New York village mayor resigns after child pornography bust

New York village mayor resigns after child pornography bust

The mayor Stillwater, New York has stepped down after he was arrested and booked for downloading child pornography.

California wingnut smears peaceful protesters as a ‘violent mob’

California wingnut smears peaceful protesters as a ‘violent mob’ for taunting ‘racist dummies’ in San Diego

‘You brought race in here’

‘You brought race in here’: Judge refuses to recuse himself from trial of white cop shooting unarmed black man

“I’m a black judge. I can take this black robe off, but I can’t take off this black skin. I live in west Montgomery. I live in the ’hood. Should I recuse myself from every criminal case that has happened on the west side?”

Georgia cop runs over black man — then arrests him

Georgia cop runs over black man after mistaking him for suspect — then arrests him

Coping With Dumbass Trump

I Stuff My Mouth to Cope With Dumbass Trump

Greed and Capitalism Aren't the Only Ways to Run Society

Our Collective Response to the Houston Tragedy Is Proof That Greed and Capitalism Aren't the Only Ways to Run Society

Heartless Landlords In Houston Demand Rent From Homeless Evacuees

Heartless Landlords In Houston Demand Rent From Homeless Evacuees

Talk about greed.

Why Are the Crucial Questions About Hurricane Harvey Not Being Asked?

Why Are the Crucial Questions About Hurricane Harvey Not Being Asked?

EPA public affairs official given right to veto federal grants if they mention climate change

EPA public affairs official given right to veto federal grants if they mention climate change

Konkus has already canceled close to $2 million awarded to universities and nonprofit organizations.

Things You Can Do To Fight Climate Change Right Now

9 Things You Can Do To Fight Climate Change Right Now

Solving such a big problem starts on a small scale.

The Biggest Things Ever to be Transported by Sea

Modern ships can haul some extremely large cargo, such as oil rigs and ships (yes, ships on ships), but even ancient seafarers took challenges in what they could carry from one part of the world to the next. A post at Ship It looks at some of those challenges of the past and present. One story is about how a ship was built around an artifact called Cleopatra's Needle in order to ship it.

In 1819, Mohammad Ali, leader of Egypt and Sudan, presented the UK with a gift. In honour of Britan's success in the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Alexandria, Ali kindly gave away a huge, carved Egyptian Obelisk. The UK was grateful, but couldn't cover the cost of shipping the ancient, 21 metre high, 224 tonne structure. In 1877, pioneering doctor Sir William James Erasmus Wilson agreed to pay for the obelisk to be brought to the UK. It was encased in iron, which was fitted with a rudder, a stern and masts. Cleopatra, as the vessel was dubbed, was essentially a bespoke ship made especially for the needle. On her way to the UK, Cleopatra, her crew and precious cargo almost perished in a storm in the Bay of Biscay. Thankfully, everyone made it home in one piece and Cleopatra's Needle remains a true London landmark.

Read more oversized shipping stories in the list here

7 Other Great Fires of London

In September of 1666, the city of London burned to the ground, leaving 80,000 people homeless. This became known as the Great Fire of London. Maybe that title was given to distinguish it from all the other great fires that leveled the city in its history. In fact, London has been destroyed by fire about a dozen times, beginning when the city was only about twenty years old.

1. BOUDICEA GETS HER REVENGE // CIRCA 60 CE

After the death of her husband Prasutagus in the mid-1st century CE, lands that should rightfully have passed to the ancient British queen Boudicea and her daughters were instead claimed by the invading Roman Empire. Before then, Boadicea’s tribe, the Iceni, had been allied with the Romans, but the entire affair soured that relationship.
Enraged, Boudicea sacked the Roman city at modern Colchester and marched her army on towards London—or rather, to the newly founded Roman settlement of Londinium—and burned it to the ground. So total was Boadicea’s destruction of the city that archaeologists working the capital today can still identify a noticeable thin layer of red-brown oxidized ash on the site occupying the original settlement, and Roman coins melted together by the extreme heat have even been found along the muddy banks of the Thames.

The city was rebuilt, only to be leveled again and again by fire. Read about the destruction of six more London fires at Mental Floss. The last conflagration listed was in 1794, so we can assume that building codes and firefighting techniques are protecting the city from such widespread fire now. Knock wood.

