CAROLINA NATURALLY: May 10, 2016

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.

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Today in History

1285		Philip III of Spain is succeeded by Philip IV (“the Fair”).
1503		Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands.
1676		Bacon’s Rebellion begins in the New World.
1773		To keep the troubled East India Company afloat, Parliament passes the Tea Act, taxing all tea in the American colonies.
1774		Louis XVI succeeds his father Louis XV as King of France.
1775		American troops capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.
1794		Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI, is beheaded.
1796		Napoleon Bonaparte wins a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy.
1840		Mormon leader Joseph Smith moves his band of followers to Illinois to escape the hostilities they experienced in Missouri.
1857		The Bengal Army in India revolts against the British.
1863		General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson succumbs to illness and wounds received during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
1865		Union cavalry troops capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis near Irvinville, Georgia.
1869		The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads meet in Promontory, Utah.
1859		French emperor Napoleon III leaves Paris to join his troops preparing to battle the Austrian army in Northern Italy.
1872		Victoria Woodhull becomes first woman nominated for U.S. president.
1917		Allied ships get destroyer escorts to fend off German attacks in the Atlantic.
1924		J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1928		WGY-TV in Schenectady, New York, begins regular television programming.
1933		Nazis begin burning books by “unGerman” writers such as Heinrich Mann and Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front.
1940		German forces begin a blitzkrieg of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, skirting France’s “impenetrable” Maginot Line.
1940		Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister.
1941		England’s House of Commons is destroyed during the worst of the London Blitz: 550 German bombers drop 100,000 incendiary bombs.
1960		The USS Nautilus completes first circumnavigation of globe underwater.
1994		Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa’s first black president.

Some modern toilets are set at "comfort height"

The Kohler company has a rather informative webpage entitled "How to shop for toilets." Among the features to be considered (size, shape, water usage, flush technology) when making a purchase is the height of the seat from the floor.

Comfort Height toilets, approximately 2 inches taller than traditional toilets, make sitting down and standing up easier. Toilets that measure between 17 and 19 inches in height from the floor to the top
of the seat are considered Comfort Height toilets, whereas traditional toilets measure below 17 inches in height.

A quick web search yields lots of threads discussing the pros and cons of these higher toilets. The user's height and a variety of health considerations can come into play (short people may be uncomfortable if their feet do not rest flat on the floor; conversely elderly or physically weak persons may find it easier to rise from the "comfort height" seat. A column at Slate notes that "bathroom posture" (sitting vs. squatting) may (or may not) have an effect on defecation and on the health of one's nether region.

The Beauty—and Power—of Small Business

The Beauty—and Power—of Small Business

Spice

Policewoman showing suspected man evidence of crime (Shuttestock)

Spice: Americans turn to dangerous ‘synthetic marijuana’ to evade drug tests

Synthetic marijuana poisoning symptoms usually include violent outbursts and paranoia; more serious symptoms, such as kidney failure, stroke, and fast and irregular heartbeat, have all been documented in medical literature.

Men Are More Reluctant to Go to the Doctor ...

Men Are More Reluctant to Go to the Doctor and It’s Putting Them at Risk

Why sugar is added to commercial salt

Explained by a professor of food science:
What really piqued my curiosity was the inclusion of “sugar”... Including only about four one-hundredths of a percent (i.e., 0.04%) of this additive protects or stabilizes the potassium iodide. If no glucose was present, the potassium iodide would eventually break down into its component parts - namely potassium and iodide ions. The iodide ions could then combine to form iodine that could actually vaporize and leave the salt.

China bans erotic banana-eating live streams

Chinese live-streaming services have banned people filming themselves eating bananas in a "seductive" fashion.

New regulations mean that live-streaming sites must monitor all their output round-the-clock to ensure nothing untoward is going on, keeping an eye out for any "erotic" banana-eating. It's not just fruit that's on their radar though, wearing stockings and suspenders while hosting a live stream is now also forbidden.
The move is the authorities' latest attempt to clamp down on "inappropriate and erotic" online content. In April, the Ministry of Culture announced it was investigating a number of popular live-streaming platforms for allegedly hosting pornographic or violent content that "harms social morality". News of the banana ban has prompted thousands of users to chime in on Chinese social media.

YouTube link.

Some are more concerned with the young women choosing to take part in live streaming, but others are a bit baffled by how the rules will be enforced. "How do they decide what's provocative when eating a banana?" one person asks. Another wonders: "Can male live-streamers still eat them?" And plenty think people will be able to get around the banana ban: "They will all start eating cucumbers, and if that's no good, yams," one user says.

