The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1520		Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan, having discovered a strait at the tip of South America, enters the Pacific.
1729		Natchez Indians massacre most of the 300 French settlers and soldiers at Fort Rosalie, Louisiana.
1861		The Confederate Congress admits Missouri to the Confederacy, although Missouri has not yet seceded from the Union.
1868		Mt. Etna in Sicily violently erupts.
1872		The Modoc War of 1872-73 begins in northern California when fighting breaks out between Modoc Chief Captain Jack and a cavalry detail led by Captain James Jackson.
1899		The British are victorious over the Boers at Modder River.
1919		Lady Astor is elected the first woman in Parliament.
1925		The forerunner of the Grand Ole Opry, called the WSM Barn Dance, opens in Nashville, Tennessee.
1935		The German Reich declares all men ages 18 to 45 as army reservists.
1937		Spanish leader Francisco Franco blockades the Spanish coast.
1939		The Soviet Union scraps its nonaggression pact with Finland.
1941		The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise departs from Pearl Harbor to deliver F4F Wildcat fighters to Wake Island. This mission saves the carrier from destruction when the Japanese attack.
1943		Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt meet at Tehran, Iran, to hammer out war aims.
1944		The first shipment of supplies reach Antwerp by convoy, a new route for the Allies.
1948		Dr. Edwin Land’s first Polaroid cameras go on sale in Boston.
1950		In Korea, 200,000 Communist troops launch attack on UN forces.
1961		Ernie Davis becomes the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.
1963		Cape Canaveral is renamed Cape Kennedy.
1971		The Anglican Church ordains the first two women as priests.
1975		East Timor declares independence from Portugal.
1980		Operation Morvarid (Iran-Iraq War); Iranian Navy destroys over 70% of Iraqi Navy.
1984		Republican Robert Dole is elected Senate majority leader.
1989		Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.
1991		South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
2002		Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya.

Vermin Supreme Is Running for President

... And he's a far more qualified candidates than any Republican!

Vermin Supreme has filed the necessary paperwork to run for president in the 2016 New Hampshire primary. Neatorama showed you his campaign video the last time he ran in 2012. In fact, this is Supreme’s seventh presidential campaign! His platform: giving everyone in the US a pony.

Other policy positions Vermin espouses include going back in time to kill baby Hitler, mandatory tooth brushing for all citizens, and buying everyone a pony.
Of course, this ain’t his first rodeo; this will be the protest candidate’s seventh run for president of these United States, and he’s been using absurdist humor to agitate against bourgeois democracy and stir up protest votes since the 1980s. But with “serious” candidates for pretender like Carson and Trump getting more outlandish by the day, the Vermin message seems more relevant than ever.

Death and Taxes has more on the candidate, and some extended footage of Supreme’s recent appearance at a Carson rally.

My Life After 44 Years In Prison

Otis Johnson was recently released from prison after serving 44 years. Think about how much the world has changed in 44 years. If you weren’t there to see it changing gradually, how surprising would it be? Honestly, I’m surprised by how much has changed, and I saw it happen. 

(YouTube link)

The scenes of Johnson taking in the sights of city streets will remind you of Back to the Future Part 2, if only Marty McFly had aged into an elderly man on his way to 2015. Johnson is 69 years old, and unlikely to find a job. He didn’t pay into the Social Security system. He has no children, and no contact with other family members.

Upon release from prison, Johnson was handed an ID, documents outlining his criminal case history, $40 and two bus tickets. Having lost all family connections while serving his sentence, Johnson now relies on Fortune Society, a nonprofit that provides housing and services to ex-prisoners in Harlem.

Read more about Johnson at Aljazeera.

The Native American Community Faces Dangerously High Rates Of Food Insecurity

Native American tribes were once the most agriculturally prosperous people in the U.S. But a lot has changed.

‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli weasels out of promise to roll back insane cost increase of pills

‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli weasels out of promise to roll back insane cost increase of pills

Martin Shkreli, chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, became known as “the most hated man on the Internet” after raising the price of the drug, which is used to treat parasitic infections.

Fracking Companies Have Been Getting Worse About Disclosing The Chemicals They Use

According to a recently published paper, fracking companies have gotten worse about disclosing the kinds of chemicals they are using.

