The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

Now you know ...! 

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 206 countries around the world daily.   

  
No Selfies ... !

Today is - No Selfies 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 - Guatemala - Puerto Rico - Sint Eustatius and Saba
Trinidad and Tobago - United States - Uruguay
Europe
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - England - France - Germany - Greece 
Hungary - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania 
Russia - San Marino - Scotland - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
China - India - Indonesia - Israel - Japan - Lebanon - Malaysia - Mauritius - Saudi Arabia 
Singapore - Sri Lanka - Taiwan - Thailand - Vietnam
Africa
Malawi - Zambia
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand - Philippines

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

Today in History

37		On a trip to the Italian mainland from his home on Capreae, the emperor Tiberius dies on the Bay of Naples.
1190		The Crusades begin the massacre of Jews in York, England.
1527		The Emperor Babur defeats the Rajputs at the Battle of Kanvaha, removing the main Hindu rivals in Northern India.
1621		The first Indian appears to colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1833		Susan Hayhurst becomes the first woman to graduate from a pharmacy college.
1850		Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is published.
1865		Union troops push past Confederate blockers at the Battle of Averasborough, N.C.
1907		The British cruiser Invincible, the world’s largest, is completed at Glasgow shipyards.
1913		The 15,000-ton battleship Pennsylvania is launched at Newport News, Va.
1917		Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicates his throne.
1926		Physicist Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid-fuel rocket.
1928		The United States plans to send 1,000 more Marines to Nicaragua.
1935		Adolf Hitler orders a German rearmament and violates the Versailles Treaty.
1939		Germany occupies the rest Czechoslovakia.
1945		Iwo Jima is declared secure by U.S. forces although small pockets of Japanese resistance still exist.
1954		CBS introduces The Morning Show hosted by Walter Cronkite to compete with NBC’s Today Show.
1964		President Lyndon B. Johnson submits a $1 billion war on poverty program to Congress.
1968		U.S. troops in Vietnam destroy a village consisting mostly of women and children, the action is remembered as the My-Lai massacre.
1984		Mozambique and South Africa sign a pact banning support for one another’s internal foes.
1985		Associated Press newsman, Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut.

During World War II, Canada Gave These Badges to People Who Tried to Volunteer, But Were Rejected for Medical Reasons

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Canada leaped to defend the freedom of Europe and declared war. Its citizens raced to enlist in the armed forces to contribute to the effort.
Many of them were rejected because they had medical problems that prevented them from serving effectively. This was a source of disappointment to many and embarrassment to some as they faced public shaming by ignorant fellow citizens who thought that they should be in uniform.
So the Canadian government created a badge that these men could wear to deter their critics. It was a silver or rhodium plated badge that said in either English or French "Applicant for Enlistment - Canada." It affirmed that the person had tried to enlist, but was rejected through no fault of his own. Veterans Affairs Canada quotes the Order in Council that created it:

Persons who have voluntarily declared their unqualified willingness to serve in and beyond Canada in the Military Forces of Canada, and who are refused enlistment by reason of their not possessing, due to no faults of their own, the necessary qualifications then required for enlistment in the Naval, Army and Air Forces of Canada.

The Lone Chef of Palmer Station

It’s been several years since Mike Hiller has seen a real summer. From November to April, he lives inHomer, Alaska. Then he travels to the opposite end of the earth to cook for the 18 or so scientists who overwinter at Palmer Station in Antarctica. Hiller is responsible for keeping the crew fed without driving them to mutiny.

The biggest challenge isn’t cooking and living on an isolated chunk of land in the middle of the Southern Ocean—it’s the fact that Hiller can only put in a single food order at the start of the season. Fresh fruit and vegetables, or “freshies,” are fleeting and eventually fantasized about.
“Two months in, it’s nearly all gone,” Hiller tells me. “I can hold some cabbage back if I’m lucky, maybe some apples or some carrots. Even if the budget was a million dollars, you can’t order four months of produce. Tomatoes don’t last that long.”
After the last of the mango cilantro salsa is lapped up, it’s up to Hiller to fight against beige-plate syndrome—to create meals that entertain, boost morale, and hold up on a buffet line.

