The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of  
Carolina Naturally

As it is for the world ...! 

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 210 countries around the world daily.   

   
Ironic ... !

Today is - Freedom Day

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Today in History

1799		Napoleon Bonaparte participates in a coup and declares himself dictator of France.
1848		The first U.S. Post Office in California opens in San Francisco at Clay and Pike streets. At the time there are only about 15,000 European settlers living in the state.
1900		Russia completes its occupation of Manchuria.
1906		President Theodore Roosevelt leaves Washington, D.C., for a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico, becoming the first president to make an official visit outside of the United States.
1914		The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney wrecks the German cruiser Emden, forcing her to beach on a reef on North Keeling Island in the Indian Ocean.
1918		Germany is proclaimed a republic as the kaiser abdicates and flees to the Netherlands.
1935		Japanese troops invade Shanghai, China.
1938		Nazis kill 35 Jews, arrest thousands and destroy Jewish synagogues, homes and stores throughout Germany. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, the night of the shattered glass.
1965		Roger Allen LaPorte, a 22-year-old former seminarian and a member of the Catholic worker movement, immolates himself at the United Nations in New York City in protest of the Vietnam War.
1965		Nine Northeastern states and parts of Canada go dark in the worst power failure in history, when a switch at a station near Niagara Falls fails.
1967		NASA launches Apollo 4 into orbit with the first successful test of a Saturn V rocket.
1972		Bones discovered by the Leakeys push human origins back 1 million years.
1983		Alfred Heineken, beer brewer from Amsterdam, is kidnapped and held for a ransom of more than $10 million.
1989		The Berlin Wall is opened after dividing the city for 28 years.
1993		Stari Most, a 427-year-old bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is destroyed, believed to be caused by artillery fire from Bosnian Croat forces.
1994		The chemical element Darmstadtium, a radioactive synthetic element, discovered by scientists in Darmstadt, Germany.
1998		Largest civil settlement in US history: 37 brokerage houses are ordered to pay $1.3 billion to NASDAQ investors to compensate for price fixing.
2007		German Bundestag passes controversial bill mandating storage of citizens’ telecommunications traffic date for six months without probable cause.

Santa Claus speaks out against North Pole ban on sale of marijuana

As communities across Alaska try to figure out how to handle the new legalized marijuana industry, many are opting out. In October, North Pole voters decided not to allow commercial marijuana businesses within city limits. That decision, however, has been met with disappointment from one of the city's most famous residents: Santa Claus. Santa Claus, formerly known as Thomas O'Connor, legally changed his name to Santa in 2005. He says the moniker helps with his work as a child advocate. "It sounds ridiculous but it's true. It helps," Santa says. He's served as an elected city council member in North Pole for almost a year. Before that he worked in government, specializing in security and law enforcement.
"Director of the Terrorism Research Communication Center from '78 to '86, and was Chief of Safety and Security for the US Virgin Islands Port Authority, was a member of FEMA's National Defense Executive Reserve," he says. He worked in law enforcement, but also against certain types of prohibition. Maybe it's not so surprising that his old life is influencing his new one. Santa is now speaking out against North Pole's Propostition 7, the ballot initiative that banned commercial marijuana.
Santa Claus is also a cancer patient, and he uses marijuana to help ease his symptoms. "I think they are not in this particular instance are not embracing the spirit of love," he says. "I think what they're doing is engendering hate, which comes from fear." So for now, Santa will have to grow his own, or travel to nearby Fairbanks to purchase marijuana from a dispensary. "Cannabis users will not be getting coal in their stocking unless they've done some other thing that might be considered egregious," Santa added.

Carrot Returns Lost Wedding Ring

An elderly man in Germany lost his wedding ring three years ago, not long after he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. He was working in the garden at the time. Despite a thorough search, the ring was not found. His wife said it would turn up someday. She did not live to see it, as she died just a few months ago. This fall, the now 83-year-old gardener was harvesting carrots and one of them was wearing his wedding ring!
Read the story in German or the Google translation.

Brains of those with anorexia and bulimia can override urge to eat

Brains of those with anorexia and bulimia can override urge to eat

Scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered the neurological reasons why those with anorexia and bulimia nervosa are able to override the urge to eat. In a study published last week in the journal Translational Psychiatry, the...

Sensitive to Wheat?

Sensitive to Wheat? Gluten Might Not Be Blame

Quadriplegic treated with stem cells regains some motor function

Keck Medical Center of USC announced that a team of doctors became the first in California to inject an experimental treatment made from stem cells, AST-OPC1, into the damaged cervical spine of a recently paralyzed 21-year-old man as part of a multi-center clinical trial...

Two weeks after surgery, Kris began to show signs of improvement. Three months later, he's able to feed himself, use his cell phone, write his name, operate a motorized wheelchair and hug his friends and family.
Improved sensation and movement in both arms and hands also makes it easier for Kris to care for himself, and to envision a life lived more independently. 

