The Daily Drift

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Carolina Naturally

Photographs in Nature ...! 

 

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Today in History

1184		King Magnus of Norway is defeated by his rival, Sverre.
1215		King John signs the Magna Carta.
1381		The English peasant revolt is crushed in London.
1389		Ottoman Turks crush Serbia in the Battle of Kosovo.
1607		Colonists in North America complete James Fort in Jamestown.
1752		Benjamin Franklin and his son test the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunder storm.
1775		George Washington is named Commander in Chief by Congress.
1779		American General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, New York.
1836		Arkansas is admitted into the Union as the 25th state.
1846		Great Britain and the United States agree on a joint occupation of Oregon Territory.
1849		James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, dies.
1862		General J.E.B. Stuart completes his “ride around McClellan.”
1864		The Battle for Petersburg begins.
1866		Prussia attacks Austria.
1877		Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
1898		The U.S. House of representatives approves the annexation of Hawaii.
1904		Fire aboard the paddle steamer General Slocum on New York’s East River kills 1,021, mostly German-Americans.
1916		President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
1917		Great Britain pledges the release of all Irish captured during the Easter Rebellion of 1916.
1920		Three African Americans are lynched in Duluth, Minnesota, by a white mob of 5,000.
1928		Wingnuts, convening in Kansas City, name Herbert Hoover their candidate for Pretender.
1932		Gaston Means is sentenced to 15 years for fraud in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
1940		The French fortress of Verdun is captured by Germans.
1944		U.S. Marines begin the invasion of Saipan in Pacific.
1947		The All-Indian Congress accepts a British plan for the partition of India.
1958		Greece severs military ties to Turkey because of the Cyprus issue.
1964		The last French troops leave Algeria.
1977		The first general election in Spain since 1936 results in victory for the UCD (Union of Democratic Centre).

10 Real Life Court Ordered Sentences

You often hear the phrase “Make the punishment fit the crime.” Judges often try to do this when handing out sentences, but sometimes that leads to bizarre plans that cause public outrage or go against our supposedly impartial legal structure. Sometimes they get creative, which may be appropriate to deter further crime, or may be just silly. Judge Michael A. Cicconetti of the Painesville Municipal Court in Ohio is famous for his “outside the box” sentences.

Just when you think this judge might run out of creative punishments, Judge Michael Cicconetti orders a women who stiffed a cabbie out of his fare to walk 30 miles. It was 60 days in jail or a 30 mile hike, the distance of the cab ride she took for free. Offender Victoria Bascom chose to walk off her punishment, according to Cleveland 19.com. Judge Cicconetti believes in giving people a taste of their own medicine and has made offenders do novel alternatives to jail time like dressing up in chicken suit or spelling out an apology in coins. He also required a women who abandoned kittens in the woods to spend a night in the wild alone, without food or water.  

Read about ten such cases with unusual sentences at Money, Inc.

Elderly Abuse

Elderly abuse: Nursing home residents are just as guilty as the staff

New Study Shows Why Major Insurers Hate The ACA

New Study Shows Why Major Insurers Hate The ACA – It Actually Forces Them To Help Sick People

There is a sickening truth being revealed about the American health insurance industry and their bought wingnut stooges.

Poverty Kills As The Rich Live Longer Than Ever

Poverty Kills As The Rich Live Longer Than Ever

The Republican war on poor people has been killing Americans and now we have the proof.

Here Are Just A Few Things America Could Afford If The Wealthy Actually PAID Their Fair Share

Here Are Just A Few Things America Could Afford If The Wealthy Actually PAID Their Fair Share

This list of things we could do if everyone paid their fair share of taxes is amazing.

John Oliver Exposes the Retirement Scam

John Oliver Exposes the Retirement Scam: Even Wall Street's Financial Advisers Agree They Shouldn't Manage Your Money

O’Reilly’s Goon Gets Schooled By College Students

O’Reilly’s Goon Gets Schooled By College Students

If I wasn’t so busy cheering for the students, I would have felt embarrassed for O’Reilly’s goon.

Fox 'News' Will NEVER Be Able To Say ‘Fair And Balanced’ Again After What Hannity Just Did

Fox 'News' Will NEVER Be Able To Say ‘Fair And Balanced’ Again After What Hannity Just Did

I’m more surprised he admitted it than I am at the fact itself.

