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


Sunday, May 3, 2009

Our Newest Panther

Just a few blocks from Bank of America Stadium, a Carolina Panthers player is living in a sparsely furnished apartment, sleeping on an air mattress, with a television that has no cable or satellite service.

Defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo was signed by the Panthers in late January and knows from experience that being on an NFL roster can be fleeting.

“Until I know for a fact I'm going to be here, I don't want to put (down) roots,” said Oshinowo, who calls himself “a man of small means.”

Though the roster lists him as having one year of NFL experience, he's actually in his fourth season trying to find a home in the league.

Cleveland picked him in the sixth round of the 2006 draft and signed him to a four-year contract. He appeared in one game for the Browns as a rookie and was later released. He has also had stopovers with Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington.

His career totals: two games played, two tackles.

That makes him a classic pro football journeyman.

Hence, his rented air mattress, though Oshinowo, whose parents are from Nigeria, insists it's a dandy.

“It's one of the nicest air mattresses you've ever seen,” he said with a smile. “It's one of those high ones, double ones, (with a) mattress topper. It's good stuff.”

Oshinowo (6-11/2, 305 pounds) said the air mattress is representative of “the kind of life I've been living the past couple of years.”

He played nose tackle in a 3-4 defense at Stanford, where he was a three-year starter. But it turned out he didn't quite have the size to play in the same role in the NFL.

He's now trying to make Carolina's roster as a 4-3 nose tackle, which appears to be a better fit for his size and skill set.

The Panthers desperately need to improve their depth on the defensive line, and he's a potential backup for starter Maake Kemoeatu.

“He's a guy who's got some size,” said Panthers coach John Fox. “He's been with us for a little while now. He's had a good offseason. I know he works really hard in the weight room. Really, until we get in pads, it's harder to evaluate offensive and defensive linemen, but so far so good.”

Oshinowo, 26, is extremely strong. He has bench-pressed 520 pounds, but is far from being a stereotypical jock.

If he weren't trying to play football, he might be working in Silicon Valley.

He scored 37 on the Wonderlic intelligence test before the 2006 draft, just three points shy of the highest score possible. He received an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Stanford and began working on his master's during his senior season.

He has a love for computers and builds Web sites as a side business.

High intellect is a family trait.

His parents met at Oxford University in England. After marrying, they moved to the U.S. from Nigeria in 1980. His father, Babatunde Sr., is a nuclear physicist and his mother, Lola, is a technology specialist.

His sister Adeoti graduates from Stanford medical school this month and his brother Timi is a rising senior offensive lineman at Oregon State.

“My parents worked hard and set a really good example for us,” said Oshinowo. “That's part of the culture in Nigeria.”

“I feel like I can play football. I feel like I can help this team next year. That's what I want to do.”

The name Babatunde Oshinowo is shortened from the Panthers' defensive tackle's full Nigerian name of Babatunde Oluwasegun Temitope Oluwakorede Adisa Oshinowo. Some friends and teammates call him “Tunde” for short. Others call him “Baba,” while some Panthers players have labeled him “Bubba.”

"A List" Blog

Not quite sure but maybe the folks over at DrinkLiberal just named us here at Carolina Naturally as an "A List" Blogger.

If so, that would be a heck of a leap from the "Z List", now wouldn't it?!

Couples' money tips to preserve the peace

Couples' money tips to preserve the peaceHelp manage your finances — and relationship — with these practical ideas for handling common scenarios.

Money tips to preserve the peace

Also:

Daily Funny

What does it mean when the flag at the Post Office is flying at half mast?

They're hiring.

Sacked Coach Gets Student Support

The cheerleading coach who was sacked from her job after students and parents uncovered her past as a Playboy model has received unexpected support from other pupils.
Nude photos of Carlie Beck were left on the desk of the principal at Casa Nobles High School.
Nude photos of Carlie Beck were left on the desk of the principal at Casa Nobles High School.

Read the rest here.

Torture Prince in 25 attacks


Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the prince from the UAE who made a video of himself brutally torturing a businessman with whom he had a dispute, has been implicated in 25 further video-recordings of other assaults.

In the leaked video, the prince sets fire to his victim's testicles, sticks a cattle-prod up his anus, beats him with a board with a nail through it, scourges him with a whip, rubs salt into his wounds, and then runs over him repeatedly with a Mecedes SUV (you can hear the bones break).

