Countries with the worst human rights abuses tend to prohibit
the publication of dissenting views. Only 14 percent of the world's
population live in a country with a truly free press.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Chinese Company Gives More Than Half of Its 12,000 Employees a Vacation in France
The Chinese firm employees about 12,000 people. It recently gave 6,400 of them a vacation in France, including a mass tour of the Louvre in Paris before a visit to the lovely Riviera city of Nice. The Guardian reports:
A huge Chinese company, Tiens Group, is treating more than half of its 12,000 employees to a four-day holiday in France and has booked up 140 hotels in the capital Paris as part of the package, a French foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday.This is a forward-thinking move by billionaire company chairman Li Jinyuan that will no doubt enhance the performance of his employees and therefore massively increase profits. Surely other enterprising and visionary corporate leaders could do likewise to benefit their companies ...
According to Le Parisien newspaper, the trip by the 6,400-strong group includes a mass visit to the Louvre museum, and they are expected to spend €13m euros (US$15m) in total.
How Health Insurers Rip Off You And Your Employer
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan added hidden fees to hospital claims
Towels covered in massage oils caused fire at launderette
Towels soaked in massage oils sparked a fire at a launderette in Crawley, West Sussex, last Saturday night.
Three fire engines were called to the launderette on Tilgate Parade at
about 10.15pm.
It is unclear exactly how the fire started but it is believed to have
been accidental and caused by the towels combusting due to the oil
becoming hot.
The crews used four sets of breathing apparatus and two hose reels to tackle the blaze before leaving the scene at 10.50pm. A spokeswoman for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said: "The circumstances of this fire are unusual, but certainly not unheard of.
"If materials with oil residue are heated and then left in a tumble dryer, or are folded into piles or stacks before they are cool, there is a risk of self-combustion. It is really important to wash materials that have absorbed oil at a high temperature and to use the right detergent."
The crews used four sets of breathing apparatus and two hose reels to tackle the blaze before leaving the scene at 10.50pm. A spokeswoman for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said: "The circumstances of this fire are unusual, but certainly not unheard of.
"If materials with oil residue are heated and then left in a tumble dryer, or are folded into piles or stacks before they are cool, there is a risk of self-combustion. It is really important to wash materials that have absorbed oil at a high temperature and to use the right detergent."
Mother unhappy that daughter is required to perform naked in order to pass art class final
“It's just wrong. Is this the memory that my daughter's going to carry
with her for the rest of her life? It bothers me. I’m not sending her to
school for this. How terrible. This sucks. This is just wrong. And to
blanketly say you must be naked in order to pass my class, it makes me
sick to my stomach,” the unidentified mother says.
Students are required to create “a gesture that traces, outlines or speaks about your ‘erotic self(s),'” according to the Art Visual course syllabus. In the performance, all of the students are naked, along with the professor, Roberto Dominguez, who has taught the class for 11 years.
“It’s the standard canvas for performance art and body art,” Dominguez
says. “It is all very controlled. If they are uncomfortable with this
gesture, they should not take the class.” Professor Dominguez adds that
he has never before received a complaint.
Students are required to create “a gesture that traces, outlines or speaks about your ‘erotic self(s),'” according to the Art Visual course syllabus. In the performance, all of the students are naked, along with the professor, Roberto Dominguez, who has taught the class for 11 years.
Man compared neighbor's Hindu statue with Nazi swastika
A religious spat has broken out between two neighbors in rural
Auckland, New Zealand, after one erected a 6.4m (21-feet) statue of the
Hindu god Shiva.
Ravin Chand says he installed the 30-tonne religious effigy so that he
and his family could pray to it.
But neighbor Bryce Watts, a Catholic, said the marble statue was
"bizarre" and "offensive".
"Religiously and culturally it's a bit insensitive to us and I can't
believe they're able to do this. Part of our property looks at it and
it's part of a religion we don't agree with," he said.
"I don't see why we should have it poked down our throats in such a big
way."
It took Chand more than a week to assemble the statue and he defended it
saying it was part of Hindu culture. "It's just that the size is a bit
bigger," he said.
Asked why he had mounted the giant deity, Chand said: "Do you need a
reason to pray? I don't think so."
He would not reveal what the statue cost, saying only "it cost me an arm
and a leg. I don't want to put a price on god", he said.
Chand said he commissioned the carving of the marble statue from a
sculptor in China in June last year.
It arrived in New Zealand in April, and had been sitting in a container
on his Clevedon property before being erected this week.
It was so large it had to be mounted on solid concrete foundations.
Chand said the correct council consent and geo-technical inspections were completed beforehand. But Watts said he was not informed about the proposed statue, and said it was "bizarre" it could be erected without any consultation with neighboring properties. "They've let it go ahead to be built without consulting us, and we're probably the most affected here because everywhere we go on our property it's kind of there." Watts said he had complained to Chand but there was little else he could do because the Auckland Council had already consented to it being built. "I've been to the council and asked about it and evidently it was within their rights to do it and it doesn't need a permit, even though it's a 6.4m-high concrete statue.
"It's 10m from our boundary which is within the rules where you can
build a building. It's like, 'bad luck, if you don't like it, it's your
problem'. I find it really hard to believe in this day and age that this
can happen."
Chand said Watts had phoned his wife, but was the only person to
complain. "Everybody else who has gone past has stopped and admired it,"
he said.
