Garfield

'Cannon Earthquakes'

Origin of Mysterious 'Cannon Earthquakes' in Red Sea Found

For generations, Bedouin nomads living by the Red Sea, have heard noises that sound like cannon blasts accompanying small quakes in the area. 

Get ready for ‘the new normal’

Neil deGrasse Tyson warns: Get ready for ‘the new normal’ — more ferocious storms and hotter droughts

Okay, So What's Causing The Flooding In Texas?

Okay, So What's Causing The Flooding In Texas?

Temperature Jump

4.3-C Temperature Jump from Climate Change By 2100

The International Energy Agency says extreme weather events will become much more frequent as a result.

Thunderstorms on Saturn

Thunderstorms on Saturn May Drive Epic Polar Cyclone

Many thunderstorms in Saturn's atmosphere could be driving the gas giant's vast polar cyclones, according to new simulations inspired by observations from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

This Chicken Looks Like It Has Never Missed Leg Day!

Actually, the chicken's born that way. It's a rare Vietnamese breed called the Dong Tao chicken, which is prized for its meat and leggy looks. A male adult with big feet could fetch hundreds of dollars.

And yes, they do eat the feet. It's a delicacy:

Miserable Tropical Dinosaurs

Life Was Miserable for Dinosaurs in the Tropics

Miserable conditions in the tropics 200 million years ago help explain why only a few scrappy species of dinos managed to survive there.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Just another one of things that make you scratch you head and go, huh ...!

 

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Yeah, Root Bear  ... !

Today is - Stewart's Root Beer Day

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Belarus - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic - England - Finland - France - Germany - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - Scotland - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
China - India - Indonesia - Iraq - Israel - Japan - Malaysia - Mauritius - Pakistan -  Saudi Arabia - Singapore - Sri Lanka - Taiwan - Thailand
Africa
Egypt - Morocco - Somalia - South Africa
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand - Philippines

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Today in History

1579
Sir Francis Drake claims San Francisco Bay for England.
1775
The British take Bunker Hill outside of Boston, after a costly battle.
1799
Napoleon Bonaparte incorporates Italy into his empire.
1848
Austrian General Alfred Windischgratz crushes a Czech uprising in Prague.
1854
The Red Turban revolt breaks out in Guangdong, China.
1856
The Republican Cabal opens its first national convention in Philadelphia.
1861
President Abraham Lincoln witnesses Dr. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrate the use of a hot-air balloon.
1863
On the way to Gettysburg, Union and Confederate forces skirmish at Point of Rocks, Maryland.
1872
George M. Hoover begins selling whiskey in Dodge City, Kansas–a town which had previously been "dry."
1876
General George Crook’s command is attacked and bested on the Rosebud River by 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Crazy Horse.
1912
The German Zeppelin SZ 111 burns in its hangar in Friedrichshafen.
1913
U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico.
1917
The Russian Duma meets in secret session in Petrograd and votes for an immediate Russian offensive against the German Army.
1924
The Fascist militia marches into Rome.
1926
Spain threatens to quit the League of Nations if Germany is allowed to join.
1930
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill becomes law, placing the highest tariff on imports to the United States.
1931
British authorities in China arrest Indochinese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
1932
The U.S. Senate defeats the Bonus Bill as 10,000 veterans mass around the Capitol.
1940
The Soviet Union occupies Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
1942
Yank a weekly magazine for the U.S. armed services, begins publication.
1944
French troops land on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.
1950
Surgeon Richard Lawler performs the first kidney transplant operation in Chicago.
1953
Soviet tanks fight thousands of Berlin workers rioting against the East German government.
1963
The U.S. Supreme Court bans the required reading of the Lord’s prayer and Bible in public schools.
1965
27 B-52s hit Viet Cong outposts, but lose two planes in South Vietnam.
1970
North Vietnamese troops cut the last operating rail line in Cambodia.
1972
Five men are arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.
1994
Millions of Americans watch former football player O.J. Simpson–facing murder charges–drive his Ford Bronco through Los Angeles, followed by police.

The Perfect Dessert For Barbecue Lovers- Cupcake Burgers

Sweet and savory can make for one delicious combination, bringing a little dessert love to your dinner, but this juicy looking burger and chunky side of fries is nothing but sweet. 