The UAE's national firewall is blocking stories about this (see the screengrab above). I know that a number of US firms have supplied the UAE with firewall services -- I'd be interested in any detail any Boing Boing reader has about the blocking shown above: did it come from a company that also supplies moral guardianship to western kids in their schools?

"I have more than two hours of video footage showing Sheikh Issa's involvement in the torture of more than 25 people," wrote Texas-based lawyer Anthony Buzbee in a letter obtained by the Observer.

The news of more torture videos involving Issa is another huge blow to the international image of the UAE. The oil-rich state has been keen to develop relations with wealthy western politicians, universities and corporations and to promote an aura of moderation and tolerance. But the shocking video of Issa torturing Afghan grain merchant Mohammed Shah Poor, whom Issa said had cheated him in a business deal, has heavily dented the UAE's reputation. Particularly damaging was the apparent involvement of a policeman in the torture and the impunity with which Sheikh Issa could act, even after the tape emerged. He is a senior prince related to powerful members of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi.

But now it appears the initial tape could just be the beginning of the problem. The new tapes apparently also involve police officers taking part in Issa's attacks, and some of his victims in the as-yet-unseen videos are believed to be Sudanese immigrants.

Merck Makes Phony Peer-Review Journal

Pharmaceutical giant Merck paid science publishing juggernaut Elsevier to publish a fake peer-reviewed scientific journal, Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine.
What's wrong with this is so obvious it doesn't have to be argued for. What's sad is that I'm sure many a primary care physician was given literature from Merck that said, "As published in Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, Fosamax outperforms all other medications...." Said doctor, or even the average researcher wouldn't know that the journal is bogus. In fact, knowing that the journal is published by Elsevier gives it credibility!

These kinds of endeavors are not possible without help. One of The Scientist's most notable finds is a Australian rheumatologist named Peter Brooks who served on the "honorary advisory board" of this "journal". His take: "I don't think it's fair to say it was totally a marketing journal", apparently on the grounds that it had excerpts from peer-reviewed papers. However, in his entire time on the board he never received a single paper for peer-review, but because he apparently knew the journal did not receive original submissions of research. This didn't seem to bother him one bit. Such "throwaways" of non-peer reviewed publications and semi-marketing materials are commonplace in medicine. But wouldn't that seem odd for an academic journal? Apparently not. Moreover, Peter Brooks had a pretty lax sense of academic ethics any way: he admitted to having his name put on a "advertorial" for pharma within the last ten years, says The Scientist. An "advertorial"? Again, language unfamiliar to us in the academic publishing world, but apparently quite familiar to the pharmaceutical publishing scene.

King Arthur defies eviction order

A modern druid who calls himself "King Arthur Pendragon" faces his arrest for his refusal to quit his protest vigil at Stonehenge:

Shortly after the deadline expired today, he said he had no intention to leave. "We have opened a bottle of mead and we are drinking to Stonehenge. I have done a short ritual and spell of protection, calling on the kings of old.

"I am still here so I am in breach of the order as they see it but I have as much right as anyone else to be here. I am not blocking the byway; other tourists park along there. I am not going to go, I am battening down the hatches and continuing my lawful right to protest and my equal right to religious practice."

Pendragon started protesting with consent from the Council of British Druid Orders after last year's summer solstice. The government scrapped plans to remove fences around Stonehenge, build an underpass and grass over the A344 in 2007.

Native Americans Descended From a Single Ancestral Group, DNA Study Confirms

 World map showing the 53 Eurasian and New World populations whose DNA was sampled for this study.
A distinct DNA signature was found among all but one of the populations shown as points 32 to 53 on this map. (The Fox tribe, point 48, was the exception. But DNA samples of only 2 Fox people were tested, too few to provide a valid result.) The signature was absent in all Asian groups sampled, points 1-32. (Kari Britt Schroeder/UC Davis)

For two decades, researchers have been using a growing volume of genetic data to debate whether ancestors of Native Americans emigrated to the New World in one wave or successive waves, or from one ancestral Asian population or a number of different populations.

Now, after painstakingly comparing DNA samples from people in dozens of modern-day Native American and Eurasian groups, an international team of scientists thinks it can put the matter to rest: Virtually without exception the new evidence supports the single ancestral population theory.

