The devastating witches’ broom

Scientists seek cure for devastating witches’ broom disease of the chocolate tree

In the early 1900s, Brazil was the world’s largest producer […]

'Ocean Atlas'

Largest Underwater Statue Holds Ocean on its Shoulders

'Ocean Atlas' a massive underwater statue of a girl supporting the weight of the oceans was placed off the coast in Nassau, The Bahamas.

Mystery Of Earth's Water Origin Solved

The water that makes Earth a majestic blue marble was here from the time of our planet's birth, according to a new study of ancient meteorites by scientists of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, USA. The study found that our seas may have arrived much earlier on our planet than previously thought.

A Solar eclipse as seen from space

From NASA's series of APOD photos, this one taken from the Mir space station.

The shadow of the moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour...

Dunes on a comet

This image cropped from the original for emphasis of the dunes feature. These were photographed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta spacecraft.

More photos here.

Ghosts of Long-Dead Galaxies

Hubble Sees the Eerie Ghosts of Long-Dead Galaxies

See that blue glow? That's the ghostly remains of once-dazzling galaxies that have since been blended in a Cosmic grinder.

Dog's master fled from police, dog followed master, police followed dog, master arrested

A drug suspect is behind bars after his own dog helped police track him down.
Police say Edwin Henderson took off when two drug officers arrived at his home on Wednesday with a search warrant.
An investigator pointed to a fleeing Henderson and told his dog Bo "go get him." When the dog stopped and wagged his tail in tall grass, the officers knew they had found the man.

Henderson is charged with failure to obey Prattville, Alabama, police, manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The Afghan Fanged Deer

First Afghan Fanged Deer Seen in More Than 60 Years

Recent study finds a population of Kashmir musk deer living in steep, rocky outcrops in the northeast part of the country.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Keep the glory in Ol'Glory - VOTE DEMOCRAT ...!

 

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London and Sheffield, England

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Arendal, Norway

Berlin, Hamburg and Berlin Mitte, Germany

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Waterford, Ireland

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

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Patna, New Delhi, Bokaro, Hoskote, Kolkata and Delhi, India

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Africa

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Today in History

1570		A tidal wave in the North Sea destroys the sea walls from Holland to Jutland. More than 1,000 people are killed.
1772		The first Committees of Correspondence are formed in Massachusetts under Samuel Adams.
1789		The property of the church in France is taken away by the state.
1841		The second Afghan War begins.
1869		Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok loses his re-election bid in Ellis County, Kan.
1880		James A. Garfield is elected the 20th president of the United States.
1882		Newly elected John Poe replaces Pat Garrett as sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory.
1889		North Dakota is made the 39th state.
1889		South Dakota is made the 40th state.
1892		Lawmen surround outlaws Ned Christie and Arch Wolf near Tahlequah, Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). It will take dynamite and a cannon to dislodge the two from their cabin.
1903		London's Daily Mirror newspaper is first published.
1914		Russia declares war with Turkey.
1920		The first radio broadcast in the United States is made from Pittsburgh.
1920		Charlotte Woodward, who signed the 1848 Seneca Falls Declaration calling for female voting rights, casts her ballot in a presidential election.
1921		Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett form the American Birth Control League.
1923		U.S. Navy aviator H.J. Brown sets new world speed record of 259 mph in a Curtiss racer.
1926		Air Commerce Act is passed, providing federal aid for airlines and airports.
1936		The first high-definition public television transmissions begin from Alexandra Palace in north London by the BBC.
1942		Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrives in Gibraltar to set up an American command post for the invasion of North Africa.
1943		The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay in Bougainville ends in U.S. Navy victory over Japan.
1947		Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose flies for the first and last time.
1948		Harry S Truman is elected the 33rd president of the United States.
1959		Charles Van Doren confesses that the TV quiz show 21 is fixed and that he had been given the answers to the questions asked him.
1960		A British jury determines that Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence is not obscene.
1963		South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated.
1976		Jimmy (James Earl) Carter elected the 39th president of the United States.
1983		President Ronald Reagan signs a bill establishing Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
1984		Serial killer Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the US since 1962.
2000		First resident crew arrives at the International Space Station.

The psychology of workaholism

All work and no play: Study examines psychology of workaholism

Even in a culture that lionizes hard work, workaholism tends […]

Study Finds That Electing Democrats Is The Best Way To Create Jobs

A study of economic data over the past 75 years revealed that Democratic presidents create twice as many jobs and three times more job growth than repugicans.