NC teens can now text for answers about sex

North Carolina teens, comfortable using text messaging for communications big and small, can now turning to a text line for information about sexuality and relationships. 

The BrdsNBz text line has been so successful that it's been replicated in South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Texas, Indiana and New Mexico.

The BrdsNBz North Carolina Text Line provides confidential, factually accurate answers to sexual health questions via text message.
BrdsNBz serves young people ages 13 to 19 who live in North Carolina.
To use BrdsNBz

• Text ncteen to 66746 to opt-in to the service. You only need to opt in the first time you use the service.
• Text your question to 66746.
• You will receive your answer within 24 hours.

Message and data rates may apply.
Text STOP to 66746 to opt out.
Text HELP to 66746 for help.

SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens) is a statewide nonprofit with the goal of improving the sexual knowledge and health of adolescents and young adults. In 2005, SHIFT organizers decided to communicate with teens in their format of choice – text message.
Kennon Jackson described the program this way: “We know that they have things that they are not asking their parents or trusted adults. Let’s see if we can get them to text their questions."

SHIFT started a sex text line called BrdsNBz which accepts anonymous questions about sex and relationship questions and offers a fact-based answer within 24 hours.

“We get a lot of questions about very basic things about sex, what sex is and how you define that," Jackson said.

“We have a team with 60-plus years of experience that at any one time is answering these questions to provide a medically accurate and personalized response.”

Many times the questions turn into conversations. SHIFT representatives say the end goal is to get teens off their phones and talking with a trusted adult.
Kay Phillips, CEO of SHIFT NC, said, "We do feel that they need that conversation with somebody.”
SHIFT NC also has initiatives to help teens understand and avoid unwanted pregnancies, HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

Records reveal Minnesota priests raped hundreds of kids for decades — and the cult buried the evidence

Records reveal Minnesota priests raped hundreds of kids for decades — and the cult buried the evidence

Personnel records made public on Tuesday revealed that catholic priests at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota engaged in a sustained and coordinated campaign of child rape.

Pastor among seven charged with murder for beating teen to death during 'spiritual counseling'

Pastor among seven charged with murder for beating teen to death during 'spiritual counseling'

New York Subway Cars Decorated With Nazi Symbols

Seriously? New York Subway Cars Decorated With Nazi Symbols

White Supremacists ARE terrorists

Why the Media Refuses to Call the White Supremacists Who Shot Black Lives Matter Protesters 'Terrorists' 

Texas gun nuts who terrorized mosque publish names and addresses of Muslim families

Texas gun nuts who terrorized mosque publish names and addresses of Muslim families

The Bureau of American-Islamic Relations (BAIR) — an anti-Muslim group that used assault rifles and other weapons to intimidate and threaten members of an Irving, Texas mosque on Sunday — has stepped up its campaign of harassment by publishing the names and contact information of the city’s Muslim families and their so-called “sympathizers.”

The Teen Who Became Poster Girl For ISIL Is Dead, Now Her Horrifying Death Is A Cautionary Tale

This is how ISIL treated the girl who fled Europe to fight in their name.
Read more 

Bridgegate Prosecutors Want High-profile Trial To Remain In N.J.

 The defense claims that the extensive media coverage of the scandal would make it impossible to find an impartial jury.

Mask wearing man arrested after not robbing store

A mask wearing man was arrested after he did not rob a store in Florida. An Indian River County Sheriff’s deputy went to a Walgreens in Vero Beach at about 3:15am on Nov. 6 after a suspicious person report.

Dispatchers reported a Walgreens worker said a man in the store was wearing a mask and black gloves. When a deputy arrived he saw a man with black gloves and a mask on top of his head by the cash register.
He told the man, identified as Kyle Seaman, 29, to go outside and take off the mask. A delivery driver told investigators he was outside and the man came up wearing gloves and a mask. He had a hand in his shirt, making it look like he had a weapon.
A Walgreens worker reported Seaman walked around with the mask covering his face. “Why does everyone think I’m going (to) rob the place wearing the mask,” Seaman is quoted as asking. Investigators did not accuse Seaman of robbing or attempting to rob Walgreens. Instead, Seaman, of Jupiter, was arrested on a misdemeanor wearing a mask, hood, or other device on public property charge.