This delicious look-a-like Cupcake Burgers recipe shared by C&H Sugar consists of a brownie burger patty between cupcake buns, with shredded coconut lettuce, buttercream ketchup and mustard and a side of shortbread fries.

It’s not the kind of thing you want your family to fill up on during a barbecue, but it makes a delicious, and delightful looking, dessert to enjoy after everyone has had their fill from the grill!

You can find the recipe for Cupcake Burgers and Shortcake Fries here

First Color Photographs of China

Outside of the clothing, this picture looks as if it could have been taken yesterday, yet it is over 100 years old. The archives of Albert Kahn contain hundreds of thousands of photographs, 72,000 of them in color. Kahn used the pioneering Autochrome method of color. In 1912, he took pictures in China, which became the first photographic record of the country in color. See a half-dozen of the China pictures at Creative Roots and and some of Kahn’s photographs of Mongolia as well. 

Cowboy Boot Sandals

Everything's bigger (and more stupid) in Texas, including sandals! All that's missing from these cowboy boot sandals (cowboy sandal boots?) are a pair of socks!

Operation Choke Point

Banks And The #Pornocalypse 

Back in 2014, we wrote a little bit about Operation Choke Point, the US Department of Justice effort to intimidate banks into refusing to handle the banking business of a wide variety of politically-disfavored industries, including the adult industry. Facts on the ground were, and are, few.
We're not sure Franklin Veaux’s recent experiences with mysteriously losing his credit card processing for the Onyx sex game he sells (which looks like a fun way to loosen up a nerdy party and at least encourage it in the direction of a friendly orgy) can count as confirmation of the Operation Choke Point story, but he’s correct that his experience perfectly matches the profile:

This past April, I received notification from Best Payment Solutions that they were terminating my account. They gave no reason, other than they “sometimes terminate accounts for risk reasons.” In the thirteen years I’d been with them, I’d only had one chargeback–a rather remarkable record I doubt few businesses can match. Didn’t matter.
I was told that BPS would no longer work with me, but their parent company, Vantiv, would be happy to give me a merchant account. Vantiv’s underwriters, I was told, had looked at my Web site and had no problem with its contents.
So I did the requisite paperwork, turned it all in, and…nothing. For weeks, during which time I was effectively out of business.
Then, four weeks later, I heard back from Vantiv. We’re so sorry, they said, we thought we could give you a merchant account, but we can’t. When I asked why, the only thing they would say was “risk reasons.”
Thus ensued a mad scramble to find a new merchant account underwriter, a process that’s normally very time-consuming and tedious. I finally found another underwriter, which I will decline to name for reasons that will become obvious once you read the rest of this post, and I’m back up and running again…but not before I was out of business for over a month.

The rest of Franklin’s article reports on a backlash against Operation Choke Point, spearheaded (ironically) by the wingnut media after reports that small retailers of guns and ammo were among the thirty or so disfavored groups targeted. According to Wikipedia, Operation Choke Point has been more-or-less terminated in response to the backlash:

On January 29, 2015, the FDIC issued a Financial Institution Letter that states “The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a Financial Institution Letter today encouraging supervised institutions to take a risk-based approach in assessing individual customer relationships, rather than declining to provide banking services to entire categories of customers without regard to the risks presented by an individual customer or the financial institution’s ability to manage the risk.
The Washington Times says this letter “effectively ends Operation Choke Point.” As reported by Forbes, “a change in the political landscape, many businesses threatening legal action and a congressman with a background in banking [forced] the bureaucracy to admit to misconduct and to stop financial attacks on legal businesses that the Obama administration deems to be politically incorrect.” Reports of continued termination of services to legitimate businesses, however, continue.

They do indeed continue, as witnessed by Franklin’s recent loss of processing. The people he dealt with were pretty clear that the “risk reasons” for not doing business with him didn’t have anything to do with the actual risks posed by his business. Whatever the official status of Operation Choke Point, it sounds as if the banks are still terminating banking relationships with adult-industry businesses to avoid official disapproval, however informal.