"[Watts] compared it with 'me putting up a [Nazi] swastika next door to you'. I said, 'Well if you want to put it up, feel free to put it up. Nobody can stop you from doing that, it's your property.'
I'm not bothered. I haven't got time for people like that.
I think it's just because it's something different, that's why [Watts is complaining]. People aren't used to it," he said.
There's a short video here.
Chand said the correct council consent and geo-technical inspections were completed beforehand. But Watts said he was not informed about the proposed statue, and said it was "bizarre" it could be erected without any consultation with neighboring properties. "They've let it go ahead to be built without consulting us, and we're probably the most affected here because everywhere we go on our property it's kind of there." Watts said he had complained to Chand but there was little else he could do because the Auckland Council had already consented to it being built. "I've been to the council and asked about it and evidently it was within their rights to do it and it doesn't need a permit, even though it's a 6.4m-high concrete statue.
"It's 10m from our boundary which is within the rules where you can
build a building. It's like, 'bad luck, if you don't like it, it's your
problem'. I find it really hard to believe in this day and age that this
can happen."
Chand said Watts had phoned his wife, but was the only person to
complain. "Everybody else who has gone past has stopped and admired it,"
he said.
"[Watts] compared it with 'me putting up a [Nazi] swastika next door to you'. I said, 'Well if you want to put it up, feel free to put it up. Nobody can stop you from doing that, it's your property.'
I'm not bothered. I haven't got time for people like that.
I think it's just because it's something different, that's why [Watts is complaining]. People aren't used to it," he said.
There's a short video here.
Man broke into home and ate family's chicken
The officer notified the jail staff, who sent deputies to look for
Bennett.
As the deputies and police officers began looking, Bennett allegedly
kicked in the back door of a residence and went inside. The residence
was occupied by a woman and three children, Busby said.
Bennett allegedly made his way to the kitchen, where he ate Zaxby’s chicken valued at $13.98, according to the incident and offense report. The woman who lived in the house gathered up the children, called 911 and fled. By this time, probation officers and jail staff had also joined the chase. Bennett was eventually located and restrained without further incident. His clothes were recovered at a different location.
According to jail records, Bennett had been arrested for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace the day before and had only been out of jail for about an hour when the chase began. The burglary charge stems from his breaking into the house. He has not been charged with any other offenses. Burglary in the second degree is a class B felony in Alabama, punishable upon conviction by two to 20 years in prison.
Bennett allegedly made his way to the kitchen, where he ate Zaxby’s chicken valued at $13.98, according to the incident and offense report. The woman who lived in the house gathered up the children, called 911 and fled. By this time, probation officers and jail staff had also joined the chase. Bennett was eventually located and restrained without further incident. His clothes were recovered at a different location.
According to jail records, Bennett had been arrested for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace the day before and had only been out of jail for about an hour when the chase began. The burglary charge stems from his breaking into the house. He has not been charged with any other offenses. Burglary in the second degree is a class B felony in Alabama, punishable upon conviction by two to 20 years in prison.
Mummy Incest
Incestuous marriages were common among ancient Egyptian
royalty and now a study shows there's physical evidence of the practice.
The pharaohs believed they descended from the gods so inbreeding was seen as a way to retain the sacred bloodline.
Has there ever been a women-only army?
The Ministry of Defense has long debated whether women should
fight for the nation’s armed forces, but King Gezo of Dahomey had no
such reservations
19th-century illustration of a Dahomey warrior
The Kings of Dahomey (modern-day Benin) had used women as palace
guards back in the 18th century, but by 1850, Gezo had thousands of
all-female regiments in his army. The Dahomeans were fighting enemies
who greatly outnumbered them, so it was decided to bolster their forces
with fierce female warriors, known as the Mino.
They were skilled and deadly opponents, thanks in part to their often brutal training. The Mino climbed thorn hedges to get used to pain, and executed prisoners in order to hone killer instincts.
Although they were equipped with firearms, their specialty was hand-to-hand combat and they went into action wielding razor sharp machetes. Their last battles were in the 1890s, when they found themselves up against the French who were colonizing West Africa.
The undoubted bravery of Dahomey’s soldiers, both male and female, was no match for the modern weaponry of the French and they were eventually, and bloodily, defeated.
They were skilled and deadly opponents, thanks in part to their often brutal training. The Mino climbed thorn hedges to get used to pain, and executed prisoners in order to hone killer instincts.
Although they were equipped with firearms, their specialty was hand-to-hand combat and they went into action wielding razor sharp machetes. Their last battles were in the 1890s, when they found themselves up against the French who were colonizing West Africa.
The undoubted bravery of Dahomey’s soldiers, both male and female, was no match for the modern weaponry of the French and they were eventually, and bloodily, defeated.
Sea Level Rise
11 Super-Cool Science Photos From The Past Decade
An electron microscope photograph shows self-assembling hair-like polymers around a polystyrene sphere, about two micrometers in diameter. It won first place in the National Science Foundation's 2009 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.Self-assembling plastic is a pretty far out concept, but the detail and color in a microscopic image is amazing in itself. This is just one of a collection of fascinating scientific images, one for each year going back to 2005, covering a wide variety of disciplines, at HuffPo. Some you' ve seen here before, but are worth a second look.
Mounted police officer hailed a hero after reviving dog with mouth to mouth
Pam Curry from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, can't describe how thankful she
is that Mounted Patrol Sgt. Jon Levi saved and revived her dog, Abby,
from their smoke-filled home on Wednesday.
