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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Thursday, December 24, 2015

Do Walking Palm Trees Really Walk?

A recently published article on BBC's website mentions a certain palm tree that has allegedly developed a rather unique ability unbecoming of a plant - the ability to walk. The palm in question is Socratea exorrhiza.
The bizarre idea stems from the fact that scientists are unable to explain the tree's strange stilt-like roots. Found in tropical rain forests of Central and South America, the Socratea exorrhiza develops long and sturdy roots that grow outwards from the base of the tree. It wasn't long before people started to believe that these roots actually act like legs enabling the palm tree to literally walk in the forest.

Orcas are "cosmopolitan" animals

Not because they live in cities (a common misuse of "cosmopolitan"), but because this is their range:

"Cosmopolitan" refers to a citizen ("polites") of the "kosmos" (in Greek times "the world" - not the universe).
The term "cosmopolitan distribution" usually should not be taken literally, because it often is applied loosely in various contexts. Commonly the intention is not to include polar regions, extreme altitudes, oceans, deserts, or small, isolated islands. For example, the housefly is nearly as cosmopolitan as any animal species, but it is neither oceanic nor polar in its distribution. Again, the term "cosmopolitan weed" implies no more than that the plant in question occurs on all continents except Antarctica; it is not meant to suggest that it covers the continents entirely.

Dog Has Been Man's Best Friend For 33,000 Years

Man's best friend came about after generations of wolves scavenged alongside humans more than 33,000 years ago in south east Asia, according to new research from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.
Dogs slowly evolved from wolves who joined humans in the hunt, according to the first study of dog genomes. And it shows that the first domesticated dogs came about 33,000 years ago and migrated to Europe, rather than descending from domesticated European wolves 10,000 years ago as had previously been thought.

Comedy Wildlife

The 2015 winners have been announced for a competition dedicated to the humorous side of nature.

Animal Pictures

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.
Our twenty-third Xmas Tree of the month ...!
 
Carolina Naturally is read in 205 countries around the world daily.   
  
Classic ... !
Today is - Human Light Celebration

You want the unvarnished truth?
Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Brazil - Canada - Colombia - Mexico - Nicaragua - Puerto Rico - Suriname - United States
Europe
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - England - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Hungary  Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Romania  - Russia - San Marino 
Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Turkey - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
Israel - Korea - Malaysia - Mauritius - Nepal - Thailand - United Arab Emirates
Africa
Congo - Djibouti - Morocco - South Africa - Tunisia
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand
Don't forget to visit our sister blogs Here and Here.

Today in History

1861
Lord Lyons, The British minister to America presents a formal complaint to secretary of state, William Seward, regarding the Trent affair.
1900
The Federal Party, which recognizes American sovereignty, is formed in the Philippines.
1919
Great Britain institutes a new constitution for India.
1921
Warren G. Harding frees Socialist Eugene Debs and 23 other political prisoners.
1933
Pope Pius XI condemns the Nazi sterilization program.
1937
London warns Rome to stop anti-British propaganda in Palestine.
1939
The first Canadian troops arrive in Britain.
1940
Chiang Kai-shek dissolves all Communist associations in China.
1941
Despite throwing back an earlier Japanese amphibious assault, the U.S. Marines and Navy defenders on Wake Island capitulate to a second Japanese invasion.
1944
General Dwight D. Eisenhower confirms the death sentence of Private Eddie Slovik, the only American shot for desertion since the Civil War.
1947
President Harry S Truman grants a pardon to 1,523 who had evaded the World War II draft.
1948
Japan’s Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo and six other collaborators are hanged for war crimes.
1950
General Walton H. Walker, the commander of the Eighth Army in Korea, is killed in a jeep accident. Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgeway is named his successor.
1967
U.S. Navy SEALs are ambushed during an operation southeast of Saigon.
1974
The B-1 bomber makes its first successful test flight.
1986
The Voyager completes the first nonstop flight around the globe on one load of fuel. The experimental aircraft, piloted Americans Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after nine days and four minutes in the sky.
1990
In a referendum on Slovenia’s independence from Yugoslovia, 88.5% vote in favor of independence.
2002
An Iraqi MiG-25 shoots down a US MQ-1 Predator drone.

