The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

So very true ...!

 

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

  
Chocolate ... !

Today is - National Chocolate 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
Argentina - Brazil - Canada - Colombia - Curacao - Mexico - Nicaragua - Paraguay - Puerto Rico  United States - Venezuela
Europe
Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic - England - Finland 
France - Germany - Hungary - Ireland - Italy - Jersey - Latvia - Netherlands -Norway -  Poland  Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Scotland - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Switzerland  Turkey - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
China - India - Indonesia - Malaysia - Pakistan - Sri Lanka - Vietnam
Africa
Morocco - South Africa
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand - Philippines

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

Today in History

1688		William of Orange makes a triumphant march into London as James II flees.
1694		George I of England gets divorced.
1846		Iowa is admitted as the 29th State of the Union.
1872		A U.S. Army force defeats a group of Apache warriors at Salt River Canyon, Arizona Territory, with 57 Indians killed but only one soldier.
1904		Farmers in Georgia burn two million bales of cotton to prop up falling prices.
1920		The United States resumes the deportation of communists and suspected communists.
1933		President Franklin D. Roosevelt states, “The definite policy of the United States, from now on, is one opposed to armed intervention.”
1936		Benito Mussolini sends planes to Spain to support Francisco Franco’s forces.
1938		France orders the doubling of forces in Somaliland; two warships are sent.
1946		The French declare martial law in Vietnam as a full-scale war appears inevitable.
1948		Premier Nokrashy Pasha of Egypt is assassinated by a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood because of his failure to achieve victory in the war against Israel.
1951		The United States pays $120,000 to free four fliers convicted of espionage in Hungary.
1965		The United States bars oil sales to Rhodesia.
1968		Israel attacks an airport in Beirut, destroying 13 planes.
1971		The U.S. Justice Department sues Mississippi officials for ignoring the voting ballots of blacks in that state.

7 Hat Legends, Fact Checked

Common knowledge has a lot to say about hats—but is it true?
1. DANIEL BOONE WORE A COONSKIN CAP.
FALSE! While the American frontiersman Daniel Boone became one of the hat’s poster boys, he never wore one. On the contrary, as his son Nathan wrote, he “always despised the raccoon fur caps and did not wear one himself.”
2. YOU LOSE 70 PERCENT OF YOUR BODY HEAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD.
FALSE! You lose just as much heat through your head as you do from other body parts; it just feels colder because the skin on your face and head is more sensitive. (At most, you’ll lose about 10 percent of your body’s heat through your noggin.) This myth started back in the 1950s after a not-so-scientific military study dressed volunteers in survival suits and tossed them into the bitter cold. Since their heads were the only part uncovered, they lost most of their heat there.
3. VIKINGS WORE HORNED HELMETS.
FALSE! Lots of ancient people wore horned helmets! Teutonic knights, Celtic warriors, late Roman armies, the samurai, Indo-Persian warriors, Conan the Barbarian. But Vikings? Not a chance. The trope was popularized in Richard Wagner’s 1876 four-part opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen.
4. HATTERS WENT “MAD” FROM MERCURY POISONING. 
UNKNOWN. Although olde tyme hatters used mercury salts to make felt for hats, we’re not positive the practice drove them insane. It’s more likely that the phrase “mad as a hatter” isn’t even about people—it’s about snakes. Back in the 18th century, “mad” was synonymous with “venomous,” and “hatter” was a bastardization of the word “adder,” for viper. In that case, the phrase means “venomous as a viper.”
5. TIN FOIL CAPS CAN STOP BIG BROTHER FROM READING YOUR MIND.
FALSE! Actually, they make it easier. A foil cap is supposed to act as a Faraday cage, a device that—like your kitchen microwave— shields you from electromagnetic radiation. Problem is, the concept works only if the cap wraps around your entire head. In 2005, a team of MIT graduate students found that your typical foil hat amplifies the frequencies used most by the FCC—including space-to-Earth satellites.
6. THE CAP OF INVISIBILITY MAKES YOU INVISIBLE.
TRUE! In Greek mythology, gods and goddesses could wear the Cap of Invisibility to sneak past other supernatural beings unseen. We still haven’t seen one, so it must be true.
7. COWBOYS WORE COWBOY HATS.

FALSE! Invented in 1865, the classic Stetson looked more like a flat, boring version of a sombrero than the stylish, curvy hat we know today. And it wasn’t the most popular hat at the corral to begin with. In the cowboy’s heyday, most wranglers wore top hats, sailor’s caps, and—above all—bowler hats.

