CAROLINA NATURALLY: Dec 25, 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of
Carolina Naturally

The 25th Xmas Tree ...!

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

Season's Greetings ... !

Today is - Xmas

You want the unvarnished truth?

Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Antigua - Argentina - Aruba - Bahamas - Barbados - Belize - Bolivia - Brazil - Canada - Chile Colombia - Costa Rica - Dominican Republic- Ecuador - El Salvador - French Guiana - Guatemala Haiti - Honduras - Jamaica - Mexico - Nicaragua - Paraguay - Peru - Puerto Rico
Sint Eustatius and Saba - Sint Maartin - Trinidad and Tobago - Turks and Caicos - United States Uruguay - Venezuela - Virgin Islands
Europe
Albania - Armenia - Austria - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - England - Estonia - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Isle of Mann - Italy - Jersey - Latvia - Lithuania - Macedonia Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Northern Ireland - Norway - Poland Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Scotland - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
Afghanistan - Azerbaijan - Bangladesh - Brunei - Burma - Cambodia - China - Hong Kong - India Indonesia Iran - Iraq - Israel - Japan - Jordan - Kazakhstan - Korea - Lebanon - Malaysia - Mauritius
Mongolia - Nepal - Oman - Pakistan - Palestine - Saudi Arabia - Singapore - Sri Lanka - Taiwan Thailand - Tibet - United Arab Emirates - Uzbekistan - Vietnam - Yemen
Africa
Algeria - Chad - Congo - Egypt - Ethiopia - Ivory Coast - Ghana - Kenya - Libya - Madagascar Morocco - Mozambique - Nigeria - South Africa - Sudan - Tunisia - Zambia - Zimbabwe
The Pacific
Australia - French Polynesia - Guam - Marshall Islands - New Zealand - Papua New Guinea Philippines

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

Today in History

376		In Milan, Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius to perform public penance for his massacre.
800		The pope crowns Charlemagne emperor in Rome.
1066		William I is crowned king of England.
1621		The governor of New Plymouth prevents newcomers from playing cards.
1651		The General Court of Boston levies a five shilling fine on anyone caught “observing any such day as Xmas.”
1776		Patriot General George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops during the American Revolution. Washington hoped to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Xmas at their winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey.
1861		Stonewall Jackson spends Xmas with his wife; their last together.
1862		John Hunt Morgan and his raiders clash with Union forces near Bear Wallow, Kentucky.
1862		Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln visit hospitals in the Washington D.C. area on this Xmas Day.
1912		Italy lands troops in Albania to protect its interests during a revolt there.
1914		German and British troops on the Western Front declare an unofficial truce to celebrate Xmas during World War I.
1918		A revolt erupts in Berlin.
1925		U.S. troops in Nicaragua disarm insurgents in support of the Diaz regime.
1927		The Mexican congress opens land to foreign investors, reversing the 1917 ban enacted to preserve the domestic economy.
1939		Finnish troops enter Soviet territory.
1941		Free French troops occupy the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the Canadian coast.
1944		Prime Minister Winston Churchill goes to Athens to seek an end to the Greek civil war.
1946		Chiang Kai-shek offers a new Chinese constitution in Nanking pledging universal suffrage.
1950		Scottish nationalists steal the Stone of Scone from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. The 485 pound stone was recovered in April 1951.
1962		The Bay of Pigs captives, upon their return to the United States, vow to return to Cuba and topple Fidel Castro.
1965		Entertainer Chris Noel gives her first performance for the USO at two hospitals in California; became a star on Armed Forces Radio and Television, entertaining troops in Vietnam; in 1984 Veterans Network honored her with a Distinguished Vietnam Veteran award.
1973		U.S. astronauts onboard the Skylab space station take a seven-hour walk in space and photograph the comet Kohoutek.
1976		Over 100 Muslims, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, die when their boat sinks.
1979		Egypt begins major restoration of the Sphinx.
1991		Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s first and last executive president, resigns. The Soviet Union no longer exists.
2006		James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, dies at age 73.

Editorial Comment

The American people ARE speaking and speaking loudly and firmly.
They are not pleased with the theft of their country.
Meanwhile on the Dark Side ...
The madness of the lunatic fringe is only getting deeper.
One would not be held to blame if they thought the insanity was at it's height in the depths of the murky fetid swamp that is the wingnut brain before the theft of the election, but since the theft the heights have ascended exponentially as they have plunged ever deeper into the depths of the abyss.
All the while they accuse everyone else of their own foibles.
In blog news ...
We have had a banner year this year.
Readership has exploded.
Several wingnut trolls have been incarcerated for some heinous felonies because they made the mistake of attempting their perversion here.
All in All, a most wondrous year.
The coming year will be even greater.
In other words ...
We are spending time with the family and enjoying our life this weekend so today (Sunday) we are posting fluff and fill for the day - Humorous, Comical, Funny and the like so that we can all remember the true meaning of existence ...
Remember, as always ....