Abby, a Bichon, is owned by Timothy and Pam Curry. Abby was in her
kennel inside the garage when smoke filled the home. Sheriff's deputies
responded where Timothy's mother asked Sgt. Levi, who was backup
supervisor, to rescue the dog inside the garage.
Sgt. Levi went inside to rescue Abby, who was unresponsive in her
kennel.
"The dog was seizing and couldn't breathe," Sgt. Levi said. "I grabbed
the kennel and snatched the dog out of it. The dog was gasping. I
grabbed the muzzle and gave breaths.
I gave the dog more breaths," Sgt. Levi said. "She took a deep breath."
Sgt. Pedigo and Deputy Nick Coble then put water on Abby to cool her
down.
"I gave more breaths," Sgt. Levi said, adding when Abby started panting
he thought it was a good sign.
When Curry arrived, Abby was lying on the ground covered with soot and wet. "I was just glad I was there at the right time at the right place," Sgt. Levi said. "I would want somebody to do the same for me. I'm sure the dog is part of their family. I'm just glad it worked." The Currys took the dog to a veterinarian for treatment. "If it wasn't for Sgt. Levi's fast actions, the animal would not have survived," Sgt. Pedigo said.
Pam Curry said she was happy Sgt. Levi revived Abby. "He didn't have to do what he did," she said. "I thank him so much. Words just can't express how thankful my family is." Sheriff Robert Arnold said Sgt. Levi did an "awesome job" in saving the pet. "Sgt. Levi has a great love for animals and he showed that by going above and beyond to save Abby," Sheriff Arnold said. Sgt. Levi will receive a Letter of Commendation for saving the pet.
When Curry arrived, Abby was lying on the ground covered with soot and wet. "I was just glad I was there at the right time at the right place," Sgt. Levi said. "I would want somebody to do the same for me. I'm sure the dog is part of their family. I'm just glad it worked." The Currys took the dog to a veterinarian for treatment. "If it wasn't for Sgt. Levi's fast actions, the animal would not have survived," Sgt. Pedigo said.
Pam Curry said she was happy Sgt. Levi revived Abby. "He didn't have to do what he did," she said. "I thank him so much. Words just can't express how thankful my family is." Sheriff Robert Arnold said Sgt. Levi did an "awesome job" in saving the pet. "Sgt. Levi has a great love for animals and he showed that by going above and beyond to save Abby," Sheriff Arnold said. Sgt. Levi will receive a Letter of Commendation for saving the pet.
Pit PAC
Pit Bulls Now Have Their Own Political Action Committee Foolish tourists chased by bear and cubs after getting too close at Yellowstone National Park
Tourists in Yellowstone National Park got a little too close to the
wildlife last week, and one mother just couldn't bear it.
A watchful black bear sow sent the curious onlookers running after they
crowded her three cubs in a section of the park in Montana.
"Keep going! Go! Go!" Yellowstone Park Ranger John Kerr is heard yelling
as the tourists scatter in a video.
"These tourists were absolutely in danger," Bob Gibson, Montana Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks Communication & Education Program Manager, said.
"Black bears are usually shy of people. But you put them with their
cubs and they get really protective.
"But you put them with their cubs and they get really protective. You never want to be between a bear and its cub." The cubs in the video are about 13 months old. A black bear cub spends the first year or so of its life learning survival skills from its mother before going off on its own. The mother becomes less protective as the cubs get closer to leaving her den.
According to Gibson, this encounter could have been deadly. "Had
they been the young of the year and 10 days old, the mom would have
been all over the tourists."
Gibson advises visitors to Yellowstone to stay as far away from the
bears as possible, especially in the spring when cubs are born and in
the fall when the bears are getting ready to hibernate and are more
protective of their food sources.
"But you put them with their cubs and they get really protective. You never want to be between a bear and its cub." The cubs in the video are about 13 months old. A black bear cub spends the first year or so of its life learning survival skills from its mother before going off on its own. The mother becomes less protective as the cubs get closer to leaving her den.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
The Daily Drift
Carolina Naturally is read in 203 countries around the world daily.
Blended Family ... !
Today is - International Day Of The Family
You want the unvarnished truth?
You want the unvarnished truth?
Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told
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Europe
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Glavinitsa and Sofia, Bulgaria
Brno, Habry, Karlin, Pardubice, Prague, Stare, Mesto and Zin, Czech Republic
Chester, Leeds, London, Manchester, England
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Heidelberg, Homebush, Melbourne and Perth, Australia
Roxas, Philippines
Today in History
| 1264 | King Henry III is captured by his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, at the Battle of Lewes. | |
| 1509 | At the Battle of Agnadello, the French defeat the Venitians in Northern Italy. | |
| 1610 | French King Henri IV (Henri de Navarre) is assassinated by François Ravillac, a fanatical monk. | |
| 1796 | English physician Edward Jenner gives the first successful smallpox vaccination. | |
| 1804 | Explorer William Clark sets off from St. Louis, Missouri. | |
| 1853 | Gail Borden applies for a patent for condensed milk. | |
| 1863 | Union General Nathanial Banks heads towards Port Hudson along the Mississippi River. | |
| 1897 | Guglielmo Marconi sends first communication by wireless telegraph. | |
| 1897 | "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa is performed for the first time in Philadelphia. | |
| 1935 | A plebiscite in the Philippines ratifies an independence agreement. | |
| 1940 | Holland surrenders to Germany. | |
| 1942 | The British Army, in retreat from Burma, reach India. | |
| 1948 | Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion establishes the State of Israel. | |
| 1961 | A bus carrying black and white civil rights activists is bombed and burned in Alabama. | |
| 1969 | Three companies of the 101st Airborne Division fail to push North Vietnamese forces off Hill 937 in South Vietnam. | |
| 1973 | The U.S. space station Skylab is launched. | |
| 1991 | In South Africa, Winnie Mandela is sentenced to six years in prison for her part in the kidnapping and beating of three black youths and the death of a fourth. |
92-Year Old World War II Fighter Pilot Flies a Spitfire Again
Lofthouse and her colleagues, which included her sister, flew many different types of aircraft, including the Spitfire. Recently, she got the chance to fly in one again (auto-start video) during ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day.
