The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

Our eighth Xmas Tree of the month ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 205 countries around the world daily.   

  
Through Time ... !

Today is - Pretend To Be A Time Traveler 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 - Chile - Colombia - Dominican Republic - Mexico - Puerto Rico - United States
Europe
Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Denmark - England - France - Germany - Hungary - Ireland - Italy  Latvia - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - Scotland - Serbia - Slovenia - Spain  Sweden - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
India - Indonesia - Pakistan - Palestine - Saudi Arabia - Thailand - United Arab Emirates - Vietnam
Africa
Angola - Morocco - South Africa - Tunisia - Zambia
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand

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Today in History

1660		The first Shakespearian actress to appear on an English stage (she is believed to be a Ms. Norris) makes her debut as Desdemona.
1861		CSS Sumter captures the whaler Eben Dodge in the Atlantic. The American Civil War is now affecting the Northern whaling industry.
1863		Union General William Averell’s cavalry destroys railroads in the southwestern part of West Virginia.
1914		The German cruisers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Nurnberg, and Liepzig are sunk by a British force in the Battle of the Falkland Islands.
1920		President Woodrow Wilson declines to send a representative to the League of Nations in Geneva.
1932		Japan tells the League of Nations that it has no control over her designs in China.
1941		Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita begins his attack against the British army at Singapore.
1943		U.S. carrier-based planes sink two cruisers and down 72 planes in the Marshall Islands.
1944		The United States conducts the longest, most effective air raid on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima.
1948		The United Nations approves the recognition of South Korea.
1967		In the biggest battle yet in the Mekong Delta, 365 Viet Cong are killed.
1968		South Vietnam’s Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky arrives in Paris for peace talks.
1980		John Lennon is shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment building.
1982		The Washington, D.C., police shoot and kill a man threatening to blow up the Washington Monument.
1987		The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed.
1987		An Israeli army tank transporter kills 4 Palestinian refugees and injures 7 others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, leading to the First Intifada.
1991		The leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine sign an agreement that dissolves the Soviet Union and establishes the Commonwealth of Independent States.
2004		The Cuzco Declaration signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
2010		SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
2010		The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus.

The Xmas Demon

The Real Story Behind Krampus

Americans have only recently become familiar with the European Xmas demon known as Krampus. Where did such a terrifying goblin come from, and how did he become associated with Xmas?

(YouTube link)

Our friends at Today I Found Out have the story of how Krampus arose hundreds of years ago from the dark forests of Bavaria to invade other nations. The customs surrounding the Krampus tradition differ from country to country. Here in America, we make horror movies out of such legends. 

'If the Planet Is Doomed, It's the Republicans' Fault'

Paul Krugman: 'If the Planet Is Doomed, It's the Republicans' Fault' 

Montel Williams Shreds Fox Hack On Gun Control And Terrorism

“I’m a proud gun owner, but I’ve HAD ENOUGH and I’m willing to do my part.”

Read full story

7-year-old girl killed at MI soccer practice after ‘paranoid’ man with concealed carry license opens fire

7-year-old girl killed at MI soccer practice after ‘paranoid’ man with concealed carry license opens fire

Alabama man charged with terrorism after threatening to kill everyone in doctor’s office

Alabama man charged with terrorism after threatening to kill everyone in doctor’s office

“He is extremely lucky he didn’t get himself killed,” Christian explained. “I hope he isn’t in his right mind. If he is in his right mind, we will put him in the mix for the ‘I’m just an idiot’ trophy.”

Man’s hoard of nearly 5,000 guns shows ease of amassing firearms in the US

Man’s hoard of nearly 5,000 guns shows ease of amassing firearms in the US

As sheriff’s investigators threaded past the battered cars, cast-off tires and rusted farm equipment cluttering Brent Nicholson’s front yard, there was no hint of the sinister stockpile hidden behind his windowless front door.