Have Fun and Be Happy

2016 Was The Year Of The Farewell Album

Leonard Cohen. David Bowie. So many gone this year.

Why Do We Kiss Under Mistletoe?

The sight of mistletoe may either send you scurrying or, if you have your eye on someone, awaiting an opportunity beneath its snow-white berries. But how did the festive tradition of kissing under mistletoe come about?

YouTube link

Wishing You A Merry Xmas

Heidi Klum On Being a So-Called Cougar and Going Topless at the Beach

by Lisa Beebe

Heidi Klum is 43, and her boyfriend, art dealer Vito Schnabel, is 30, but according to her that 13 year age difference doesn’t make her a cougar. In a new interview with Ocean Drive magazine, she says, “It’s not about age. We have an amazing connection, we have fun together, and we love each other. It doesn’t matter what people say. As long as you know when you close your door in your own home, you have an amazing time together. That’s really all that matters.” The supermodel and lingerie designer also explains her fondness for going topless at the beach. “I grew up going to nude beaches with my parents, so I’m a nudist. I have no problems with nudity at all. I’m very free. When I go to the beach, it’s in a very remote place where there are not a lot of people, and I like to go topless.”

Senator Beauregard Claghorn

Andrew Gelman sorts things into categories. One of his categories is called "Foghorn Leghorn," defined as a parody that is more famous than the original. Many of the old Warners Brothers cartoons fall into this category, as they parodied stars, slang, and news of the day which are passé, while the cartoons live on. But why Foghorn Leghorn? The Warner Brothers rooster was a parody of Senator Beauregard Claghorn, a radio character on The Fred Allen Show played by Kenny Delmar.

Claghorn had an unshakable obsession with the South, and would proudly voice his disdain for the North in humorous ways. For instance, the Senator refused to ever wear a "Union suit" or drive through the Lincoln Tunnel when he visited New York City, and he claimed to drink only out of Dixie cups. The Senator even rebuked Allen for saying the word "no" in his presence, saying "N-O.. That's North abbreviated!!"

(YouTube link)

Delmar, as Claghorn, starred in the 1947 movie It's a Joke, Son! which featured the above clip. The entire movie is available at YouTube. Later in his career, Delmar found that Warner Brothers had copyrighted Foghorn Leghorn, and he had to get their permission to perform as his Claghorn character.

My Goodness ...

Victorians' Xmas Parlor Games Will Leave You Burned, Bruised, And Puking

When the family gets together for Xmas these days, there's gossip, eating, watching TV together, and maybe a game of Uno or Monopoly. During the Victorian era, TV was yet to come, and parlor games provided the excitement and violence we get from our home screens today. Violence? Yes, some of the games they played for holiday cheer were downright sadistic, like the one called Snapdragon.

Traditionally played on Xmas Eve, players of Snapdragon must find themselves a broad, shallow bowl, and then prepare to risk their health. Into this bowl should be poured two dozen raisins. If raisins are hard to come by, almonds, grapes or plums will suffice. You should then pour a bottle of brandy into the bowl so that the raisins bob up and down like drowning flies. Place the bowl on a sturdy table, turn the lights down low, and then, with appropriate panache, ignite the brandy.
To play Snapdragon, arrange your family and friends around the blazing bowl so that their faces are lit in a demonic fashion and then, one by one, take turns plunging your hands into the flames in order to try and grab a raisin. If you can accomplish this, promptly extinguish the flaming raisin by popping it into your mouth and eating it.
As one contemporary commenter wrote, the game “provided a considerable amount of laughter and merriment at the expense of the unsuccessful competitors.”

That's only one game. Other Victorian parlor games involved falling over obstacles, drinking, punishments, and ghost stories. Read about them at Atlas Obscura.

Things That Confuse Americans About British Xmas Traditions

Xmas poppers, figgy pudding and mince pies? They're some of the most common Xmas traditions across the pond, but those words make almost no sense to practically any American. Fortunately for those hoping to get a better idea of what the Brits are doing for Xmas, Mental Floss has collected a whole list of traditions in England that make no sense to those living elsewhere. If you watch Doctor Who or other BBC shows with a Xmas special, it's a great way to understand what the heck they're up to.

So check out the full list (including what Boxing Day is) over at Mental Floss.