Fire And Ice: Norse Mythology Explained
The attributes of these deities reflect the important parts of contemporary life in the Dark Ages, consequently the study of Norse myths and stories has yielded a wealth of information about the time.
Iowa Store Clerk Refused To Sell A Woman Tampons Because They’re ‘Gross’
This store clerk should probably run for Congress as a Republican.
The Secret Attack on Gallipoli in 1473
During the Venetian-Ottoman wars, a group of seven men
attempted a secret attack on the Ottoman base at Gallipoli. The attack
did not go completely as planned…
The newly published book The Deeds of Commander Pietro Mocenigo
offers an eyewitness account of warfare in the Eastern Mediterranean
during the years 1470 to 1474. It was written by Coriolano Cippicio, a
Dalmatian nobleman who served as a galley captain in the Venetian fleet,
which was commanded by the admiral Pietro Mocenigo. The work offers a
vivid account of the naval activities of the fleet, including raids
along the Anatolian coastline and taking control of the island of
Cyprus. It was also written in a classical style and is considered “one
of the finest pieces of Renaissance history writing.”While tensions between the Venetian and Ottoman empires remained high during the fifteenth-century, their lucrative trade connections prevented any outbreak of war until the year 1463. In that year an Albanian slave of the Ottoman commander of Athens fled to Venetian territory, taking with him 100,000 silver coins. When the slave converted to Christianity, the Venetian authorities refused to extradite him, the Ottoman commander attacked one of their fortresses, and within months Venice had declared war.
Cippicio’s account begins in 1470, when the Venetian senate choosing Pietro to be the new commander of their fleet, as he “was highly esteemed for his godly life and the integrity of his faith as he was for for his indomitable spirit and experience in warfare. He had always enjoyed the reputation of a valorous commander, a distinguished senator and a great citizen.”
The episode that took place at Gallipoli is at the start of Book Two of the Deeds, when Pietro and his fleet were at Nauplion (now known as the Greek city of Nafplio):
While the commander attended to the
work on the fortifications a certain Antonio came to see him, a Sicilian
youth of great audacity, virtuous and courageous, determined to
accomplish a memorable feat. He told the commander that he had been
captured at Chalcis by the Turks and then spent a long time as a slave
in Gallipoli. There he noticed that the naval arsenal of the Ottoman in
Gallipoli was not guarded at night. Also, there was a large warehouse in
the arsenal, stockpiled with all kinds of of naval equipment such as
sails, hemp ropes and other necessities for rigging vessels, sufficient
to outfit superbly over a hundred galleys. He told the commander that he
was ready to burn down the warehouse together with the fleet, provided
he was given what he needed to accomplish this. He requested a fishing
boat manned by six companions with whom he would pass through the
straights of the Hellespont called the Dardanelles pretending to be a
merchant.
Commander Mocenigo agreed to the plan and gave Antonio a boat. Once
he was ready, Antonio and six companions sailed through the Hellespont
carrying a cargo of apples, and arrived at Gallipoli. Cippicio
continues:After nightfall, during the second watch, he sneaked to the warehouse, which he was familiar with and knew well, broke the lock chains with a set of pliers, went inside, and set fire to several corners of the place. And because among other things there were large quantities of pitch and tallow, the fire surged at once, engulfed everything in no time, and its flames burst outside of the building. While Antonio sped to the arsenal to set fire to the boats the locals, awoken by the roar of the conflagration, gathered from all sides. Alarmed by the multitude and by the shouts of the people who rushed to the blaze, Antonio gave up on the arsenal, hurried to his boat and attempted to sail out of the Hellespont. But as he set out for the opposite shore, the torch that he had hastily tossed in the boat ignited some sulfuric powder laying there and the vessel was engulfed in flames. The boat sank and Antonio and his comrades got to the shore and hid themselves in a nearby forest. Meanwhile the warehouse and everything inside it burned to the ground.
The next day the local Ottoman commander ordered a search for the arsonists, and his men, after seeing the many apples floating around in the waters, discovered the sunken ship. Concluding that they were responsible for the attack, the Ottomans followed their tracks into forest.
As they neared the place where
Antonio hid, one of his comrades, a courageous young man by the name of
Rado, a Dalmatian from the district of Budua, desiring to die valiantly,
leaped out and hurled himself on the enemy with a sword in hand and cut
down two of them; then arrows and stones from all sides felled him.
Antonio
and the other five men were then captured, and according to Cippicio
were sent to the Ottoman Sultan. In a conversation modelled on a popular
story from ancient Rome, he has the young Antonio bravely denounce the
Sultan to his face, telling him that he was “the common pest of all
peoples” and that “I wish that I could to do the same to you!” The
amazed Sultan then ordered him and his companions to all be executed.