But he manages to do it, six days a week all winter (they eat leftovers on his day off). Plus he puts on a special feast for the Winter Solstice, the most important feast in Antarctica. Read how he does it at Lucky Peach.

Porn Viewers Are More Likely to View Women as Equals

by Laura Vinopal 

A recent study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that porn enthusiasts viewed women as more equal to men than people who did not watch porn. It’s as if they could tell that all the women they’re watching on their laptops are making more money than the men!
The Western University study looked at data from over 28,000 that studied the attitudes of people in the U.S. from 1975 to 2011. Of the 23 percent of participants who admitted to watching porn in the past year, both men and women held more progressive views about women working outside of the home and abortion. Male viewers were also more likely hold positive views of women holding positions of political power.
While this research challenges claims that pornography perpetuates negative views about women, it did not prove that porn is helpful in promoting feminism either. Viewers were just as likely to identify as feminists as non viewers. So instead of trying to make porn something that it’s not and appreciate it for what it is: a legitimate industry where women dominate. The subconscious reminder that women can do that outside of porn is a bonus.

Thousands Of Immigrants Begin Citizenship Process To Vote Against Racism

Millions of immigrants could become citizens and decide this year's election.

U.S. House Caves to Big Food, Votes to Keep Americans in the Dark About GMOs

U.S. House Caves to Big Food, Votes to Keep Americans in the Dark About GMOs

Colorado Expanded Medicaid, What Happened Next Will Drive Wingnuts Nuts

Medicaid expansion in Colorado created thousands of new jobs, increased median household incomes and added billions of dollars to the economy.

Georgia Is Going To Waste $2 Million On Deceptive ‘Abortion Clinics’ That Lie To Women

Only in Wingnut Amerikkka do we have people willing to put the lives of women in jeopardy for religious delusions and still, in all sincerity, call themselves “pro-life.”

Continue Reading

This Sheriff Has Threatened To Arrest The CEO Of Apple For Protecting Your Privacy

Land of the free? Apparently not.

Continue Reading 

SWAT team and bomb squad responded to hotel after suspected cologne spillage

Several guests became ill on Friday morning after a strong odor consumed a hotel, causing a Hazmat situation and prompting an evacuation. The perfume-like odor was first noticed at around 6:45am at the La Casa del Camino hotel, in Laguna Beach, California, by hotel staffers who called Laguna Beach Fire Department.

It was unknown what caused the odor, but Orange County Fire Authority Hazmat officials suspect cologne from a bottle left on a heater caused an irritant to become airborne, OCFA Capt. Shane Sherwood said. Guests complained of sore throats, itchy eyes and coughing, but none were taken to a hospital, Laguna Beach police Sgt. Tim Kleiser said. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad robot entered the hotel at around 12:30pm to assist.
 SWAT officials began going room-to-room around at 1:45pm. The man inside the room on the third floor, which smelled strongly of the odor, appeared to be sick and shut the door on officials. Orange County Sheriff’s SWAT officials went inside at around 2:30pm, but he was not found. “We don’t know at what point he got out,” Kleiser said. “We think it may be when fire (OCFA) called us.” Police suspect he checked into the hotel on Thursday night and has a DUI arrest warrant.
“If it is the same male we noticed, there was DUI arrest warrant out of Northern California, Kleiser said. Jennifer Bradshaw, who lives a street away from the hotel, said she also felt ill on Friday morning. "All morning I've had a sore throat for no apparent reason," she said. "A helicopter (was) hovering over my house all morning." Authorities began letting guests back into their rooms at around 4pm after Hazmat crews tested the air, Kleiser said. “The reading they were getting was zero,” Kleiser said.