Terrifying Arsenal This Gun Nut Was Caught With Proves Focusing On Muslims Is A Huge Mistake

Terrifying Arsenal This Gun Nut Was Caught With Proves Focusing On Muslims Is A Huge Mistake

Many Americans are understandably concerned with the dangers of terrorism in the United States. To prevent attacks, the country must approach solutions...

Pandemonium as media mob ransack shooters’ home on live TV without FBI permission

Pandemonium as media mob ransack shooters’ home on live TV without FBI permission

Several news organizations toured the apartment shared by the San Bernardino shooters — even though the residence may still be an active crime scene under investigation.

Quick Hits - San Bernardino Edition

Texas drops request for restraining order to halt Syrian refugees

Man threatens massacre at Virginia mosque as fears of shooting backlash rise

FBI now investigating San Bernardino massacre as an act of terrorism

Republicans block two gun control measures after San Bernardino and Colorado Springs mass shootings

San Bernardino shooting victim had fled Islamic extremism

Public divided over whether mass shootings are terrorism -- unless a Muslim is involved

Accused California shooter Tashfeen Malik lived in Saudi Arabia for years

Lock-down at air force base caused by someone popping heavy-duty bubble wrap

It was a scary scene at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last Wednesday afternoon.
Men in tactical gear and Humvees could be seen after phone calls were made to base security officials regarding an active shooter at around 2:30pm.
Someone said they thought they heard shots being fired near a building on the west side of the base. A precautionary lock-down was initiated. One airman said he was concerned, but the base is prepared for such emergencies.
At around 3:15pm the base lifted the lock-down, saying security personnel found no threat to the base. On Thursday, the base said the scare was sparked by someone popping heavy-duty bubble wrap.

Still Comfortably Numb

That’s where we find ourselves in regard to mass shootings in our country: we’re comfortably numb. They happen so often that they’ve become routine.

Quick Hits

Climate change threatens to push 175 million more people into hunger: USDA

Supreme Court will hear Puerto Rico's appeal to restructure its $72 billion debt

US unemployment remains at 5 percent after economy pumps out 211,000 new jobs

 

Unrepentant ‘Pharma Bro’ Shkreli: If I had the chance, ‘I would have raised the price higher’

Unrepentant ‘Pharma Bro’ Shkreli: If I had the chance, ‘I would have raised the price higher’

Turing Pharmaceuticals founder Martin Shkreli showed no signs of contrition when asked during a forum hosted by Forbes magazine how he would have re-done the past few months if given the opportunity.

The Number 1 Thing Rich People Get Dead Wrong About Poor People

The Number 1 Thing Rich People Get Dead Wrong About Poor People

'Christian' schools seek Title IX waivers to bar trans students

'Christian' schools seek Title IX waivers to bar trans students

Government-funded discrimination.

Alzheimer's Contagious?

Is Alzheimer's Contagious?

The Extraordinarily (and Impossibly?) Fertile Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev

Many of us recall looking through the Guinness Book of World Records and seeing the entry for the mother with the most children. When I had the paperback version (yes, it’s a real book, and once upon a time many people owned it), it referred to a Russian woman who allegedly had 69 children. She had twins, triplets, and quadruplets in order to add up that many babies. Oh yes, there’s more to the story than was printed at the time.

Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev, a Russian peasant who lived in the 1700s, holds the official Guinness World Record for the highest number of children birthed. She and her husband, Feodor, lived in Shuya, Russia. We don’t know her first name (although some sources say her name was Valentina), but we do know that she's claimed to have given birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets in her childbearing years (1725 to 1765). Only two children didn’t survive past infancy, leaving her with 67 healthy children.
What makes the Vassilyev story even weirder is that Feodor apparently had another 18 children (six sets of twins and two sets of triplets) with his second wife. Although it sounds implausible, a few primary sources and contemporaneous accounts about the Vassilyevs exist.

You are forgiven for being skeptical, but first read about the documents that led us to what we know about Mrs. Vassilyev and her family that put Mother Hubbard to shame, at mental_floss.   
Bonus: I also found out that the founder of the Guinness Brewery that later gave rise to the records book, Arthur Guinness, and his wife Olivia had 21 children.

Animal Pictures