Can We Get Past the Whiplash of War, Plutocracy and Extremism of Our Times to Claim a Better Future?

Can We Get Past the Whiplash of War, Plutocracy and Extremism of Our Times to Claim a Better Future?

State by State Increases in Number of Insured Americans, Thanks to Obamacare

State by State Increases in Number of Insured Americans, Thanks to Obamacare

The Sharing Economy?

Or the Share-the-Crumbs Economy?

Making $200,000 and up is not enough ...

Making $200,000 and up is not enough — even the ‘rich’ live paycheck to paycheck

Private schools, divorce and basic necessities — about 25 percent of people making six-figure salaries say they are struggling

17 of the Worst Corporate Crimes of 2015

17 of the Worst Corporate Crimes of 2015 

Undercover Greenpeace activists buy off corrupt academics in a climate science sting

From the Greenpeace announcement:
Posing as representatives of oil and coal companies, reporters from Greenpeace UK asked academics from Princeton and Penn State to write papers promoting the benefits of CO2 and the use of coal in developing countries.
The professors agreed to write the reports and said they did not need to disclose the source of the funding.
Citing industry-funded documents – including testimony to state hearings and newspaper articles – Professor Frank Clemente of Penn State said: “In none of these cases is the sponsor identified. All my work is published as an independent scholar.” Leading climate-skeptic academic, Professor William Happer, agreed to write a report for a Middle Eastern oil company on the benefits of CO2 and to allow the firm to keep the source of the funding secret.
Dr. William Happer is Cyrus Fogg Bracket Professor of Physics at Princeton University.
In emails to reporters, Happer also revealed that Peabody Energy paid thousands of dollars for him to testify at another state hearing. The funds were paid to a climate-skeptic think tank.
Greenpeace claims their investigation also found:
• US coal giant Peabody Energy also paid tens of thousands of dollars to an academic who produced coal-friendly research and provided testimony at state and federal climate hearings, the amount of which was never revealed.
• The Donors Trust, an organization that has been described as the “dark money ATM” of the US conservative movement, confirmed in a taped conversation with an undercover reporter that it could anonymously channel money from a fictional Middle Eastern oil and gas company to US climate skeptic organizations.
• Princeton professor William Happer laid out details of an unofficial peer review process run by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a UK climate skeptic think tank, and said he could ask to put an oil-funded report through a similar review process, after admitting that it would struggle to be published in an academic journal.
• A recent report by the GWPF that had been through the same unofficial peer review process, was promoted as “thoroughly peer-reviewed” by influential columnist Matt Ridley - a senior figure in the organisation.
The report echoes an investigation published earlier this year in the New York Times about Wei-Hock ("Willie") Soon, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He accepted donations from fossil fuel companies and anonymous donors in return for producing climate-sceptic scientific papers. He described those studies as “deliverables,” and did not disclose who funded the research.

More

Is the American Freak Out Over a Chinese Social Monitoring Project Justified?

Is the American Freak Out Over a Chinese Social Monitoring Project Justified?

These Countries Make It Illegal to Insult the Government

These Countries Make It Illegal to Insult the Government

When monarchies ruled, insulting kings was illegal. But many countries still use these laws, so where is it a crime to insult a leader?

Abstinence agitator Bristol Palin gives birth to second bundle of hypocrisy

Abstinence agitator Bristol Palin gives birth to second bundle of hypocrisy

In Sad News ...

The world's most famous brothel head, Madame Claude, dies at 92

Florida wife turns in cop husband after he brags that he ‘got lucky’ and had sex with 15-year-old girl

Florida wife turns in cop husband after he brags that he ‘got lucky’ and had sex with 15-year-old girl

A police officer in Bartow, Florida was arrested this week after his wife turned him in for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl. According to Polk Sheriff’s Office arrest documents obtained by The Ledger, Eloisa Velez told investigators that she had been aware that her husband, 27-year-old Officer Randy Velez, had an affair in August, but she had not known the girl’s age until recently. She said that her husband confessed to her last […]

Estranged Arizona Husband Kills Daughters, Shoots Self

The victims were 5 and 7 years old.

Woman arrested for assaulting husband who wouldn't stop farting in bed

Angered by her husband’s repeated farting in bed, a Florida woman allegedly elbowed, kicked, and scratched her spouse, according to police who arrested her for battery. Dawn Meikle, 55, is facing a misdemeanor charge following a 3:20am confrontation in the Port St. Lucie home she shares with her husband Donald.

