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Today in History

1298		An army under Albert of Austria defeats forces led by Adolf of Nassau.
1625		The Spanish army takes Breda, Spain, after nearly a year of siege.
1644		Oliver Cromwell crushes the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor.
1747		Marshall Saxe leads the French forces to victory over an Anglo-Dutch force under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Lauffeld.
1776		The Continental Congress resolves with the Declaration of Independence that the American colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”
1822		Denmark Vesey is executed in Charleston, South Carolina, for planning a massive slave revolt.
1858		Czar Alexander II frees the serfs working on imperial lands.
1863		The Union left flank holds at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg.
1881		Charles J. Guiteau fatally wounds President James A. Garfield in Washington, D.C.
1926		Congress establishes the Army Air Corps.
1937		American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappears in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world.
1961		Novelist Ernest Hemingway commits suicide at his home in Ketchum, Idaho.
1964		President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law.
1967		The U.S. launches Operation Buffalo in Vietnam.
1976		North and South Vietnam are officially reunified.
1980		President Jimmy Carter reinstates draft registration for males 18 years of age.

New Hornet Frank Kaminsky said the one thing you absolutely do not say in North Carolina

by Seth Rosenthal

Isn't this what agents are for? To help clients figure out how to comport themselves? This is a grave offense:

David Glenn Show @DavidGlennShow

Kaminsky when asked whether he associates barbecue as a food or a style of cooking: "It's a sauce."

I don't even remember which side of that debate Carolinans fall on, I just know they have STRONG opinions about it, and the third option of "it's a sauce" can get you sent to the State Penitentiary For People Who Say Food Words Bad.

He's from the Midwest and he means well. I can't really blame him. But for next time, Frank: Barbecue is when you take a bunch of raw fish and vegetables and wrap it in rice and seaweed then slice it into little bite-sized pieces.

(No, Seth, that's Sushi. Even the author of this piece chiding Kaminsky can't get it right.)

Kaminsky already got caught dissing the franchise and the city, so this is strike two in the Charlotte-affrontin'. How are we feeling about turning down SIX draft picks in a trade for this guy, MJ?

Nine signs warn that road is closed

Eight no entry signs and an illuminated road closure sign to mark a one-way system have been described as unnecessary by people who live there. The signage on Anderson Street in Merkinch, Inverness, Scotland, is part of a phase of work in the construction of the city's new flood alleviation scheme.
Local resident Sarah Mackay said: "A no entry sign is a no entry sign , you don't need nine signs to say no entry." Another resident, David McCall, said: "Everyone can see the road's closed. Why do you need signs taking up the pavement?"
A spokesperson for the contractor McLaughlin and Harvey said the traffic management system was drawn up by another firm and approved by Highland Council. The spokesperson added: "The reason there are so many signs is that there are a lot of access points."

Non Sequitur

Gay 'Conversion' Therapy Group Found Guilty Of Fraud

A religious gay 'conversion' therapy group that required participants to take their clothes off in front of naked pseudo counselors was just found of fraud, by a New Jersey jury.

Read more 

Judge called defendant a gobshite

During a recent sitting of Naas District Court in County Kildare, Ireland, Sean Byrne, 24, was answering charges of driving without insurance.

Byrne, who has 14 previous convictions for driving offenses, was called a gobshite by Judge John Coughlan during his sentencing.
The judge made the statement as Byrne's solicitor, Tony Hanahoe, was making a defense for his client. "He's a gobshite," interrupted Judge Coughlan. "It's the nicest thing I can say about him," he added.
Of his 14 previous conviction, two of those are for driving without insurance, the same reason Byrne was in court. "If it reaches four, he'll be in Mountjoy (Prison)," warned the Judge before handing down a six-year driving ban and a fine of €500.

Tourist's hash brown order led to drug confusion

A Bulgarian tourist ran into problems on a visit to Stockholm, Sweden, when a restaurant misunderstood her English and thought she had ordered marijuana instead of a potato dish. Stella Ivanova, 35, was visiting her friend Ayse Beijer, 32. The pair had just returned from Midsummer celebrations in the Stockholm archipelago when Ivanova decided to grab a bite to eat at a traditional Swedish pub in the capital's Old Town (Gamla Stan). With its cobblestone streets, winding alleys and souvenir shops, the area is a popular hub for tourists. As a result, many of the restaurants provide an English translation of their menus. It's pretty handy. Usually.

But when Ms Ivanova walked into the popular Engelen restaurant and asked to try some hash browns, she was turned away with the words: “We don't do that kind of thing here, it's illegal in Sweden.” “Stella came out furious and disappointed and I asked what had happened. She just said the waitress had told her to leave. I just said there must have been a misunderstanding,” her friend Beijar said. When Beijar, who lives in Stockholm, went back inside to find out what had happened it emerged the waitress thought Ivanova had asked for hash brownies – marijuana.

The substance is classed as an illegal drug in Sweden, a far cry from hash browns, which is a traditional pan-fried shredded potato dish known in Swedish as 'rårakor'. “My friend has traveled all over the world and speaks great English. I asked if the waitress really thought a 35-year-old woman would order drugs in the middle of Stockholm's tourist area at three o'clock in the afternoon. The thought is obviously completely crazy,” said Beijar. However, according to her the waitress would not budge and the pair were forced to leave. Beijar said the restaurant has not been in touch with them since the incident.
“We laughed but we were also really angry. Tourism is one of Sweden's biggest sources of income and we're trying to attract more visitors – and then when somebody comes here you scare them off,” she said. The restaurant's site manager Annika Palmgren said that there had been a misunderstanding and that the staff had felt threatened by the situation. “Unfortunately the staff did not get that she meant 'rårakor'. (…) It was not our intention to be rude, we would have liked to sort things out. We must now make sure that everybody on the team know what the words on the menu mean,” she added.

