These religio-scum to face death for murdering woman who refused to join their cult

Two members of a radical religious cult who beat a woman to death in a McDonald’s restaurant after she refused to join them will be executed under a court order. Zhang Fan, 29, and her father Zhang Lidon, 55, were given the death sentence on Saturday, following trial at the Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong, eastern China, state media have reported.
Both are members of the banned “All-powerful Spirit” cult in China, also known as the cult of almighty dog, which believes jesus has been resurrected as a Chinese woman who is also the founder’s wife.
Together with three fellow cult members they were found guilty of murdering 37-year-old Wu Shuoyan who they claimed was an “evil spirit” after she allegedly refused to give them her telephone number.

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This woman was brutally beaten to death in a crowded McDonald’s and no one tried to save her. Cowards.

Random Photos

Woman used frying pan to steal car

A woman on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, used a frying pan to steal a car before showing her nicer side.

The woman approached another woman at Mooloolaba State School at about 6pm on Friday and threatened her with a frying pan, demanding she hand over her car keys. The victim complied, watching on as the thief erratically drove away at high speed.
The female car owner proceeded to call her mobile phone which had been left in the car, leading the offender to not only apologize for the incident but tell her where she would abandon the vehicle.
Police officers found the car just after midnight in at Alexandra Headland with no property missing. The keys were still in the ignition. Officers have not yet caught the offender, who is understood to be unknown to the victim.

Heroin dealer's attempt at disposing of evidence perhaps didn't go as well as he'd hoped

A drug dealer was found covered in heroin after a failed attempt to dispose of his stash during a car chase. Tabraiz Hussain was driving a Volkswagen Passat to an address in Middlesbrough, when he was followed by police on September 8 last year.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Hussain then led police on a pursuit round a “heavily populated estate” for several minutes before trying to throw a large amount of the class A drug out of the window. Prosecuting Alsha Wadoodi told the court: “The defendant refused to stop, exceeding the speed limit and driving on the wrong side of the road.
"He only stopped once he mounted the pavement after a close collision with parked cars.” Police used vacuum cleaners to retrieve the drugs scattered on the road and the defendant. They estimated a one kilo recovery - valued at almost £16,000. During interview the 34-year-old, of Holme House Prison, Stockton, admitted he was in possession of class A drugs.
Hussain, of Holme House Prison, Stockton, had initially denied conspiracy to supply class A drugs but changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial. He also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and dangerous driving. Hussain was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.

Man who hid in his basement for 17 years from charges for beating man and killing his dog jailed

A man who hid from police in the basement of his house in Onoway, Alberta, Canada, for 17 years was sent to prison on Friday. Benjamin Louis Young was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant since 1995, when he abducted and beat a man he believed stole two pounds of marijuana from him. Young assaulted the man with a phone book, killed his dog and nearly chopped off two of his fingers. Several members of Young’s gang were tracked down and arrested over several weeks. Young decided to hide in his own house. “He quite literally lived in the basement of the home for 17 years,” defense lawyer Peter Royal said.

While Young’s wife went to work, he helped raise their two children and did household chores during his self-imposed exile. “I cannot imagine why, for 17 years, police didn’t visit his home, because they would’ve found him there,” Royal said. “It’s unbelievable.” The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s fugitive apprehension unit finally found Young at his home in October 2012. Young was 33 when he went into hiding. He is now 52. In the prisoner’s box, Young said he is no longer the man he once was. “My first lawyer told me that if I were you, I’d put as much time between these charges as you can and I did that to the best of my ability,” Young told court.
“I knew someday I’d have to give my pound of flesh.” Royal, who was not Young’s lawyer in 1995, said his client wants to live a normal life and run a landscaping business. On Friday, Young was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, extortion and killing an animal. “We had been looking for him for years,” said RCMP Cpl. Colette Zazulak after the 2012 bust. According to agreed facts, Young believed that Shane Letwin had stolen two pounds of marijuana from Young in August 1995. Young was a “mid-level marijuana dealer” and the leader of his accomplices, Royal said. Young, known as Benny, and his gang abducted Letwin from his Edmonton apartment and forced him to eat a butter tart laced with LSD as a type of truth serum.
The group took Letwin, then 29, to a Spruce Grove acreage where his bull terrier was boarded. Young shot the dog five times with a handgun. Letwin was then taken to an abandoned shed near Calahoo, handcuffed and beaten with a leather sap and a phone book. “This was several years ago, when we had phone books,” Crown prosecutor Christian Lim told court. The gang moved Letwin to Young’s home, beat him with a snowmobile belt and held him overnight. He was released the next morning near the Royal Alexandra Hospital and warned not to call police. Weeks later, Young slashed two of Letwin’s fingers to the bone and stole his stereo equipment as payment of the debt. Young warned him to keep quiet or “he’d shoot him like he did the dog,” Lim told court. In 1995, police warned the public that Young was considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. He was on the RCMP’s most wanted list for years.

