The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

Today also happens to be National Quilting Day ...! 

 

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Archaeology is interesting  ... !

Today is - Goddess of Fertility Day

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Today in History

1687		The French explorer La Salle is murdered by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
1702		On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1822		Boston is incorporated as a city.
1879		Jim Currie opens fire on the actors Maurice Barrymore and Ben Porter near Marshall, Texas. His shots wound Barrymore and kill Porter.
1903		The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
1916		The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
1917		The Adamson Act, eight hour day for railroad workers, is ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1918		Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
1920		The U.S. Senate rejects the Versailles Treaty for the second time.
1924		U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital.
1931		The state of Nevada legalizes gambling.
1935		The British fire on 20,000 Muslims in India, killing 23.
1936		The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
1944		The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France.
1945		Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
1947		Chiang Kai-Shek’s government forces take control of Yenan, the former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.
1949		The Soviet People’s Council signs the constitution of the German Democratic Republic, and declares that the North Atlantic Treaty is merely a war weapon.
1963		In Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledge to fight Communism.
1977		Congo President Marien Ngouabi is killed by a suicide commando.
1981		One technician is killed and two others are injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.

5 stupid, unfair and sexist things expected of men

Here are 5 stupid, unfair and sexist things expected of men

If you have a scrap of progressive politics in your bones, it’s no surprise to you that sexism hurts women. But we don’t talk as much about how sexism hurts men.

Borderline Nations Between the US and Canada

The following article is from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Attack of the Factoids.

NO COUNTRY FOR ANY MEN

The 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, but it left in question the exact border between the eastern United States and Canada, which remained under British control. Until 1842, when the Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled most of the questions, there were swatches of land along the New York/Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine borders that didn’t technically belong to either country. And in the 60 years between the two treaties, at least three independent “republics” sprang up in the region.

REPUBLIC OF UPPER CANADA

Location: Navy Island in the Niagara River
What happened: In December 1837, after unsuccessfully fighting to win independence from England, a Canadian rebel group led by journalist and former mayor of Toronto William Lyon Mackenzie fled to Navy Island above Niagara Falls, one of the areas that didn’t officially belong to either the United States or Canada (today it’s Canadian land). They declared the island to be a brand-new country, the Republic of Upper Canada. American sympathizers, still holding a grudge against the British after the War of 1812, supplied the rebels with food, weapons, and money via a steamship called the Caroline. The Republic of Upper Canada didn’t last long. In less than a month, British and Canadian loyalists had crossed into New York and captured the ship, setting it ablaze and loose to plummet over Niagara Falls. Mackenzie and his group withdrew from Navy Island in January 1838.

REPUBLIC OF INDIAN STREAM

Location: Between Quebec and New Hampshire
What happened: Indian Stream is a small tributary of the Connecticut River located near the small town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire, but in the early 1800s, it flowed through no-man’s-land. In the 1790s, two groups of Canadian settlers got land grants from the Abenaki people, one of the local Native American tribes, to move in. They didn’t take sides in the border disputes initially, but by the 1830s, both the British (who controlled Canada at the time) and American tax collectors came knocking. And so, not wanting to be taxed by either government, the 300 Indian Stream settlers proclaimed themselves the sole inhabitants of an independent country.
That lasted about three years. In 1835, after a sheriff from Canada “invaded” to arrest a man whom the British claimed owed them a tax debt, Indian Stream’s citizens fought back, freed the man from debtors’ prison, and ultimately joined New Hampshire.

REPUBLIC OF MADAWASKA

Location: Between Maine and New Brunswick
What happened: In the early 1800s, an American settler named John Baker moved from southern Maine into no-man’s land along the Maine/Quebec/New Brunswick border. By 1827, Baker was so tired of waiting for the State of Maine to rule that his house was in America (and not Canada) that he decided to start his own country— the Republic of Madawaska, a Maliseet Indian term that meant “where one river runs into another with watergrass.” This proclamation was important to Baker because he was fed up with the government, but it was more important to some of his neighbors, Acadians who had been deported as a group from Canada in the mid-1700s because they were the descendants of French Catholics, rather than British Protestants. Although many Acadians immigrated to the American South and become the “Cajuns” of New Orleans, many of Baker’s neighbors just wanted a safe place to live that wasn’t in Canada, and so they were happy to declare themselves citizens of the new republic.
The British weren’t so happy about it, though. On the same day that Baker established his country, British troops from Canada arrested him and put him on trial for conspiracy and sedition. He was ultimately fined £25 and sentenced to prison until he paid it… or two months, whichever came first. This set off an international incident between Canada and the United States that lasted for 15 years. It even triggered a border conflict in 1838 and 1839 called the Aroostook War, which included a lot of diplomatic meetings, threats, shouting, militia-massing on both sides, and incendiary editorials… but no actual combat. Eventually, diplomats from London and Washington negotiated that Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 to settle the northeastern Canada/United States border issue once and for all, and the Republic of Madawaska became part of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