Elderly woman charged with assaulting police officer at wrong address

An 88-year-old woman in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has been charged with assaulting a police officer after wielding a knife and slapping an officer responding to an incorrect address. Phyllis Stankiewicz was released on her own recognizance after being arraigned on Friday on the incident at her home on Thursday afternoon. Officers were dispatched to 57 Wilson St. at about 3:50pm for a report of a disturbance involving someone with a baseball bat.

Police knocked several times and announced their presence at Stankiewicz's home and said they were there for a report of a crime, according to court files. When Stankiewicz came to the door, police said, she was carrying a knife in one hand, which was pointing toward one officer, at "waist level." Stankiewicz appeared, "angry and confused," and she was yelling, "There's no crime here! Get out of my house!," according to a police report.
One officer said Stankiewicz kept approaching them with the knife until she, "was just about sticking it into my stomach." An officer grabbed the knife and Stankiewicz allegedly tried to push her way past police and continued to push them in the chest while they tried to calm her down. Police said Stankiewicz was warned not to put her hands on them before she slapped one of them on the left side of his face, resulting in her arrest.
Stankiewicz continued to resist while they tried to place her into custody, requiring her to be placed on the ground to do so. After the arrest, a police dispatcher confirmed the initial call was for a disturbance at 57 Memorial Drive, one block north of Wilson Street. Stankiewicz was released after being booked, and ordered to appear in court for her arraignment on Friday. She pleaded not guilty in Central Berkshire District Court to one count of assault and battery on a police officer. She was released by Judge Michael J. Ripps, who scheduled a pre-trial hearing for Aug. 21.

Partly clad intoxicated lady driver found asleep at traffic light

A Florida woman was arrested on a drunken driving charge early on Wednesday morning after Gainesville police say they found her asleep, partially clothed and in the driver's seat of a sport utility vehicle that was running at an intersection. At 3:10am, the Gainesville Police Department received a call about a Lincoln Sport Utility Vehicle that had stopped in the middle of the road.

GPD arrived 10 minutes later and found the SUV still in the road and a woman, later identified by GPD as 31-year-old Casey Lynne McRae, from Lake Butler, asleep behind the wheel. The automatic transmission of the vehicle was in the drive gear and McRae's foot was on the brake pedal, according to a jail booking report.
GPD officers banged on the windows of the Lincoln and eventually woke McRae, who was wearing a small white blouse that was inside out and backwards. Also, she only wore underwear, and a pair of jeans was found in the back seat of the vehicle, the report states. McRae reeked of alcohol and her eyes were red and watery, the report said. She mumbled as she spoke and told GPD officers she believed she was in Lake Butler.
A breath test revealed she had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.14 percent, the report states. Inside the SUV, officers found 20 grams of what they believed was marijuana and a pipe that smelled like burnt marijuana. There was also an unlabelled prescription bottle of pills, the report states. McRae was charged with drunken driving, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was taken to the Alachua County jail, and she was released on her own recognizance on Wednesday morning.

Bad Cops

Cop Violently Assaults Man Holding Infant For Not Paying Transit Fare

Even infants are not exempt from police brutality.
Read more

Ziggy

Memory Works?

Does Pixar's 'Inside Out' show how memory actually works?

Vibrio vulnificus

What is Vibrio vulnificus and should you be concerned?

It’s the stuff of nightmares.

Climate Change Explained

Bill Nye uses emojis to explain the mechanisms of climate change in less than two minutes

Man found sharing two-room apartment with 300 rats

On Thursday the Tierschutzverein (animal protection services) in Munich, Germany, were horrified to find a man living with 300 rats in his two-room apartment.

A social worker had called the animal rescue services after the man said during a hospital visit that he was having trouble taking care of 20 rats at home and wanted to give them up. But when they got there, the shocked animal protection workers discovered hundreds of the animals living in a apartment completely given over to housing them.
The apartment had been filled with animal beds and sawdust for the rats. They had made nests in the drawers. "Apparently the man tried to take care of the rats properly. But given the sheer number of rats he ended up out of his depth," Judith Brettmeister from the Munich shelter said in a statement.
“In all the drawers, in the bed frame and behind the cabinets were nests with babies – and they were all hungry. There were around 300 in total. A truly horrifying picture!” Animal protection services took 20 rats, the maximum they are able to house, back to their shelter. The rest of the rodents will be kept and fed in the two-bedroom flat until new owners can be found.
There's a photo gallery here.

Bear Back On Line

Beloved Alaskan bear livestream up and running once again

Bull Gets a New Ball

Herbie the bull is very excited about getting a new ball to play with. But his human thinks that he's actually frustrated and says, "Do you need a girlfriend, Herbie?" Well, then, help him out, lady. Get him set up on Plenty of Cows.

(Video Link)

Say Hey to the Car-Sized Ocean Sunfish

This massive creature is known as the ocean sunfish. It weighs up to 2,200 pounds and can grow to be the size of a small car. The female of the species has the distinction of producing the most eggs of any vertebrate: three-hundred million.
The ocean sunfish eats only jellyfish and is harmless to humans. Among its few predators are orcas, sharks and sea lions. Scientists aren't completely sure why, but the sunfish frequently swims up from its feeding depths and lies flat on the surface.
Check out a video of the ocean sunfish below, and read more about the species in this article.

YouTube Link

Animal Pictures