CAROLINA NATURALLY

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Fox 'News' Tries To Blame Obamacare For A Drop In Life Expectancy

Only on Fox 'News' would the finding that Americans’ life expectancy has fallen cause a host to speculate that maybe Americans are getting too much health care.

Texas Begins $350 Million Cut In Medicaid Services

Texas Begins $350 Million Cut In Medicaid Services That Will Devastate Disabled Children

The state of Texas this week reportedly began implementing $350 million in Medicaid cuts, which federal agencies have warned will be "devastating" to services provided to disabled children.

Cop charged with sexually assaulting 16-year-old boy in Burger King bathroom

Charlotte City Council Betrays LGBT Community In Exchange For Hearing On HB 2 Repeal

North Carolina is stuck in the past and the city of Charlotte just sold out to join the rest of the state.

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Thune Touts Rolling Back Overtime Rules As A Way To 'Get Wages Back Up'

We all know whose wages they're concerned about raising, and it's not your average working American.

SNL Calls Dumbass Trump A ‘Monkey’ So Racist Wingnuts Whine That They Can’t Call President Obama One

SNL Calls Dumbass Trump A ‘Monkey’ So Racist Wingnuts Whine That They Can’t Call President Obama One

‘Not-racist’ wingnuts are furious that they can’t call President Obama a ‘monkey.’

Fox Panel Pretends Wingnuts Never Treated The Obama Family Like Shit

Fox Panel Pretends Wingnuts Never Treated The Obama Family Like Shit

Anybody who says wingnuts always treated the Obama family with dignity and respect deserve to be smacked HARD to jog their memory.

White supremacists target Montana town’s Jewish population for ‘trolling’ and harassment

A white nationalist website aligned with the neo-Nazi “alt-right” National Policy Institute (NPI) has urged its followers to “troll” and harass the Jewish population of Whitefish, Montana as a reprisal for imagined slights against Sherry Spencer, the mother of the NPI's Richard Spencer.

Florida Woman Aims Gun's Laser Sights At Black McDonald's Customer While Yelling Racial Slurs

A Florida woman was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at people inside a McDonald's restaurant.

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Monday, December 19, 2016

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of
Carolina Naturally

The 19th Xmas Tree ...!

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

Only in America ... !

Today is - There is no particular celebration today

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

Today in History

1154		Henry II is crowned king of England.
1562		The French Wars of Religion between the Huguenots and the Catholics begins with the Battle of Dreux.
1793		French troops recapture Toulon from the British.
1862		Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest begins tearing up the railroads in Union generals Grant and Rosecrans rear, causing considerable delays in the movement of Union supplies.
1900		The French Parliament votes amnesty for everyone involved in the Dreyfus Affair.
1909		American socialist women denounce suffrage as a movement of the middle class.
1941		Japanese land on Hong Kong and clash with British troops.
1941		Adolf Hitler assumes the position of commander in chief of the German army.
1942		The British advance 40 miles into Burma in a drive to oust the Japanese from the colony.
1944		During the Battle of the Bulge, American troops begin pulling back from the twin Belgian cities of Krinkelt and Rocherath in front of the advancing German Army.
1945		Congress confirms Eleanor Roosevelt as U.S. delegate to the United Nations.
1950		The North Atlantic Council names General Dwight D. Eisenhower as supreme commander of Western European defense forces.
1959		Reputed to be the last civil war veteran, Walter Williams, dies at 117 in Houston.
1974		Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as vice president of the United states after a House of Representatives vote.
1982		Four bombs explode at South Africa’s only nuclear power station in Johannesburg.
1984		British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement that committed Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system. Hong Kong was leased by China to Great Britain in 1898 for 99 years.
1998		President Bill Clinton is impeached. The House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton was the second president in American history to be impeached.
2001		The highest barometric pressure ever recorded (1085.6 hPa, 32.06 inHg) occurs at Tosontsengel, Khovsgol, Mongolia.
2001		Rioting begins in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the country’s economic crisis.
2012		Park Geun-hye elected President of South Korea, the nation’s first female chief executive.

The 4 People (and One Animal) Who Made the World a Better Place In 2016

The 4 People (and One Animal) Who Made the World a Better Place In 2016

We still found inspiration in this downer of a year

"Person from Porlock" explained

The person from Porlock was an unwelcome visitor to Samuel Taylor Coleridge during his composition of the poem Kubla Khan in 1797. Coleridge claimed to have perceived the entire course of the poem in a dream (possibly an opium-induced haze), but was interrupted by this visitor from Porlock while in the process of writing it. Kubla Khan, only 54 lines long, was never completed. Thus "Person from Porlock", "Man from Porlock", or just "Porlock" are literary allusions to unwanted intruders who disrupt inspired creativity. Posted because I encountered the term while reading Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, in which "the title character saves the world, in part by time-travelling from the present day to distract Coleridge from properly remembering his dream; if Coleridge had completed the poem an alien ghost would have 'encoded' certain information within the completed work that would have allowed him to make repairs to his spaceship in the past at the cost of wiping out all life on Earth."