Wingnut sheriff helped deputy cover shooting at in-laws’ by ordering 911 caller’s arrest

Wingnut sheriff helped deputy cover shooting at in-laws’ by ordering 911 caller’s arrest

Fox Sports hack attacks Latina valedictorian

Fox Sports hack attacks Latina valedictorian: ‘I didn’t know Mexicans were that smart’

Fox wrongly reports that Obama wants to ban armored helmet that saved cop’s life in Orlando

Fox wrongly reports that Obama wants to ban armored helmet that saved cop’s life in Orlando

5 Outrageous Reactions to Orlando Shooting

5 Outrageous Reactions to Orlando Shooting

‘Don’t worry. I got you’

‘Don’t worry. I got you’: These clubgoers risked their own lives to save others in Pulse rampage

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death. 
 – Omar Bradley, WWII American general

Two Dozen Cops Across Five California Precincts Had Sex With Teenager

Two Dozen Cops Across Five California Precincts Had Sex With Teenager

Instead of protecting this teen from sex traffickers, CA police are accused of having sex with her.

The Mystery of the Ghost Ship SS Baychimo

Ghost ships are often associated with stories of the paranormal, or illusions. Here's the story of a real ship that just refuses to die. The cargo vessel SS Baychimo was launched in 1914, and after a few wartime adventures, was used to ship pelts out from the Canadian coast.

But on October 1, 1931 the vessel became trapped in the ice off the coast of Alaska, and her crew fled in the face of a fierce storm. After several attempts to return to her, 15 men decided to build a shelter on the ice and weather the storm in the hopes of ultimately freeing their ship. Then, on November 24, a blizzard swept through the area and when it cleared, SS Baychimo was gone.

The crew found their ship and then abandoned her again, assuming the damaged ship would sink. But she was found again by others. And again. In fact, the ship was sighted occasionally for almost 40 years afterward. Could it still be out there, a ghost ship with a physical form? Read the story of the SS Baychimo at Urban Ghosts.

The Oldest Cultivated Tree in America

A single pear tree in Danvers, Massachusetts, has been growing and producing fruit for almost 400 years. John Endecott (sometimes spelled Endicott), the first governor of Massachusetts, received a grant for a 300-acre farm in 1632. He planted many fruit trees in the next few years and called his spread Orchard Farm. The sole surviving tree from that period is now a Historical Landmark, known as the Endecott Pear Tree.

The Endecott Pear Tree has taken on a life of its own. It has lived through all or part of five centuries. It has been celebrated in history, art, and poetry, as well as illustrated in books, magazines, murals and postcards from as early as the 18th century. Many writers have waxed poetic in describing the tree’s heritage. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote of its longevity and President John Adams spoke of its significance. Written up in scores of periodicals, including being featured in Ripley’s “Believe It or Not,” this modest tree has become iconic. It has survived hurricanes, century snowstorms, neglect, soil stripping, industrial development and even a murderous attack of vandalism in 1964.

Read the history of the Endecott Pear Tree, which is still producing fruit. -via imgur, where you can see what the tree looks like today.

Scientists found something extremely unexpected on Mars

... and it could require us to rethink the planet’s history

by Ali Sundermier

Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center found something very unexpected in a Martian crater.

Using the Curiosity Rover, the scientists detected a mineral called tridymite that, until now, they thought could only be created in extremely hot temperatures.

The discovery of this tridymite might rewrite the history of the planet, suggesting that it might once have been hotter than we previously thought, and home to monstrous volcanoes.

The scientists found the tridymite with a special instrument on the rover that shoots x-rays at material to identify the crystal structure of minerals.

“It was the last mineral we expected to see,” said Richard Morris, NASA planetary scientist and lead author of this study. “If this stands test of time it has a lot of implications for how Mars evolved. We may have to rethink a few things.”

On Earth, tridymite is formed at extremely high temperatures in an explosive process called silicic volcanism. Mt. St. Helens, known for having the deadliest volcanic event in American history, is an example of a silicic volcano.

These volcanoes form as a result of plate tectonics: Plates shifting in Earth’s outer shell dive deep into the Earth’s mantle, carrying water with them. They melt and form a mixture of molten rock, or magma, which forces its way to the surface, where it explodes and flows out. The combination of high silica content and extremely high temperatures in these volcanoes creates tridymite.

But as far as we know, Mars doesn’t have water, or dynamic plates hidden beneath the surface, and its average temperature is pretty frigid. So where did this tridymite come from?

That’s what scientists need to figure out now. And to do this, they’ll either need to change their understanding of how Mars evolved, or change their understanding of how tridymite forms.

“We searched long and hard for terrestrial evidence that tridymite might form at low temperatures and not imply silicic volcanism,” Morris said. “We couldn’t find any. This paper will cause a lot of researchers, including ourselves here at the Johnson Space Center, to look for ways it could form at lower temperatures.”

The next step, Morris said, is for scientists to run experiments and reexamine terrestrial systems in more detail to look for evidence of tridymite. Either way, what they find will shake up our understanding of the Red Planet.

“Mars is a different place,” Morris said. “Processes are different there. There may be something weird going on that we just don’t recognize yet.”

Animal Pictures