An analysis of seventy-five years worth of economic data by economist Steve Stoft, and attorney/economic researcher Nathan Salminen revealed that Democratic presidents create a lot more jobs than repugicans.

Stoft found that Democrats have created twice as many jobs as repugicans. From 1940-2014, Democratic presidents have created 74 million jobs, while repugicans have created 35 million jobs.

Job creation graph:

It isn’t just the overall number of jobs created. Job growth increases more under Democratic presidents than under repugicans. Since 1940, job growth has increased 3% per year under Democrats and 1% per year under repugicans.

Graph: Job growth percentage:

The Gross Domestic Product also reaches its highest point when Democrats control both the White House and Congress (5.2%). When control of the White House and Congress is split between the parties, GDP growth is 2.9%. When repugicans control both the White House and Congress, GDP grows at (-.8%).

The data demonstrates that Democrats really do create more jobs than repugicans. Democratic ideas are more effective in terms of job creation than repugican policies. Tax cuts for the rich and other trickle down economic theories don’t work.

Even though he has been saddled with a repugican controlled House, President Obama has done a great job turning the economy around after the shrub created Great Recession. repugican economic policies don’t work because they substitute ideological belief for fact. repugicans have built their economic policy around the belief that wealth should be transferred upwards to the top.

The message to voters is clear. If the American people want a robust economy, the best move they could make would be to elect a Democrats to Congress. A Democratic Congress and a Democratic president would do wonders for this economy.

The Ervin South Carolina Bombshell. Could It Affect Nikki Haley’s Chances?

For the first time in this mid-term election cycle, South Carolina politics suddenly got interesting. The state’s just been politically “Ervinized.” But, first, a little background.

Make no mistake, ‘trounce’ will still be the South Carolina post-election catchphrase of the day come November 4th as most repugicans in this pitiful-wingnut state will take measure of their massively outspent Democratic opponents by easy double-digits. These feelings of dominance and invincibility may be tempered however, by one race that seemed to be a walkover that is no longer a walkover.

You all know the back story of the South Carolina governor’s race. The current governor, Nikki Haley, an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) puppet, wants to continue the states abysmally low rankings in almost every social and practical category of meaning. As I’ve written many times before, in a highly competitive field, Haley is, based on these rankings alone, the nation’s most inept governor. But, in the Palmetto state all that’s required of a governor is hate.

In its hatred of the federal government, the state has sacrificed hundreds of millions for vital educational and health programs. Nonetheless, hating the feds is an imperative, as is deep-seated racism as reflected in Haley’s abhorrence of “Obamacare”, not to mention Obama, himself. Let’s not forget hatred of gays. “It don’ make no difference what them liberal judges say, we ain’t lettin’ no gays git married in South Carolina.”

And unions? Don’t even get Haley started on unions. She’s already publicly pledged to block every attempt to unionize in the state. As quoted, “Union jobs aren’t welcome here.” Jobs that are welcome are those pieces of workplace pathos offered by greedy multi-nationals that are descending on the state like a massive swarm of locusts. Jobs that are assured to be non-union lest these companies have to pay living wages, guarantee safe working conditions and decent hours.

When not selecting South Carolina, the corporate biggies might actually have to pay taxes on U.S. profits in the U.S. instead of merging with some low-tax overseas corporate outfit of questionable character to create a phony “headquarters” to avoid American taxes.

Then there’s Haley’s arrogant disdain of human life in refusing to expand Medicaid to a certain group of low-wage earners. A move that is not only heartless, but will kill people. A Harvard study estimates as many as 1,300 annually in South Carolina alone. What kind of governor doesn’t care about killing people? We should throw her ‘hatred’ of environmental regulations into the mix. Regulations that minimize and control chemical releases that kill who knows how many of her fellow citizens.

This is not only a worthless, unfeeling governor; this is a worthless, unfeeling human being. And yet she commands comfortable double-digit leads in virtually every legitimate poll over her holdover opponent from her last gubernatorial run, State Senator, Vincent Sheheen.