You Might Be Breaking the Law Every Time You Warm Up Your Car

You Might Be Breaking the Law Every Time You Warm Up Your Car

The choice is yours: Commit a misdemeanor offense or become a human popsicle

Hooking Up with Another Woman for the First Time

7 Things No One Tells You About Hooking Up with Another Woman for the First Time

Consider this your crash course.

This Elderly Couple's Nude Photoshoot Is #RelationshipGoals

This Elderly Couple's Nude Photoshoot Is #RelationshipGoals

They’ve been together for more than 20 years.

Defy Age Using a 3,600-Year-Old Face Cream Recipe With a Deadly Ingredient

Stanley Jacobs is a plastic surgeon whose hobby is Egyptology. He's studied many an ancient document, but one called the Edwin Smith Papyrus spoke to him in particular. It's 5,000 years old, and describes the surgical procedures of Egypt at the time.

A plastic surgeon himself, he found that most of the cases were about “really good reconstruction after traumatic injury, of the nose, the neck, the spinal cord,” and that its techniques were surprisingly well thought out for a millennia-old book. What really intrigued him, though, was a recipe at the back of the book, titled “Transforming an Old Man Into a Youth.”

This section of the papyrus is a long and complicated set of instructions for making what is, essentially, a face cream. The original translator of the papyrus, the Egyptologist James Breasted, hadn’t been much impressed by it, writing that the recipe “proves to be nothing more than a face paste believed to be efficacious in removing wrinkles.”

As a doctor who spends a lot of time thinking about skin, beauty, and age, though, Jacobs wasn’t so quick to discount it. “I realized that if they’re that serious about their surgical treatments, they’re probably serious about this,” he says.

The face cream recipe was difficult to translate, because one ingredient was called by a word nobody seemed to know. But Jacobs keep looking, and the answers he got led to other questions, which led to a possible new/old way to care for skin. Read the story of Jacobs and the ancient face cream at Atlas Obscura.

One Freakish Event That Led to You and Ewe and Yew

Life arose on earth over three billion years ago, and for a long time, there were only one-celled organisms. These prokaryotes diverged and evolved in many ways, but making the leap from one cell to many cells (eukaryotes) was a paradigm shift that led to every living thing on earth that's big enough for us to see -including us. How did that happen? Before we could sequence genes, the prevailing theory was a gradual development as cells mutated, diverged, and evolved. However, recent genetic research has led credence to the idea that the first two-celled organism was a merger that only happened once.

The alternative—let’s call it the “sudden-origin” camp—is very different. It dispenses with slow, Darwinian progress and says that eukaryotes were born through the abrupt and dramatic union of two prokaryotes. One was a bacterium. The other was part of the other great lineage of prokaryotes: the archaea. (More about them later.) These two microbes look superficially alike, but they are as different in their biochemistry as PCs and Macs are in their operating systems. By merging, they created, in effect, the starting point for the first eukaryotes.

Bill Martin and Miklós Müller put forward one of the earliest versions of this idea in 1998. They called it the hydrogen hypothesis. It involved an ancient archaeon that, like many modern members, drew energy by bonding hydrogen and carbon dioxide to make methane. It partnered with a bacterium that produced hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which the archaeon could then use. Over time, they became inseparable, and the bacterium became a mitochondrion.

There are many variants of this hypothesis, which differ in the reasons for the merger and the exact identities of the archaeon and the bacterium that were involved. But they are all united by one critical feature setting them apart from the gradual-origin ideas: They all say that the host cell was still a bona fide prokaryote. It was an archaeon, through and through. It had not started to grow in size. It did not have a nucleus. It was not on the path to becoming a eukaryote; it set off down that path because it merged with a bacterium. As Martin puts it, “The inventions came later.”

The theory that an archaeon and a bacterium merged to make eukaryotes would give us a new tree of life that doesn't always fork. I couldn't help but picture this comic when reading about a singular event that changed everything. Ed Yong explains the developments that led to this idea at Nautilus.

And I Quote

5 ways you can help the homeless survive the 2016 polar vortex

Here are 5 ways you can help the homeless survive the 2016 polar vortex

When 'Slacktivism' Actually Works: 'Small Changes' DO Matter

'Small Changes' DO Matter

You can change the world with the right kind of online petition.

84% of Americans Oppose Civil Asset Forfeiture

84% of Americans Oppose Civil Asset Forfeiture—But Only Once They're Told What It Is

Link Dump

Fake Dentist Made House Calls

5 of Alan Thicke’s most memorable theme songs

New Features Coming to Windows 10 in 2017

Package Thief Gets a Big Surprise #2!

