesia - Iran - Iraq - Malaysia - Mauritius - Sri Lanka - Thailand
Africa
Algeria
The Pacific
Australia - Philippines

Don't forget to visit our sister blogs Here and Here.

Today in History

1558		The French take the French town of Thioville from the English.
1772		Slavery is outlawed in England.
1807		British seamen board the USS Chesapeake, a provocation leading to the War of 1812.
1864		Confederate General A. P. Hill turns back a Federal flanking movement at the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg, Virginia.
1876		General Alfred Terry sends Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer to the Rosebud and Little Bighorn rivers to search for Indian villages.
1910		German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich announces a definitive cure for syphilis.
1911		King George V of England crowned.
1915		Austro-German forces occupy Lemberg on the Eastern Front as the Russians retreat.
1925		France and Spain agree to join forces against Abd el Krim in Morocco.
1930		A son is born to Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
1933		Hitler bans political parties in Germany other than the Nazis.
1938		Joe Louis floors Max Schmeling in the first round of the heavyweight bout at Yankee Stadium.
1940		France and Germany sign an armistice at Compiegne, on terms dictated by the Nazis.
1941		Under the codename Barbarossa, Germany invades the Soviet Union.
1942		A Japanese submarine shells Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River.
1944		President Franklin Roosevelt signs the "GI Bill of Rights" to provide broad benefits for veterans of the war.
1956		The battle for Algiers begins as three buildings in Casbah are blown up.
1970		President Richard Nixon signs the 26th amendment, lowering the voting age to 18.
1973		Skylab astronauts splash down safely in the Pacific after a record 28 days in space.
1980		The Soviet Union announces a partial withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan.
1981		Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon.
1995		Nigeria’s former military ruler Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo and his chief deputy are charged with conspiracy to overthrow Gen. Sami Abacha’s military government.

DOJ Charges 243 With Medicare Fraud In 'Largest Takedown' Ever

The US Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the charging of 243 people across 17 federal districts for Medicare fraud.

Focus On Islamic Extremism Leaves Lunatic Fringe Overlooked

Focusing primarily on islamic extremism “would be a serious mistake."

Judge has banned mother from breastfeeding because she got a tattoo

A judge in Australia has banned a mother from breastfeeding because she got a tattoo, ruling the woman's decision to get it four weeks earlier exposed her 11-month-old baby to an unacceptable risk of harm. Federal Circuit Court Judge Matthew Myers' decision to grant an injunction to stop the woman from breastfeeding her son comes despite the mother recording negative results on hepatitis and HIV tests. Judge Myers said there was still an unacceptable risk to the baby because the tests were not conclusive. The case came before the court because the baby's father raised concerns about the mother's tattoo during a bitter parenting dispute. The decision has shocked breastfeeding advocates like Dr Karleen Gribble from the University of Western Sydney.

"I think if it were reasonable then we would have very, very many women in Australia who would be quite horrified and perhaps child protection authorities should be taking action because many mothers who are breastfeeding get tattoos - very often of their children's names," she said. In making the ruling, Judge Myers relied on material published by the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Chief executive officer Rebecca Naylor said she is worried a dangerous precedent could be set. "Tattooing is a regulated industry, so if you go to a tattoo parlor that is reputable then the chances [of contracting an infection] are very low," she said. "I think unless there's evidence that she has contracted an infection as a result of that tattoo, then it is unreasonable.

"Tattooing in and of itself, as long as it's done in reputable way and that the infection control procedures are followed, the risk is low and so no, we would absolutely encourage women who have had tattoos to breastfeed their babies for as long as they choose to." Ms Naylor also flagged broader concerns about the wider implications of the ruling, saying it raised questions about a judge's right to control the risk taking behaviors of women. "Does that mean that women who expose themselves to any sort of risks around the contraction of a blood-borne virus... shouldn't be allowed to breast feed?" she said. "Of course we have to consider the risk to babies, and I'm not in any way dismissing that. Women do need to be careful.
"They're feeding a child, it's going to be their main source of nutrition up until they're 12 months of age, so you do have to be careful. But it doesn't mean that you have to wrap yourself in glad wrap." Dr Gribble said she had never seen a case like this before. "I'm only aware of one case where somebody contracted HIV from tattooing and that was somebody who'd got a tattoo in Bali, not somebody who'd gotten it in Australia," she said. "I think when it comes to mothers and breastfeeding, we need to consider that mothers are people, they do things. Sometimes there's a risk associated with what they do, but we generally think that they don't need to protect their children from all risk and it [comes down to] considering, is this a reasonable risk? Most people consider that the risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis from using a tattoo parlor, and particularly if they've been careful about checking it out, is infinitesimally small." A full bench of the Family Court has agreed to hear an urgent appeal against the ruling in Sydney.
Update: The Family Court have now overturned the decision.