Back to Ervinized and why that recent phenomenon is suddenly creating a modest opening for Sheheen in the governor’s race. Those who have followed this race are aware that there are five candidates. The two major parties, Independent repugican petition candidate, Tom Ervin and two political ciphers. The latter two are meaningless in terms of the outcome. Ervin is definitely meaningful, especially in light of recent developments. Tom Ervin is a 62-year-old former two-term state house member as a Democrat and a 14-year circuit court judge who currently practices law with his wife. He is philosophically still a moderate Democrat, though a few years ago, he declared himself a repugican to run for a couple of offices he craved. He lost both elections, but remained a repugican. Given that Haley won the repugican primary, Ervin was, by law, forced to run as an Independent in the general election.

He was a very effective candidate, giving both the major party candidates a dressing down on assorted issues. He was especially hard on Haley. His presence created vote switching that one would think would benefit Sheheen, the Democrat. As indicated earlier, while Ervin gained supporters, Sheheen lost them and Haley made a big move.

Now, all that could change. The ball, as they say, is squarely in Sheheen’s court. Ervin, who funded his own campaign to the tune of $4 million, suddenly dropped out of the race freeing roughly 8-10% of the total vote. I guess he felt he had made enough of an impression on the electorate and fully realized that, while certainly influential, he stood no chance of winning. One of his first post-dropout steps was to email an expression of strong support to Sheheen contributors under the Sheheen letterhead. The obvious question is, what difference will it make? Won’t repugican Ervin votes simply find a home in the Haley camp?

Maybe, but, as in TV reality shows, there’s a twist. Ervin has officially endorsed Sheheen. Some voters are now going to take a close look at why. In a local phone interview with reporter Jason Spencer, Ervin made the following statement, “It was a difficult decision, but I felt like it was time to put aside my personal ambition and try to do what’s best for our state.” Gee, what a novel approach to public service.

And Ervin has spelled out three reasons that it makes more sense to vote for the Democratic State Senator. According to the local press, those reasons are, ethics reform, domestic violence and economic development. He actually used the word “dishonest” in condemning Haley’s leadership on the issues.

The Haley camp provided a predictably snarky response that, of course, involved no substance whatsoever nor did it address Ervin’s concerns. Instead, deputy campaign manager Rob Godfrey, released the following statement, designed to push all the right-wing voter buttons. “Tom Ervin, Vince Sheheen and their LIBERAL TRIAL LAWYER CRONIES have always had the same agenda in this campaign. They have spent millions on false and shameful attacks and gotten nowhere with South Carolina voters. It’s no surprise that two PRO-OBAMACARE TRIAL LAWYERS would officially tie the knot at the end of the race.”

Not a peep about ethics reform, domestic violence and economic development.

Interesting response, but it will only be swallowed whole by those who are already in the Haley camp. Reasonable voters from both parties are going to wonder why there’s no rebuttal to Ervin’s issue concerns. They may even (GASP) do some research. I happened to talk with a state representative friend of mine today and consensus among his colleagues is that Ervin supporters are not happy with the move. Ergo, they may show their displeasure by simply staying home. Bottom line, who does that benefit?

I still expect Sheheen to lose, but by a narrower margin than I had earlier predicted. What does change is that, unlike Sheheen’s earlier predicament, there is an outside chance of an upset, unlikely, but not impossible when you add a majority of the 12% undecided vote. So thank you Mr. Legislator, judge, trial lawyer and straight talker, you just made things a lot more interesting.

In one race, at least.

BTW Democrats, please vote November 4th.

Pennsylvania Lawmakers Sneak Big Gift To The NRA Into Bill Banning Copper Theft

"Secondary metal" theft, where someone sneaks onto a property that is under construction and steals copper wiring or other valuable metal, is a very real problem that increases the cost of housing and other real estate development. It also has virtually nothing to do with gun rights. And yet, Pennsylvania state Sen. Richard Alloway (r) successfully added a provision that is likely to amount to a financial windfall for gun nut litigators onto a bill that was intended to protect against metal theft. The bill passed the state legislature and Gov. Tom Corbett (r) is expected to sign it.Although the bulk of the bill is devoted to new and increased penalties for metal thieves, Alloway's amendment makes three significant changes to the state's gun laws. First, although Pennsylvania law currently prevents local governments from enacting laws that provide additional protections from guns that aren't offered by state law, the new bill permits lawsuits by people and many groups "adversely affected by" a local gun ordinance. Significantly, the NRA is a "membership organization" that will be allowed to file suits under the bill.
The bill also requires courts to award "reasonable expenses" to anyone who successfully brings a lawsuit under this provision, and it requires such expenses to be paid by the locality that enacted the gun law even if "the regulation in question is rescinded, repealed or otherwise abrogated after suit has been filed . . . but before the final determination by the court." Thus, the law reduces the costs of bringing a pro-gun lawsuit, it deputizes the NRA to police gun laws enacted by city and town councils in Pennsylvania, and it gives the NRA an incentive to file as many suits as it can as quickly as possible.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a major casualty of the new bill is likely to be several local ordinances "involving mandatory reporting of lost and stolen guns." The Inquirer also quotes Montgomery County Solicitor Sean Kilkenny, who says he recommends that three localities within that county repeal their lost or stolen gun ordinance - "[i]f a town like Jenkintown gets sued, a couple hundred thousand dollars would blow a huge hole in their budget."