Cippicio concludes:
This is how the valiant young man
perished, eager to accomplish a feat beyond his powers. The Venetian
senate, unable to reward Antonio according to his merits, compensated
his younger brother and his virgin sister. His brother received a yearly
stipend and his sister was a granted a dowry from the public funds.
The Deeds of Commander Pietro Mocenigo, by Coriolano Cippicio, is edited and translated by Kiril Petkov and is published by Italica Press – Click here to learn more about the book.
'Roswell Alien' Picture
School band teacher put on administrative leave for having facial hair he says he can't shave
But for the past month, the band has been without a director.
"I was recently, on April 15th placed on administrative leave," said
Christoval Band Director Darrington White.
The reason the school district states is facial hair.
"I've never been through this in my entire 31 years of teaching," said
White.
The school district does have a grooming police that says all staff
members involved with student instructions must be clean shaven.
However, although White says he would be more than happy to follow the
school's dress code, a medical condition called Tinea Barbae does not
allow him to shave.
"It kind of itches and hurts after shaving and it stays with me, then it
gets worse and worse, then I have scars on my face," said White.
The doctor’s note clearly states Mr. White needs to have a beard,
or else all the symptoms he just described would become extremely
painful and disfiguring. According the school district the doctor's note
isn't enough because they say the impairment “doesn't limit a major
life activity or operation of a major bodily system.”
"It's a situation that is just plain ridiculous because a teacher has a
medical condition that prevents him from shaving a very well manicured
goatee,” said Christoval Band Supporter Gina Hielckert.
Mr. White says teaching music is his passion and has taught at
Christoval ISD on and off the field for two years. In that time he has
earned three sweepstakes in a row, he says he built the band program
and his students say he's played an even bigger role in their life.
"Even though we might have had our differences, I love him to death,"
said Christoval Band Student Jonathan Hopper.
Since Mr. White was placed on administrative leave, his class has been
manned by a substitute; students say the change has been frustrating for
the band, and a lot less productive.
"We have held our own but it sure would have been a lot easier with a
teacher," said Dusty Strickland.
"My main thing is, I just want to be left alone and allowed to teach.
I'm here to teach and be a music teacher; I’m not here for facial hair
issues," said White.
It has been revealed that two other male employees who work with
students have beards as well and have not been placed on administrative
leave. School officials would also not comment about that situation.
Indian Agriculture Minister suggests collecting urine from multiplex cinemas to help farmers
The government in Maharashtra, western India, is hoping city dwellers
can help farmers in rural areas. The state government is working on
preparing a new policy on organic farming, which will include the usage
of human urine along with cow dung and urine to prepare fertilizers to
be used in rural farms.
The human urine, according to Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse, could
be sourced from multiplex cinemas in Mumbai, where it is found in
abundance at intervals of film screenings. Khadse says human urine could
be used to make land more fertile in rural areas and villages.
Only recently, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari revealed that he urinated on the plants in the garden of his home to make them grow bigger and
that he stored his urine in a 50-litre can for the purpose. Khadse
added that human urine needed for implementation of this massive project
could be collected from cinemas in Mumbai, where people, in large
numbers, relieve themselves during the interval. “We can collect this
urine in bulk and then transport it for use for the purpose of farming
in rural areas,” the minister said. Khadse claimed an experiment on the
same lines had been carried out at Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, an
agricultural university in Rahuri town of Ahmednagar district, at the
government’s behest.
“They have been successful in it. It works,” he added. The state policy, which is in the pipeline, will declare a 35 per cent subsidy to farmers who will opt for this method of organic farming over the use of conventional fertilizers. The policy will also give subsidies to farmers for building cowsheds and collecting human urine, cow urine, dung and converting them into fertilizers. The farmers will be encouraged to reuse waste from farms, wasted and destroyed crops, and everything else that would help in composting. The government plans to encourage community farming, in which a few villages can come together to take up a composting project that will include the use of human urine.
The resultant fertilizer can then be shared among the stakeholders.
Khadse said the government’s endorsement of organic farming and use of
human urine as part of this policy is not new, but repeated experiments
by state universities have confirmed that the use of traditional fertilizers is making land in rural area less fertile day by day, but
that cow urine and human urine have helped keep land fertile for a
longer period. “There was nothing wrong in what Gadkari had said, and
neither was it a revelation. The use of human urine has benefited
farming, since it (urine) has more nutrients. Even our own experiments
in the universities have proved the same,” he said. Khadse said the
policy would subsequently be implemented across the state. It has to be
introduced in the state Cabinet first, from where it will go to the two
houses for approval and only later be deemed official.
“They have been successful in it. It works,” he added. The state policy, which is in the pipeline, will declare a 35 per cent subsidy to farmers who will opt for this method of organic farming over the use of conventional fertilizers. The policy will also give subsidies to farmers for building cowsheds and collecting human urine, cow urine, dung and converting them into fertilizers. The farmers will be encouraged to reuse waste from farms, wasted and destroyed crops, and everything else that would help in composting. The government plans to encourage community farming, in which a few villages can come together to take up a composting project that will include the use of human urine.
Police forced to pay man compensation after recovering his stolen motorbike then selling it
A man has been given compensation after botched police paperwork led to
his stolen motorbike being sold to a new owner.