Thief rescued after being stuck in chimney for 12 hours

An alleged thief trying to rob a roadhouse in Australia's outback became stuck in a chimney for almost 12 hours and needed rescuing. Staff at the Mount Ebenezer roadhouse on the Lasseter Highway in the Northern Territory were opening for business early on Friday when they heard a voice calling out from somewhere inside the building.

Roadhouse all-rounder Kevin ‘Chevy’ Carter arrived at 7am to open the business, when he heard the voice yelling for help. “It scared the sh*t out of me,” Mr Carter said. He called emergency services in Yulara and offered the man a bite to eat. “You could see his hand so I passed him up a sausage roll and a bottle of water, and I asked him, ‘how you gonna pay for that, with cash or card?’ A couple of minutes later a wrapper and an empty bottle came down.”
Senior Sergeant Garry Smith said: "Once inside the chimney he has slid uncontrolled down to the bottom of the chimney where he has become wedged as the chimney narrows just above the fireplace itself. Looking from the fireplace up, there is a small gap of around 10cm to allow smoke to escape, above this the chimney proper begins and this is where he stuck, unable to move in an area barely big enough for his body to fit."
Police from Yulara and Imanpa stations attended but had to wait for a fire and rescue crew from Yulara, about 190 kilometers away, to arrive before the rescue could begin. A jackhammer was used for about 90 minutes to create a hole alongside the man. "He seemed remarkably well considering the ordeal he had just been through," Sen Sgt Smith said. "He was treated for scratches, ash and dust inhalation." He said the man was taken to Imanpa Health Clinic and will be interviewed when given the all-clear by doctors.

Would-be thief hid on shelf for hours in failed attempt to rob store

Police say it was an elaborate scheme that didn't pay off for two criminals at a north Houston Family Dollar store. The pair are seen on surveillance video posing as customers in store. The men don't appear to know each other on the video footage, but police believe that was part of their plan. At one point, one of the suspects began removing boxes containing garbage boxes from a shelf.

Vintage Photos

Hannah Stilley, born 1746, photographed in 1840. 

Probably the earliest born individual captured on film

Newspaper corrects error made in 1852

A New Jersey newspaper has issued a correction for a story it published in 1852 about a bear mauling a teenage boy to death.

But the story didn't list a location of the bear attack, making it appear it happened in New Jersey. The New Jersey Herald wrote in Thursday's correction it actually happened in Arkansas.

Dangerous Roads

With over a million people dying annually in road-related accidents, the world's roads are getting deadlier every day. From Europe to South America, the world is full of dangerous roads that industry experts claim will take up to 3.6 million lives a year by 2030.
View some of the most dangerous roads of the world using Google's Street View technology.

Mosaic

Stunning Mosaic Floor Uncovered in Greece's Mystery Tomb

The central theme depicts a chariot in motion driven by Hermes, who is most likely escorting King Philip II to the Underworld.

Greek God Hermes Featured in Ancient Mosaic

A mosaic floor made from small white, black, gray, blue, red and yellow pebbles emerged during a dig.

See, Pluto

See, Pluto, science is fun.

Sprite Lightning

"Today the Department of Awesome Natural Phenomena teaches us about yet another amazing form of lightning: Red Sprite Lightning. Slovenian photographer Marko Korošec was chasing storms in Vivaro, Italy when he captured these spectacular images of red sprites flashing above a storm taking place over the central Adriatic sea."

Bacteria From Bees Confirmed as Possible Alternative to Antibiotics

Not just a possible alternative – but totally a preferable alternative to antibiotics whenever possible. People are already using this incredible healing substance without having needed a nod of approval from researchers. And no, we’re not talking about using the actual bees.