Barber jailed after violent attack on rival hairdresser following row over a comb

A barber who bit a rival in a violent attack following a row over a comb has been jailed for 18 weeks. Gary Hatto, 48, sank his teeth into the thumb of former employee Mike Harford after attacking him on his own doorstep, leaving his face covered in blood. And Hatto, who has a chain of eight shops bearing his name, also rained punches on his victim in the terrifying Sunday morning attack. Hatto, of South Wraxall, Wiltshire, pleaded not guilty to common assault but was convicted by magistrates following a trial last month. He said he had not started the fight and had only gone to the house in Devizes, to apologize. The men had been friends in the past with Harford doing his apprenticeship with his attacker but they fell out 11 years later when he branched out on his own.
The justices heard how the incident started on Saturday, June 21, last year when one of Hatto's staff had gone to Mr Harford's shop to borrow a specialist flat-top comb. Mr Harford was not at work that day as he was at home looking after his three children while his wife was away and his employee refused to loan the tool. Later that day, when Hatto got wind of the snub, he bombarded his victim with text messages before turning up on his doorstep at 9.30am the following day. Nick Barr, prosecuting, told the court: "Mr Harford asked him to leave as he had his three young children inside. But Mr Hatto became angry and, five or six times, punched him to the head.
"Mr Harford got him a headlock to try and stop the punches and they fell to the ground. Hatto then bit him on the thumb causing excruciating pain." The two men were locked together on the ground in the front garden until Hatto's employee Yvonne Tallis, who had been sitting outside in a van, tried to split them up. After Hatto had gone, Mr Harford was taken to Chippenham hospital and was treated for injuries to his face and thumb. Miss Tallis, who gave evidence in defense of her boss, said they were traveling to Hatto's Marlborough shop and he decided to stop so he could apologize for the texts. She said Hatto stepped back a couple of meters after knocking on the door and it was Mr Harford who launched himself at Hatto and tried to strangle him before they fell to the ground.
However the magistrates said they believed Mr Harford's version of events and found Hatto, who has four previous convictions for violence and was jailed for 12 weeks in 2010, guilty. In 2007 a judge branded him 'arrogant' when he partially upheld his appeal against a community order for a violent attack. In that incident, again at about 9am, he laid into a dog walker in a local park pushing a woman and then punching her husband. He was under the misapprehension his then fiancée was being attacked when in reality she was crouching down trying to put one of his bulldogs back on its lead. Mr Harford said: "I’m glad justice has been served and it’s all over. I don’t want to rake it up again by saying any more than that.”

Town bans bananas in preparation for boat festival

A ban on bananas has been imposed in a small Scottish town ahead of its traditional boat festival. Superstitious seafarers regard bananas as bad luck on board boats and festival organizers have come up with the unusual move to ward off any potential misfortune to the North-east’s biggest maritime celebration, which takes place in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, on July 4 and 5.

Banana ban signs have been posted, a banana amnesty has been introduced and local businesses have come out in support of the action, with Portsoy Ice Cream removing banana flavored ices from its range until after the event. Roger Goodyear, chairman of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, says: “Bananas may be a delicious fruit but they are considered bad luck on boats.

“We want to do everything possible to make sure our 2015 festival is a success and we don’t want to take any chances.Our ban on bananas is a tongue-in-cheek nod to our seafaring heritage and is a reminder that the ocean can be a mystical, but dangerous, place and as such there are many traditional superstitions among fisher people.” There are several theories on why people believe bananas are bad luck for a boat.
One is that back in the early days of the banana trade, crews would overload the banana boats when leaving the tropics, resulting in the boats capsizing in bad weather. Another is that wooden sailing boats involved in the Caribbean trade of the 1700s had to move so quickly to deliver bananas before they spoiled that the crew had a hard job catching fish. It has also been suggested that it's because bananas harbored dangerous spiders whose bite could be painful or even fatal.

Diplomatic row over stray Venezuelan golf balls landing in Switzerland

A dispute has been teed off between Switzerland's ambassador to Venezuela and a neighboring elite golf club, after a banner appeared at the diplomat's residence warning that golf balls injuring or killing anyone inside would violate the Vienna Convention.

The large placard, located on the residence's fence near the third of the Caracas Country Club's 18 holes, begins by explaining that the residence is considered Swiss territory. "Launching balls into this residence is a danger to whoever is within Swiss territory and a violation of the Vienna Convention if a golf ball injures or kills anyone on Swiss soil."
Ambassador Sabine Ulmann said she had nothing to say on the matter. Her residence is located in a wealthy area of Caracas, alongside the official residences of many other European nations. The private Caracas Country Club itself is one of Venezuela's most elite hangouts. It was derided by late President Hugo Chavez, who described golf as a "bourgeois" sport.
  The Venezuelan Federation of Golf said in a statement that it had read the sign with "astonishment." "We have no fear whatsoever that we are attacking Swiss territory should a golf ball land in embassy premises," the statement read. It added that the sign appeared a "strange overreaction." Article 30 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states: "The private residence of a diplomatic agent shall enjoy the same inviolability and protection as the premises of the mission."