Two police officers hospitalized after fighting over a banana

Two policemen on night patrol in Tamil Nadu, south India, got into a big fight over a banana on Wednesday, and both ended up in hospital. Special sub-inspector Radha and driver Saravanan, patrolling the streets of Srirangam and Thiruvanaikaval, were found having a go at each other on the road after one of them ate the banana the other had brought. When the fight began to get out of hand, other policemen in the area turned up
They separated them and took the badly injured duo to the Srirangam Government Hospital, where they have been admitted. According to police sources, Radha and Saravanan had been having arguments since they began their patrol. Saravanan had been keeping the banana to eat later in the morning. When he found it missing and questioned Radha, he said he had eaten it.
An enraged Saravanan began to shower abuse on Radha, who retaliated. This led to a scuffle, and eventually to fisticuffs. But for the intervention of the other policemen, things could have been a lot worse. The duo, who were bleeding from the nose and limbs, are now nursing their injuries in the hospital. Senior officials of the department are said to be inquiring into the incident.

Motorist who said he was speeding home to go to the bathroom apparently really needed to go

A speeding motorist in Florida who told a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy he was racing home to go to the bathroom ended up urinating and defecating in the back of the officer’s patrol car.

But that was only after 24-year-old Carlos Adonis Ramos-Erazo refused to get out of his vehicle, drove off after hitting the deputy’s arm with the vehicle and had to be chased down and shot with a Taser. The deputy pulled over Ramos-Erazo’s vehicle for doing 75 mph in a 55-mph zone on Thursday morning on US.Highway 27.
His explanation was he needed to get home to use the bathroom. The deputy said Ramos-Erazo refused to get out of his car, and when the officer reached through the driver’s door to unlock it and remove Ramos-Erazo, he drove off, striking the officer’s arm. The man made it to his Beacon Ridge Way home, got out the vehicle and ran, causing the pursuing deputy to shoot him with a Taser. In route to the Lake County Jail, the suspect urinated and defecated in the back of the patrol car. Ramos-Erazo was charged with fleeing, battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer and resisting with and without violence. He was released from jail after he posted an $18,000 bail.

Truck driver arrested after allegedly using fishing line to flip license plate in toll-avoidance scam

Port Authority police in New Jersey arrested a truck driver on Wednesday who they say used fishing line to thwart the E-ZPass toll on the George Washington Bridge.

The incident happened at around 7:15pm, when authorities say an officer saw the suspect driving a white 2006 Freightliner tractor trailer with no front plate and the rear plate bent up to defeat the security cameras.
The E-ZPass sign alerted that the suspect did not pay the toll. After pulling over the driver, 41-year-old Javier Marte, of Yonkers, the officer reportedly found that the front plate was rigged on a hinge with monofilament fishing line that ran into the cab and ended on the dash.

YouTube link.

Authorities say Marte used the fishing line to pull the plate up out of view and conceal it from the cameras, and then restore the plate into view after exiting the toll. Marte is charged with theft of services and tampering with public records.

Car thieves arrested after asking undercover police for help to start stolen vehicle

A couple of suspected thieves trying to get away in a stolen car needed some help, but they inadvertently asked an undercover detective with the Albuquerque Police Department.

APD said undercover detectives discovered a stolen car at about 7:30am on Wednesday parked outside Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. Detectives decided to hold off on an arrest because St. Mary’s Catholic School was just around the corner. However, plans changed when the suspects made a surprising move.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of this happening,” said Officer Tanner Tixier. Police said the stolen car wouldn’t start. So, the suspects unknowingly approached an undercover officer who had been watching them and asked for jumper cables. Needless to say, it didn’t end the way 27-year-old Kristina Aragon and 29-year-old Michael Farley had hoped.

YouTube link.

With St. Mary’s on lockdown, police moved in to handcuff the duo. APD said Aragon admitted she stole the car from her mother and Farley admitted he knew it was stolen. Aragon had two warrants out for her arrest for two separate drug cases, which are still pending in court. Farley has previously faced a judge a handful of times for drug and theft charges.

Intoxicated lady who crashed pick-up truck into ditch said she had meant to do so

A Florida woman who lost control of her pick-up truck and crashed into a watery ditch told police it was all part of her plan. The case began at about 5:55pm on February 23 when the officer spotted the Toyota pick-up in Sebastian.