Harvest Moon 2017

Shine on, shine on Harvest Moon, up in the sky… The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs the closest to the autumnal equinox. In 2017, the equinox falls almost exactly halfway between two full moons. The full moon on October 5 is officially the Harvest Moon, because it is slightly closer to the equinox on September 22 than the full moon of September 5-6.

However, in most respects, the September 2017 and October 2017 full moons can be regarded as Harvest Moon co-stars. By that we mean that both have the characteristics of a Harvest Moon. The primary Harvest Moon characteristic has to do with the moonrise. On the average, the moon rises some 50 minutes later with each passing day. Around the time of the full Harvest Moon, the lag time between successive moonrises is reduced to a yearly low.
In 2017, there’s no appreciable difference between the lag in moonrise times associated with September and October full moons. In both of these months, the moon rises a shorter-than-usual time after sunset for several evenings in a row, following the date of full moon.

There's a detailed explanation of why there's a difference in the lag in moonrise times, and how it makes the Harvest Moon seem bigger and brighter. I read it and thought, "But that's only in the Northern Hemisphere!" Well, duh. In the Southern Hemisphere, autumn, and the Harvest Moon, comes in March or April. Read more about what makes a Harvest Moon special, and why you should enjoy it in both September and October this year.

Ancient footprints in Crete challenge theory of human evolution

Ancient footprints in Crete challenge theory of human evolution – but what actually made them?

Researchers have discovered some 50 footprints at Trachilos in Crete that are nearly 6m-years-old. It looks like they may be from a hominin – a member of the human species after separation from the chimpanzee lineage.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of
Carolina Naturally

Word ...!
 

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

   
Go Ahead Be Late ... !

Today is - Be Late For Something Day

 You want the unvarnished truth?

Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told

Pick Flowers ...!

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

Today In History

1666		The Great Fire of London is extinguished after two days.
1664		After days of negotiation, the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam surrenders to the British, who will rename it New York.
1792		Maximilien Robespierre is elected to the National Convention in France.
1804		US Navy lieutenant Richard Somers and members of his crew are buried at Tripoli; they died when the USS Intrepid exploded while entering Tripoli harbor on a mission to destroy the enemy fleet there during the First Barbary War.
1816		Louis XVIII of France dissolves the chamber of deputies, which has been challenging his authority.
1859		Harriet E. Wilson’s Our Nig, is published. It is the first U.S. novel by an African-American woman.
1867		The first shipment of cattle leaves Abilene, Kansas, on a Union Pacific train headed to Chicago.
1870		Author Victor Hugo returns to Paris from the Isle of Guernsey where he had lived in exile for almost 20 years.
1877		The great Sioux warrior Crazy Horse is fatally bayoneted at age 36 by a soldier at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
1878		Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman and Clay Allison, four of the West’s most famous gunmen, meet in Dodge City, Kansas.
1905		The Russian-Japanese War ends as representatives of the combating empires, meeting in New Hampshire, sign the Treaty of Portsmouth. Japan achieves virtually all of its original war aims.
1910		Marie Curie demonstrates the transformation of radium ore to metal at the Academy of Sciences in France.
1944		Germany launches its first V-2 missile at Paris, France.
1958		Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested in an Alabama protest for loitering and fined $14 for refusing to obey police.
1960		Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet and politician, is elected president of Senegal, Africa.
1969		Charges are brought against US lieutenant William Calley in the March 1968 My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War.
1972		“Black September,” a Palestinian terrorist group takes 11 Israeli athletes hostage at the Olympic Games in Munich; by midnight all hostages and all but 3 terrorists are dead.
1975		Ford evades an assassination attempt in Sacramento, California.
1977		Hanns-Martin Schleyer, a German business executive who headed a powerful organization and had been an SS officer during WW2, is abducted by the left-wing extremist group Red Army Faction, who execute him on Oct. 18.
1977		Voyager 1 space probe launched.
1978		Israel’s Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat begin discussions on a peace process, at Camp David, Md.
1980		The world’s longest tunnel opens; Switzerland’s St. Gotthard Tunnel stretches 10.14 miles (16.224 km) from Goschenen to Airolo.
1984		The Space Shuttle Discovery lands afters its maiden voyage.
1996		Hurricane Fran comes ashore near Cape Fear, No. Car. It will kill 27 people and cause more than $3 billion in damage.