Thousands of American kids are getting free university educations in Germany

German higher education is essentially free, even for foreign students, and many courses are conducted entirely in English.US student debt now stands at $1.3 trillion. A full semester at a top German university costs $120 -- and your student card gets you unlimited free public transit. Full health insurance is $87/month. Germans welcome foreign students in the hopes that they'll settle in the country and start businesses and provided a skilled workforce. Admission generally requires a 3.0 GPA or better.
At Hunter's university, the Technical University in Munich, 20% of students are non-German. The University president is keen to have every single graduate program offered in English, and only in English, by the year 2020.
"You can feel sad and think it's a pity that we are losing our own mothers' tongue in the technical disciplines, but that's the development in the world," says Wolfgang Herrmann.
He acknowledges that people wanting to study philosophy and other cultural sciences would still have to be taught in German.
"But in the technical disciplines you could say the world is easier."
...In the capital city of Berlin, the most popular destination for international students, the state government says it has no plans to introduce fees anytime soon.
"We will not introduce tuition fees for international students," says Krach, the Secretary of Science. "We don't want the entry to college to be dependent on your social status and we don't want that the exchange between countries is only dependent on the question of finances."

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There’s No Water, Let ‘Em Drink Sand

Selfish, Rich Californians Refuse To Adapt To Drought

Rich Southern Californians are balking at conserving water. That’s for the peons. This attitude will cost them money, now. How will they like that?

Read more 

Iowa open-carry gun nut gunned down mall worker who filed sexual harassment complaints against him

An Iowa mall cop, with a Facebook account loaded with open-carry and right-wing memes and photos of multiple weapons, is under arrest for shooting and killing a fellow mall worker because she filed sexual harassment complaints against him.

Ammosexual guns down woman

Ziggy

Love and Money

Love and money: How low-income dads really provide

Low-income fathers who might be labeled “deadbeat dads” often spend as much on their children as parents in formal child-support arrangements, but they choose to give goods like food and […]

The Man Who Saved Two Million Babies

Anyone who donates blood a thousand times is a definite hero. You could say they helped save a thousand lives. But James Harrison is different. He passed the 1,000 donation mark in 2011 and has donated a hundred or so times since then. But his blood has saved the lives of more than two million people! After receiving blood as a teenager in 1951, Harrison vowed to pay it back when he turned 18. And he did, but then doctors discovered something unusual about Harrison’s blood.
Remember the scary Rh factor problem (also called Rhesus disease)? That’s when an Rh negative mother has an Rh positive baby and develops antibodies against the blood type. If she has subsequent babies, her antibodies can attack the fetus. But Harrison had a rare factor in his blood that was used to develop a treatment for Rhesus disease. That's why you don't hear much about it anymore. Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service says,

"Every bag of blood is precious, but James' blood is particularly extraordinary," says Falkenmire. "His blood is actually used to make a life-saving medication, given to moms whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies. Every batch of Anti-D that has ever been made in Australia has come from James' blood.
"And more than 17% of women in Australia are at risk, so James has helped save a lot of lives."

What makes Harrison even more heroic is that he can’t stand the sight of blood! Yet he soldiers on. Harrison is 78 now, and must retire from donation in a couple of years. Read about James Harrison and see a video interview at CNN. 

31 Strange Medical Conditions

(YouTube link)

Warning: if you are very susceptible to the power of suggestion or have a touch of hypochondria, you might want to skip this video. John Green talks about medical conditions that are so weird, you’d think he was making them up. No, they are real, but most are rare or relatively inconsequential. This is the first of a three-part video series called “Summer Bummers,” which should make you feel lucky to be in as good a shape as you are. If they go a little fast for you, you can find a transcript at mental_floss.