The driver, identified as Linda Norman, 54, tried to turn left, but ended up in the ditch, which was partly full of water. She said she wasn’t hurt. “I explained that she was probably just going to have to step into the mud to get out since it (the truck) was at the bottom of the ditch,” an affidavit states.
“Linda did not listen and instead climbed onto the door and stood on the door frame where the window was open.” Norman, who jail records indicate has a tattooed breast, looked to be stuck, so the officer helped her down. “She told me that she meant to do it and she knew exactly what she was doing,” the affidavit states.
“I asked why she would intentionally drive her truck into the ditch and she said it was for attention.” Norman smelled of alcohol and said, “(Expletive) yea!” when queried about whether she’d been imbibing. Norman, of Sebastian, was arrested on a DUI charge and taken to the Indian River County Jail. Breath tests measured her blood alcohol content at 0.144 and 0.149 – greater than the 0.08 legal limit.

Tornado news broadcast interrupted by dog on a lawnmower

A TV news reporter covering the aftermath of a recent tornado in Texas was distracted by an unexpected sight in the distance.

Andrea Martinez of KYTX news went completely off script and interrupted the broadcast to tell the camera crew to get a look at a dog who thinks he’s people.
Mid sentence, Martinez laughed as she spotted the chilled-out dog perched on the seat of a ride-on lawnmower, with one paw resting on the steering wheel.

LiveLeak link. Original KYTX CBS19 Facebook video.

“Oh. My! That is so great! ... That’s awesome,” she said, while the relaxed dog looked over at the crew, nonplussed.

Late-night door-knocker turned out to be a headbutting escaped goat

Police officers responding to a report of late-night door knocking arrived at the scene and apprehended the culprit, who turned out to be an escaped goat.

Sebastopol Police Services in California said officers were dispatched at 1:38am on Monday to investigate a report of knocking on a resident's door.
"When officers arrived on scene the subject was still knocking on the front door, with their head," the department said.
"The subject, a goat, was safely taken in to custody and reunited with their owner later that morning," they added.

Residents surprised to find tiny fish in puddles following rainfall at remote Australian cattle farm

Much needed rain in drought-stricken Queensland, Australia, brought not only delight to locals but also confusion, with the mysterious appearance of small fish far from any water holes. Tahnee Oakhill from Bernfels station said she was stunned to see a number of fish flapping on a gravel road in front of her home on Wednesday. The fish appeared after 75 millimeters of rain fell on the Oakhill's property, 70 kilometers north-west of Winton in western Queensland. "It's pretty crazy, getting that much rain was pretty shocking and then that happening after that ... it's been a weird week," Ms Oakhill said.

Ms Oakhill said her husband found the fish and raced inside to tell her and their children. "If he tells me it's just rained fish I'm going to go out and have a look because he's either mad or it's [really] just happened," she said. Ms Oakhill said her children spent hours rescuing the fish. "They had a ball, they were going a little bit bat crazy in the house with the rain and the wet day," she said. "[Then] they were out there in the mud for hours after that, collecting them up and putting them in a container with some water and trying to figure out what they were going to do with these fish. They were pretty amazed, I think it was very exciting for them."
Ecologist Dr Peter Unmack from the University of Canberra said it was unlikely the fish had fallen from the sky. He said the fish appeared to be spangled perch. "This is the most widespread fish across Australia, almost anywhere there's water in northern Australia you can find this fish," Dr Unmack said. "In central Australia it's ubiquitous, it's pretty much everywhere and they are amazing dispersers." Dr Unmack said the spangled perch was an aggressive fish and very adept at moving across big distances in a short period of time - even in a small amount of water.
"When water comes they want to get away from their brothers and sisters because they've all been beating each other up horribly for a long time," he said. They just want to get away as fast as they can the first chance that comes along." However, he said it was possible for fish to fall from the sky in very rare circumstances. "The other key point is if you did get massive updrafts of water and fish that got carried up into the clouds, everything up there is frozen because it's too cold," he said. "So if you dropped the fish from the sky they'd be frozen solid, not flapping around. So it is theoretically possible, but it's difficult to see many situations where fish get picked up by strong winds and can survive."
There are videos of the fish being found here and here.

Animal Pictures