'Phone Separation Anxiety'

It Looks Like 'Phone Separation Anxiety' Is for Real

The Cheapest Places to Travel for Each Month of the Year

Looking for the best travel deals? Here's where to go—and when.

Read more

Burning Man attendee dies after jumping into flames

A Burning Man participant who ran into the flames of a burning effigy Saturday night after running past the security ring was pronounced dead Sunday morning.
He was identified as 41-year-old Aaron Joel Mitchell — a US citizen who lived in Switzerland with his wife.

Burning Man attendee dies after jumping into flames

Heat, Smoke And Fire

Record Heat Wave On West Coast

Maybe someone should do something?

New cancer drug priced at $475K raises questions about pricing

New cancer drug priced at $475K raises questions about pricing — and value

The $475,000 price tag is much less than Wall Street expected and might disappoint some investors who hoped for a premium on such a complex drug.

“Like my pants were on fire”

A New York woman has filed a lawsuit against airline JetBlue, because, she says, in 2014 her butt was seriously burned by tea during a flight to Las Vegas, and the airline failed to show proper concern until she pulled down her pants and revealed the damage.

“Like my pants were on fire”: woman claims her butt was seriously burned on JetBlue flight

Things you need to know about the mindset of white supremacists

Or the lack thereof ...

Here are 7 things you need to know about the mindset of white supremacists

The era of the loud and proud white racist is upon us.

Memo to White Feminists ...

Memo to White Feminists: It’s Our Job to Dismantle White Supremacy—Now

A college student’s first week of school ended in her brutal murder

Pennsylvania police have recovered the body of missing Temple University student Jenna Burleigh at a property more than 150 miles from where she was last seen in Philadelphia.
Her body was found in Wayne County, on property belonging to the grandmother of suspect Joshua Hupperterz, 29, a former Temple student who last took classes in the spring.

A college student’s first week of school ended in her brutal murder

NY property manager arrested for stalking and harassing female resident

Infamous Nazi-loving NY property manager arrested for stalking and harassing female resident

Neal Milano, a property manager who became notorious for hanging up Nazi posters in the lobby of his 47-unit condominium in Queens, has been arrested for stalking and harassing a female resident.

'This resonates with people all over'

Alex Wubbels, the Utah nurse whose arrest for refusing to draw blood from an unconscious patient was depicted in a shocking viral video, spoke out about her case on NBC’s Today on Monday.

'This resonates with people all over': Utah nurse arrested in shocking video speaks out on police misconduct

Police chief applauds ‘heroic’ Utah nurse

Police chief applauds ‘heroic’ Utah nurse who refused to draw blood for bullying cop

Writing on the Rigby Police Department official Facebook page, the police chief of the small town thanked the “heroic” nurse who refused to turn over blood to a bullying cop

Immigration Horror Stories ...

8 Immigration Horror Stories from Bumbass Trump's Radicalized and Empowered ICE Agency

Dumbass Trump’s EPA lashes out at journalists who exposed Houston toxic risk

Dumbass Trump’s EPA lashes out at journalists who exposed Houston toxic risk – then deletes statement

A statement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attacked the two Associated Press journalists who revealed on Saturday that multiple highly toxic “Superfund” sites had not been assessed for risks in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Wingnut media rushes to blame Harvey on acceptance of LGBTQ Americans

Wingnut media rushes to blame Harvey on acceptance of LGBTQ Americans

LGBTQ Americans have caused the country billions of dollars in structural damage, killed dozens of people, and displaced thousands more from their homes, according to the evangelical figures who believe gay people caused Hurricane Harvey.

***

We just wonder why it took them so long to do so ... usually they're even quicker pull this idiotic impossible canard out of their collective asses.

Houston’s lesbian ex-mayor hilariously shuts down Coulter

Houston’s lesbian ex-mayor hilariously shuts down Coulter tweet blaming her for Hurricane Harvey

Lunatic wingnut provocateur — and increasingly poorly selling author — Coulter is having to result to cruder and more stupefyingly hateful antics to get attention.