FUTURE REPUBLICS?

Despite mostly solving the problem by dividing up the border territories, the treaty-makers missed a couple of spots. Even today, North Rock Island and the Machias Seal Island in the Gulf of Maine are still in dispute— though if you’re thinking of setting up settlements there, be aware that both islands are barren and rocky, with lots of fog and no trees. North Rock is only about the size of a football field and is full of seals. Machias —bigger, but only 20 acres— includes an ancient lighthouse staffed by two members of the Canadian Coast Guard, so expect armed resistance to your plans… or at least polite objections.

America Is Supposed To Be A Democracy. So Why Do We Still Have Caucuses?

"If you want to encourage people to have a voice in your party process, the last system you want to design is caucuses."

While Congress Stalls, The Country Has Now Passed 30 Paid Sick Leave Laws

Another New Jersey city opted to ensure all residents can take a paid day off when they get sick.

The End Of The Chinese Miracle

This documentary examines how the seemingly limitless wave of cheap labor that helped propel the extraordinary boom in it's economy since the 1980s is coming to an end which will have an impact on the Chinese economy and that of the world.

It features the real life stories of those who have been affected by the slowing economy as businesses seek alternatives to rising costs and migrant workers move back home.

YouTube link

Game Theorists Devise Way to Even the Odds in Soccer Shootouts

Game Theorists Devise Way to Even the Odds in Soccer Shootouts

Penalty shootouts in soccer favor the team kicking first—an advantage that is widely recognized by both statisticians and coaches. In order to level the playing field in these tie-breaking sessions, a pair of game theorists have come up with a procedure that removes...

The sounds of eating may reduce how much you eat

The sounds of eating may reduce how much you eat

New doctor’s orders: No earbuds, no music, and no watching TV while eating. Researchers at Brigham Young University and Colorado State University have found that the noise your food makes while you’re eating can have a significant effect on how much food...

Scientists create painless patch of insulin-producing beta cells to control diabetes

Scientists create painless patch of insulin-producing beta cells to control diabetes

For decades, researchers have tried to duplicate the function of beta cells, the tiny insulin-producing entities that don’t work properly in patients with diabetes. Insulin injections provide painful and often imperfect substitutes. Transplants of normal beta...

NFL Finally Admits A Link Between Football And Traumatic Brain Disease

"The answer to that question is certainly yes."

How to spot the office asshole

How to spot the office asshole

Man kidnapped his grandmother before forcing her to drive while he smoked meth

An Oregon man is accused of kidnapping his 87-year-old grandmother, forcing her to drive for hours while he smoked meth. Robert White, 22, allegedly held a knife to his grandmother's throat and told her to drive after she picked him up from a hotel on Saturday.White "smoked methamphetamine and rambled about the police following him for the past nine months" as his grandmother drove through the night, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Nearly 12 hours later, White called 911, according to officials.
The call helped deputies track down the car, the sheriff's office said. The grandmother, who authorities have not identified, was not harmed. The ordeal began, authorities allege, after White's grandmother told him he had to leave a hotel room where she'd paid for him to stay for a couple of days.
White "is suspected of using methamphetamine heavily, and his family has been struggling to help him," the sheriff's office said. White is now in jail, facing charges of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, kidnapping, menacing, criminal mischief and violation of a protective order.

Oklahoma pastor warns wingnut plan to give taxpayer dollars to 'christians' will lead to persecution of non-delusional people

Oklahoma pastor warns wingnut plan to give taxpayer dollars to 'christians' will lead to persecution of non-delusional people

"If successful, they will be taking a big step backwards in returning our state to a time when religious persecution was acceptable under Colonialism and Native Americans were forced to worship as those in authority dictated."