Inside the creepy and surreal restaurants North Korea operates around the world

Inside the creepy and surreal restaurants North Korea operates around the world

Their posture is immaculate. Their teeth are like pearls, gleaming behind well-rehearsed smiles. When speaking, their voices are demure. When singing, they produce operatic melodies in perfect harmony. In short, they are the feminine ideal as imagined by the North Korean state.

California high school claims Muslim student identified as ‘Isis’ in yearbook was a ‘misprint’

Screenshot from Los Osos High School yearbook of Muslim student misidentified as "Isis"

California high school claims Muslim student identified as ‘Isis’ in yearbook was a ‘misprint’

“The school reached out to me and had the audacity to say that this was a typo. I beg to differ, let’s be real,” Bayan Zehlif said.

Girl arrested for buying lunch with $2 bill

A Texas eighth grader who used a $2 bill her grandmother gave her to buy school lunch last year found herself in the police's office.
Danesiah Neal only wanted to buy some chicken nuggets at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Houston, but the school confiscated the $2 bill, told her it was fake and turned her into the authorities, according to ABC.
Neal, who has never had any problems with the school before, said that police told her she was in big trouble. The school then called Daneisha’s grandmother, Sharon Kay Joseph, who told them the bill was real and that it was given to her at a convenience store.
Police then went to a bank which verified the authenticity of the bill. Since the bill was made in 1953, the school's counterfeit pen didn't work.
No charges were filed against the middle schooler but her grandmother is outraged and says she had to go hungry that day because the school took her money. The police finally gave Joseph her bill back. 'He brought me my $2 bill back,' Joseph told ABC. 'He didn’t apologize. He should have, and the school should have because they pulled Danesiah out of lunch, and she didn’t eat lunch that day because they took her money.'

Houston schoolchildren have been known to photocopy money and try to spend it, but this is not how incidents should be handled.

40,000 MA Drug Cases Could Be Thrown Out Because Of Drug Stealing Lab Scandal

40,000 MA Drug Cases Could Be Thrown Out Because Of Drug Stealing Lab Scandal

A chemist at the Amherst crime lab in MA confessed to using state drugs to get high for years, but the state kept the information hidden.

Chris Wallace crushes NC's moron

Scientology leader’s father slams son as ‘military strongman’ living large while followers slave away

Actor Tom Cruise and Scientology head David Miscavige - ( Tom Cruise Facebook/Church of Scientology)

Scientology leader’s father slams son as ‘military strongman’ living large while followers slave away

The father of the leader of the Cult of Scientology ripped into his own son for living high on the hog while followers of the cult eke out a meager existence, often giving back their earnings to buy presents for the cult leader.

Man accused of fatally shooting his brother in dispute over a cheeseburger

A Florida man is facing first-degree murder charges after police say he shot and killed his brother during an argument over a cheeseburger. “We were in a fight and I grabbed a gun and I shot him. Oh my god," Benjamin Middendorf said in a 911 call released by the St. Cloud Police Department. Police received a call just after 10pm on Thursday about a shooting at a home in St. Cloud.

According to investigators, Benjamin Middendorf, 25, shot his brother, Nicholas Middendorf, 28, in the chest with a 9mm handgun during an argument. “My son, just shot my son," Middendorf's mother told a dispatcher during an emotional 911 call. Nicholas Middendorf died at the home. “This is an impulsive incident that happened.
“Maybe anger, rage. But it was definitely over a verbal dispute that sadly was over a cheeseburger," St. Cloud Police Department spokesperson Denise Roberts said. "It's something that could have possibly been prevented, if he had held back those emotions.” “I hope you go to jail," Middendorf's mother was overheard saying in the 911 call.
An arrest affidavit says their mother and the shooting victim, Nicholas, had been drinking with friends. Benjamin told detectives he does not drink. "The mother has lost two sons. One who is deceased and then the other son who is now incarcerated and facing homicide charges," Roberts said. Benjamin Middendorf was arrested on charges of premeditated first-degree murder. He was taken to the Osceola County Jail and is being held on no bond.

The Yiddish language and Ashkenazi Jews

Did Ashkenazi Jews descend from ancient Turkey? (Shutterstock)

Researchers find clues about the millennia-old mystery of the origins of Yiddish language and Ashkenazi Jews

At 1,000 years, the search for the location of Ashkenaz – thought to be the birthplace of Ashkanazic Jews and the Yiddish language – is one of the longest quests in human history.

A diamond "the size of a tennis ball"

The diamond was unearthed in November in Botswana at a mine owned by Canada's Lucara Diamond Corporation. It measured 1,109 carats, the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered. Its name means "our light" in the Tswana language of southern Africa.