Invasive Species ...

Invasive Species Are Killing People, Decimating Wildlife and Costing Billions of Dollars in Damage Around the Globe

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Welcome to Today's Edition of
Carolina Naturally

Today happens to be national Wildlife Day ...!
 

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

   
An she's off ... !

Today is - The Great Bathtub Race Day

 You want the unvarnished truth?

Don't forget to visit: The Truth Be Told

It is also Labor Day ...!

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

Today in History

1260		At the Battle of Montaperto in Italy, the Tuscan Ghibellines, who support the emperor, defeat the Florentine Guelfs, who support papal power.
1479		After four years of war, Spain agrees to allow a Portuguese monopoly of trade along Africa’s west coast and Portugal acknowledges Spain’s rights in the Canary Islands.
1781		Los Angeles, first an Indian village called Yangma, is founded by Spanish decree.
1787		Louis XVI of France recalls parliament.
1790		Jacques Necker is forced to resign as finance minister in France.
1804		USS Intrepid explodes while entering Tripoli harbor on a mission to destroy the enemy fleet there during the First Barbary War.
1820		Czar Alexander declares that Russian influence in North America extends as far south as Oregon and closes Alaskan waters to foreigners.
1862		Robert E. Lee‘s Confederate army invades Maryland, starting the Antietam Campaign.
1870		A republic is proclaimed in Paris and a government of national defense is formed.
1881		The Edison electric lighting system goes into operation as a generator serving 85 paying customers is switched on.
1886		Elusive Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Ariz.
1893		Beatrix Potter sends a note to her governess’ son with the first drawing of Peter Rabbit, Cottontail and others. The Tale of Petter Rabbit is published eight years later.
1915		The U.S. military places Haiti under martial law to quell a rebellion in its capital Port-au-Prince.
1941		The German submarine U-652 fires at the U.S. destroyer Greer off Iceland, beginning an undeclared shooting war.
1942		Soviet planes bomb Budapest in the war’s first air raid on the Hungarian capital.
1943		Allied troops capture Lae-Salamaua, in New Guinea.
1944		British troops liberate Antwerp, Belgium.
1945		The American flag is raised on Wake Island after surrender ceremonies there.
1951		The first transcontinental television broadcast in America is carried by 94 stations.
1957		Arkansas governor Orval Faubus calls out the National Guard to bar African-American students from entering a Little Rock high school.
1967		Operation Swift begins as US Marines engage North Vietnamese Army troops in Que Son Valley.
1972		Mark Spitz becomes the first Olympic competitor to win 7 medals during a single Olympics Games.
1975		The Sinai II Agreement between Egypt and Israel pledges that conflicts between the two countries “shall not be resolved by military force but by peaceful means.”
1998		Google is founded by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

The Lost Film Footage Of 1904 London

It's safe to say any and all film footage from the turn of the 20th century is considered extremely rare and valuable nowadays, and thanks to age degredation it's getting rarer and more valuable by the day.But archivists have been hard at work for decades digitizing old film reels before they burn up or crumble into dust, and thanks to their efforts these historical films will live forever.
This particular reel was shot in London circa 1904 as a 'travelogue' for Australian tourists thinking about visiting "one of the most exciting cities anywhere".

(YouTube Link)

Why Do India And China Have So Many People?

The most populous nations in the world are China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Pakistan. However, China and India stand way out in front of the pack, with over a billion people each, while the U.S. has just over 325 million. Minute Earth looks into the reasons why. And even though the reasons are speculation, since China and India have always had more people than other countries, together they make perfect sense.

(YouTube link)

Think about it this way: the largest nations in the world by area have relatively few people: Russia and Canada (and Antarctica if it were a country). What do those nations have in common? You guessed it!

Common Expressions Younger Kids Won't Fully Understand

It's sad to think our kids won't truly understand why we dial or hang up a phone, why cashiers ring up our purchases or why we roll up our windows without doing some homework.