Iowa man says he needed surgical mask to punch stranger because he’s ‘allergic to black people’

Iowa man says he needed surgical mask to punch stranger because he’s ‘allergic to black people’

School may expel Muslim teens for standing up to bullies

School may expel Muslim teens for standing up to bullies — after ignoring their pleas for years

They’re hounded on social media and harassed in the hallways at school, and vandals broke windows and doors at the family’s home over the weekend by throwing rocks and eggs.

Judge refuses to reduce sentence for cop’s gay-bashing daughter:

Judge refuses to reduce sentence for cop’s gay-bashing daughter: She’s still ‘in need of correction’

A Philadelphia judge has turned down a request from the daughter of a police chief to reduce her sentence after being convicted of attacking a gay couple.

Gun-loving cult youth mentor created horrifying ‘sex attic’ to abuse young boys

Gun-loving cult youth mentor created horrifying ‘sex attic’ to abuse young boys

Julio Andres “Andy” Castillo, 34, of South Carolina, is being accused of multiple counts of sexually abusing the two boys while they were under the age of 16.

Malawi Burns 2.9 Tons of Smuggled Ivory

Malawi Burns 2.9 Tons of Smuggled Ivory

The action settles a cross-border dispute with Tanzania over whether seized elephant tusks should be saved as legal evidence against poachers.

Neanderthal Diet

Neanderthal Diet: 80% Meat, 20% Fruit, Veggies

Neanderthals liked a bit of veg with their red meat.

Marine Archaeology News

Explorer Vasco da Gama's Shipwreck Found

The 16th-century Portuguese ship is the oldest shipwreck from Europe's age of exploration ever to be found.

Treasures Found at Vasco da Gama Shipwreck: Photos

Divers exploring the site of a 500-year-old shipwreck came away with a trove of rare items.

February Blows Away Global Heat Record

February Blows Away Global Heat Record

February 2016 was by far the warmest February, and the most anomalously warm month, in more than 135 years of NASA records, a clear sign of global warming.

Dark matter satellites trigger massive starbursts

Dark matter satellites trigger massive starbursts

One of the main predictions of the current model of the creation of structures in the universe, known at the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model, is that galaxies are embedded in very extended and massive halos of dark matter that are surrounded by many thousands of smaller...

'Dino Chicken'

'Dino Chicken' Created: Part Bird, Part Dinosaur

Dino-Chicken steps closer to reality as scientists develop chicken embryos with leg bones identical to those of dinosaurs.

Tyrannosaurus Rex's horse-sized cousin's fossils shows researchers how he 'had to get smart' to be king

Tyrannosaurus Rex's horse-sized cousin's fossils shows researchers how he 'had to get smart' to be king

Paleontology News

Pregnant T. rex Found, May Contain DNA

Fragments of DNA may be preserved in the fossil of the pregnant T. rex.

New Dino Reveals How T. rex Became Top Predator

Tyrannosaurus rex evolved from horse-sized scrappy dinos with relatively big brains and super sharp hearing.

Nightclub banned from keeping live crocodiles

A nightclub has been banned from bringing in crocodiles as a new attraction for customers. Arabian Nites in Birmingham had already bought four of the reptiles. But council bosses have blocked the creature feature at the venue. Club owner Qamran Rafique had hoped revelers would be able to feed the crocs. “It’s a bit of a blow because I’ve paid for them,” he said. “A friend is looking after them and I intend to have another go at getting permission.
“The idea was to let customers feed them but the council thought it was too dangerous.” Birmingham City Council pulled the plug on proposed croc’n’roll nights on the grounds of public safety and animal welfare.
A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: “Arabian Nights made an enquiry about gaining permission to have crocodiles on its premises. The officer advised this would be unlikely, so the business decided not to pursue it any further.” Qamran, who opened the venue a year ago, added:. “There are plenty of other plans. We’re thinking of a shark tank.”

The Endangered Species Act May Be Neglecting The Animals That Need It Most

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Pigeons Tracking Air Quality Over London

Pigeons Tracking Air Quality Over London

The birds have been outfitted with lightweight, GPS-enabled air monitors.

Animal Pictures