New test for cancer and diabetes biomarkers 1000x more detailed

New test for cancer and diabetes biomarkers 1000x more detailed
New test for cancer and diabetes biomarkers 1000x more detailed
A new test for detecting bio-markers for cancer and diabetes is more than 1000x more detailed and 100% faster than existing methods, new research by the University of Warwick suggests. Developed to undertake a detailed study of collagen, the researchers argue that the...

High School Teacher’s Lesson In Arabic Calligraphy Prompts Closure Of Entire School District

Schools in Augusta County Virginia were closed on Friday, December 18th, after a calligraphy lesson prompted a disturbing anti-Muslim backlash.
The controversy started when a lesson in World Geography class asked students to try to copy an example of Arabic calligraphy. The phrase was a statement of Islamic faith but the students were “not asked to translate the statement or to recite it.” Rather, the purpose of the exercise was to give students an “idea of the artistic complexity of calligraphy.”
faith 
The class covered a variety of delusions including christianity, judaism and buddhism.
Some students refused to complete the assignments and several parents protested at a meeting earlier this week. Kimberly Herndon, the parent who organized the protest, called the lesson “indoctrination.”
“She gave up the lord’s time. She gave it up and gave it to Mohammed,” Herndon said.
Other parents called for the teacher, Cheryl LaPorte, to be fired.
This prompted over-the-top national coverage from places like Fox News and the story quickly spread on social media.
The attention resulted in “voluminous phone calls and electronic mail locally and from outside the area” to the school district. A statement from Augusta County Public Schools said the decision to close the schools was based on the “tone and content” of the communications “based on the recommendations of law enforcement.”
The school district also announced that “a different, non-religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future.”
Other students have rallied behind LaPorte, praising her skills as a teacher.
The attacks in Paris and San Bernardino has sparked anti-Muslim backlash throughout the U.S. The people at ThinkProgress has documented that at least 46 anti-Islamic incidents, many of them violent, since the November 13 attacks in Paris.

Neighbor charged with supporting terrorists, as new details emerge about the San Bernardino shooting

Ex-neighbor charged with supporting terrorists, as new details emerge about the San Bernardino shooting

California woman who attacked praying Muslims is charged with a hate crime

Prosecutors filed hate crime charges against a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employee who was filmed ridiculing a Bay Area Muslim man and throwing coffee at him.

Court To Catholic School: No, You Can’t Fire People Because They Are Gay


The Martin Shkreli schadenfreude will pass when ‘Pharma Bro’ wins like every other CEO

We all hate the price-gouging, bottom-feeding pharmaceutical bro. But, like most CEOs, he’s unlikely to face real punishment for his misdeeds

‘Responsible Gun Owner’ Shoots ‘Randomly’ From Truck, Kills 2 In Road Rage Rampage

‘Responsible Gun Owner’ Shoots ‘Randomly’ From Truck, Kills 2 In Road Rage Rampage (VIDEO)A Texas man was arrested after killing two in what appears to be a road rage shooting.

Colorado girls arrested for plot to kill students and staff at their high school

Two teenage girls took “substantial steps” in carrying out a murder plot at their high school before being foiled.

Kansas cops demolish single mom’s home and destroy children’s Xmas tree — by mistake

Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves and his heroic team of militarized storm troopers descended on the home of a single mom and her four kids.

Fast Thoughts

We've all heard about the speed of light, but what about the speed of thought? How fast is that? DNews follows the path a thought takes through the brain and crunches some numbers on how fast it might be going.

Your Brain and Xmas

Whether you have 'bah humbug' syndrome around the holidays shows up in your brain.

Other Humans

New fossil discoveries continue to push the known boundaries of human evolution.

Cosmic Rays and Pyramids

A new investigation is tapping cosmic rays to explore the interior of Egypt's pyramids.

Hopeful Ocean

In 2015, there were a number of positive developments from the ocean world. Here are some of our favorites.