Netflix’s Secret Categories That You Don’t Know About

KitchenAid recalls 20 years of Food Processors

The Birthday Problem

Tricky Ways To Sneak In Your Favorite Beverages

Dead drunk wakes up and goes back to the pub

The most anticipated tech of 2017

WOW: Cyclone Vardah topples over cars

Nitrous oxide shortage affecting whipped cream supply

St. Louis Is the Second Most Sinful City in the U.S. Guess we’re not trying hard enough!

Academic Witch Hunt Project Gets an F for Accuracy

Academic Witch Hunt Project Gets an F for Accuracy

Simple Thinking is a Recipe for Disaster

Simple Thinking in a Complex World Is a Recipe for Disaster

Bad people are disgusting, bad actions are angering

A person’s character, more so than their actions, determines whether we find immoral acts to be ‘disgusting,’ according to new research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “We wanted to … Read more
Now you know why normal people react to wingnuts as they do.

Humiliating TSA body search leaves CNN’s Angela Rye in tears

Assault on two gay men at Waffle House restaurant

Animal Pictures

Sunday, December 18, 2016

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of
Carolina Naturally

The 18th Xmas Tree ...!

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

In his element... !

Today is - There is no particular celebration today

You want the unvarnished truth?

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

Today in HIstory

1118		Afonso the Battler, the King of Aragon captures Saragossa, Spain, causing a major blow to Muslim Spain.
1812		Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Paris after his disastrous campaign in Russia.
1862		Nathan Bedford Forrest engages and defeats a Federal cavalry force near Lexington in his continued effort to disrupt supply lines.
1862		Union General Ulysses S. Grant announces the organization of his army in the West. Sherman, Hurlbut, McPherson, and McClernand are to be corps commanders.
1865		Slavery is abolished in the United States. The 13th Amendment is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
1915		In a single night, about 20,000 Australian and New Zealand troops withdraw from Gallipoli, Turkey, undetected by the Turks defending the peninsula.
1916		The Battle of Verdun ends with the French and Germans each having suffered more than 330,000 killed and wounded in 10 months. It was the longest engagement of World War I.
1925		Soviet leaders Lev Kamenev and Grigori Zinoviev break with Joseph Stalin.
1940		Adolf Hitler issues his secret plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union–Operation Barbarossa.
1941		Defended by 610 fighting men, the American-held island of Guam falls to more than 5,000 Japanese invaders in a three-hour battle.
1941		Japan invades Hong Kong.
1942		Adolf Hitler meets with Benito Mussolini and Pierre Laval.
1944		Japanese forces are repelled from northern Burma by British troops.
1951		North Koreans give the United Nations a list of 3,100 POWs.
1956		Japan is admitted to the United Nations.
1960		A rightist government is installed under Prince Boun Oum in Laos as the United States resumes arms shipments.
1965		U.S. Marines attack VC units in the Que Son Valley during Operation Harvest Moon.
1970		An atomic leak in Nevada forces hundreds of citizens to flee the test site.
1972		Nixon declares that the bombing of North Vietnam will continue until an accord can be reached (Operation Linebacker II).
1989		The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and economic communication.
2002		California Gov. Gray Davis announces the state faces a record budget deficit; the looming $35 billion shortfall is almost double the amount reported a month earlier during the state’s gubernatorial campaign.
2005		Civil war begins in Chad with a rebel assault on Adre; the rebels are believed to be backed by Chad’s neighbor, Sudan.
2008		United Arab Emirates holds it first-ever elections.
2010		In an opening act of Arab Spring, anti-government protests erupt in Tunisia.

Here are 5 reasons Jesus never existed

Here are 5 reasons Jesus never existed

Most antiquities scholars know that the new testament gospels are “mythologized history.”

Nothing Says Xmas like Aluminum

When I was a kid, I loved the fresh Xmas trees my parents put up, but I also wished that we could have a lovely space-age aluminum tree like the one my grandparents used, all nice and shiny, illuminated with a rotating light disc. It's one of the Xmas traditions that seem ancient now, but only began after World War II. Sarah Archer is the author of a new book, Mid-Century Xmas: Holiday Fads, Fancies, and Fun from 1945 to 1970. She explains where those those aluminum trees came from.

The company that produced the most aluminum for the war effort was Alcoa, but there were also some smaller companies, too, many of which were based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, of all places, which was one of the big aluminum capitals of North America. Like a lot of mid-century Xmas items, including the acrylic rubber that coats Xmas lights cords, aluminum trees came from thinking about re-purposing a material produced for the military. The aluminum strips that were used to make the trees were originally designed for something called chaff, which was sprinkled over enemy territories to scramble radar because the little pieces of metal would diffuse the signal.
Many 1950s aluminum tree producers used Alcoa branding. The exterior of the box would say, “We proudly use Alcoa aluminum.” You could put ornaments on these trees, but one of the challenges of decorating them was not getting electrocuted, which was mentioned prominently in the how-to pamphlet that came with the tree. Because it was not safe to put electric lights on the metal, the companies distributing the trees would sell a rotating lamp that would shine different-colored lights on the tree to bathe it in magenta or purple.