Rare infectious bacteria coming to a Florida beach near you

Florida state health officials are warning beachgoers of a rare saltwater bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, that has infected seven and killed two people this year, reports CBS News. Vibrio vulnificus' numbers increase in the summer months as the water gets warmer, and the bacteria can infect people in many different ways.
"People can get infected with Vibrio vulnificus when they eat raw shellfish," Florida Health Department's Mara Burger said in a statement. "Since it is naturally found in warm marine waters, people with open wounds can be exposed to Vibrio vulnificus through direct contact with seawater."
If ingested, Vibrio vulnificus can cause stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting. And if the bacteria enters an open wound, it can cause infections and skin ulcers, symptoms that some liken to the so-called "flesh-eating" bacteria. Maggie Hall of the Florida Department of Health's Pinellas County office says that despite the potentially nasty effect it can have, it's best not to call Vibrio vulnificus a "flesh-eating" bacteria.
“There is no such medical term and the organism is not a Pac-man consuming pac-dots,” Hall said.
Although healthy people typically have mild symptoms treatable with antibiotics, those with weakened immune systems, particularly people with liver disease, are warned that the bacteria can be fatal, according to CBS. Vibrio vulnificus can get into the bloodstream and cause fever, chills, blistering skin lesions, septic shock and death.
The Florida Health Department advises eating only cooked shellfish and that anyone with cuts or other wounds on the skin avoid saltwater beaches. There were 32 cases of people infected with Vibrio vulnificus last year.

Hello Earth!

Hello Earth! Comet Probe Philae Wakes Up

The European space probe Philae woke up after nearly seven months in hibernation.

Meanwhile, in Florida ...

You know how the saying "cats and dogs are living together" is used to imply things are all messed up? Okay, well, the republicans have Florida so fucked up  ... They've got coons riding gators!

Arctic Ocean rapidly becoming more corrosive to marine species

Arctic Ocean rapidly becoming more corrosive to marine species

New research by NOAA, University of Alaska, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the journal Oceanography shows that surface waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas could reach levels of acidity that threaten the […]

Beaches invaded by giant purple sea slugs

Giant purple blobs are invading beaches and waterways in East Bay, California. They are not a danger to the people, but the slugs' big size is unusual. They are called sea hares and they can reach up to 15 pounds and almost three-feet in length.

So far they've turned up at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Crab Cove in Alameda and Miller Knox Regional Park in Richmond. Authorities have received a number of calls about the slugs. One person even called 911 because they were concerned that they had found a little purple heart on the beach. Instead, it was just this little harmless sea creature.
Alameda resident Rachyl Benitez said she didn't know what to make of the purple blobs when she saw them. She said, "They were scattered all over the beach over there. Some were alive, some were dead, some were in the seaweed. They were kind of cool looking. But then it was kind of weird because I'm like, what's going on with our water?"
They usually wash ashore in summer, so staff members at the East Bay Regional Park District say it's unusual to see these slugs show up now in the spring and over what they say is an extended period of time. "We've been seeing them wash up since September, going all through the winter and now even more in the spring. So perhaps it is because of the warmer water," East Bay Regional Park District naturalist Morgan Dill said. Dill says the sea slugs are purple because they're full of ink and they're not harmful to people.

Hundreds of grass-munching goats released to reduce fire risk

A huge herd of goats were released by the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills on Friday in order to reduce fire hazards.

The Berkeley Lab goats were herded to the tree-laden hill just below Blackberry Gate. The mass of goats were dispatched to reduce the risk of fire near the lab.
The goats eat the grass surrounding the lab, cutting it down short and reducing a potential fire hazard.

YouTube link.

Motorists were treated to an impressive show as the hundreds of goats raced on their way.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Vanilla Fudge (was a good band) ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 203 countries around the world daily.   

    
Fantasy Fudge  ... !

Today is - Fudge Day

You want the unvarnished truth?

Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told

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Argentina - Brazil - Canada - Chile - Colombo - Jamaica - Mexico - Nicaragua - Puerto Rico 
Sint Eustatius/Saba - United States - Venezuela
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Belarus - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - England  - France - Germany - Greece
Iceland - Ireland -  Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Russia   Scotland - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
India - Indonesia - Iraq - Kuwait - Malaysia - Mauritius - Pakistan - Saudi Arabia - Singapore
 Sri Lanka - Taiwan
Africa
Egypt - Somalia - South Africa
The Pacific
Australia - Philippines

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Today in History

455		Rome is sacked by the Vandal army.
1815		Napoleon defeats the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny.
1858		Abraham Lincoln, in accepting the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, declares that, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
1864		The siege of Petersburg and Richmond begins after a moonlight skirmish.
1907		The Russian czar dissolves the Duma in St. Petersburg.
1910		The first Father’s Day is celebrated in Spokane Washington.
1925		France accepts a German proposal for a security pact.
1932		The ban on Nazi storm troopers is lifted by the von Papen government in Germany.
1935		President Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation is passed by the House of Representatives.
1940		French Chief of State, Henri Petain asks for an armistice with Germany.
1952		Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl is published in the United States.
1955		The U.S. House of Representatives votes to extend Selective Service until 1959.
1961		Ballet star Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union while in Paris.
1971		An El Greco sketch, "The Immaculate Conception," stolen in Spain 35 years earlier, is recovered in New York City by the FBI.
1977		Leonid Brezhnev is named president of the Soviet Union.