"As of 90 days post-treatment, Kris has gained significant improvement in his motor function, up to two spinal cord levels," said Dr. Liu.  "In Kris' case, two spinal cord levels means the difference between using your hands to brush your teeth, operate a computer or do other things you wouldn't otherwise be able to do, so having this level of functional independence cannot be overstated." 

More details here.

Kindness can relieve social anxiety, and more

Kindness can relieve social anxiety, and more 

Positive relationships are key to flourishing at work

Positive relationships are key to flourishing at work

If your workplace mantra is “all business, all the time," you might want to spend a bit more time chatting with colleagues around the water cooler. Positive work relationships are key to flourishing at your job, according to a new paper co-authored by Radostina...

Xenia

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, 1903

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia... was the elder daughter and fourth child of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and the sister of Emperor Nicholas II... After the fall of the monarchy in February 1917 she fled Russia, eventually settling in the United Kingdom.

Scientists know storms are fueled by climate change

They just need to tell everyone else.

A new article calls on journalists to note the link between weather and climate.

60 years ago, first landing at the South Pole paved the way for world-class Antarctic science

60 years ago, first landing at the South Pole paved the way for world-class Antarctic science

On October 31, 1956, seven U.S. naval aviators did what many thought was impossible...they landed a plane for the first time at the bottom of the world. The pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Conrad C. "Gus" Shinn landed the twin-engined R4D-5 Skytrain nicknamed Que Sera Sera, at 8:34...

Link Dump

A Few End of the Curse Words  (World Series)

Video Cables & Ports Explained

Funny things to ask Amazon’s Alexa

Once In A Lifetime Photography Moments 

16 Revolutionary Cleaning Hacks

Proof that every marketer is a blatant liar

Gifts for The Walking Dead fans

A Free Open Source Alternative to Microsoft Visio

LA honeymoon is over: Fans shower Rams with boos

Using Google Maps on 8 Important Days of the Calendar

Homewrecker penguin fight over cheating ‘wife’ shocks the internet

How Chevrolet builds the Bolt EV on the same line as the Sonic

8 Clever Uses For Chapstick And Lip Balm That You Never Thought Of

24 Country And City Names You’ve Been Saying Wrong Your Whole Life 

Ringleader in $18.7m maple syrup theft says that he acted out of fear

Ten days into the trial of several men accused in connection with a multi-million dollar maple syrup heist in Canada, one of the accused dropped a bombshell. In his testimony on Wednesday, Richard Vallières, 38, admitted to having trafficked stolen syrup but said he did it because he and his family's lives were threatened. In August 2012, officials discovered $18.7 million worth of maple syrup warehoused in St-Louis-de-Blandford, Que., had disappeared - replaced mostly by water. The syrup belonged to the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, the regulatory body that controls and manages the syrup trade in the province.
Vallières was among 26 people arrested in connection to the heist. Some pleaded guilty, charges were dropped against others, and more trials are coming. Vallières is on trial for fraud, theft and trafficking linked to the marketing, transportation and resale of the stolen syrup. He testified he is what is known as a "barrel roller" in the maple industry - buying and selling syrup directly from producers in Quebec, bypassing the federation. Witnesses called by the Crown have painted him as one of the ringleaders of the heist. But Vallières told the jury he acted out of fear. Vallières testified he realized he was buying stolen syrup when a shipment arrived in special federation barrels that are an unmistakable whitish-blue color.
He broke down in tears, explaining that he tried to refuse the shipment, but the man who sold it to him threatened to kill him, his girlfriend and young daughter, telling him, "I know where you live." Vallières said the man pulled a handgun from his coat. The alleged seller cannot be identified until his jury trial begins next January. Vallières said the man also threatened him when he tried to refuse to fill the federation barrels with water. He said he continued to buy syrup from the man for months, not talking about the death threats to anyone other than his father. He began taking sleeping pills and drinking heavily, he said, because he was so scared. After their arrests, Vallières said the alleged seller muttered, "If anyone speaks, they'll get a bullet to the head."

The Crown attempted to poke holes in Vallières's defence, asking why he wrote text messages to the alleged seller, saying, "Come see me, my love, I miss you," congratulating him on the birth of a child and inviting him over to celebrate on his birthday. Vallières admitted to never having paid personal income tax nor tax for his three companies. He said he paid cash or wrote checks for about 100 shipments of maple syrup, each weighing in at nearly 20 tonnes, including one single payment of $200,000, in cash. The other two men on trial, Richard Vallières's father, Raymond Vallières, and an employee, Jean Lord, are charged with either storing or transporting stolen syrup. The trial continues in Trois-Rivières next week.