More

Police seek thieving couple who walked out of store carrying table

A couple were caught on CCTV walking into a store and moments later leaving with a £299 table.

West Midlands Police have released CCTV footage of the theft in a bid to trace the pair.

The footage shows the pair walk inside the Next store in Arena Park, Coventry, on the afternoon of October 9.

YouTube link. West Midlands Police original video.

The man, wearing a flat cap, takes a photograph frame off the table before less than a minute later the woman helps him to pick up the piece of furniture. They can then be seen to carry it through the front doors and out to the car park.

Man brandished knife at party-goers after being accused of taking too much stuffing from buffet

A man from Llandderfel in Gwynedd, Wales, brandished a knife at terrified party-goers in a row over buffet food. Craig Peter Stewart of Hen Ysgol threatened a man who he claimed insulted him while he was helping himself to food from a buffet table laid out for a birthday party at Llandderfel Hall, near Bala in the early hours of Sunday, 24 August.

Stewart, 31, pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing a knife when he appeared before Dolgellau magistrates last Thursday. The court heard that police were called to the hall at around 2.10am. Stewart said he had been “insulted” at the party by a man who made reference to the amount of stuffing he was taking from the buffet.
After leaving the party, the court heard, an intoxicated Stewart ret urned wearing different clothes with a hood, and carrying a large bread knife, a kitchen knife and a paring knife from his home, which was just 200 yards from the hall. When officers arrived on the scene they found Stewart being restrained by two fellow party-goers.
In defense, Stewart claimed he returned to the party with the knives as he “wanted more food” and there was “no cutlery on the buffet table”. And he said he had changed his clothes because he was feeling cold. But the prosecution labelled his version of events as “fantastical”. Stewart will be sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court on Thursday, 6 November, after Dolgellau magistrates declined jurisdiction. He was released on conditional bail until the hearing.

Piece Of Metal May Solve Mystery Of Amelia Earhart's Disappearance

Amelia Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean.
Now an aircraft recovery group says it may already have a part of Amelia Earhart's plane, and it thinks it knows where to find the rest of it. The group says new testing of a piece of metal found in the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean in 1991 gives the group increasing confidence that it's a part of the Lockheed Electra.

The Evolution Of Flying Ships

The invention of hydrofoils was one of the most revolutionary developments in the history of marine engineering. Hydrofoils are vessels that use wing-like foils below the hull in order to reach greater speeds on the water. The 'wings' are submerged so that the hull can be above the water.
When Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini built a full-scale hydrofoil boat (photo above) in 1906, the technology behind traveling on the sea took a hyper-leap. Despite their promise, hydrofoils did not take a leading role in marine technology. But throughout the last century an incredibly diverse fleet of these airplane-ship hybrids were built.

The Japanese Navy's Crazy Plan to Bomb Texas

)Other than a handful of submarine-mounted artillery bombings, a brief air raid by a single submarine-launched seaplane, and a few balloon-floated bombs, Japan was unable to directly attack the 48 contiguous United States during World War II. The Japanese did, however, have larger ambitions against the US heartland.
Pictured above is a surviving Kawanishi H8K, a seaplane operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. 30 of these planes would have been the strike force of an extraordinary plan to bomb Texas.

(Map: Note that Texas does not have a Pacific coastline.)

That did not dissuade the Japanese. They wanted to damage the oil fields then active in Texas. So they planned to fly 30 H8K seaplane bombers across the Pacific, refueling them with carefully-staged submarines. After refueling a final time off the coast of Baja California, the bombers would fly across northern Mexico and strike Texas.
Fortunately, the Japanese developed this plan too late in the war to make it feasible. They cancelled it and similar plans to bomb the Panama Canal.