Chess and tug of war apply to be included in 2020 Olympic Games

Chess and tug of war are among 26 sports to apply for inclusion in the Tokyo Games. Bridge, air sports, floorball, flying disc, sumo, polo, orienteering, korfball, dance sport, racquetball, roller sports, wakeboard and wushu have also put in a formal request to be part of the program. Floorball is a type of floor hockey featuring six players, while wushu is derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. More mainstream sports to apply include American football, karate, squash, netball and bowls.

Tug of war was part of the Olympic program between 1908 and 1920 with Great Britain winning five medals, including two golds. The combined bid from baseball and softball, dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games, is considered a favorite because of the popularity of those sports in Japan. A shortlist will be announced on 22 June with finalists making a presentation in Tokyo in August, before organizers make recommendations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by 30 September.
The IOC will make a final decision in August 2016, when it meets ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Toshiro Muto, chief executive officer of the Tokyo organizing committee, said that sports "must be popular with young people, give momentum to Tokyo 2020 and meet IOC standards" to be considered for inclusion. Under the IOC's 'Olympic Agenda 2020' reforms, host cities can propose the addition of one or more sports for their Games.

The 28-sport cap for future summer Olympics has been dropped but they will be restricted to 10,500 athletes and 310 events. The full list of 26 sports to apply is: Air Sports, American football, baseball-softball, bowls, bowling, bridge, chess, dance sport, floorball, flying disc, karate, korfball, netball, orienteering, polo, racquetball, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, sumo, surfing, tug of war, underwater sports, waterski and wakeboard and wushu.
There's a short clip of tug of war featuring at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics here.

Supreme Court rules that residents have a right to be drunk on their front porch

The Iowa Supreme Court overturned a Waterloo woman’s conviction for public intoxication, ruling on Friday she was intoxicated on the front porch of her home - which isn’t a public place according to law. Waterloo police arrested Patience Paye after she reported a domestic violence incident on June 22, 2013, according to the ruling. Paye stepped outside on the porch when officers arrived because she didn’t want to upset her children inside the home.

Kendrall Murray, who Paye said had abused her, told police he and Paye argued over car keys because he refused to let her drive because she didn’t have a licence and was intoxicated, according to the ruling. Murray told an officer they frequently argued when Paye was drinking. The officers then asked Paye if she had been drinking alcohol that day, which she initially denied, but then admitted having “one shot earlier in the day.” Paye agreed to a breath test, which showed her blood-alcohol level was 0.267 percent.
The officers took another test several minutes later, showing 0.264. Iowa’s legal limit for driving is .08. The officers determined Paye was the aggressor in the argument and arrested her on a public intoxication charge. During a bench trial, Paye argued the front steps of her home were not a public place and she couldn’t be convicted of public intoxication, according to the ruling. She further argued the purpose of the public intoxication statute is to prevent nuisance and annoyance to the public, and on that night there was no evidence the public considered her to be a nuisance.
According to the ruling, the trial judge rejected Paye’s arguments and concluded her porch was public because it was “plainly accessible and visible to any passer-by.” The judge also ruled Paye’s porch was public within the meaning of the law - a place where the public was permitted access. But the justices agreed with Paye. If the front stairs of a family home were always considered a public place, it would create “absurd results” and make it a “crime to sit there calmly on a breezy summer day and sip a mojito” or even grill with “bourbon-infused barbecue sauce,” the court concluded. The case was sent back to District Court for dismissal.

A Band of Brothers

Children band together to try and keep police from arresting elderly Texas woman

Had it not been for the help of four young brothers, a 75-year-old Texas woman could have ended up in handcuffs already, all because of overgrown grass.