Amelia Earhart's Emergency Camp Site

Theory on Amelia Earhart's Emergency Camp Site Shifts

A team investigating an island where they believe Amelia Earhart took refuge after emergency landing now believe she and her navigator may have camped in a place by the beach.

Feminine Cro-Mangnon

Early humans had to become more feminine before they could dominate the planet

'Kennewick Man' Closely Related To Modern Native Americans, Scientists Say

by Jacqueline Howard

Who was "Kennewick Man?"

The 9,500-year-old skeleton was found in 1996 along the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Wash., and it's been called the most important ancient human skeleton ever unearthed in North America.
But as to Kennewick Man's ethnicity and origins, researchers haven't been able to agree.
Some scientists argued that he was likely related to indigenous Japanese or Polynesian peoples, others said that he had Caucasian features. Still other scientists were convinced that he was probably an ancestor of modern-day Native Americans -- and a new DNA study suggests that, indeed, they're right.
"Using ancient DNA, we were able to show that Kennewick Man is more closely related to Native Americans than any other population," Dr. Morten Rasmussen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and an author of the study, said in a written statement.
For the study, the researchers analyzed DNA taken from Kennewick Man's bones. Then they compared the DNA sequences to those of modern-day Native Americans.
There was not enough information to assign Kennewick Man to a particular Native American tribe, but the researchers discovered that Kennewick Man was closely related to members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington.
"Advances in DNA sequencing technology have given us important new tools for studying the great human diasporas and the history of indigenous populations," Dr. Carlos Bustamante, professor of genetics at Stanford University and an author of the study, said in the statement. "Now we are seeing its adoption in new areas, including forensics and archeology. The case of Kennewick Man is particularly interesting given the debates surrounding the origins of Native American populations."
The new findings not only shed light on Kennewick Man's ancestral history but also may reignite a long-standing legal dispute regarding the skeleton's fate, according to the researchers.
In 2004, five Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest requested repatriation of Kennewick Man's remains so that they could be reburied as the sacred remains of an ancestor. But the proceedings were halted as scientists won a court case to conduct further research on the skeleton.
"Due to the massive controversy surrounding the origins of this sample, the ability to address this will be of interest to both scientists and tribal members," Bustamante said in the statement.
The study was published online in the journal Nature on June 17, 2015.

Alaska Records Temperature Hotter Than Arizona Thanks To A Crazy Heat Wave

Alaska is experiencing record high temperatures. But the deniers, of course, will say that climate change isn’t the culprit. It is.

Read more 

NOAA: Hottest May, Hottest Spring, Hottest Year-To-Date On Record By Far

So far, this year is blowing past every other year in terms of global temperatures.

Water Going ... Fast

Global Water Going Fast: How Much Is Left?

New studies reveal that humans are rapidly draining a third of the world's aquifers, and nobody knows how much water is left in them.

Mysterious Blob Wreaking Havoc

Mysterious Warm Blob in Pacific Wreaking Havoc

A bizarre patch of warm water is being blamed for everything from the California drought to deaths of sea lions.

Eight Million Mummies

8 Million Dog Mummies Found in Mass Grave

In ancient Egypt, so many people worshiped Anubis, the jackal-headed god of death, that the catacombs next to his temple once held nearly 8 million mummified pups.

Real-Life 'Jurassic World' ...

Real-Life 'Jurassic World' Dinos May Be 10 Years Off

The key in recreating dinosaurs may lie in chickens' DNA.

Huge Toxic Algal Bloom Shuts Down West Coast Fisheries

Scientists are calling the current algal bloom, which stretches from central California to Alaska, "unprecedented."

Leading pianist forced to pull out of concerts after injuring finger in seagull attack

An internationally-renowned pianist has been forced to pull out of concerts after a swooping seagull caused him to injure himself.

Paul Lewis was leaving rehearsals with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra when he was startled, causing him to fall and sprain a finger. The 43-year-old musician had been due to play in two performances but has had to pull out, the orchestra confirmed.

A spokesperson said they wished him "a speedy recovery". Head of communications Jayne Garrity said: "Unfortunately, Paul Lewis has had to withdraw from his concerts this week with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

"On leaving rehearsals with the orchestra earlier this week, Paul sustained an injury, spraining one of the fingers on his right hand, after a seagull which had been nesting close by, swooped close to his head, causing him to stumble." Mr Lewis was born in Liverpool, where seagulls are a common sight.

Animal Pictures