Niall McLeod’s neon green Kawasaki trail bike was stolen from the
Caledonian Village, Dalry, Ayrshire, in September 2013. Police took
details of the vehicle and pledged to keep in touch if they tracked it
down, but the 21-year-old student lost hope as the months went on.
It since emerged that the bike turned up in West Pilton two weeks after
the theft, but due to an administration error, Mr McLeod was not
notified.
The motorcycle ended up being sold at an auction of unclaimed stolen
vehicles and it is now with a new owner in Galashiels.
Officers admitted the bike’s VIN number had been taken down wrong, which
meant that when the vehicle was found, it did not tally with his
details. As it was a trail bike, there was no registration number for
police to record.
Mr McLeod has now accepted a £4,000 compensation offer from Police
Scotland, after refusing to accept an
initial offer of £1,000.
Mr McLeod, who has just completed his final year of marine biology at
Heriot Watt University, said the debacle had been frustrating.
He said: “When I got a phone call at the end of July last year, saying
‘we might have found your motorbike’, I said, it’s been a fairly long
time.
“I had expected by that point that I would never see it again. Apparently they’d written down a number wrong. It’s obviously a case of doing a computer search rather than doing any police work.” Mr McLeod, who now lives in Tollcross, said Police Scotland “finally admitted” they were in error at the end of January, offering him £1,000. He disputed this after seeking legal advice and just this week accepted a £4,000 offer of compensation. A replacement bike will cost between £2,800 and £3,200, while the remainder of the sum has been given to Mr McLeod 'for the inconvenience.' “It’s coming up for two years ago. It’s been months of me being out of pocket and at a disadvantage,” said Mr McLeod.
A police spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland can confirm an offer was made to resolve the claim in January 2015 which was repeated in April 2015. This was accepted in an email dated April 30, 2015. Police have a specialist department tasked with reuniting people with stolen property. When stolen vehicles are recovered, they are handed over to a contracted garage which stores them until they are reunited with their owners. The investigating officer and the garage attempt to notify the rightful owner, and the owner is traced they are given 21 days to collect the vehicle. If the vehicles still go unclaimed, they are sold at auction, and the money is held for a year before it is put into public funds.”
“I had expected by that point that I would never see it again. Apparently they’d written down a number wrong. It’s obviously a case of doing a computer search rather than doing any police work.” Mr McLeod, who now lives in Tollcross, said Police Scotland “finally admitted” they were in error at the end of January, offering him £1,000. He disputed this after seeking legal advice and just this week accepted a £4,000 offer of compensation. A replacement bike will cost between £2,800 and £3,200, while the remainder of the sum has been given to Mr McLeod 'for the inconvenience.' “It’s coming up for two years ago. It’s been months of me being out of pocket and at a disadvantage,” said Mr McLeod.
A police spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland can confirm an offer was made to resolve the claim in January 2015 which was repeated in April 2015. This was accepted in an email dated April 30, 2015. Police have a specialist department tasked with reuniting people with stolen property. When stolen vehicles are recovered, they are handed over to a contracted garage which stores them until they are reunited with their owners. The investigating officer and the garage attempt to notify the rightful owner, and the owner is traced they are given 21 days to collect the vehicle. If the vehicles still go unclaimed, they are sold at auction, and the money is held for a year before it is put into public funds.”
Would-be Superman fined for not wearing a seat-belt
A man who pulled out his best Superman moves on a motorway in Spain, by
hanging half his body out of a car window, has been fined for not
wearing his seat-belt, as has the driver of the car used in the stunt.
The driver, from Cantabria, was also fined for dangerous driving, as
well as endangering the lives of himself and other road users and not
properly taking care of the passengers in his car.
The stunt took place near the town of Los Corales in northern Spain. In the video, the backseat passenger leans his upper body out of the window, his arm outstretched. He knocks on the driver’s window and asks for directions to Corales, which the driver tells him is "over there".
After the video came to the attention of local police they opened an
investigation to find the stuntman who were finally tracked down on
Thursday morning.
The passengers are firemen from Corales and although they were not on
duty at the time, Cantabria’s emergency services are thinking about
taking disciplinary action against the men.
The stunt took place near the town of Los Corales in northern Spain. In the video, the backseat passenger leans his upper body out of the window, his arm outstretched. He knocks on the driver’s window and asks for directions to Corales, which the driver tells him is "over there".
Woman accused of putting skin from her feet in family’s milk
A woman from Mechanicsville. Maryland, was arrested last week for
allegedly contaminating milk served to family members at her home with
shavings of dead skin from her feet.
Sarah P. Schrock, 56, was jailed on Wednesday in lieu of 10 percent of
$10,000 bond on the food contamination charge, and committing a
second-degree assault on Jessica Whitney Hurry and Allison Depriest
during the incident on Monday at the residence off Golden Beach Road.
Schrock was alone at the home that day until Hurry and Depriest arrived at dinner time, and they were drinking the milk when Depriest began choking and coughed up what looked like dead human skin, according to court papers filed by St. Mary’s sheriff’s deputy Jaime Davis. Hurry also gagged, court papers state, and a witness found dead skin shavings in the milk after pouring it into a strainer.
Hurry told police that the suspect has dry feet because of diabetes, and that she “has trays in her room with the same kind of dead skin shavings that had come off of her feet,” according to a statement of probable cause filed by the deputy. Schrock, found at a motel room in Charlotte Hall, “denied having any involvement” in putting anything in the family’s milk, court papers state. She also was charged with violating a protective order issued last week requiring that she have no contact with Hurry.