As detailed in a December 11 arrest affidavit, Donald told police that “while he was lying in bed he passed gas,” which prompted Dawn to begin “elbowing him on his arm.” When Donald’s flatulence continued, “Dawn began kicking him and eventually kicked him out of their bed,” police noted. Donald said that he eventually returned to bed, where he “passed gas again.”
Not surprisingly, “Dawn began elbowing and kicking him again.” Donald said that he subsequently sought to restrain his wife, who repeatedly scratched him across his chest. it was reported that Donald had four or five six-inch scratches on his chest, and that his t-shirt was ripped in three places. During police questioning, Dawn said that she had “asked Donald several times to stop passing gas in their bed.”
But when his flatulence persisted, Dawn admitted, she “began elbowing and kicking him.” Dawn suffered a bloody lip in the fracas, but she told police that Donald “was restraining me and somehow my lip got split open.” Dawn also told officers that while she was in the bathroom calling 911, she “sprayed pepper spray in the air to keep Donald out of the restroom.” Dawn was booked into the county jail on the battery charge. Free on bond, she is scheduled for a December 28 arraignment on the misdemeanor count.

Would-be burglar caught after getting stuck in ceiling of shop after falling through

A would-be thief in the city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, Russia, planning to rob a small shop fell through the roof and was unable to free himself.

Police were alerted to the scene of the crime after an alarm went off. However, they were surprised to find a pair of legs dangling from the ceiling.
With temperatures well below freezing, it seems as though the not-so-catlike burglar was dressed a bit lightly, wearing only a pair of shorts.

YouTube link. Alternative YouTube link.

Police eventually managed to free the 40-year-old man, who said he acted alone. He was taken in for questioning, while a criminal case has been opened against him.

Couple said that dog brought them to a closed restaurant at 4:30am with a gun, knife and drugs

A man was arrested on drug and weapons charges after police say he showed up at a closed restaurant in Brooksville, Florida, at 4:30am saying “The 'lord' brought him” there. Brooksville Police Department officers responded to the old Fireside Inn located after receiving a call about two suspicious persons on Sunday morning.

Investigators say the caretaker of the Fireside Inn lives on the property and called police after a man and a woman knocked on his door. The man told the caretaker that “The dog brought him to the location,” according to police. He refused to provide any other explanation for being there. Officers arrived and questioned him. While speaking with Christopher Jones, 34, officers noticed a knife on his waist.
After securing the knife, police conducted a patdown on Jones and say they found a loaded .380 pistol in his front pants pocket. Jones was taken into custody. Police say a records check revealed that Jones is a convicted felon and was previously convicted on charges of felon in possession of a firearm. Police say Jones also had a small amount of marijuana with him. Danielle Deluca, 26, was with Jones. She told police she had a pipe in her bra, which she removed and gave to officers.
The residue in the pipe tested positive for methamphetamine, according to police. She also gave officers a holster and a loaded magazine for the gun that Jones had. Both were arrested on charges of possession of a concealed firearm, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Jones was also charged with felon in possession of a concealed firearm. The pair was transported to the Hernando County Jail. Deluca is being held on $1,000 bond and Jones is held on $21,000 bond.

Cheeky monkey started engine of bus that then crashed into two parked vehicles

A monkey in the city of Bareilly, northern India, got into a parked bus, started the engine and put it into gear on Monday afternoon. The driver managed to regain control but not before the vehicle had hit two other buses parked nearby.
The unusual turn of events began when the conductor of an Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) bus from Pilibhit left the vehicle at the bus station to look for passengers. With half an hour to wait before departure, the driver decided to take a quick nap. While the driver reclined on the back seat, the monkey suddenly appeared.
It climbed inside the driver's cabin and managed to start the engine with the ignition key that was still in its slot. The driver, waking up, rushed towards the cabin and tried to chase the animal away. The panicked animal then knocked the vehicle into gear before jumping out. According to UPSRTC regional manager SK Sharma.: "The driver managed to regain control of the bus but not before it hit two other parked buses.

YouTube link.

"Monkeys have become a regular menace at bus stations and workshops, where they often fiddle with vehicles undergoing repair. They have also damaged CCTV cameras at stations. Three years back we had taken the help of municipal authorities to get rid of them but they have returned," Sharma added. The manager stated that UPSRTC is holding talks with municipal authorities to requisition the services of an agency to catch the monkeys from around the bus station and transfer them elsewhere.

Animal Pictures