Not Just a Mariner's Tale

Researchers have created a mathematical model of 'walls of water.'

Paleontology News

Why just swim when you can fly underwater? That’s essentially what an iconic Dino Era marine predator did.

Animal News

New mathematical models show the Galapagos Islands bird could be extinct in as little as 43 years.
It isn't the size of the bear in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the bear, according to a recent study.

Animal Pictures


Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.
Our twenty-second Xmas Tree of the month ...!
 
Carolina Naturally is read in 205 countries around the world daily.   
  
Classic ... !
Today is - The is no special celebration today

You want the unvarnished truth?
Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Brazil - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Costa Rica - Ecuador - Mexico - Nicaragua - Paraguay - Peru  Puerto Rico - United States - Uruguay - Venezuela
Europe
Bosnia and Herzegovina - England - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Italy - Latvia  Netherlands - Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Scotland - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia  Spain - Turkey - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
India - Indonesia - Korea - Lebanon - Malaysia - Mauritius - Nepal - Palestine - Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Africa
Congo - Djibouti - Morocco - South Africa
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand
Don't forget to visit our sister blogs Here and Here.

Today in History

1135
Stephen of Blois is crowned the king of England.
1775
Esek Hopkins takes command of the Continental Navy — a total of seven ships.
1807
Congress passes the Embargo Act, which halts all trading completely. It is hoped that the act will keep the United States out the European Wars.
1829
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opens the first passenger railway line.
1918
The last of the food restrictions, enforced because of the shortages during World War I, are lifted.
1929
Soviet troops leave Manchuria after a truce is reached with the Chinese over the Eastern Railway dispute.
1941
Japanese troops make an amphibious landing on the coast of Lingayen Gulf on Luzon, the Philippines.
1942
The Soviets drive German troops back 15 miles at the Don River.
1944
During the Battle of the Bulge, General Anthony McAuliffe responds to a German surrender request with a one word answer: “Nuts!”
1945
The United States recognizes Tito’s government in Yugoslavia.
1965
The EF-105F Wild Weasel makes its first kill over Vietnam.
1966
The United States announces the allocation of 900,000 tons of grain to fight the famine in India.
1989
The Romanian government of Nicolae Ceausescu is overthrown, ending 42 years of communist rule.
1989
The division of East and West Germany effectively ends when the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin reopens for the first time in nearly 30 years.
1992
What became known as the Archives of Terror are discovered in a police station near the capital of Paraguay, records detailing tens of thousands of Latin Americans who had been secretly imprisoned, tortured and / or killed by the security services of several South American governments.
1997
Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes his disputed title of President of Somalia, an important step toward reconciliation in the country.
2001
President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, takes over an interim government.
2001
A passenger on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris, Richard Reid, unsuccessfully attempts to destroy the plane in flight by igniting explosives he’d hidden in his shoes.
2008
Some 1.1 billion gallons of coal fly ash slurry flood part of Tennessee after an ash dike breaks at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, in the eastern part of the state.
2010
US President Barack Obama signs a law officially repealing the 17-year-old policy known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell”; the new law permits homosexuals to serve openly in the US military.

Non Sequitur

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Flags of the Galaxy

New Zealand artist Scott Kelly is a true Star Wars fan (not to be confused with astronaut Scott Kelly, who is also a Star Wars fan). He created flags that represent the planets of the Star Wars universe, using information gleaned from Wookieepedia and traditional flag design principles. Kelly says,
As a child the two most important posters on my wall were my Flags of the World poster and my map of the Star Wars Galaxy.

15 years on, now as an art director, I begun the process of putting those two worlds together. I started designing a flag for every planet in the Star Wars universe. This not only included those featured in the films, but comic books, animated series and video games. As of writing this, I have completed 103 flag designs - those who know Star Wars well, will know I have a good few more planets to finish.
See all the flags at at Kelly’s website dedicated to the project and read how some of them were designed here.