Cops in one US city killed more people in 5 months than Icelandic police have in 71 years

The Guardian's new project, The Counted, is trying to track every police killing in the United States in 2015.  The project is still gathering data, but has already put together preliminary numbers for the first few months of this year. On Tuesday, Guardian reporter Jamiles Larty compared the data to similar numbers about police in other countries — and the results were stunning. Not only has the US already had more police killings in five months than most other countries have had in decades, some individual US cities have too.

The comparisons are shocking — even when you account for population
[...]
Here is a sample of some of the most disturbing facts that Larty's analysis revealed:

• Police in Stockton, California killed three times as many people in 2015 as Icelandic police ever have: Stockton has slightly more people than Iceland does. Stockton police killed three people in the first five months of 2015; Icelandic police have only killed one person in the country's entire 71 year history.
• Police in Pasco, Washington fired more bullets in one fatal shooting than Finnish police did in all of 2013: There are about 80 times as many people in Finland as there are in Pasco. Finnish police fired 6 bullets in 2013; Pasco officers fired 17 when they shot and killed Antonio Zambrano-Montes in February 2015. According to investigators, Zambrano-Montes was armed only with a rock.
• More unarmed black men were killed by police in the US in 2015 than people of any race were killed by German cops in two years. Germany's population is about a fourth of US's total population, but there are roughly twice as many Germans as there are African-Americans. According to the Guardian's data, 19 unarmed black men have been killed by US police in 2015 so far. By contrast, German police shot a total of 15 people, both armed and unarmed, between 2010 and 2011.
• America's guns: the real issue?

More

Judge Says Cause Exists To Arrest Cop Who Killed Tamir Rice For Murder

A Municipal Court judge in Cleveland, Ohio determined that probable cause exists to bring murder charges against an officer involved in the slaying of 12 year-old Tamir Rice. The judge also determined that probable cause exists to charge a second officer with negligent homicide.Rice was shot by Officer Timothy Loehmann while the young African American boy was holding a toy gun. Officers allegedly did not seek medical help for Rice for several minutes, though they did reportedly handcuff his 14 year-old sister and threaten to detain her further.
Judge Ronald B. Adrine found that sufficient cause exists to charge Loehmann with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide, and dereliction of duty. Officer Frank Garmback may face charges for negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.
What happens now is less certain. Adrine released his findings after clergy members and activists invoked a provision of Ohio law that allows citizens to bypass prosecutors and seek a judge’s opinion on whether cause exists to bring criminal charges. Though Judge Adrine must now issue an arrest warrant for the two officers, the case ultimately will still be referred to a local prosecutor, and the question of whether to indict the two cops rests with a grand jury.

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Man in underpants tasered after threatening police officers with bicycle pump

A man from Farnborough, Hampshire, was tasered by police, while dressed only in boxer shorts, after threatening officers with a bicycle pump. Officers were called to the former home of Jason Kennedy late on April 23, following reports of a domestic dispute. They found the 26-year-old arguing with his partner in the street and warned the pair to stop. The officers were called back to the house in the early hours of the next morning after neighbors reported another argument. When Kennedy refused to co-operate, he was tasered and arrested. Kennedy appeared at Aldershot Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer in the execution of his duty. Prosecutor Serena Edwards said: “When the officers returned to the property, they found the defendant and his partner arguing. The defendant was holding an item which was later identified as a bicycle pump. He became very aggressive towards the officers, so much so that they pulled out a taser and ordered him to follow their instructions. He refused to calm down and, even after he was tasered, continued to threaten the officers with the item in his hands. He was taken into custody but was not co-operative.”
In a police interview, Kennedy said he felt stressed following a recent family bereavement and was ‘agitated’ by the arrival of police. Kennedy has previous convictions, including one for assaulting a police officer, and was last in court in October last year over a public order offense. Andrew Purkiss, defending, said Kennedy had often been homeless but had enjoyed a period of stability earlier this year while living with a relative. However, the relative died suddenly in February and this had ‘hit him for six’. Mr Purkiss said that, shortly before police returned to the house, Kennedy’s partner had asked him to go to McDonalds for food.
He was pumping the tyres on his bicycle for the trip when the officers arrived. “My client accepts he was upset, because he didn’t know why the officers were there,” Mr Purkiss said. “He accepts that he was rude to the police and his behavior was threatening, although there was no contact with the officers. He said the taser was excruciatingly painful and, as a result of this incident, he lost his accommodation so clearly he has already suffered. He didn’t go looking for trouble. He was at home in his boxer shorts when the police turned up.” Kennedy was fined £75 and ordered to pay a £150 criminal court charge, a £20 victim surcharge and £25 in court costs.