That's not the only Xmas tradition that arose from the postwar Cold War era. Read about how our modern Xmas celebrations were shaped at Collectors Weekly.

Harvesting One Million Xmas Trees

Holiday Tree Farms in Corvallis, Oregon, ships a million fresh Christmas trees every year. All that harvesting takes place over only six weeks, and they must be shipped fast, which requires chainsaws, trucks, and helicopters.

(YouTube link)

Cut Christmas trees are more eco-friendly than artificial trees, but that doesn't mean you should throw out the artificial tree you already have. Throwing them out is a big part of the problem. But a real tree can be re-used, recycled, or composted, and there are more planted specifically for Christmas every year. -

World's smallest radio is the size of 2 atoms

World's smallest radio is the size of 2 atoms

10 Celebrity Airbnbs You’ll Want to Rent if You Can

Why would a celebrity rent out their home on Airbnb? Well, even if you're not desperate for money, you can't live in more than one house at a time, and extra houses can benefit by someone staying there occasionally. Most of these homes are available because the celebrity no longer owns them, some because they are deceased, like Orson Welles.

Not only was this gorgeous estate owned by Orson Welles, but it has also played host a wide array of celebrities, including David Bowie, Rita Hayworth, and Barbra Streisand. Today, you can rent the 3,000 sq. ft. home with 4 bedrooms/ 3 bathrooms and its 15,000 sq. ft. outdoor space for $595 per night, along with a $395 cleaning fee. While the home’s interior, including boutique bedrooms and spa-like bathrooms, is nothing short of spectacular, the outdoor space, which includes a lagoon pool with Jacuzzi and huge outdoor deck that overlooks Hollywood, is mesmerizing.

Nine other available celebrity Airbnbs are featured today, from simple childhood homes to a Caribbean island, at Housely.

94-year-old Texas oil heiress has spent the last 40 years giving away 75 percent of her wealth

This 94-year-old Texas oil heiress has spent the last 40 years giving away 75 percent of her wealth

Anne Frank may not have been betrayed and handed over to the Nazis

Anne Frank may not have been betrayed and handed over to the Nazis

A new study published Friday by the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam reveals that the teen may not have been sold out to the Nazis as once was previously thought.

Abortion Isn't Linked With Mental Illness

Abortion Isn't Linked With Mental Illness, Study Shows—but Being Denied One Might Be

Not Just North Dakota

Not Just North Dakota: Here Are 10 More States Where Activists Are Fighting Pipeline Projects

4 Signs You May Have Lost Your Will to Fight the Coming Tyranny of Dumbass Trump

Robert Reich: 4 Signs You May Have Lost Your Will to Fight the Coming Tyranny of Dumbass Trump

100 CEOs Have as Much Retirement Wealth as 41% of American Families

100 CEOs Have as Much Retirement Wealth as 41% of American Families

The Fakeness Of The Wingnuts' War On Fake-News Monitoring

The Fakeness Of The Right's War On Fake-News Monitoring

I'm a little late getting to the story of Facebook's attempt to control fake news, but I see the wingnuts going all in on showy expressions of phony outrage that are clearly meant to set the terms of the debate over what Facebook is doing.

Princeton U. Men's Swim Team Suspended Over Racist, Vulgar Messages

The Princeton University men's swimming and diving team's season has been suspended after racist, vulgar and misogynistic messages were discovered on a university-sponsored electronic mailing list for the team.

‘Keep them in diapers’

Fetish shop workers chase off armed robber with sex toys

‘Really? I don’t have time for this’: Fetish shop workers chase off armed robber with sex toys

An armed robber in San Bernardino, California got more than he bargained for when he attempted to hold up the workers at Lotions and Lace ...

Bank Robber Left Plenty of Evidence

On Monday, a man walked into a bank in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and presented a robbery note to the teller. It said he was armed and demanded money. He left with several thousand dollars. But police were able to catch up with him.

He had taken a cab to and from the robbery, and the taxi driver identified him from a photograph.
He left a gym bag with $2,700 in the cab. The bag has a tag with his name on it.
He also left the sweatshirt he had been wearing, as identified by the teller.
And his wallet, containing his ID.
Also his discharge papers from a drug-and-alcohol rehab center, with a piece torn off that matched the note he gave to the teller.

On Tuesday, police arrested 25-year-old Jamal Goodwin of Philadelphia, who was found with heroin, cocaine, and about $1,000 on him. Robbery and theft were only the beginning of charges lodged against him.

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