The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

Going to the Dogs ..! 

 

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Today in History

1760		Cherokee Indians held hostage at Fort St. George are killed in revenge for Indian attacks on frontier settlements.
1804		US Navy lieutenant Steven Decatur leads a small group of sailors into Tripoli harbor and burns the USS Philadelphia, captured earlier by Barbary pirates.
1862		Fort Donelson, Tennessee, falls to Grant‘s Federal forces, but not before Nathan Bedford Forrest escapes.
1865		Columbia, South Carolina, surrenders to Federal troops.
1923		Bessie Smith makes her first recording “Down Hearted Blues.”
1934		Thousands of Socialists battle Communists at a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
1937		Dupont patents a new thread, nylon, which will replace silk in a number of products and reduce costs.
1940		The British destroyer HMS Cossack rescues British seamen from a German prison ship, the Altmark, in a Norwegian fjord.
1942		Tojo outlines Japan’s war aims to the Diet, referring to “new order of coexistence” in East Asia.
1945		American paratroopers land on Corregidor, in a campaign to liberate the Philippines.
1951		Stalin contends the U.N. is becoming the weapon of aggressive war.
1952		The FBI arrests 10 members of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina.
1957		A U.S. flag flies over an outpost in Wilkes Land, Antarctica.
1959		Fidel Castro takes the oath as Cuban premier in Havana.
1965		Four persons are held in a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument.
1966		The World Council of Churches being held in Geneva, urges immediate peace in Vietnam.
1978		China and Japan sign a $20 billion trade pact, which is the most important move since the 1972 resumption of diplomatic ties.

Today's Recipe

Ginger Garlic Teriyaki Beef Meatballs with Asian Slaw

What you’ll need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 Tbsp prepared ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
½ cup teriyaki sauce
1 whole wheat hamburger bun
1 Tbsp canola oil
4 cups thinly sliced Chinese cabbage
½ jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 pear, cut into matchsticks
½ cucumber
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
Peanuts, crushed, for garnish
How to make it:
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. In a blender or food processor, pulse the hamburger buns until breadcrumbs form. In a large bowl, using your hands, mix together the breadcrumbs, beef, ginger, garlic, and teriyaki sauce so that the mixture is sticky, but not gloppy. (Too gloppy? Buzz the burger bun and add enough breadcrumbs to correct the texture.) Roll the mixture into 12 golf-ball sized orbs.
2. In a large oven-safe skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the meatballs to the pan and sear on all sides, about 7 minutes total. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake until cooked through, about 7 minutes.
3. While the meatballs bake, make the slaw: In a large bowl, mix together the cabbage, jalapeno, cilantro, pear, cucumber, sesame seeds, and rice wine vinegar. Season with salt, to taste.
4. Carefully remove the meatballs from the oven. Serve with the slaw topped with crushed peanuts. Serve with additional teriyaki sauce, if you want. Makes 3 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 600 calories, 34g protein, 30g carbs (4g fiber), 38g fat.

How to Build a Stove with a Log

It’s sometimes called a Swedish torch. To make a cook stove, cut a log and stand it upright. Use a chainsaw to cut a cross pattern into the wood. Stuff kindling inside, then start the fire. The wood helps protect the embers from being blown out by the wind.
Once the fire is burning strongly, set a pan on top and fry up your favorite foods.

(Video Link)

What Ever Happened To Waterbeds?

In the 1980s, it seemed like everyone had waterbeds. They were relatively inexpensive, you could move them without a truck, and (at least in the beginning) they were pretty cool. Then as the ‘90s dawned, it seemed like they just disappeared. The story of the waterbed begins a lot earlier, though.

By some accounts, waterbeds date all the way back to 3600 BCE, when Persians filled goat-skin mattresses with water warmed by the sun. In the early 1800s, Dr. Neil Arnott, a Scottish physician, created a “hydrostatic bed” for hospital patients with bedsores. This was essentially a warm bath covered with a thin layer of rubber and then sealed up with varnish. In 1853, Dr. William Hooper of Portsmouth, England patented a therapeutic rubber mattress that could be filled with water. It, too, was for hospital patients suffering from poor circulation and bedsores. In the mid 20th century, science fiction writer Robert Heinlein—inspired by the months he spent bedridden with tuberculosis in the 1930s—described waterbeds in great detail in three of his novels. The beds he envisioned had a sturdy frame, were temperature-controlled, and contained pumps that allowed patients to control the water level inside the mattress. There were also compartments for drinks and snacks, which sounds really convenient. It was, according to Heinlein, “an attempt to design the perfect hospital bed by one who had spent too damn much time in hospital beds.”

An article at mental_floss follows the history of the waterbed, up through the period when we all decided they were more hassle than they were worth.

When Government 'Saves Money' And Gets 'Smaller' We All Lose

Many say we should "run government like a business" and "save money" by "cutting spending" and "making government smaller." Does this work? Do we really save money?

Anti-gay West Virginia clerk screams at lesbian couple on their wedding day

Anti-gay West Virginia clerk screams at lesbian couple on their wedding day and calls them an ‘abomination’

"To have a complete stranger — someone that doesn’t know me — scream like that, it really cut down to the bone,” Amanda Abramovich said.