Schrock was alone at the home that day until Hurry and Depriest arrived at dinner time, and they were drinking the milk when Depriest began choking and coughed up what looked like dead human skin, according to court papers filed by St. Mary’s sheriff’s deputy Jaime Davis. Hurry also gagged, court papers state, and a witness found dead skin shavings in the milk after pouring it into a strainer.
Hurry told police that the suspect has dry feet because of diabetes, and that she “has trays in her room with the same kind of dead skin shavings that had come off of her feet,” according to a statement of probable cause filed by the deputy. Schrock, found at a motel room in Charlotte Hall, “denied having any involvement” in putting anything in the family’s milk, court papers state. She also was charged with violating a protective order issued last week requiring that she have no contact with Hurry.
Man accused of peeping through windows while naked
A man from Zephyrhills, Florida, was arrested after he was found lurking
around an apartment complex peeping into windows while naked.
At about 2am on Wednesday, police went to Oak Run Apartments, after
receiving a report about a naked man peering into windows. Officers
found Jesus Ruiz-Aguirre, 21, of Tampa, who was naked.
Ruiz-Aguirre was arrested for loitering and prowling. Other charges are pending. Police said Aguirre could not provide a reason for being in the area naked.
Police said drugs and/or alcohol appeared to be a factor in Ruiz-Aguirre’s behavior. He is listed in the arrest affidavit as a groundskeeper at Wild Things Zoo in Dade City.
Ruiz-Aguirre was arrested for loitering and prowling. Other charges are pending. Police said Aguirre could not provide a reason for being in the area naked.
Police said drugs and/or alcohol appeared to be a factor in Ruiz-Aguirre’s behavior. He is listed in the arrest affidavit as a groundskeeper at Wild Things Zoo in Dade City.
Lost Lake is Lost Again Every Year
The drainage stops when the lake is iced up, and the rest of the year, the state of the lake depends on the rate of inflow vs. the rate of drainage. You can read a more comprehensive explanation at mental_floss.
North Sentinel Island
The Island That Rejected Civilization
It is currently not possible to visit. North Sentinel Island is the home of the Sentinelese, the last small group of surviving indigenous people who have largely rejected contact with modern civilization. Because the Sentinelese people have a history of hostility to outsiders, much is not known about the island beyond a few accounts.
The Pliocene called ...
It wants its CO2 levels back.
Earth just averaged 400 parts per million of
carbon dioxide for a full month. Our atmosphere hasn't had this much
CO2 in human history, and possibly not since the Pliocene Epoch about 3
million years ago.
Saber-toothed cats like Smilodon thrived during the Pliocene.
Earth's atmosphere is changing faster than ever before in human
history, and it's no secret why. Humans are releasing a flood of
greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide,
into the air by burning fossil fuels. CO2 lingers in the sky for
centuries, so once we reach a certain level, we're stuck for a while.
Until recently, our air hadn't contained 400 parts per million of CO2 since long before the dawn of Homo sapiens. It briefly broke 400 ppm in the Arctic in June 2012, but CO2 levels fluctuate with the seasons (due to plant growth), so they soon dipped back into the 390s. Hawaii then saw 400 ppm in May 2013, and again in March 2014. The Mauna Loa Observatory also averaged 400 ppm for all of April 2014.
And now, in yet another miserable milestone, the entire planet has
averaged above 400 ppm for a full month. That's according to the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which reported this week that Earth's average CO2 level was 400.83 ppm during March 2015.
"Reaching 400 parts per million as a global average is a
significant milestone," says Pieter Tans, lead scientist of NOAA's
Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network. "This marks the fact that
humans burning fossil fuels have caused global carbon dioxide
concentrations to rise more than 120 parts per million since
pre-industrial times. Half of that rise has occurred since 1980."
To put this in perspective, we know (thanks to ice-core samples)
that CO2 levels hadn't even flirted with 400 ppm for at least 800,000
years before this century. The history is hazier beyond that, but
research suggests CO2 levels haven't been this high since the Pliocene Epoch, which ended about 3 million years ago. Our own species, by comparison, only evolved about 200,000 years ago.
The peaks and valleys in this graph show seasonal variability, but the long-term trend is clear.
"Scientists have come to regard [the Pliocene] as the most recent
period in history when the atmosphere's heat-trapping ability was as it
is now," explains the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, "and thus as
our guide for things to come." (For anyone who isn't aware, CO2 traps
solar heat on Earth. There's a long historical link between CO2 and
temperature; see more about that here.)
- Sea level was about 5 to 40 meters (16 to 131 feet) higher than today.
- Temperatures were 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer.
- The poles were even hotter — as much as 10 degrees C (18 degrees F) more than today.
CO2 is a key part of life on Earth, of course, and lots of wildlife
flourished during the Pliocene. Fossils suggest forests grew on
Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, for example, and savannas
spread across what is now North African desert. The problem is that
we've built up swaths of fragile human infrastructure in just a few
generations, and the abrupt return of a warmer, wetter Pliocene-esque
atmosphere is already starting to wreak havoc with civilization.
Extreme weather swings can lead to crop failures and famines, for example, and rising sea levels
endanger about 200 million people who live along the planet's
coastlines. The Pliocene was prone to "frequent, intense El Niño
cycles," according to Scripps, and lacked the significant ocean
upwelling that currently supports fisheries along the west coasts of the
Americas. Corals also suffered a major extinction at the Pliocene's
peak, and an encore of that could threaten an estimated 30 million
people worldwide who now rely on coral ecosystems for food and income.
