The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1135		Henry I of England dies and the crown is passed to his nephew Stephen of Bloise.
1581		Edmund Champion and other Jesuit martyrs are hanged at Tyburn, England, for sedition, after being tortured.
1861		The U.S. gunboat Penguin seizes the Confederate blockade runner Albion carrying supplies worth almost $100,000.
1862		Lincoln gives the State of the Union address to the 37th Congress.
1863		Belle Boyd, a Confederate spy, is released from prison in Washington.
1881		Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan Earp are exonerated in court for their action in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ariz.
1900		Kaiser Wilhelm II refuses to meet with Boer leader Paul Kruger in Berlin.
1905		Twenty officers and 230 guards are arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the revolt at the Winter Palace.
1908		The Italian Parliament debates the future of the Triple Alliance and asks for compensation for Austria’s action in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
1909		President William Howard Taft severs official relations with Nicaragua’s Zelaya government and declares support for the revolutionaries.
1916		King Constantine of Greece refuses to surrender to the Allies.
1918		An American army of occupation enters Germany.
1925		After a seven-year occupation, 7,000 British troops evacuate Cologne, Germany.
1933		Nazi storm troops become an official organ of the Reich.
1934		Josef Stalin’s aide, Sergei Kirov, is assassinated in Leningrad.
1941		Japan’s Tojo rejects U.S. proposals for a Pacific settlement as fantastic and unrealistic.
1941		Great Britain declares a state of emergency in Malaya following reports of Japanese attacks.
1941		The first Civil Air Patrol is organized in the United States.
1942		National gasoline rationing goes into effect in the United States.
1955		Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, defying the South’s segregationist laws.
1969		America’s first draft lottery since 1942 is held.
1971		Indian Army recaptures part of Kashmir, which had been occupied by Pakistan.
1981		AIDS virus officially recognized.
1986		Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North pleads the 5th Amendment before a Senate panel investigating the Iran-Contra arms sale.
1988		Benazir Bhutto, politician, becomes the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Pakistan and the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state
1989		East Germany’s parliament changes its constitution, abolishing a section that gave the Communist Party the leading role in the state.
1990		Channel Tunnel sections from France and the UK meet beneath the English Channel.
1991		Ukraine’s voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the USSR.
2001		Trans World Airlines’ final flight following the carrier’s purchase by American Airlines; TWA began operating 76 years earlier. The final flight, 220, piloted by Capt. Bill Compton, landed at St. Louis International Airport.

Hot And Saucy Potato Pancakes With Applesauce, Because You’re Hot And Saucy

Hot And Saucy Potato Pancakes With Applesauce, Because You’re Hot And Saucy

In this latest edition of Tyin’ On Ur Food Bag, we can fry day-old mashed potatoes and have some potato pancakes. No one’s doctor will ever recommend fried potatoes, though potato pancakes can and...

Artists Replace 600 Advertisements With The Truth

This is what the corporations would say if they were honest.
Read more 

Personally tailored diabetes care reduces mortality in women but not men

Personally tailored diabetes care reduces mortality in women but not men

A follow-up study to assess the effects of personally tailored diabetes care in general practice has revealed that such care reduces mortality (both all-cause and diabetes-related), in women, but not men. The study is by Dr Marlene Krag, The Research Unit for General...

‘May the Schwartz be with you’

New Darth Vader police uniforms become laughingstock of the Internet

Police have received some brand new protective gear that officers will don while managing high-threat security crisis

Homeless Veteran Who Was Savagely Beaten Is Declared Dead

No human being deserves this kind of treatment, homeless or not.
Read more 

Fox News hack giggles through report on man who died after he got stuck in fiery chimney

Fox News hack giggles through report on man who died after he got stuck in fiery chimney

‘Pro-Life’ Wingnut ‘Christians’ Are Cheering The Planned Parenthood Terrorist As A Hero

Last Friday, a gunman named Robert Lewis Dear killed three people and wounded nine others in a terrorist attack at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado. But “pro-life” wingnuts are hailing him as a hero.

Read more 

Mom Refuses To Let A Gay Man Teach Her Kids – His Response Is LEGENDARY

This might be the most EPIC RESPONSE a 'christian' bigot has ever received after trying to discriminate against a gay person.

Read more 

Mother in trouble for hosting beer and weed party for group of 12 to 14-year-olds

A mother-of-three from Texas charged with hosting a marijuana and beer party for a group of middle school students told police that she “thought for minute that it was a bad idea” to provide alcohol and drugs to the minors, but “did it anyway,” according to court records. Mandy Wells, 32, is facing a felony and a misdemeanor charge in connection with a weekend house party she hosted earlier this month for about 10 students, aged 12 to 14.