Which means either these expressions are due for an update or those who remember are going to have to teach our young about those days of long ago when we had to manually turn a window crank handle to open a window.
And if you really want to relate to the youth of today you can discuss the origin of the expressions "going on line" and "posting to a message board":

13. WHY DO WE SAY "ON LINE" FOR COMPUTER THINGS?

In the early days of computing, when one machine needed to communicate with another, they had to be attached with a physical cord or "line." Processes that could be completed without this communication were "off line."

10. WHY DO WE CALL IT A MESSAGE "BOARD"?

Before the internet, when people wanted to make an announcement or share information they would put it on a piece of paper and attach it to a board mounted in a public location where many people would see it.

See 15 Common Expressions Younger Generations Won't Understand at Mental Floss

You Can Play With Every Toy From Your Childhood at This Museum

(YouTube link)

The Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, has a half million toys from all eras. Games, dolls, building kits, arcade machines, sports equipment, and more, including fads that soared and flamed out fast. In this video, Great Big Story gives us an overview of what the museum has to offer.

I'm The Voice Of Siri, And Apple Didn't Pay (Or Warn) Me

You'd think the voice of Siri would be rolling in dough after lending her voice to the app, especially considering it's one of the most popular smartphone apps ever and Siri is now BFFs with The Rock.But as Susan Bennett, aka the voice of Siri, will tell you voice over jobs don't gain you much recognition or money, and even though hers is one of the most famous voices in the world she wishes she'd never lent her voice to Siri.
Here's the kicker- she didn't actually agree to be Siri, and nobody told her those excruciatingly long and painfully boring recording sessions were created to give Siri a voice, because the recordings were sold to Apple by a text-to-speech company:

Siri was developed based on recording sessions Susan did with another company. Susan had done a lot of interactive voice response work (the voice on the phone that tells you to press 1 for English) and thought she was just doing more. "The recordings were done for a text-to-speech company starting in 2005. Apple got all their Siri voices from this company, but they came in after the fact. We had no contracts with Apple."

Selling her voice in this way meant Susan had no say in the usage, and guaranteed she didn't see a dime of the millions made by Apple thanks to Siri's presence on iPhones, which seems like shady practice from a company who could buy the moon:

"I had really ambivalent feelings. I was flattered to be chosen to basically be the voice of Apple in North America, but having been chosen without my knowledge was strange. Especially since my voice was on millions and millions of devices."
"There were Siris all over the world because, for instance, I don't speak Thai or Japanese. They had to have native speakers. And all of the original Siris weren't paid for the usage. We were paid for the original recording sessions, but we weren't paid for being on all those phones. Which is a pretty big issue for us. I know there was one person who ended up getting fired from another job because he was working for a company that considered Apple a competitor. His voice was on the iPhone, and he lost a job because of it."

Read I'm The Voice Of Siri, And No, Apple Didn't Pay (Or Warn) Me at Cracked

European Cardiologists Find Coffee and Dark Chocolate Are Linked to Longer Lives

European Cardiologists Find Drinking More Coffee and Eating Dark Chocolate Are Linked to Longer Lives

Modern Western Diet and Alzheimer's Disease

The Relationship Between the Modern Western Diet and Alzheimer's Disease

Plot to smuggle candles made with meth

Authorities in New York say five people took part in a plan to use a factory in New Jersey as the site where they would extract methamphetamine from more than a half-ton of candles that had been laced with the drug.

5 charged in plot to smuggle candles made with meth

US judge rules Colorado sex offender register unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled that Colorado’s sex offender registry law is cruel and unusual punishment, an opinion legal analysts said Friday could have wider implications.
U.S. District Court Judge William Matsch ruled on Thursday for three Colorado men who challenged in Denver federal court the law requiring convicted offenders to register with the state.
Their photographs, residences and other identifying information then become accessible on a website maintained by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

US judge rules Colorado sex offender register unconstitutional

Dumbass Trump Says Hurricane Victims Are Happy And Harvey Was Beautiful For The Country

Out Of His Mind Dumbass Trump Says Hurricane Victims Are Happy And Harvey Was Beautiful For The Country

While visiting a disaster relief shelter in Houston, Dumbass Trump claimed that Harvey victims who lost everything were happy and that the hurricane was a beautiful thing for the country to watch.…