This Clock Rotates Backwards While Its Hands Move Forward



While walking through Central Park in New York City, Scott Beale of Laughing Squid spotted this unusual clock. It looks like an ordinary street clock of antique design, but it's not. The face rotates backwards while the second hand remains pointed straight up at all times. Despite the unusual movement, it tells the correct time.
Alicja Kwade, a Polish artist who built the clock, calls the work Against the Run. The Public Art Fund explains:
Our understanding of how a clock should run is second nature, making this variation almost impossible to read, even as it continues to tell the right time. Kwade’s whimsical clock captures her interest in the systems we invent to make sense of our lives and the world. In doing so, it prompts us to see “reality” from a new perspective. 

Why TV News Has Gotten So Awful

CNN’s Debate on ‘Terror’ Omitted the Kind That Kills the Most Americans

Sikhs post sign reminding bigots they aren’t Muslims in the wake of anti-Muslim backlash

Members of the Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Buena Park, California discuss vandalism (ABC7/Screenshot)Sikhs post sign reminding bigots they aren’t Muslims in the wake of anti-Muslim backlash

70-year-old man becomes town’s first black Santa 50 years after cops detained him for wearing costume

Merlin Kennedy as "Santa Claus" at the Santa Station in Normal, Illinois (WYZZ/screen grab)70-year-old man becomes town’s first black Santa 50 years after cops detained him for wearing costume

Texas authorities fear ‘affluenza’ teen who killed 4 and got probation may have fled country

Ethan Couch [WFAA-TV]
He's 18 years old, but the wealthy Tarrant County teen who killed four people when he drove drunk in 2013 is still a juvenile as far as the legal system is concerned.

‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli arrested on federal securities fraud charges

The 32-year-old CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG became known as the most hated man on the Internet after buying the rights to a life-saving medication and jacking up the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

Off-duty NYC cop attacks lesbian couple for no reason — and then lies to get them arrested

A Brooklyn woman said a New York City police officer hurled homophobic slurs before attacking her and falsely arresting her.

Shoe

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Is mental illness contagious?

Philosophers and literary scholars can choose to interpret facts within “the most convincing perspectives, assumptions and causal frameworks,” as Harriet A. Washington explains in the opening chapter of her latest book, Infectious Madness: The Surprising Science of How We Catch Mental Illness.

Turns out cancer isn’t just a big game of chance

New research from Stony Brook University in New York suggests that only 10 to 30 percent of cancer is influenced by matters completely out of our hands. The remaining 70 to 90 percent are the result of environmental factors or behavioral choices.

Ziggy

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Can We Eat Meat and Still Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

The Seaweed Harvesting Horses of Prince Edward Island

Irish moss is a cash crop that grows wild in the waters off Prince Edward Island, Canada. When storms uproot it and send it washing into the surf, farmers hook up horses to dredges and scoop it up. Brian Barth describes the process in Modern Farmer. He talked to 60-year old Joe Dorgan, a lifelong resident of the island:
I asked Dorgan what I thought was an obvious question: Why horses? When the tradition started on PEI in the 1930s, draft horses were still commonly used in agriculture, so it makes sense that their strength would be harnessed to pull heavy clumps of seaweed ashore. But surely a more efficient mechanized approach would have been devised by the time the industry hit its peak in the ’70ss. Dorgan’s answer wasn’t particularly scientific: “The horses don’t mind the water, and they’re good workers, and that’s just been the way it was,” he says. “Our ancestors done it that way and it’s still done that way today.”
I suspect that the problems associated with using motorized machinery in saltwater, like accelerated rust and corrosion, may have been a practical obstacle. But perhaps the industry was never big enough to warrant R&D investment anyways—a $6 million industry can hardly be called an industry.

Pups Joyfully Unwrapping Their Xmas Gifts

As it turns out, the dogs in my family aren't the only ones with a habit of ripping open their wrapped gifts (although these dogs don't appear to be sneaking them out from under the tree early, as ours do). This compilation of dogs vigorously tearing the wrapping paper off of gifts with joyful abandon and their obvious pleasure in finding the toys inside makes for lighthearted, amusing viewing.