As alleged in a probable cause affidavit, Wells provided the children with cans of Coors Light beer and pot, which she packed into a glass “Hello Kitty” pipe. The underage party-goers are friends with one of Wells’s children. Police learned of the party from a woman who allowed her 13-year-old daughter to spend the night at Wells’s residence in Springtown, a city about 25 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The teen told police that Wells first gave the juveniles beer and then asked “if they wanted to smoke marijuana.” Two other Springtown Middle School students told investigators that they drank beer and got high smoking pot provided by Wells.
During a subsequent search of Well’s home, police seized assorted drug paraphernalia. In an interview with officers, Wells reportedly confessed to providing the minors with pot and beer, but said that she “kept them under control.” Wells, officers noted, “advised that the children did get ‘high,’ but did not require any special attention.” While acknowledging that she “thought for a minute” that it was a “bad idea” to give her underage guests pot and beer, Wells said she “did it anyway.” Wells also admitted to allowing her 14-year-old daughter to smoke marijuana, saying that it helps with the girl’s depression.

YouTube link.

Wells, police reported, said that she is “self medicating” her child with pot because the medication her daughter has been prescribed “does not work.” When asked to name the person who sold her the pot, Wells clammed up, prompting police to conclude that she was “more concerned with protecting the identity of her marijuana supplier than the welfare of the children that had been left in her care.” According to a police spokesperson, Wells’s children were removed from her home as police searched the residence. The minors remain in the custody of the state’s child protective services division. Wells is being held in the Parker County jail in lieu of $20,000 bond.

Woman ordered to pay compensation after downing neighbor's drone with well-aimed rock

It was the maiden voyage of a high-end drone, one that had a video camera mounted on it. But while it was in the air, a neighbor says she felt unsafe and took action to protect herself. “These things are like weed whackers coming at you; you don’t want to be anywhere near it,” says 65-year-old Martina Wlodsarski.

But, 46-year-old Mark Shock who owns the drone tells a different story. He and Wlodarski live next door on Main Street in Harwick, Pennsylvania. He says the two have been feuding for years, but what happened back in August was the final straw. “I was taking the drone out for a flight, flew for 17 minutes, started bringing it in, and the neighbor decided she didn’t like it and threw a rock at it and destroyed it,” said Shock.
Wlordarski says this. “I was out back reading a book and heard the noise. When it flew over me, I started down the walkway. When it turned and came at me, it scared me. I threw a rock,” she says. Shock says he was nowhere near Wlodarski and has the video to prove it. “She comes out of the back of the house, she stays in the yard until I am ready to land it, she comes from here, goes all the way down, hides behind the back of the van and throws the rock,” he says.

YouTube link.

Shock showed the video in court Tuesday and won his case. Wlodarski was ordered to pay $600 to get the $1,300 drone repaired. In exchange, the criminal mischief charges against her were dropped. Wlodarski says she has no regrets about knocking the three-and-a-half pound drone out of commission and has registered her house as a no fly zone, which anyone can do online. Wlodarski says if there is a next time, she will call the police.

Jail for Apple employee who stored urine and excrement in bottles, bags and boxes

A former Apple employee has been jailed for 12 months for causing €15,000 worth of damage to a luxury flat in Cork, Ireland, by storing his urine and excrement in bottles, bags and boxes around the property over a three-month period. The storage by Robert Kummer, 37, of hundreds of bags of his own feces and bottles of urine resulted in a major public health scare. Gardai were so concerned by what they discovered in the flat in Cork city center that they alerted the fire brigade.

The smell in the flat was so noxious that brigade officials had to use breathing apparatus to conduct a flat inspection. The excrement had seeped through the floor-boards and officials were worried it may have entered other parts of the complex. Gardai were first notified when a neighbor became very concerned about a foul smell. The scene inside Kummer's flat was so graphic, with excrement smeared on walls, floors and the ceiling, that gardai initially feared "something untoward had happened".
But an investigation revealed that Kummer, originally from Germany, who had lived in Ireland since 2009, had been storing his feces in the flat for over three months. Kummer pleaded guilty to criminal damage on dates leading up to September 24, 2013. Judge Sean O'Donnabhain in Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told that the excrement had caused enormous damage. All the floor-boards had to be ripped up and replaced. The entire flat had to be cleaned and fully redecorated involving all ceilings, walls and floors.
Kummer had been remanded on bail following his plea to allow him raise compensation. However, the court was told that, despite lengthy adjournments, he had raised only €800 despite being in good employment. Psychiatrist Dr John Dennehy said that Kummer might have suffered from "depressive episodes". However, he was still "at a loss to explain his behavior". Judge O'Donnabhain acknowledged it was a very strange case. "This is a most unusual case. It is bizarre. There was very extensive damage to the property. The accused had every opportunity to pay (significant) compensation. But he did not do so," he added. Judge O'Donnabhain jailed Kummer for 12 months.