Read the rest here.

Dinosaurs 'survived in a remote 'lost world' for half a million years before extinction'

Jeff Goldblum, Richard Schiff and Vince Vaughn are shown in a scene from the new film 'The Lost World Jurassic Park': Dinosaurs survived in a remote 'lost world' for half a million years before final extinction, claim scientists
The discovery brings Hollywood's 'Lost World' Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park a step closer to reality
Photo: REUTERS

New evidence suggests an "isolated community" escaped annihilation and lived on a rocky, desert plateau in North America.

Until now, palaeontologists widely believed the creatures were wiped out 65 million years ago when an asteroid collided with Earth.

But now experts say a "pocket" of dinosaurs survived and roamed a remote area of what is now New Mexico and Colorado.

Read the rest here.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
The Eskimo Nebula from Hubble
Credit: Andrew Fruchter (STScI) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA

Why vampires would have a population problem

Interesting question ... especially to all those 'Goths' out there.

If vampires did exist, what would stop their population spiraling out of control.

Why vampires would have a population problem

Did asbestos help life evolve?

Bacteria swap genes in the presence of an asbestos mineral and a good shake from an earthquake, suggesting that such conditions in early Earth aided evolution.

Liars and Fools

Today's Liar and Fool comes to us via Treehugger:

Lawrah Ingrate 'doctors' video to misrepresent Al Gore


Video via Media Matters

While filling in for Swill O'Really, guest host Lawrah Ingrate took the opportunity to have a thoughtful and considerate discussion about the solutions to climate change.

Just kidding.

She actually doctored clips to make Al Gore look like he's profiting from his climate advocacy in an attempt to undermine his message.

Article continues: Lawrah Ingrate Uses Edited Clips to Misrepresent Gore

The Big Picture

From BBC-Science

Mercury surface


Why students find this college hard to turn down

Why students find this college hard to turn downBerea College in Kentucky provides such a sweet deal for its students that its enrollment rates look to be better than Harvard.

Hard to turn down

Invisibility, Via Meticulous Work

While scientists have been struggling with the possibility of creating a Harry Potter-ish invisibility cloak, Sara Watson, who is studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), took three weeks to create her own invisible car.

Full Story

Consumer-friendly credit cards

11 consumer-friendly credit cardsIn an era of steep interest rate hikes and falling credit limits, these cards offer appealing terms.

11 consumer-friendly credit cards

Also:

Surprising uses for ketchup

Surprising uses for ketchupAmerica's beloved condiment can help hair, copper, and auto parts.

Surprising uses for ketchup

Also:

How to make a great first impression

Job hunt: How to make a great first impressionHiring managers form opinions of job candidates in minutes. Here's how to make sure the impression you leave is a great one.

Job hunt

Also:

Welcome New Readers

Carolina Naturally would like to welcome our newest readers in our newest country : Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.


Our 166th country.

Words to the Wise

An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it.

Tsunami Hits New York

New York skyline (BBC)
Evidence is building to support the notion that a huge wave crashed into the New York City region 2,300 years ago.

Unusual Celebrations and Holidays

Today is:

Garden Meditation Day
Lumpy Rug Day
National Two Different Colored Shoes Day
Paranormal Day

An eclectic mix of 'days' if I do say so myself.

Foods that could save your life

8 foods that could save your lifeThese "functional foods" have health benefits that go beyond their nutritional content.

8 foods that could save your life

Also:

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Caracas, Distrito Federal, Venezuela
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Norwich, England, United Kingdom
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan
London, England, United Kingdom
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Peterborough, England, United Kingdom
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Schoten, Antwerpen, Belgium
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Faisalbad, Punjab, Pakistan
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Delhi, Delhi, India
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Reykjavik, Reykjavik, Iceland
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium

as well as Germany, Scotland, Hong Kong and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

It's all about comfort today.
Coziness is easy to achieve and more rewarding than you could ever imagine.
You're feeling more grounded in the world around you right now and at ease with what is going on.
All your tasks are moving ahead nicely, all your people are doing well, and you're getting lots achieved without exerting too much energy.
This is the perfect day to fit in a nap.
Your deadlines are all far off in the distance and you're feeling fine.


ALL RIGHT! It's Siesta!