Homeowner who shot intruder in the ass with a bow and arrow could face charges

Police are investigating a man in south-west Sydney, Australia, who allegedly shot a home intruder in the bottom with a bow and arrow. The 68-year-old man shot the intruder after confronting him at his home Wattle Grove on Sunday afternoon, police said. Officers said the unknown man broke into a couple's home in Wattle Grove and stole a large amount of cash, a handbag and car keys. The man then went to the garage of the home and entered the couple's vehicle, a Nissan X-Trail. As he started the car and attempted to reverse out of the garage, the male resident, at home with his wife during the robbery, armed himself with a bow and arrow and went to the garage.
The resident confronted the robber with the bow and arrow, causing him to crash the vehicle into a fence, police said. The intruder then got out of the car and jumped a fence, running towards a parked Mazda Tribute. As he ran away, the resident stood up on the fence and shot the fleeing man using the bow and arrow, hitting him in the bottom, police said. The intruder, who was wearing a black, short-sleeved shirt, escaped, driving off in the parked car. Police were called and attended a short time later. Detective Inspector Dean Johnstone said police were still hunting for the intruder and were also investigating the circumstances in which the arrow was fired.
"At this point in time we have been given information by the homeowner, police have attempted to speak to him," he said. "He's maintained his right to silence, this is a matter we'll investigate." A crime scene was established and examined by forensic specialists. The bow and arrow and other items were seized by police as exhibits. The bow and arrow are not prohibited weapons, but Detective Inspector Johnstone suggested there was a possibility the man could face charges. "The owner is part of an archery club and takes part in that sport," he said. "This is very early days in the investigation but … we are investigating all facets of the incident." Detective Inspector Johnstone advised people not to confront intruders, following the unusual incident.
"My advice to people would be to comply with [the intruder], not to confront them, certainly not to engage them in a physical altercation, let them go and let us investigate," he said. Police said inquiries with hospitals had yet to locate anyone treated for an injury consistent with this incident. The man who broke into the home is described as being short and of Caucasian appearance with dark hair and olive skin. He has a tattoo on the left arm above the elbow. He is believed to be between 30 to 35 years old. Detective Inspector Johnstone said police were asking doctors and medical professionals to look out for anyone with unusual injuries. "We believe the arrow may have struck the offender in the buttocks," he said. "We'are asking anyone in the medical profession … to contact police if a person comes in with a wound [consistent] with an arrow striking them."

Man crashed car during police chase before making off in stolen wheelchair

A Florida man, whose name is similar to that of a retired basketball star, is accused of stealing a disabled veteran’s wheelchair to get away from police after he crashed his car during a chase. Largo police say Shaquille O’Neal Clemons, age 21, was attempting to to flee from officers. Robert Druce, a veteran, witnessed the crash. He attempted to help Clemons, not knowing that was who police were looking for. Druce offered Clemons his wheelchair.
“Saw the big wreck and then saw a guy helping a guy out of the car. His leg was broken or something. He fell down in the street, and I let him sit on my chair so he could drive up to the front by the store, so he could sit down on the sidewalk and not be laying in the street,” Druce said. “All of a sudden, I’m chasing my chair down the street.” Instead, Clemons tried to roll away to escape. “I couldn’t catch him,” he said. Officers say Clemons was driving a White Mercedes 250.
They tried to pull him over, but police say Clemons took off eastbound and then sideswiped a white car and a school bus. There were no kids on the bus. Detectives say Clemons then drove southbound, where he crashed into two more vehicles at an intersection. “It was pretty crazy. I didn’t even hear it really, until I was looking outside the window and seen everything,” Nina Peralta said. “I just remember seeing trucks everywhere and cars and police everywhere,” she said. Police say Clemons got into the wheelchair and then headed east, trying to get away from officers.

YouTube link.

Druce, who suffered a stroke a year ago, says he tried to go after Clemons, but was too weak. A Pinellas Park police officer was in the area and was able to stop Clemons a few blocks away from the crash scene. Druce was able to get his chair back. “No good deed goes unpunished,” he said. One person involved in the crash was critically injured. Clemons, from Largo, was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended or revoked license, reckless driving with property damage and injury, and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and injury. He has previously been arrested for fleeing and eluding, possession of hydromorphone hydrochloride, possession of marijuana, fleeing and eluding, and violation of probation for aggravated battery.

Miscreants held in cells for chasing after cyclist

Police in Ireland have posted photos of a troublesome pair who were apprehended after they chased a man on his bicycle.

"Two noisy howlers arrested today after they chased a man on a bike around Finglas," they said.
No official charges were brought, but it is understood that neither suspect evoked their right to remain silent. Both Jack Russells were picked up on Saturday afternoon.

Anyone with information on the dogs can contact Finglas Garda Station in Dublin. Gardai said it is hoped that they will soon be released into the custody of their owner.

A Bear With An Itch

Although, it is more probably scent marking. (Additional YouTube video).

YouTube link.

Snakes Chase Baby Iguana

In this clip from the BBC series Planet Earth II, Sir David Attenborough narrates a life-and-death action scene. On Fernandina, one of the Galapagos Islands, most baby marine iguanas are eaten by racer snakes as soon as they hatch. Of course, enough iguanas survive to lay more eggs. Will this one?

(Streamable link)

It gets pretty intense. If you prefer, you can watch the Benny Hill version. Planet Earth II will air in the United States beginning January 28th.

Animal Pictures