Federal Judge Destroys Daleiden's Claims Of Wrongdoing By NAF

Federal Judge Destroys Daleiden's Claims Of Wrongdoing By NAF

The ruling is far more devastating than has been yet reported.

"Rancher" and wingnut tax-dodging darling Cliven Bundy arrested in Oregon

BUSTED: "Rancher" and wingnut tax-dodging darling Cliven Bundy arrested in Oregon

Cliven Bundy was arrested late last Wednesday night at the Portland International Airport for “federal charges related to the 2014 standoff at his ranch” in Nevada.

A Couple of Quick Hits

Oklahoma man arrested for killing grandmother and in-law -- then beheading them

Stunning break in cold case: Priest arrested over 1960 rape and murder of Texas beauty queen

Casinos Use Science to Keep Us Gambling

How Casinos Use Science to Keep Us Gambling

From fast music to flashy lights, casinos bet that they can amp up the brain's feel-good chemistry so we'll stay in their windowless worlds losing money.

Brain Mush and Different Operations

Couch Potatoes' Brains Can Turn to Mush

Sitting around all day can increase the size of your waistline but could also spell a smaller brain.

Your Brain Works Differently in Winter Than Summer

The ways that the brain uses its resources to complete tasks changes with the seasons.

Why Did We Evolve Such Weird-Looking Toes?

Why Did We Evolve Such Weird-Looking Toes?

It's time to talk about toes. How did we end up with our strange, stubby, utilitarian feet?

It's a Twofer!

It's a Twofer! Eggplants and Potatoes in One Plant

It's an eggplant. It's a potato plant. It's both!

Ten of the World's Most Dangerous Toxic Ghost Towns

If there are any locations worldwide that you want to clear off your "bucket list," it's these ten towns listed in the linked article as the most toxic areas in existence. So unles you have a "bucket list" of places in which you'd like to kick the proverbial bucket, keep a wide berth from these hot spots.
One grim example is Picher, Oklahoma:

"The Tar Creek area, which includes the lead and zinc mining town of Picher was designated a Superfund site in 1983. In the mid-1990s, a third of children in Picher were found to have elevated levels of lead in their bloodstream, which can cause cognitive issues. (Members of the Picher school board have said that students showed a high rate of learning difficulties, despite the work of teachers and the school board.) But that's not what ultimately triggered the mass exodus from Picher; in 2006, a study found that, due to mining, the ground was at risk for collapse, and in fact one motorist died after driving into a gaping hole in the ground. That triggered a federal relocation buyout, with only six households and one business remaining in 2011.How dangerous is it today? Well, the long-term plans for Picher don't include human habitation. The town is being gradually dismantled, and once the cleanup is finished, the land will likely be turned over to the Quapaw tribe, which resided there before the mines came in. At the moment, the Quapaw tribe intends to turn the area into wetlands. Other towns in the area, including Treece, Kansas, and Cardin, Oklahoma, are largely abandoned."

Read about all ten of the world's most toxic towns here.

Scientists Have Now Quantified Mountaintop Removal Mining’s Destruction Of Appalachia

Mountaintop removal mining is similar to volcanic eruptions in its level of destruction, a new study has found.

And I Quote

Heroic Dog Throws Himself in Front of a Bus to Save His Human

Audrey Stone, 62, is legally blind. Figo, her Golden Retriever, is her guide dog. In June, they tried to cross a street. A bus almost rammed into them. Figo blocked her, then leaped at the bus in a desperate attempt to knock it out of the way. CBS New York reports:

As Stone lay injured on the ground, Brewster Police Chief John Del Gardo said despite having a severe leg injury, Figo would not leave Stone’s side.
Amazingly, Figo didn’t yelp in pain but calmly struggled to stay with Stone.

Stone avoided the full force of the impact and survived with only a broken elbow, ankle, and 3 ribs. Figo broke his right front leg. After Stone spent a few months in a rehabilitation home, they reunited in October.

Birds of Prey May Be Deliberately Spreading Fires

Witnesses in Australia have seen black kites and brown falcons carrying burning twigs to dry areas, then dropping them, spreading wildfires in the Australian bush.
Why? Because fire drives small food animals, such as mice and lizards, out of hiding to escape the fire. Then they are visible and vulnerable to the birds. One witness named Bob Gosford explained:

Mr Gosford told the IFL Science website: 'Reptiles, frogs and insects rush out from the fire, and there are birds that wait in front, right at the foot of the fire, waiting to catch them.
'Small fires often attract so many birds that there is insufficient fleeing prey for all, so a bird that was being beaten to its food might benefit from starting a new fire with less competition.'
The researchers found numerous accounts from Aborigines, several firefighters as well as 14 Bush rangers who reported birds carrying burning sticks.

Scientists are a bit more skeptical:

Steve Debus, from the University of New England, an expert in predatory birds said he believed it would be difficult for researchers to distinguish between birds incidentally grasping burning twigs with prey and those deliberately picking them up.
'However, I think black kites and brown falcons are sufficiently intelligent to intentionally spread fires by dropping burning embers, because black kites have been seen to drop bread scraps from picnic areas into nearby waterholes to bait fish within striking range.' Dr Debus said.

Animal Pictures