While the Pliocene might be a useful guide, there is a key
difference: The Pliocene climate developed slowly over time, and we're
reviving it at an unprecedented pace. Species can usually adapt to slow
environmental changes, but even we might have trouble keeping up with
our own upheaval.
"I think it is likely that all these ecosystem changes could recur,
even though the time scales for the Pliocene warmth are different than
the present," Scripps geologist Richard Norris said in 2013. "The main
lagging indicator is likely to be sea level just because it takes a long
time to heat the ocean and a long time to melt ice. But our dumping of
heat and CO2 into the ocean is like making investments in a pollution
'bank,' since we can put heat and CO2 in the ocean, but we will only
extract the results over the next several thousand years. And we cannot
easily withdraw either the heat or the CO2 from the ocean if we actually
get our act together and try to limit industrial pollution — the ocean
keeps what we put in it."
An artist's rendering of Pliocene wildlife, including a brave beaver standing up to a saber-toothed cat.
There's nothing magical about 400 molecules of CO2 in every 1
million molecules of air — their greenhouse effect is about the same as
399 or 401 ppm. But 400 is a round number, and round numbers are natural
milestones, whether it's a 50th birthday, a 500th home run or the
100,000th mile on an odometer. And when it comes to CO2, even a symbolic
milestone is important if it can draw more attention to how quickly and
dramatically we're changing our planet.
"This milestone is a wake-up call that our actions in response to
climate change need to match the persistent rise in CO2," says Erika
Podest, a carbon and water-cycle expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. "Climate change is a threat to life on Earth and we can no
longer afford to be spectators."
Newly Discovered 17th Century Document Described Now-Extinct Mauritian Wildlife
by Justine Alford
The native wildlife of Mauritius has therefore been somewhat of a mystery to biologists. But thanks to a newly discovered report, scientists have now been able to gain an intriguing insight into past life on the island, which has revealed that it was once home to some truly bizarre, now extinct creatures.
The recently translated and transcribed document was written between the years of 1666-1669 by soldier Johannes Pretorius, who was assigned the role of ziekentrooster, or comforter of the sick. According to the document’s analysis, which has been published in Historical Biology, what he produced is by far the most detailed record of the native animal life on the island discovered to date. Not only that, but he also described the effects of introduced animals, and how they kept now-extinct bird species in captivity.
Although the authors aren’t sure why he ended up creating this wildlife account, lead author Julian Hume told Live Science that his writing style suggests he may have been assigned the job of reporting whether the island would be suitable for permanent colonization, such as describing what animals they could potentially eat.
Alongside spending some time discussing the less exciting animals, such as cattle, deer, goats and pigs, Pretorius provided some fascinating descriptions of the native fauna. For example, he said that the now extinct Broad-billed, or raven, Parrot couldn’t fly, but we know that they were physiologically capable of flying, albeit poorly. It’s likely that this would have ultimately led to their downfall. He also commented on their aggressive nature, describing them as “very bad tempered.” These birds were so feisty, Hume told Live Science, that they would put up a good fight against introduced predators such as macaques and black rats. But their stubborn attitude didn’t end there, as Pretorius wrote that they would also refuse to eat meals when captive, and would rather die than live in captivity.
He also described the Mauritius blue pigeon, which he repeatedly attempted to rear but failed, as having a warty face. That’s interesting, says Hume, because all other closely related species also have warts on the face, yet contemporary illustrations and accounts depict or describe them as smooth-faced.
Another eloquent portrayal was of the Mauritius Red Rail, an also now-extinct flightless bird, which was apparently “unbelievably stupid.” According to Pretorius, it was so stupid that it would actually run towards people if they waved objects at them and made loud noises, and made no attempt to escape the wrath of their sticks. Easy dinner, then, but perhaps not the tastiest; “fatty and greasy,” he notes.
While we’ve showcased some of his amusing writings, this document is actually of great interest because it not only provides the first ecological details of some of the island’s now-extinct birds, it also describes the woes of attempting to survive and grow crops during the time of colonization.
Bear Walks Like A Human
This Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) at the Laos Wildlife Rescue Center likes to walk on his hind legs.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
The Daily Drift
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Today in History
| 1607 | English colonists land near the James River in Virginia. | |
| 1648 | Margaret Jones of Plymouth is found guilty of witchcraft and is sentenced to be hanged. | |
| 1779 | The War of Bavarian Succession ends. | |
| 1846 | The United States declares war on Mexico after fighting has already begun. | |
| 1861 | Britain declares its neutrality in the American Civil War. | |
| 1864 | The Battle of Resaca commences as Union General Sherman fights towards Atlanta. | |
| 1888 | Slavery is abolished in Brazil. | |
| 1912 | The Royal Flying Corps is established in England. | |
| 1913 | Igor Sikorsky flies the first four-engine aircraft. | |
| 1944 | Allied forces in Italy break through the German Gustav Line into the Liri Valley. | |
| 1958 | French troops take control of Algiers. | |
| 1968 | Peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam begin in Paris. |
Naked Is Better
Naked Gardening Day and World Naked Bike Riding Day are body
positive celebrations of nudity -- but are there benefits to being bare
according to science?
Life On Food Stamps
The food stamp, or SNAP, challenge asks people to live on
$4.15 a day, or around $29 a week, but does this present a false picture
of what life on food stamps is really like?
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