While consumers of raw honey can tell you that it works wonders, researchers wanted to know exactly why. What have they been missing? What are the exact compounds that make raw honey nature’s antibiotic? How has it protected bee colonies forever (until recent obstacles set in)?

Raw honey has been used against infections for millennia, before honey – as we now know it – was manufactured and sold in stores. So what is the key to its antimicrobial properties?

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a unique group of 13 lactic acid bacteria found in fresh honey, from the honey stomach of bees. The bacteria produce a myriad of active antimicrobial compounds.

These lactic acid bacteria have now been tested on severe human wound pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), among others. When the lactic acid bacteria were applied to the pathogens in the laboratory, it counteracted all of them.

While the effect on human bacteria has only been tested in a lab environment thus far, the lactic acid bacteria has been applied directly to horses with persistent wounds. The LAB was mixed with honey and applied to ten horses; where the owners had tried several other methods to no avail. All of the horses’ wounds were healed by the mixture.

The researchers believe the secret to the strong results lie in the broad spectrum of active substances involved. This is the benefit to using a whole substance, as complex natural compounds have only begun to be studied as a complete package.

Tobias Olofsson explains:

Antibiotics are mostly one active substance, effective against only a narrow spectrum of bacteria. When used alive, these 13 lactic acid bacteria produce the right kind of antimicrobial compounds as needed, depending on the threat. It seems to have worked well for millions of years of protecting bees’ health and honey against other harmful microorganisms. However, since store-bought honey doesn’t contain the living lactic acid bacteria, many of its unique properties have been lost in recent times,

The next step is further studies to investigate wider clinical use against topical human infections as well as on animals. The findings have implications for developing countries, where fresh honey is easily available, but also for Western countries where antibiotic resistance is seriously increasing.

There is a shocking difference between raw honey and pasteurized, grocery store “teddy-bear” honey which for all intents and purposes, is mostly fake. Raw honey will look more like butter, but there also benefits to consuming darker honeys. Not only have people seen results from applying raw honey to wounds and mild burns, but also in use for acne, sore throats and flues, allergies, better blood sugar regulation, cholesterol and more. Manuka honey, although expensive, provides extra immune and digestion support, plus other first aid benefits.

Of course research like this would appear now, when we’re at the height of honey bee decline (especially when taking into account increased food production needs) and the height of food system deception.

Those are just a few reasons why it’s more important than ever to love thy pollinator - and realize that this liquid gold is your most cherishable non-perishable.

Are All The Ants As Heavy As All The Humans?

It is often said that if we were to weigh all the ants in the world, they would weigh as much as all of the people. This claim was originally made by Harvard University professor Edward Wilson and the German biologist Bert Hoelldobler, in their 1994 book Journey To The Ants.
They based their estimate on an earlier one by British entomologist C. B. Williams, who once calculated that the number of insects alive on earth at a given moment was one million trillion. But is this statement true?

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

 Another repugican epic failure ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 200 countries around the world daily.   

Yep failure alright ... !

Today is  - International Day For Failure Day
 

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Some of our readers today have been in:

The Americas

Luquillo, Puerto Rico

Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Saint John's and Kingston, Canada

Bogota and Cali, Colombia

Lima, Peru

Asuncion, Paraguay

Londrina, Novo Hamburgo and Sao Paulo, Brazil

Ashtabula, Amarillo and Boliver, United States

Boaco, Nicaragua

Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Bottom, Sint Eustatius-Saba

San Jose, Costa Rica

Tlalnepantla, Mexico

Europe

Kaunas, Lithuania

Vladivostok, Russia

Copenhagen, Denmark

Rouen, Lyon, Cerny, Paris and Boulogne-Billlancourt, France

Karlin, Horni Pocernice and Brno, Czech Republic

Madrid, Spain

Reykjavik, Iceland

Milan, Rome, Treviso and Venice, Italy

Moscow and Ryazan, Russia

Cacem, Porto and Covilha, Portugal

Brussels, Belgium

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Athens, Greece

Zug, Switzerland

Lancaster and Nottingham, England

Luqa, Malta

Dublin, Ireland

Goeteborg and Kista, Sweden

Vlissingen, Netherlands

Oslo, Norway

Torez, Ukraine

Riga, Latvia

Griesheim, Germany

Asia

Kolkata, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Kolhapur, New Delhi, Powai and Pune, India