Man found asleep behind the wheel of car on warehouse roof charged with DWI

Police in Saline County, Arkansas, say an intoxicated driver ended up on the roof of a shoe warehouse. 47-year-old William Dickerson is now facing a number of charges

Police responding to reports of a woman's hysterical screams found man battling a spider

When residents on Sydney's lower north shore in Australia heard a man yelling "I'm going to kill you, you're dead!" followed by a woman's hysterical screams, they feared the worst. Numerous police cars rushed to the Wollstonecraft apartment from which the cries were emanating. But not all was as it seemed. Police had received multiple calls about the "violent domestic" last Saturday.
A man was heard yelling "I'm going to kill you, you're dead, die die" and there were sounds of furniture being tossed around the apartment. Officers arrived at the home about 2am and began banging on the door. A man who was "out of breath and rather flushed" answered. Police asked where his wife or girlfriend was, only for the man to deny having either. Then he was told about the reports of a woman screaming.
The encounter went something like this: Male: "I don't know what you're talking about I live alone". Police: "Come on mate, people clearly heard you yelling you were going to kill her and furniture getting thrown around the unit." Police: "Come on mate, what have you done to her?" Male: "It was a spider." Police "Sorry??" Male: "It was a spider, a really big one!! Police: "What about the women screaming?"
Male: "Yeah sorry that was me, I really, really hate spiders." The amused officers soon discovered the man was solely responsible for making the racket as he chased a large spider around the unit while armed with a can of Mortein insect spray. "After a very long pause, some laughter and a quick look in the unit to make sure there was no injured party (apart from the spider) we left," Harbourside LAC said.

Man accused of assaulting police officers with eggs, potatoes and some type of fruit

A Florida man faces felony charges after police officers said he threw raw eggs and potatoes at them as they were investigating a suspicious incident on Tuesday night. Four deputies were investigating a loud banging noise coming from outside someone's window in Palm Coast at around 10:30pm.

The deputies said they didn't find any signs of forced entry but met Anthony Fennick, 20, who asked why they were there. Investigators said they explained and Fennick thanked them and went into his home. They said a short time later a deputy noticed a potato cut in half landed in the road behind another deputy's cruiser. Deputies searched to see who may have thrown the potato at them.
As they were talking, an egg struck the front passenger side door of a deputy's cruiser, nearly striking him and another deputy. Investigators noticed three more broken eggs, along with a potato and some type of fruit. Two deputies spoke with Fennick and arrested him. Deputies said Fennick had an egg in his front pocket. Deputies took Fennick back to his home where they interviewed his mother and stepfather and asked whether they’d recently purchased eggs.
Five eggs were missing from a carton of eggs purchased earlier that day. Deputies also found two bags of potatoes on the kitchen counter, along with a serrated knife that had been recently used. Fennick’s mother said she had cleaned her kitchen before she went to bed and the knife wasn’t on the counter then. Fennick was charged with four counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, criminal mischief and loitering/prowling. He is being held on $7,000 bail.

Investigation launched after police shot runaway cow 24 times

An incident involving a runaway cow that was pursued and shot 24 times by the Abbotsford Police Department in British Columbia, Canada, is now being investigated. Police shot and killed the renegade cow shortly after 10am on Sunday, after it was spotted running across some roads in the city.

"You have a family in a vehicle that strikes this animal or swerves to miss it and goes off road, you have huge implications," said Const. Paul Walker. Police say it wandered around the city for about 30 minutes, and ended up near a busy intersection. "All attempts during that 30 minute window were unsuccessful to get somebody or some group to come and assist us," said Walker.
"Officers and our road supervisor made the decision in the interest of public safety to put down the animal." And now, following criticism from residents, the Abbotsford police force is ordering a full review of the incident. "I did see a police officer with an assault rifle and about a dozen cops behind the cow following it," said Abbotsford resident Josh van Koll.
Walker says the Abby Police Department reviews all incidents when shots are fired, but the examination of this case will be a little different. "We're trying to come up with a solution so that we can better deal with an animal, should we encounter that again in our community," Walker hopes another encounter never happens. He says no one wanted to see the events unfold the way they did.

California’s Central Valley is sinking ...

California’s Central Valley is sinking — as the drought forces farmers to ponder the abyss

As people dig ever deeper to find water, nearly 1,200 square miles of California is sinking 2 inches a month – destroying roads, bridges and farmland in the process.

In Rim Fire’s wake, fungi hold hope for rebirth

In Rim Fire’s wake, fungi hold hope for rebirth

The 2013 Yosemite Rim Fire was one of California’s largest wildfires in history, charring more than 257,000 acres. But the devastation also provided a rare opportunity for research. UC Berkeley fungal ecologist Sydney Glassman, a Ph.D. candidate in the College of...

Animal Pictures