Naked man charged over Whopper

A naked man was arrested and charged after he allegedly stole a Whopper from a man’s car in Derby, 2400km north of Perth in Australia.

Derby police say the local man stole the Hungry Jack’s burger from a tradesman’s car parked in the remote town.
The tradesman had organized for a friend to bring him several Whoppers from Darwin (no less than 1800km north-east) in the days prior to the alleged theft. Police say one of the burgers was left in the car and the local forced his way inside and took it.
When he was confronted by the tradesman, the offender removed all his clothes and walked away, police said. Officers apprehended him in the street a short time later and charged him by summons with stealing and disorderly behavior.

Beer truck ran over man after he stole it

A man has been arrested and taken to the hospital after stealing a beer truck and running himself over while trying to elude police. At around 5:45am on Monday, police in Columbus, Georgia, responded after a man stole a Coors beer truck.

Steal and Sell

Indiana man pleads guilty to stealing human brains from medical museum and selling them online

Weather and Global Disaster

Weather Causes 90 Percent of Global Disasters: UN

Global catastrophes over the last 20 years includes 6,457 recorded floods, storms, heatwaves, and the like.

Comets and Stars

Comet fragments best explanation of mysterious dimming star

Was it a catastrophic collision in the star’s asteroid belt? A giant impact that disrupted a nearby planet? A dusty cloud of rock and debris? A family of comets breaking apart? Or was it alien megastructures built to harvest the star’s energy? Just what caused the...

Shedding 30 a year

This Gargantuan Star Is Shedding 30 Earths a Year

If you find yourself eating too much over the holidays, don't worry -- you can always try out the latest super star diet.

Shoe

Cop shoots and kills Delaware man’s dog — as it runs away from him

Cop shoots and kills Delaware man’s dog — as it runs away from him

As the dog sees the shield and the gun he becomes startled and runs away. When the dog runs out of frame, it is clear that he posed no threat to the ten men in full body armor.

Cat killed deadly snake after it bit her owner

A woman from north Queensland, Australia, is recovering in hospital after being bitten by a deadly red-bellied black snake that was hiding under a garden hose. Denise Thynne was gardening at her home in Mirani, west of Mackay, when she was bitten on Monday morning. "I walked out to the yard to pick up the hose to water the roses. There was a little snake laying under the hose that I didn't see," she said. "It was laying there in the sun, I didn't take any notice until I felt the sting."

Her cat Skitzo rushed to her aid, attacking and killing the reptile. "She came out stalking and it looked like she was mesmerizing it and then she just went in for the kill," Ms Thynne said. "I turned the snake over and saw the red belly and thought 'oh that's not a very friendly one'." The 66-year-old's hand started to hurt and she was taken to the Mackay Base Hospital, but she is expected to be released this morning after it was found the snake did not inject her with poison.
Ms Thynne said she was well versed in what to do, as it was the fourth time she had been bitten by a snake. "I'm a bit of a pro at this snake business," she said. "My mum always said it'll be a snake that kills me, so yeah, I'm not really planning on one [a fifth experience], but who knows. Just be careful, and wear your glasses when you go outside, that helps." Ms Thynne said her experience had taught her that if you were bitten by a snake you should "definitely not panic".
"If it's a real deadly looking one, sit under a tree with a cigarette, with a cup of tea and pray, but yeah wrap it up and hope." Emergency doctor Neale Thornton said it was important to stay calm and call triple-0 if you were bitten. "No panic, no running around, just get to a phone, call the ambulance, first aid measures is what they call it," he said. "Pressure, immobilization bandage, if you've got the right kit, and you know how to do it, do it. If you see a snake minding its own business in the bush, just leave it alone, don't play with it, even if you think it's a non-poisonous one."
There's an audio interview with Ms Thynne here.