Tehran, Iran

Chaiyaphum, Lampang and Bangkok, Thailand

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tokyo, Japan

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

Ogembo, Kenya

Agadir, Morocco

Lusaka, Zambia

The Pacific

Brisbane, Australia

Today in History

54		Nero succeeds his great uncle Claudius, who was murdered by his wife, as the new emperor of Rome.
1307		Members of the Knights of Templar are arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of King Philip the Fair of France.
1399		Henry IV of England is crowned.
1670		Virginia passes a law that blacks arriving in the colonies as Christians cannot be used as slaves.
1775		The Continental Congress authorizes construction of two warships, thus instituting an American naval force.
1776		Benedict Arnold is defeated at Lake Champlain.
1792		President George Washington lays the cornerstone for the White House.
1812		At the Battle of Queenston Heights, a Canadian and British army defeats the American who have tried to invade Canada.
1849		The California state constitution, which prohibits slavery, is signed in Monterey.
1903		Boston defeats Pittsburgh in baseball's first World Series.
1904		Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.
1942		In the first of four attacks, two Japanese battleships sail down the slot and shell Henderson field on Guadalcanal, in an unsuccessful effort to destroy the American Cactus Air Force.
1943		Italy declares war on Germany.
1944		Troops of the advancing Soviet Army occupy Riga, capital of Latvia.
1946		The Fourth Republic begins in France; will continue to 1958.
1958		First appearance of Paddington Bear, now a beloved icon of children's literature.
1967		First game of the fledgling American Basketball Association; Oakland Oaks beat Anaheim Amigos 134-129 in Oakland, Cal.
1972		Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes Mountains, near the Argentina-Chile border; only 16 survivors (out of 45 people aboard) are rescued on Dec. 23.
1976		Dr. F.A. Murphy at Center for Disease Control obtains the first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle.
1983		The Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying seven, the largest crew to date, lands safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
1990		The Lebanese Civil War ends when a Syrian attack removes Gen. Michel Aoun from power.
2010		After being underground for a record 69 days, all 33 miners trapped in a Copiapo, Chile, mine are rescued.

Writer Creates 'Color Thesaurus' To Help You Correctly Name Any Color Imaginable

Writer and children's book illustrator Ingrid Sundberg created a very useful infographic chart for anyone struggling with color names. The writer says that she loves to collect words that can help give her stories variety and depth. Sundberg's guide will help expand your descriptive vocabulary beyond green, red and blue.

Report Confirms Fracking is Poisoning California’s Dwindling Aquifers

Yet another report reveals that fracking in California has contaminated aquifers during a historical drought.…

One of America’s greatest assets are the abundant natural resources that helped elevate a new country into a world-class nation, and over the past century a world leader.  Of all this nation’s resources, fossil fuels are far and away the single-most valuable in driving the industrial revolution and enriching one industry above all others except maybe banking and agriculture. Obviously, America’s abundant water supply should be considered as precious a natural resource as petroleum, but that is not a consideration the fossil fuel industry shares regardless that not only is water crucial to agriculture, it is a fundamental necessity of human life. Water is also a fundamental necessity for the oil industry that could not care less how their extraction processes contaminate water used for agriculture, or human consumption. This week, yet another report reveals that fracking in California has contaminated aquifers during a historical drought.

In July, California state regulators, Department of Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR),  shut down eleven fracking wastewater injection wells over concerns that what precious water the severely drought-stricken state has left is being contaminated with toxins and carcinogens; particularly in highly productive agricultural areas. According to its due diligence, the agency the oil industry and repugicans hate above all others, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), promptly ordered a report within 60 days to determine if the oil industry did indeed poison what little water California has left and what extent, if any, the damage might have on the agriculture industry and drinking water supply.

This past week, with little to no mention in the conservative media, the California State water Resources Board issued a report to the EPA confirming that yes, at least nine of the eleven fracking sites were deliberately dumping poisoned waste water directly into central California aquifers. The waste water is laden with extremely hazardous toxins and carcinogenic chemicals used in fracking and the aquifers the industry destroyed are protected by both state laws as well as the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Of course, both repugicans and the oil industry (read Koch brothers) can not countenance either California’s environmental protections or the Safe Drinking Water Act as evidenced by a campaign pledge by repugican Jeff Denham, promising an all-out federal drive to abolish California’s water regulations permanently.