Candy

Xmas shopping

Norm and Shirley were in a local shopping center just before Xmas. Shirley suddenly noticed that Norm was missing, and as they had a lot to do, she called him on his cell phone. Shirley asked, “Norm, where are you? You know that we have lots to do.”
Norm said, “Do you remember the jewelry store we went into about 59 years ago, and you fell in love with a diamond necklace? I could not afford it at the time, and I said that one day I would get it for you.”
Little tears started to flow down Shirley’s cheek, and she got all choked up. “Yes, I do remember that shop,” she replied.
“Well, I’m in the Hooters next to that store.”

The 'Santa Lie'

How the 'Santa Lie' Helps Teach Children to Be Good Little Consumers

Soap

Xmas Grinch Popcorn

Here's a recipe so easy the kids can do it -and they need something to do during Xmas break. Xmas Grinch Popcorn would also be perfect to much on whirl watching How the Grinch Stole Xmas. The popcorn is coated with green candy, and decorated with M&Ms, hearts (three sizes too small, of course) and red Grinch eyes. Get the recipe and instructions at Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons.

The 5 States (and One City) Where You Can Legally Give Weed as a Xmas Present

The 5 States (and One City) Where You Can Legally Give Weed as a Xmas Present

Brownies

This Pizza Inside a Burger is the Sexiest Food Creation We've Ever Seen

Pizza and burgers are two of the most incredible junk foods in the history of snacking and while there are plenty of cheeseburger pizzas out there -they're usually a poor combination of both with just hamburger and pickles thrown on top of a pizza.

(Video Link)

But this pizza by Hellthy Junk Food truly combines the two foods -with a bacon cheeseburger complete with pickles, ketchup and mustard surrounded by a pepperoni pizza. You can learn how to make this monstrosity for yourself, but make sure your heart can handle such a monster meal before daring to consume it. The recipe is here.

The Craziest Flavored Vodkas Ever

There's nothing quite like a shot of fresh cut grass. Or smoked salmon. No, really, those are real flavors of vodka and they're only two of the thirty five insance flavors featured in this Supercall article. While most are a little odd, but at least charming (bubble gum or cinnamon churros), there are others that are utterly terrible sounding -like tobacco or the naga chilli that measures in at 250,000 scovilles.

See the full list here

Retro Ads

You Could Voice a Dog in the New Wes Anderson Movie

Wes Anderson has recently announced that his next film will be an animated feature about dogs called "Isle of Dogs." To help promote the film and raise money for The Film Foundation, he's launched a crowd funding campaign where all money goes to the non-profit and contributors can win prizes like DVDs and books signed by the director. But that's nothing compared to the grand prize -a trip for two to London, a tour of the production and the opportunity to voice one of the dogs in the movie. If you've ever wanted to live forever in film but have a face for radio, this might just be your big chance.

Get the full details on the contest over at The Daily Dot.

Is the Media Normalizing the KKK?

After Trump, Is the Media Normalizing the KKK?

NSA Employee of the Month

A Gang Of Naughty Santas Raided And Robbed A Bar In NYC

In the last five years SantaCon NYC has gone from being a fun Christmas-themed costume party in the streets to a full blown night of drunken debauchery and mayhem that would make Krampus proud.
And this year the drunken SantaCon crowd took their crusade to ruin Santa Claus for all children to the next level- by raiding and robbing a bar in New York's East Village neighborhood.

According to Paul O'Sullivan, owner of the One and One pub, a group of bad Santas entered the pub's lower lounge area around 2 p.m. and "managed to storm in, rob all the booze, smash up all the glassware and steal all the Christmas decorations," causing $5,000 in damages.O'Sullivan said he came in to see half a dozen Santas standing on the bar drinking liquor straight out of the bottles, while "maybe a hundred more" passed around stolen booze and smashed glasses.
Sounds like somebody needs to start a KrampusCon in NYC so the disciples of Krampus can run all those bad Santas out of town!

Backpage.com hit with new pimping, money-laundering charges in California

Carl Ferrer, James Larkin, Michael Lacey

Cookies and Milk

Colo, The World's Oldest Gorilla, Just Turned 60

The lifespan of gorillas ranges from about 30-40, so when Colo celebrated her 60th birthday yesterday, it was kind of a big deal. The western lowland gorilla was actually the first gorilla born in human care all the way back in 1956.

When she was born, keepers knew little about the animal's pregnancy so she was born weeks earlier than expected. She was abandoned by her mom at birth, so keepers learned a lot about gorillas as they had to raise her by hand. Between giving birth to three babies and teaching keepers about gorillas' lifespan, she has helped gorilla conservation efforts considerably.If you want to see Colo in person, you can visit her at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio and if you want to learn more about her, you can read about her at Yahoo.