Woman jailed after assaulting police officers at scarecrow festival

A woman has been jailed for assaulting two police officers at a village scarecrow festival.

Tracey Bull, of Ranskill, Nottinghamshire, has been sentenced to 36 weeks in prison after being found guilty at Mansfield Magistrates' Court.
She was charged with assaulting the officers and a PCSO as they arrested her last Saturday afternoon, and was also convicted of using abusive or threatening language or behaviour.
The scarecrow festival took place over the weekend across Ranskill and Torworth.

Police seek help identifying man who held up McDonald's

The Prince William County Police Department is asking for the public’s help in providing information about a June 2 robbery at the McDonald’s in Dale City, Virginia. The suspect in the robbery wore a mask and carried a backpack, according to a police statement.

He’s described as a man of unknown race, between 20 and 30 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds with a thin build. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, brown pants and gloves. At 1:14am, police officers responded to the McDonald’s to investigate a robbery.
An employee told police that he was outside the restaurant when he was approached by an unknown man. The man displayed a handgun and ordered the employee back inside. Once inside, the suspect gathered all of the remaining employees at gunpoint and demanded money.
He took an undisclosed amount of money from the business before fleeing on foot. No injuries were reported. The police brought a specially trained dog to the scene to search for the suspect. Anyone with information relating to this case is asked to call Crime Solvers.

Is this a bomb box found not to contain bomb

South Australia Police cleared two suspicious packages in Adelaide's northern suburbs on Saturday morning.

One of the packages had the words "Is this a bomb?" and 'Teli-ban 4 life (sic)", written on the outside in black marker, together with a roughly drawn exploding bomb.
Emergency services were alerted to the potential bomb threat at about 10.00am following a tip off from the public. The street was locked down and police sent out the Explosive Coordination Section to investigate the packages.

YouTube link.

Police later confirmed that neither package contained explosives, however, they are still investigating one package. Both of the boxes were removed and the contents from one, which is believed to be cannabis, was taken for forensic testing.

From the Idiot Files ...

Curious gun-owning Colorado man shoots himself in the foot because he ‘wanted to know what it felt like’

Do you want to know what it feels like to get shot? No? Most people don’t. But Adam Hirtle of Colorado Springs is not “most people.”

Into Uluru's Crack

Tourist Falls into Crevice on Australia's Uluru

A man who wandered off a trail and fell into a 65-foot crevice is now recovering in the hospital.

Voodoo Sex Traffic

Spanish Gangs Use Voodoo to Traffic Girls

Human traffickers are using belief in magic to force women into prostitution. 

Space Sex

Space Sex: Suborbital Porn May Soon be a Reality

A group that wants to make the world's first pornographic film in space has launched a crowdfunding campaign to get the project off the ground.

NASA's Early Days

Book Shows Rare Snapshots from NASA's Early Days

Two new books from the University of New Mexico Press feature photos from the Apollo moon landing and the one- and two-man Mercury and Gemini flights. 

Has Philae Been Found?

Has Rosetta's Lost Philae Lander Been Found?

Could this bright glinting object on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface be Europe's lost comet lander?

More Than 100 New Marine Species Discovered in the Philippines

During a recent seven-week expedition to the Philippines, researchers from the California Academy of Sciences uncovered more than 100 new species of marine life lurking in the coral reef of the Verde Island Passage."The Philippines is jam-packed with diverse and threatened species--it's one of the most astounding regions of biodiversity on Earth," remarked Terry Gosliner, PhD, who led the expedition. "Despite this richness, the region's biodiversity has been relatively unknown. The species lists and distribution maps that we've created during our years surveying the country's land and sea will help to inform future conservation decisions and ensure that this incredible biodiversity is afforded the best possible chance of survival."

Discovery has photos of more new species.

Canine Snubbery

Dogs Snub People Who Are Mean to Owners

The study finding show that canines have the capacity to co-operate socially.

Animal Pictures