According to the damning report, over 3 billion gallons of poisoned waste-water was illegally injected directly into central California aquifers, and that water samples collected at water supply wells tested in the proximity of the fracking injection sites all had extremely high levels of known carcinogenic chemicals such as arsenic. Arsenic, besides being a cancer-causing agent, also weakens the human immune system. The arsenic is combined with a toxin used in rat poison, thallium, that was found in water supplies in and around the fracking injection sites. The water wells are useless as a safe drinking-water resource as well as worthless for the state’s very substantial agricultural industry.

A professor of environmental studies at the University of Redlands, Timothy Krantz,  warned that these toxic chemicals and carcinogens pose a very serious threat to public health. He said, “The fact that high concentrations are showing up in multiple water wells close to waste-water injection sites raises major concerns about the health and safety of nearby residents.” Unfortunately, it is likely that the full extent of poisoned water is still not, and may not, be known for some time because the Central Valley Water Board has only tested 8 out of 100 nearby water wells. The State Water Resources Board is concerned that at least 19 other fracking injection sites are still currently contaminating protected aquifers in the agriculture-rich Central Valley region which already has some of the state’s worst air and water pollution. Pollution directly attributable to the highly dangerous impact of oil companies’ increasing and careless use of the controversial oil extraction technique; that does not include dumping the poisoned water into the aquifer after the extraction process is finished.

Besides poisoning water needed by the agriculture industry and California citizens, the oil industry’s wanton fracking is, without question, exacerbating the historically severe drought throughout the state and not just the agriculture-rich Central Valley. In fact, over 80% of California is experiencing the beginning of a decade-long (at least) “extreme” drought conditions a handy little map gives a clue to how devastating the drought is for the state. For any intelligent human being, reports that billions upon billions of toxic fracking waste water is being pumped directly into “protected aquifers” Central Valley residents rely on for basic survival just does not make sense; except to repugicans dependent on oil industry donations.

While the citizens of California are conserving every drop of water, the oil industry is using at least 140,000 to 150,000 gallons “per fracking site” every day of the year; permanently deleting it from the water cycle, mixing in poison and cancer-causing chemicals, and putting it into whatever water their fracking process has not yet robbed and poisoned. Still, Central Valley repugican Jeff Denham is openly campaigning on permanently eliminating water regulations and lying that the EPA’s American Waters Act will seize Californians’ property if they have a man-made pond in their backyard.

An attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, Hollin Kretzmann, said these new revelations prove state regulators have failed to protect Californians’ health, dwindling water supply, as well as the environment from fracking. He, and many Californians are demanding that Governor Jerry Brown take immediate action to prevent an even bigger water emergency in drought-stricken California. He said, “Much more testing is needed to gauge the full extent of water pollution and the threat to public health, but Governor Brown should move quickly to halt fracking to ward off a surge in oil industry wastewater that California simply isn’t prepared to dispose of safely.” It is not just that California is ill-prepared to safely get rid of the poisoned water, the state can  hardly afford to lose even one more gallon of the precious necessity, and not just for agriculture use either.

One of the biggest misconceptions driven by corporate agriculture regarding preserving what little water is left is that it is crucial to save California billions of dollars in lost profits. A great deal of the water shortage is due to the past few years of irresponsible over-planting by huge corporate farms, up and down the state, of water intensive crops; particularly almonds. Almonds, like most nut crops, are a luxury commodity for export that not only fail to generate many jobs other than low-wage farm labor, exports are not taxed. The state, counties, and local communities are not profiting from corporate agriculture that is draining wells the oil industry has  poisoned and permanently collapsed aquifers that will never, never ever, be replenished.

The real travesty, and it is a travesty, is that both California and the federal government have adequate regulations in place to protect the state’s water supply for human and agricultural use. However, like every regulation affecting the fossil fuel industry, they do not apply according to the persistent industry practice of disregarding both the law and health of Americans. That the industry is wasting what precious little water resources Californian’s depend on for survival is, although beyond the pale, a typical oil industry practice with typical repugican support.