Animal Pictures


Monday, December 21, 2015

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of Carolina Naturally.
Our twenty-first Xmas Tree of the month ...!
 
Carolina Naturally is read in 205 countries around the world daily.   
  
Blessed Yule ... !
Today is - Yule

You want the unvarnished truth?
Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Brazil - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Costa Rica - Ecuador -  Mexico - Nicaragua - Puerto Rico
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Sint Eustatius and Saba - United States - Venezuela
Europe
Austria - Belarus - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - England - France - Georgia - Germany  Hungary - Italy - Latvia - Malta - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino  Scotland - Serbia - Slovenia - Spain - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
Bangladesh - India - Lebanon - Mauritius - Palestine - Saudi Arabia
Africa
Djibouti - Morocco - South Africa
The Pacific
Australia - New Zealand - Philippines
Don't forget to visit our sister blogs Here and Here.

Today in History

68
Vespian, a gruff-spoken general of humble origins, enters Rome and is named emperor by the Senate.
1620
The Pilgrims land at or near Plymouth Rock.
1708
French forces seize control of the eastern shore of Newfoundland after winning a victory at St. John’s.
1790
Samuel Slater opens the first cotton mill in the United States (in Rhode Island).
1862
The U.S. Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor to be awarded to Navy personnel who have distinguished themselves by their gallantry in action.
1866
Indians, led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, kill Captain William J. Fetterman and 79 other men who had ventured out from Fort Phil Kearny to cut wood.
1910
Over 2.5 million plague victims are reported in the An-Hul province of China.
1928
President Calvin Coolidge signs the Boulder Dam bill.
1944
German troops surround the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne in Belgium.
1945
General George S. Patton dies at the age of 60 after being injured in a car accident.
1946
An earthquake and tidal wave kill hundreds in Japan.
1963
The Turk minority riots in Cyprus to protest anti-Turkish revisions in the constitution.
1964
Great Britain’s House of Commons votes to ban the death penalty.
1965
Four pacifists are indicted in New York for burning draft cards.
1969
American draft evaders gather for a holiday dinner in Montreal, Canada.
1986
500,000 Chinese students gather in Shanghai’s People’s Square calling for democratic reforms, including freedom of the press.
1988
Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, an hour after departure. All 259 passengers were killed in the explosion caused by a bomb– hidden inside an audio cassette player — that detonated inside the cargo area when the plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet. A shower of airplane parts falling from the sky also killed 11 Lockerbie residents.
1994
Popocatepetl, a volcano in Mexico spews forth gases and ash after nearly a half-century of dormancy.
1995
The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
2004
A suicide bomber attacks the forward operating base next to the US military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, killing 22 people; it is the deadliest suicide attack on US soldiers during the Iraq War.

No Sequitur

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Forget the Gingerbread House ...

This is the Age of the Pizza House!

Carrie Dennis of Thrillist recalls a fond childhood memory of Xmas: every year, her mother would make an elaborate gingerbread house—a task that would take 3 full days. That was great, Dennis affirms, “But I am not my mother.” So she built a pizza house using plain cheese pizzas and a wide array of traditional toppings.

Neighborhood Puts Decoy Packages on Doorsteps to Deter Thieves


It's a simple and common crime: a parcel delivery serivce leaves a package on the doorstep of a home for the resident. A thief drives by, jumps out of his car, grabs the package, and runs.
That's how your Christmas presents get stolen.
This crime has frustrated residents of the Daybreak community of South Jordan, Utah. They've come up with a clever solution: they put fake packages on their doorsteps. The boxes are filled with junk or rocks. When the thieves open their loot, they find that they've wasted their time. Kroger Menzer, a resident of Daybreak, explained the strategy to KSL News:
"The goal isn't to catch them in the act, that's for the police," said Menzer. "The goal is to make it confusing and frustrating. So they come and steal a box, and they get home and it's a bunch of rocks, there's a good chance that they're probably not going to come back to steal another box."
It's a strategy that works best when a large number of residents--ideally most of them--are participating.