Sticking Their Necks Out

A few facts about giraffes

Giraffes don’t make a lot of noise, but they are able to make sounds like grunts, hisses, snorts, and even moos.
Baby giraffes grow about an inch every day during their first week of life. But only about one giraffe baby in four makes it to adulthood. Big cats and jackals hunt them, and their mothers aren’t great at defense.
Giraffe males can be as tall as 18 feet; females, 14 feet.
Like cows, giraffes are ruminants, which means they have four compartments in their stomachs and they regurgitate and chew their cud.
A giraffe tongue measures about 2 feet long and is blue-black in color. Scientists think that might be so their tongues don’t get sunburned.
A giraffe’s legs are taller than the average human adult.
Giraffes have seven vertebrae in their necks— the same as every mammal.
A giraffe newborn falls from a height of about 6 ½ feet. Luckily, it’s already about 6 feet tall at birth, so the fall isn’t really that bad.
Male giraffes are often at more risk from predators than females, even though they’re larger, because they spend a lot of time alone and are easy to sneak up on.
The giraffe has only one known relative: the okapi, a mammal native to rain forests in central Africa. Okapis somewhat resemble giraffes, but have black and white striped legs and short necks.

Pakistan's Camel-Mounted Bagpipe Band

When is the best time to play bagpipes? The answer is: always. It is always appropriate to play the bagpipes, for they are the world's most beautiful musical instrument.
We've heard them played in space. We've heard them played on a unicycle. Now, thanks to enterprising soldiers in Pakistan, we can now hear the melodious sounds of the pipes by men on camels.
A year ago, the Pakistan Desert Rangers formed a camel-mounted military marching band that includes bagpipers. This has not been easy, as the camels have had to learn how to adjust to this new work and the pipers have had to learn how to play on bouncing camels. Dawn magazine reports:

“It is very difficult to play the bagpipe while sitting on the camel," admits piper Muhammad Hussain. “But we have now learned the art."
The band, part of the Pakistan Desert Rangers, was formed last year after hundreds of animals went out of service, reduced by the latest military patrol vehicles to doing mere donkey's work — that is until the idea to dress them in bunting and put bagpipers on their backs was born.
After making their debut before startled spectators at Pakistan's National Day parade in Islamabad in March, they are now deployed in Moj Garh, 100 kilometers east of Bahawalpur in Punjab province, where they drill daily in preparation for a potential international career.

We can only hope that these pipers and their camels get to travel the world in order to share the joy of bagpipe music.

Mufasa Retires from the Circus

Peru banned circuses from using wild animals, but not all of them complied. Animal Defenders International made it a priority to find confined and abused animals still kept by circuses. One they found was Mufasa, a mountain lion that had been in the circus for at least 20 years. He was kept chained in the back of a pickup truck.

Mufasa’s journey to freedom began in April, when ADI received a tip-off that Circo Koreander was illegally operating with wild animals in an isolated village in northern Peru. ADI, police and wildlife officers moved in for a surprise raid but were met by hostile resistance. An eight hour stand-off saw riot police and a Public Prosecutor called in before Mufasa – Peru’s last wild animal in a circus – was handed over, along with a condor.

(YouTube link)

The cat was taken to the Spirit of Freedom rescue center near Lima to recover. He got veterinary care and a pen to stretch out in. When he recovered his health, Mufasa was taken on a three-day journey to the Taricaya Ecological Reserve at the edge of the Tambopata rainforest reserve. Now he has both support and the freedom to run through the forest.

Abandoned puppy guided and protected his blind sister until they were both rescued

A greyhound puppy in Spain refused to leave the side of his blind sister and protected and guided her until the pair were rescued.
The pair of downtrodden pups were discovered by residents at a battered women’s shelter in Navalcarnero near Madrid when it was noticed that one refused to leave the side of the other and appeared to be guiding her through the fields.
It emerged that the male dog, who is darker in color, was permanently at the side of his lighter-colored sister as she took tentative steps through scrub-land searching for food. "On approaching the dogs, it was possible to see that one of them had a cloudy veil covering the retina of the eyes," explained Nacho Paunero, the head of El Refugio, a dog shelter charity in Madrid.

YouTube link.

"Her brother seemed to be fully aware of the blindness of his sister and would not be separated from her for a single second, he was protecting and guiding her," Paunero said. The dogs were given the names Pisper and Blinder and have now been taken in by the charity, which is hoping to re-home them together. "The dogs have been seen by the vet and the blindness is most likely caused by an infection," said the charity. "With the right treatment we hope she will make a full recovery."

Animal Pictures